Persuasive Writing

What to do when you can't find the right word

There are many ways to be at a loss for words. The best way is to know that the word is out there, to almost be able to grasp it, and just not be able to bring that word up. Perhaps you should upgrade your memory. When that happens, a good solution is to leave a blank and keep going. Or, if you have time and are haunted by not being able to retrieve that word from your little pea brain, go take a shower or a walk or drive around for a bit. The word will come out of hiding when you are not looking for it.

A worse predicament is to know that what you are writing about it pretty much BS, so that there are really no words to use because what you are writing about is really camouflage for something else. For instance, your client has goofed in some large way. Say, your client has clear-cut thousand-year-old trees in a National Forest when actually they meant to cut the trees that were on the other side of the highway, or something like that. So now they are going to run a full-page ad in the newspapers about how environmentally friendly they are.

This leaves you with two words, and only two words. These words are "committed" and "dedicated." If you know more and other words, please let me know because these are the two I am stuck with. You will be forced to write, "We are committed to the environment and dedicated to the communities we serve...." or some variation thereof.

You can interchange "committed" and "dedicated." It really doesn't matter. And it really doesn't mean anything, does it? Talk about a cheapening of the word "commitment." Yes, I played my part. I'm sorry. I did it only in desperation.

And now, when I read about some entity's commitment or dedication to something, such as children's health, I figure that they must have been responsible for poisoning a whole kindergarten somewhere. That's how cynical this business can make you.

Then, there's the last situation you may find yourself in when you can't find the right word. You have simply run out of words. There are no words left, and both you and I know it. You have used them all up. There is nothing more to say. Yet your ad (or whatever) is due at 2:00. I feel for you. I've been there. And I'm sorry to tell you, but you are doomed. When you have used up your words, they are gone.

I've seen what you've done when that's happened. We've all seen the ads on TV and elsewhere where it is clear that the writer has simply run out of words. It is painful to watch, because we know the pain that caused this travesty. But don't beat yourself up. Sometimes even the best surgeons have a patient die on the table. You're just in advertising and PR. If you run out of words, you might be fired, but no one will die.

I know that this is what must have happened to the creative team that gave us the Volkswagen "Fahvergnugen" campaign. Those people must have really been out of words. What were they thinking?

I just hope that the same doesn't happen to any of us.

If you can think, you can write

I was going to name this post, "If you can talk, you can write," but that's not true. Just listen to some of the people around you. If we're going to be honest, they really should keep their mouths shut. I'm sure this doesn't apply to you, however.

Good writing is conversational in style. It should speak directly to the reader without the impediments of complicated words or sentence structure. It should be an honest, from-the-heart attempt to reach another person. Or at the very least, it should sound that way.

Good writing should sound like an informed, honest, reasonably smart person talking. It's really a monologue. If you can think in an orderly fashion, you can write.

Conversational standards, text messaging and e-mail -- not to mention semi-literate contemporary slang -- have degraded the spoken word. Many, many people take so many shortcuts in their communications that they cannot rely on their ears to tell them if their writing is effective. But I'm being an old crank. My audience requires standard English in a casual style. Perhaps yours wants to be asked, "Whassup, Dawg?"

Know who you're writing for, think through what you're going to say, and write in the language that your audience understands.

Look at things from the other side

Okay, you've got your notes or list of the reasons you chose your position. You believe in what you're trying to persuade other people to believe (if this is all new to you, scroll down to my first post).

If you haven't already, go do your research. What are the reasons behind your thinking? What are the facts behind your position? What makes you so sure you are right? Go to the library. Read everything you can find. Check on the Internet (note that not all information on the Internet is reliable). List your strongest points -- the things that really back up what you say.

For example: Kids who inhale spray paint can die from paint coating the lining of their lungs.

If you've got facts and figures and percentages, use that information, too, if the numbers are heavily in your favor.

Look at what you've got in front of you. How can anyone not be persuaded?

Easily. There's always another side.

That's what you're going to do next. If you had to make the counter-argument to your position, what would you say? What facts or information out there hurts your logic? There's always something.

For example:

Your position is: All U.S. children should be vaccinated for (fill in the blank) disease because this disease is fatal in 95 out of 100 cases.

The counter argument might be: (Fill in the blank) disease is a terrible disease. However, it is not very contagious and only twenty children in the U.S. contract this disease every year, and the vaccine for this disease causes developmental damage and sometimes death in a high number of children.

Think (and research) every possible counter-argument to yours. Make a list, leaving room for a second column. Now, spend some time thinking of believable, truth-based reasons why these counter-arguments are faulty. Write these reasons in the second column, refuting what is in the first column.

At this point, you should have a full understanding of both sides of the issue and should be able to write a persuasive paper (at least from the standpoint of understanding your subject and having sufficient knowledge) convincing your audience of either side of the issue.

Now here is where we get on shaky ground morally and ethically. Look at your list of counter-arguments. Which ones will people know intuitively? In other words, when people hear you state your position, what reasons do they already know or objections will they already have to what you are saying? These top-of-mind problems will need addressing. Get a separate sheet of paper and list these problems. In order to persuade people of your position, you will have to clear up these issues for them. You don't want to spend lots of time on these issues nor give them prominence, but they are questions that you will have to answer in some way, even if indirectly. Be careful that you don't over-emphasize these problems or you will be working against yourself.

Now, look at the rest of the list. Is there anything on there that would be unethical to leave out, even if it hurts you?  I hope you will keep your integrity and address these issues. In the best case, it will give you greater credibility because you put yourself and your argument at risk by including non-helpful or even hurtful information. In the worst case, well, at least you didn't lie.

As for the rest of the list of counter-arguments, know that these issues are out there but don't plan to include them in your piece. If you bring these things up, you are working for the other side. If no one is hurt by excluding this information, you're okay.

Another consideration is length. One way to be persuasive is not to bore your audience. Fully cover your subject, but be as brief as possible. That means you may not be able to include all the information you have, and in fact, it may be counter-productive.

You won't persuade anyone whom you have put to sleep.

Copyright 2007 by Anne Creed

Please don't meet anybody's needs!

You'll hear it at least once today. A voice on the radio or an ad on TV. Or you'll read it in a print ad. Somebody will declare that they or their product will "meet your needs."

Stop for a moment and replay everything you just heard or read. They're going to meet your needs. How nice.

Do they sound for even a moment like they have a clue what your needs are? If they understood your needs, couldn't they have named them? Wouldn't they have named them?

When I hear somebody offer to "meet my needs," they may as well have taunted me with "Yo Mama!" Because the first thing I know when somebody offers to meet my needs is that they are completely focused on themselves and completely out of touch with the possibility that their product or service might do me some good.

This single phrase is the mark of an amateur writer, an unfocused marketing strategy and a second-rate product or service. I would say more, but I understand that if I am mean on my blog, I will attract a mean audience. So, Mean People, go away and meet your needs somewhere else.

So, what do you say instead of "meet your needs" when you're trying to write something and are at a loss?

Say anything but that!

Go back to the beginning and rethink the benefits of your products or services to your audience. That's what you want to tell them.  You won't meet their needs. Tell them how you can change their lives, or make their lives better, or solve a problem they have. You'll make them younger, smarter, faster, thinner. Or you'll get them out of debt, kill their weeds, protect their families, solve their evil in-law problems. You get the idea.

The only way you can meet their needs is to identify these needs and then tell your audience how you solve this problem for them. Speak to their hearts. Ease their pain. Set them free.

End of rant.

Copyright 2007 by Anne Creed