What writers & others say
“The British nation is unique in this respect: they are the only people who like to be told how bad things are, who like to be told the worst.”
― Winston S. Churchill, British politician
“I want to scream sometimes, because I hate when people refer to a dead person as the ‘late’ so and so. I’m sorry to break that bad news, but that person isn’t just late — they’re not even coming!”
― Jarod Kintz, author of E-mails from a Madman
“I think one of the appeals of suspense is to safely explore our innermost fears.”
― Lisa Gardner, American author
“A good ad should be like a good sermon: It must not only comfort the afflicted, it also must afflict the comfortable.”
— Bernice Fitz-Gibbon, retail pioneer
“You can’t underestimate the power of fear.”
— Patricia Nixon, former American first lady
“Bad news isn’t wine. It doesn’t improve with age.”
— Colin Powell, an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army
“Fear doesn’t shut you down; it wakes you up”
― Veronica Roth, author, Divergent
“Fear sells local television news, followed by anything to do with sex, children or animals. ‘Titillation, Tots and Terriers’ is how TV news insiders sometimes portray their craft.”
— Drew Shinnick, columnist and tech writer
“People spend 19 times the time, effort and expense to solve a pain than to reap a benefit.”
— Chris Stiehl, “The Listening Coach”
Move readers to act with persuasive writing
Your readers are bombarded with the data equivalent of 174 newspapers — ads included — every day, according to a study by USC’s Annenberg School for Communication.
In this environment, how do you grab readers’ attention and move them to act?
Learn how to write more engaging, persuasive messages at our persuasive-writing workshop.
