Found 17 topics tagged ‘Gaining Attention’

Let’s be honest, this stuff is hard. Never in human history has there been a communication medium more competitive than the Internet. Never has our collective attention span been more fleeting. As much as...

Of all the ‘rules’ out there for writing page headlines, this is the most transformative. If your headline sits on a petition or advocacy page, use it to communicate the ‘pain or consequence’ that follows from...

Great communication is not just about what you say but how you say it. Who says it also matters. You won’t always be the best vehicle for your message. It helps to know when someone else...

Cognitive biases are powerful mental distortions that affect the way we think and behave. They are so powerful that they can lead people to act against their own best interests. If you understand them, you can...

To steal a mantra from our friends in journalism: don’t bury the lede. The idea might have started in newspaper offices but it applies anywhere we’re competing for our audience’s attention (so, the entire Internet)...

SPOILER: it’s not good. Sure—you know you’re writing an email to 5,000 people. But your task is to make your reader feel like you’re writing only to them. When ‘broadcasting’ language slips into our writing,...