Three Magic Words That Persuade
Certain words are as powerful as incantations
We’re not talking about the pseudo-mystical exhortations used by stage illusionists and in movies — abracadabra, alazakam, expelarmus or presto-change-o. We’re talking about simple, everyday English-language words that almost have the power to enchant people.
You know every one of these words and, chances are, you use all of them in your daily communications. When used wisely, these everyday words can influence opinions, can compel others to buy your product, believe your argument, or otherwise go along with your wishes.
I call them magic words because even after centuries of constant daily use, their power is still something to conjure with.
Almost since mankind grunted its first syllable, other men have searched for the most effective words to motivate and convince. Whether they were shamans or kings, priests or poets, these were the early “motivators” — the first to give serious thought to weaving a web of words with the strength to snare the minds of others.
Modern-day spin doctors have certainly given the subject a lot of thought. The fields of psychology, advertising, and marketing, semantics, and hypnosis have all contributed to the search for the most persuasive words.
In the 20th century, the study became a mini-science. Especially in the field of marketing, experts began to codify the words they had found to increase the effectiveness of paid messages. Legendary ad-guru David Ogilvy was one such writer, offering his most effective trilogy: you, new, and how.
As he said:
“If you try hard enough, you can almost always use new in your copy. Then there is the word how, which is in third place on the list. People want to know how to solve problems, how to get ahead, how to be attractive, how to win friends, and how to end money worries.”
You, it goes without saying, are always interested in messages directed specifically to you.
By the 1960s, the list had been expanded and refined to: you, easy, money, save, love, new, discovery, results, proven, and guarantee.
In 1970, the list of the 12 most persuasive words in the English language was reported as coming from researchers at Yale University’s psychology department: you, money, save, new, results, health, easy, safety, love, discovery, proven, and guarantee. In this list, safety and health are added.
Interestingly, neither list includes the word FREE! (often used in all caps and with the added exclamation point) which many copywriters and books on selling rank as one of the strongest action-inducing words ever.
As a marketing strategist and copywriter for over 30 years, I have studied and tested everything I could find about words that persuade. Over the years, I have honed my own list of magic words — ones that I know from experience really work. Here are my top three most effective words from that time-proven list. It’s a little different from any of the classic lists — not much, but in some important ways, I believe.
1. “Because”
Here is one place I differ from many experts. For me, the most powerful word you can use to convince is not you, not new, not free. It is because.
Why?
Because the word has the power to create belief in the minds of others. That one word imparts credibility to everything said before and after.
Its magic power comes from the fact that none of us, whether we want to admit it or not, make decisions logically. In almost every instance, people make decisions emotionally — and then justify them logically.
When you use the word because you give the other person a justification for believing you. They can relax and accept what you say because you have given them a “logical” basis for belief.
Extensive experiments by Dr. Ellen Langer at Harvard in 1978 showed that the explanation that follows the word because doesn’t even have to be totally logical, provable, or otherwise sound. In most cases — even when there is no logic to back it up — just the fact that the explanation follows because imbues it will believability.
Jerry Shen, writing in Medium, details the experiments here, in his article “The Most Persuasive Word in the Dictionary.”
Test yourself: Which one of these requests is more persuasive?
Will you buy these cookies?
Will you buy these cookies, because the sales go to buy our classroom a computer for the students to use?
No doubt you’d respond more positively to the second version — because of because.
2. “You”
Here I line up with the traditional experts; you is one of the most powerful words around.
Early on in my copywriting career, I learned the magnetic power of using you. Nobody wants to receive more sales messages — we’re all overwhelmed with them. So, we always view any message first with the instantaneous subconscious question: “Is this of any importance to me?”
If the message seems to be addressed to a vast, undefined group of someones, the answer is usually “no”. So, every message should be addressed to the most specific person there is: you.
Though you see it all the time in advertising, never direct a message or request to “our customers,” or say, “people want…” Hammer home you, you, you.
Of course, when possible, substituting the person’s name is the most powerful attention-getter there is. Even puppies respond to the use of their names.
I won’t go into a long explanation here. You know how crucial you are to yourself.
If you need convincing, stand on a busy street corner and yell: “Can anyone help me?” Then try looking directly at one person and asking: “Can you help me?”
You’ll quickly learn which is more effective.
3. “New”
How important is news to most people? So important that CNN, Fox, MSNBC, and other television news outlets are on the air around the clock, 365 days every year. And so important that many people check the internet on an almost obsessive basis throughout the day just to catch the latest breaking stories.
It’s no wonder that the earliest form of advertising was posted on kiosks created to carry the latest news bulletins in ancient Greece and Rome — or that the advertising agency business grew out of the newspaper business.
People are so hungry to be in on the latest developments that the word new has an immense lure. Advertising icon David Ogilvy stated flatly that there was never any reason not to use the word new in a marketing message — there is always something new about even the most established product, a new reason to use it, a new way to use it, and so on.
It works so well that manufacturers continually fiddle with even the most successful products just to add something, so they put a new and improved label on them.
So, find some way of adding “news” to your communications, especially if you can suggest that it’s an inside secret most folks don’t know yet.
We all like to feel we’re on the leading edge.
I urge you to try out these magic words because they’ll add new impact to your marketing messages, your arguments — anytime you want to convince and motivate others.
