Word Structures that Work and get Audience Action from Reaction by Matthew Hill
#communication #effective #impact #write #present #results #action #convince #movement #profit
Effective Word Structures to Drive Audience Action – Message – Audience – Action
We have looked at the message in piece 1, the audience in piece 2 and now we can to putting all of this together to generate the all-important – action, movement and outcomes. We need a special and proven word structure to get your listeners and readers to move and take action.
Attention
The most super scarce resource on Planet Earth is EA – Executive Attention! It is rarer than gold. People suffer under matrix management, debt, demanding kids over half term, deadlines, working to combat economic decline, AI inspired competition, nagging leadership, whining Gen Z staff, and a raft of bureaucratic restrictions, rules and business prevention measures that are driving them up the wall.
And you have to break through all of that…
We need to know who they are (we did this last time). We need to know what they fear, need, want and desire. And we must put this in ALMOST clickbait form (provocative enough for them emote, and be drawn in. Attractive enough and intriguing enough for them click but it must also DELIVER and not disappoint like 95% of actual clickbait.) You must generate enough impact bang for their attention buck.
Forgive me
We can connect with provocation and then repair the resulting irritation generated your hell focused headline via sharing a commonality. When we relate to the avatar of our target audience, empathise with what they are going through, then we can be forgiven for using the manipulation we deployed to get them here.
Let’s get engaged
We now name the COST of NOT, their need, their want and maybe their desire too. We use Now-to-Future contrast, Heaven v Hell contrast, What if you do v What if you don’t, contrast. This creates engagement as we deepen the reader / listener’s fear of the worst, and their active hope and greed for (as Kamala Harris would say) “What might be”.
For the scientist reader, we are creating voltage – The potential difference between 2 points. The higher the voltage, the bigger the resultant spark.
Get the bad stuff out early
Built into this is taking people down to the lowest point. They descend to the bottom of the V to realise their base fear. Ironically, here is where we find FREEDOM, change and choice. Then it is about creating steps for the audience to come back up to the light. We talk about creating a sh*t list and ticking off one problem at a time to get to a hassle free brighter place. We look at the modest con list and then swamp it with the much larger pro or benefit lists. And we work this logically and emotionally, and align it to our audience avatar values so that it all seems natural.
We layer up and stack the value that we will deliver for the audience to fully appreciate – this resonates with their need for security, variety, meaning, belonging, growth and contribution. We look at face saving, ego, moral resolution of outstanding issues, and the utilitarian uplift that will follow.
Activation
You can lead a horse to water, but the clever bit is getting neddy to drink. Sometimes we need to put a little salt on the hay in their nose bag.
We can reduce the perception of risk. We can amplify the benefits of movement. And when we reduce the window of opportunity, we create mobilising scarcity and a little positive anxiety. We need to be factual, honest and accurate so that the deductive, detail-focused professional can process the options in their own way and feel they have carried out a sufficient assessment of risk and are comfortable with their level of exposure.
Lower the barriers to action
To get the most out of the specific people in the audience, who ARE your audience, and have them activate, you must lower the barriers to get them to start, move and act. Make it as simple as possible and then you will get the largest engagement and the biggest crowd surge.
What have we covered in this series?
We have worked out what a message is. We have honed in to find YOUR audience (that is not just a bunch of randoms, sat in front of your or reading your blog post, and we have provided a template for you to persuade, move and activate your tribe / crowd / people.
Questions
What do you want them to do? Like you, follow you, engage you, engage with you, pay you money, hire you, use your services, believe you, turn up to something, perform a requested task, refer someone to you, vote for you, support you, or to change their minds (good luck with that last one).
About the author
Matthew Hill is a coach, presentation skills trainer and writer, helping corporate executives to do better and build larger crowds of qualified in people that are the right people for your offering. Do feel free to ping me with a question, call for a quick chat or enquire about our training offering.
Leave a Reply