As we move deeper into the Entertainment Age (something I myself have coined, but others might’ve come to a similar conclusion, which started when the Information Age ended…), figuring out how to entertain your audience is of paramount importance.
This is why listicles this side of BuzzFeed no longer work.
Why short copy misses the point and gets utterly ignored.
Why attention spans have shrunk, why short-form video content is all the rage, and why everyone is ODing on quick dopamine hits.
Boredom has always been the death of a sale. But most humans have been conditioned to have something else take their focus away. They’re no longer giving their focus to other things. It’s being stolen.
And if you want to steal your audience’s focus for long enough to persuade them to buy something, then, well, you must learn how to be more entertaining.
One of the most entertaining shows of all-time, especially among animated shows, is South Park.
It’s a crime they didn’t want to cover the past election, and skipped a season on us.
Anyway, a few years back Matt Parker and Trey Stone (the two creators of South Park), popped into NYU for a surprise lecture on writing.
And they were talking about a similar writing problem: Entertaining your audience long enough for them to give you your focus and attention. This was in a fiction context, if I recall correctly. But thanks to the Entertainment Age, it’s imperative you learn how to apply this trick into your writing.
The good news is this is a simple trick. It only involves two words. And it adds a South Park level of drama and spiciness to everything you write (copy, short form scripts, fiction, etc.).
So, what are the two words?
But & therefore.
The more you can insert a “but” or “therefore,” the more drama your writing naturally has.
But there’s a catch…
(See what I did there? See how that “But” added a level of drama and spiciness that was previously missing from the copy?)
Just kidding. There isn’t a catch. I just wanted to prove to you how this works.
Another example:
Then Billy turned 50. And when he looked in the mirror, he hated his reflection: His pudgy, bulging face made him look 20 pounds overweight. His flimsy arms added to the obtuseness of his reflection. And don’t even start on his receding hairline, which receded 50% more in the past year than it has since it started receding. He loathed this version of himself. Loathed.
Therefore, he set out to make a change. He decided to join a gym, and start lifting weights.
But he didn’t know where to begin…
See how two simple words make this fake story more real and dramatic?
Try this in your copy and see if it doesn’t result in more persuasive copy spewing from your fingertips.
And if you need help implementing this writing trick (as well as several others I have stored in my brain)?
Hit reply, and let’s hop on a quick call.
John
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