your letter (or advertisement or whatever it might be), what do
you want them to do?
This is step one in Turbocharge Your Writing. Everything you
write will fall into line to support your objective once you state
your objective. The great baseball player Babe Ruth was known for
walking up to the plate and pointing to where he intended to hit
the ball. Ruth was a showman and his pointing thrilled people, but
it also helped him hit more home runs than anyone else in history
at that time. Babe Ruth stated his intention (“I’m going to hit the
ball there”) and, more often than not, he did exactly what he said
he would.
What action do you want your readers to take? Shoot for the
moon. When I created a letter to send to managers about my writ-
ing seminars, I wanted a 100% response. I wanted everymanager
to read the letter, get excited, and call me.
That didn’t happen. But my grand objective helped me write
one of the most powerful and persuasive letters in my own literary
history.
What do youwant your letter to accomplish?EMOTIONAL APPEAL
Back in the sixties Roy Garn wrote an eye-opening book called The
Magic Power of Emotional Appeal. I doubt if it’s still in print, but
hunt down a copy. You’ll learn a lot about how to write—or
speak—in a way that captures people and makes them listen.
Garn’s premise is that everyone—including you and me—is
preoccupied. You have stuff on your mind. You’re worried about
money, work, your children, a new relationship, and the future. Or
maybe you’re thinking about sex, or a new movie you want to see,
or a health problem. There’s something on your mind right now,
even as you read these words, that tugs at your attention. Right?
Our challenge as writers and speakers is to break people out of
their preoccupation so they can hear what we have to say. If you
don’t shake your readers, they’ll stay preoccupied and your writing
will go into one ear and out the other—if it gets into an ear at all.
How do you break your reader’s preoccupation?HYPNOTIC WRITING