Hypnotism And The Art Of Writing Good Sales Copy

It's not what you think. The art of writing good sales copy is not about brainwashing people. That's to misunderstand hypnotism. As a hypnotist once told me: you can't make people do what they don't want to do, you can only put them in a relaxed state where they're more suggestible. And that is similar to what you do when writing good sales copy.

And writing good sales copy is tough.

There is so much poor sales copy on the internet it makes you want to cry. It's as if the writers believe that if you hit somebody over the head with a hammer often enough they will eventually capitulate. They could learn a thing or two from hypnotists.

When meeting somebody, a hypnotist mirrors a subject's actions. He might even make a conscious effort to use the same vocabulary. This is a short cut to gaining your trust. It's a subconscious reaction and stronger because of it. A good hypnotist will speak at the same rate as the subject at first. Then, gradually, slow down, taking you into a more relaxed state.

Hypnotists are very careful to control the tone of their voice. They need to be soft enough to seem friendly and warm, like a mug of hot chocolate, but precise enough to be clear.

Once you are relaxed the hypnotist will blink his eyes ever more slowly. By that stage, you are so relaxed and suggestible that you follow. Until you find that it's too much effort to open them again.

Then he will concoct a story, taking you on a beautiful journey, using only words and the tone of his voice, to a beautiful place. And who doesn't want to go to a beautiful place? When you're relaxed and comfortable in that beautiful place he will make suggestions that he hopes you will take into your waking state.

And that, in a nutshell, is the art of writing good sales copy.

Cliches - How To Love Them

I had a great creative writing tutor when I was at college, which is a while ago now. He told us: 'Cliches are cliches because they work'. By that he meant that if a phrase only becomes a cliche because people decide that it works. Then he went on to tell us to avoid them at all costs.

So, in a way, that's contradictory advice.

Cliches can be good. With a cliche you know what you're getting. You have this phrase that, for years, people have used. Which is good. It means that they identify with it. It's familiar to them, like a pair of old slippers. They know exactly what it means, which removes any chance of misunderstanding. And misunderstanding is the enemy of good communications.

So what's the problem?

Cliches make the mind fog over. If used one after another, the reader or listener shuts off. We tell ourselves that this person has nothing new to say. The human mind is a wonderful device. Its curiosity has propelled us forward with great scientific advances. It likes nothing better than to make discoveries. If curiosity killed the cat it also drew the human race out of its caves and into the light.

From the point of view of the writer, cliches can be a product of the lazy side of the mind. When reaching for a phrase, often the first thing we think of is a cliche. And that's okay. We might beat ourselves up about it but it's natural. The mind wants to get a lot done as fast as possible. It's only when we settle for that initial phrase, rather than exploring other possibilities, that we should hit ourselves over the head with a blunt instrument.

But where does that leave us? Cliches are good and bad. Which is it? Do we use them or not?

Yes, we use them. Frankly, it would be hard not to. And sometimes they are a useful shortcut. But they should be used judiciously and sparingly. At the end of the day, when all's said and done, in a nutshell, come rain or shine, for better or worse, there's so many of them it would be hard to avoid them.

So you might as well love them.

Copywriting - Greeting Cards

Not many copywriting jobs are more fun than devising greeting cards. So I thought I'd post a few I'd worked on for an online greetings card company. The brief was to take existing, stock photographs and add captions. Some of the cards can be personalised. Apologies for the watermarks but they have to be there.

Writing For The Internet

As Shakespeare once wrote: 'brevity is the soul of wit'. Writing for the internet is all about brevity, or the appearance of brevity. To write for the internet you have to make an impact as quickly as possible. Your audience won't wait.

Never has the phrase 'bite sized chunks' been more apposite. Even if your message takes at least 5,000 words to convey, you must break it down, slice it up and make it appear shorter than it is. Writing for the internet is a challenge. But an exciting one.

In the beginning, the internet was all about text. There were no videos, few pictures. Connections were too slow for these luxuries. And people wrote in the same way they wrote articles offline. But it soon became clear that reading habits were going to change.

The reasons for this are debateable. Some people say it's because reading on a L.E.D. screen is more tiring. Others that our attention span is shortening. People grab takeaway facts when browsing and move on. Reading habits have changed and continue to do so. New devices like the ipad and smartphones are making a difference.

And it's not just the devices that are changing. Popular sites are having an effect. The social media site, Twitter, only allows you 140 characters per message (though it's possible to cheat).

So what are the techniques of writing good copy for the net?

As I've mentioned, keeping it short is the number one rule. But what if you're message is at least 5,000 words long? Well, if blogging, consider breaking it down to ten messages of 500 words each.

But it's not just word count. Grammar is changing too. Sentences are shorter, commas more prevalent. But you have to be careful. Short sentences. One after another. To keep the pace up. Again and again. They can be annoying, make the reader breathless.

Adverbs and adjectives can be a curse too. Don't get me wrong. These types of words enrich a piece of writing. But nothing slows down a reader more than the overuse of these words.

There are other technical considerations too. When writing for the internet, the internet needs to consider search engines. Or Google. As that has pretty much blown other search engines out of the water. 'Search Engine Optimization' is the watchword of internet marketeers. You can written the greatest article ever but it's no good if search engines can't find it.

Any good writer takes into account the medium. Writing for the internet is no different. In that way, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

How To Write A Good Speech

"As of tonight, you're all fired... Oh, do I have your attention now?" Alec Baldwin spits those words out as he tries to get the petulant sales force to focus on him in David Mamet's movie, 'Glengarry Glen Ross'. The babble in the room ceases and all eyes turn towards him. This is the art of the speechwriter.

The most important parts of a speech are the first and last lines opening and closing. Start badly and you've lost your audience. Start well and you'll see them lean forward in their seats. It doesn't have to be dramatic as the opening example. But it needs to engage the audience.

If you can't engage the audience with a speech then you're lost.

So how do you engage an audience? First, you must know your audience. What are their hopes? What are their dreams? What's important to them? Hypnotists are taught to mirror the body language of their subjects to create empathy. If the subject strokes his hair, so will the hypnotist. Discreetly of course.

And so it is with speeches.

Tap into your audience's hopes and desires. But don't do it clumsily. There's a phrase for that kind of behaviour: it's called 'sucking up'. It displays a lack of conviction and self-confidence.

There are other ways. Humanity has a common bond. We are all different but many of our hopes and desires are the same. The health and financial wellbeing of ourselves and our family matter to most of us. There are also industry specific interests. For instance, a video cameraman hopes one day to find the perfect shoulder mount so that operating a camera is both comfortable and stable. It might not excite the rest of us but it would transform his working life.

Once you have your audience's attention, you have to keep it. Two ways of doing this are to make use of what I call 'musicality' and also imagery.

Musicality is not only to do with the sounds individual words make but the rhythm of sentences. The rhythm has to keep changing, just like a good piece of music has fast and slow passages. It keeps the listener on his toes, stops him becoming complacent. Varying the length of sentences is one way to do this. But you should also pay attention to the onomatopoeic nature of the words. I like the word 'clatter'. With its hard consonants it sounds like its meaning.

Imagery must not be forgotten. It's harder to use well but very powerful. The way the human brain works is that we find it easier to remember things through imagery. Many 'memory acts' on stage use this technique. They create a story. For instance, if they want to remember a sequence of numbers and letter that goes: FD2BF, they might create an image of Fred and his dog carrying two bags of food. Try it. It's much easier to remember.

And then there's the ending of the speech. Contrary to popular opinion it doesn't have to be dramatic. Sometimes people try too hard to do this. It helps if it's memorable. But, more importantly, it has to be true to what has gone before. It must make sense.

Speechwriting is the closest to music that writing ever gets.

Corporate Videos Can Be Creative

It's a misnomer really. Writing a corporate video is not about writing at all. Not as most people think of it. I don't think I could ever have done it if I hadn't been a director first.

I came from the world of TV before I ever wrote a single corporate video script. If the truth be told, I was a little disdainful of corporate videos. That was until I found a production company who took a different approach to them. They decided a corporate video should have the same production values as a TV show and be just as entertaining.

That doesn't mean that the CEO should be jumping through fiery hoops, wearing a clown's shoes. But it does mean the video should be stylish, inventive and not boring. Even if you're just announcing the year's financial results.

Boredom is the enemy of communication. If people are bored, it reflects on the message you are trying to convey. Videos can be entertaining and serious at the same time.

That journey begins with the script. Let's understand what a script is. It's a blueprint. It's like the architectural plans for a building. When the video is finished the script can be thrown away. It's done its job.

To draw up a blueprint, the writer has to understand the nature of video production. Videos are made of shots. A good writer will be thinking of shots all the time. Even if shot suggestions are not put into the script, the text should indicate them. For instance, if your presenter says: "The most important thing to remember..." - that automatically indicates a close-up.

Every corporate film needs a combination of different shots or scenes. You need to exercise the viewer's eye as well as his intellect. That's why it's important to work with the director. In too many production companies, the writing of the script is carried out in isolation. If the writer doesn't have any directing experience that can be tough. Too often the script is written and then handed to the director with the instruction: "Do something creative with this." But, to go back to our architectural analogy, if the drawings have been made it's too late to alter the foundations.

Also, remember the limitations of video. It does certain things well and others not so well. I've seen corporate videos written as if they were powerpoint presentations. If the content would make a better powerpoint presentation than a video, then turn it into that. Don't make a video.

Corporate videos can be creative and that starts with the writing process.