5 Reasons Why Barack Obama is Better at Persuasive Selling than John McCain
October 8th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.com
First off, let me just obliterate the notion that I might be an Obama supporter. I’m not. Frankly, I don’t have great faith in either of the candidates, and am seriously considering “throwing away” my vote on Bob Barr. But that’s beside the point, really.
Last night, like many Americans, I tuned in to the debate. And, all personal opinions and bias aside, one thing I could NOT help noticing was that Obama clearly has a really, really good speech writer and/or communication coach.
Not to mention his totally smooth and unruffled communication style… from his open body language to his “sympathetic” facial expressions to his even vocal tone to his effective use of pauses and emphasis in all the right places.
Before I begin my list of reasons why Obama is a master of persuasion, let me just clarify the meaning of persuasion as defined by Wikipedia.org:
Persuasion is a form of social influence. It is the process of guiding people toward the adoption of an idea, attitude, or action by rational and symbolic (though not always logical) means. It is strategy of problem-solving relying on “appeals” rather than strength.
Manipulation is taking persuasion to an extreme, where the one person or group benefits at the cost of the other.
That said, persuasive argument is of course the driving force behind sales copywriting, which is why it’s something I’m tuned in to. As a copywriter, I help business owners persuade individuals to buy/believe in their products, services, ideas and ideals. Because of the work I do, you might even say I’m especially JADED and immune to persuasion because I know where it comes from.
It should go without saying that each party is trying to sell something here - the idea of himself as our best candidate for U.S. President.
Okay: that out of the way, here’s why Obama is better at PERSUADING than McCain is:
(Again, persuasion being “the process of guiding people toward the adoption of an idea, attitude, or action by rational and symbolic (though not always logical) means.“).
1. Obama begins his answer to every debate question by addressing a very personal problem that “hits home” for the audience.
As he’s presenting the “issue,” whether it’s concerns over healthcare affordability, tax cuts for the middle class, lack of jobs, the war in Iraq, or social security, he ALWAYS opens his case by touching the emotions of “the average American.” I do believe that in the very first question he answered, he opened with something rousing like, “You’re scared. You’re concerned about the future.” (Don’t quote me on the man’s exact words but it was essentially an acknowledgement of the emotional state of the audience.)
This is HIGHLY persuasive - he used what is essentially the “ATTENTION” portion of the sales pitch formula - which is abbreviated as A.I.D.A. and stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. By immediately touching upon the audience’s biggest fears, he grabbed their ATTENTION and got them listening to what he had to say.
2. Obama’s answers always focus on “the other person” - you, not him.
Obama consistently takes the second person perspective when he answers questions. The second person perspective uses the words “you,” “your family,” “your concerns,” and “your future” (as opposed to “me,” “my,” “I.”
Every good copywriter knows that if you want to endear your audience to your side of the fence, you spin the copy toward the “you” or the “what’s in it for you” perspective.
(While McCain may have made some equally good points, they were weakened by his repeated use of the words “I” and “me” - “What I will do.“)
Furthermore, when Obama gets to the “meat” of his question, or essentially his “answer,” he shifts his perspective to “we” and “us.” This creates the image of him being on the “us team” or “on the level” with the average American. Any good sales copywriter worth his salt knows that you open your arguments by being audience-focused. (I wish that a few more of my clients would recognize how powerful of a tactic this is — but alas, it’s hard for people to think clearly when their egos are making such a godawful racket!)
3. Obama covers his points in outline form, and then repeats them so that everybody understands.
(Side note: when people ask politicians to explain their plans, very rarely if ever do these plans actually go into deep detail. The truth is, we can’t possibly ever know whether such plans will work until all the funding, people, processes and systems are put into place to get the plans going. At that point, the plans will likely change. The plans will then likely change again and again, ending up nothing like what said politician originally promised. However, admitting this truth won’t likely provide that emotional security blanket that people are so desperately craving in trying times as these. So, instead, the presidential candidates get up there and try to sound like they know what they’re talking about.)
When Obama lays down his outlines as Point 1, Point 2, Point 3, etc., it comes across as very organized and this appeals to most people. Why is this persuasive? Because it’s easy to mentally grasp and recall an argument that’s presented in a logical format.
As I said, this doesn’t change the fact that said plan might be just a bunch of idealistic smoke blowing up your you-know-what. But it SOUNDS good, and it PERSUADES, and that is what, sadly, wins favor and gets the vote in the end.
4. Obama draws positive associations between himself and the American people.
Obama talks about his family’s struggle with money growing up, the fact that scholarships brought him to where he is today, etc.. He does this because he knows it creates an emotional connection between himself and his audience - the “we’re in this together” feeling.
McCain, on the other hand, uses the tactic of painting a NEGATIVE picture of his opponent, discussing pork barrel spending and lack of military experience. While such points may be valid, the problem is that negative communication produces NEGATIVE feelings. McCain is effectively alienating his audience with such tactics.
Most advertising experts will tell you that if you’re trying to build a trustworthy reputation for your brand (cause, etc.), IT PAYS to stay focused on the positive and avoid speaking negatively about anyone or anything.
Our country is at the critical point where the LAST thing people want to hear is more gloom and doom. With Obama playing the savior card, desperate Americans are lapping up everything he has to say. And that, unfortunately, is just the persuasive tactic that’s required to “sell” yourself as he is doing.
5. Obama paints a mental picture of himself in the president’s seat.
At the close of each answer, Obama used words such as “When I am president,” which gives a positive visualization of himself as our country’s future leader. This is highly persuasive and hypnotic, even!
Notice he doesn’t say “If I’m elected…” he says WHEN. Or, perhaps he might have said something like, “As president of the United States, I will…” (Note: I’m not using his exact words here because I don’t have a transcript of the debate in front of me, but if you do view it again, come by and tell me what his exact phrasing is. I’m pretty sure this is his tactic.)
The truth is that the world’s greatest and most influential leaders were/are also strong communicators. Clearly, when you can back your words with actions that support the greater good, then that makes all the difference. But it starts with being an effective, and persuasive, orator. Why? Because if you can’t persuade the masses from the start that your ideas are good and sound, then you’ll likely never live the day to see those ideas become reality.
The challenge, once that’s accomplished, is to give substance and credibility to your remarks by staying true to your word. And that, of course, is what remains to be seen from the presidential candidates on EITHER side.
I leave you with the definition of persuasion once more:
From Wikipedia.org:
Persuasion is a form of social influence. It is the process of guiding people toward the adoption of an idea, attitude, or action by rational and symbolic (though not always logical) means. It is strategy of problem-solving relying on “appeals” rather than strength.
For more information about the fine art of writing persuasively to position yourself as an authority in your field, download the FREE report: The Dangerous Truth About Copywriting That Sells - from Dina Giolitto at Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing.
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October 5th, 2007 Dina at Wordfeeder.comI want to tell you about the most important strategy behind copywriting that sells. It’s a slightly different technique than the other copywriting weapons I’ve described thus far.
Your goal, as a means of driving business, is to work hard at getting your customers to like you. The best way to achieve that is… surprise… be genuine in your interpersonal communication, and BE YOURSELF.
(Notice I said in your personal communication. It’s not the same as an ad or website or brochure.)
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September 10th, 2007 Dina at Wordfeeder.comLet’s talk about billion dollar industries. Healthcare. Insurance. Law. Technology. Politics. Oh, and since we’re calling this copywriting lesson the God Complex, we can’t leave out the world’s religious leaders.
How did the biggest revenue-generators of our time become that way?
Is it because they really do possess the ability to prolong our lives, erase our debt, free our souls and keep us safe from the evil and disaster that lurks around every corner?
Doubtful.
Communication is the secret weapon that burrows into our suggestible minds and works to brainwash the masses. Communication is how the Corporate Giants manage to keep on taking our money and feeding us half-truths that shape how we live our lives. Do you want to be the sheep, or the Shepherd? The shepherd calls the shots and makes the money. Being the Shepherd starts with how you communicate.
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July 7th, 2007 Dina at Wordfeeder.comLast week we discussed the “Us and Them” copywriting strategy, this week we’ll cover guilt-tripping your audience.
While “Us and Them” works its psychology on your rabble-rousing fans, the guilt trip wins over meeker individuals. If you’ve already been doing your best to attract a readership of humble, gentle, forgiving, confidence-lacking or even downright wussy people, the guilt trip will no doubt be your ticket to plentiful sales conversions.
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June 27th, 2007 Dina at Wordfeeder.comThere are baaad people out there. Scoundrels, louses, hijackers, charlatans, spammers, losers, heartbreakers, love-takers and people who are ready to steal your soul, stuff it into a Hefty Cinch Sack and take it to Mexico to be sold on the black soul market.
But we are not those people. Nope… we are on the Us team– the good guys; the honest; the just; the well-meaninged and good-intentioned. The Evil Others are an invisible force of shortcut-taking, dirty-trick-having, loathsome individuals, and we don’t want to associate with their kind.
They are invisible because… well, we don’t know who they are.
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June 19th, 2007 Dina at Wordfeeder.comThere is a distinct difference between journalistic writing and ad copywriting.
In journalism, you’re writing to inform, or share news. Therefore, you are expected to be objective, tell only the facts, give the full story from both sides, and remain impartial/opinionless.
In copywriting, you write to convince or persuade. The goal is to elicit a specific psychological response and produce an immediate action. For this reason, your message should always be biased, or tell only HALF the story.
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June 4th, 2007 Dina at Wordfeeder.comIn my last copywriting blog post, we discussed the means by which big companies “scare” their readers into buying their products. Today we’ll talk about how the Fear Factor can work especially well for an internet marketer selling internet business tools.
Mind you, I’m not suggesting you abandon your current strategy in favor of scaring the bejesus out of your customers. I’m simply sharing with you a very old, and highly effective method of writing sales copy.
Why would it be so easy to frighten folks over internet-related matters? Because a lot of people are confused about the web. When you don’t fully understand something, you can become fearful about it. Being fearful means you’re an easy target. Fear-based advertising generally works better on female audiences than it does males - although there’s no denying that both genders can fall victim to this type of persuasion.
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June 2nd, 2007 Dina at Wordfeeder.comWould an advertiser really try to scare people into buying things?
Fear-based advertising has been around since before there was even advertising. The Bible is a form of fear-based advertising, I think!
(Am I going to hell for saying that?)
Try to name one company who isn’t trying to scare you about something, so you’ll buy their product as “protection” or “assurance.”
You could get into a car accident and end up paying thousands in damage!
(Buy insurance from us and you can stop worrying).
Your kids are in danger of being approached by internet predators!
(Keep them safe with our content-blocking and monitoring software.)
The environment can give you cancer!
(Purchase these vitamins and protect yourself from diseases like cancer.)
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May 28th, 2007 Dina at Wordfeeder.comDid you ever stop to think about WHY you insist on putting Hellman’s Mayonnaise in your potato salad, as opposed to the No-Frills brand?
Did you ever consider that Allegra or Claritin might not be any better than the generic allergy medication found on the shelves of your neighborhood drug store?
Did you ever wonder how you got roped into upgrading the security system on your computer several times a year… or who in fact PROVED that it was in fact more economical to buy a Japanese car?
There is a reason why your home is stuffed to maximum capacity with brand name items, and why you place your utter faith as a consumer in what massive corporations have to say about life and how you should live it.
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