I get a lot of e-mails from people asking me to explain Stepped or Incremental Awareness.  Here is a brief newsletter I published in 2000 that introduces some of the basic concepts.  It's a very simplistic article but it is illustrative of the basic ideas.

Please post any questions you have in the comment area and I'll be sure to answer.

Please excuse the hyperbole in the headline but my readership at the time really loved these kind of headlines

So here ya go:

 

In this issue:

Learn the "god-like" Power of Creating Worlds in Other People’s Minds!

D r. S u l o ‘ s
A c c e l e r a t e d   P e r s u a s i o n
N e w s l e t t e r

"The World’s Most Effective Sales, Persuasion and
Influence Tactics..SIMPLIFIED"

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Vol. 1, No. 10       April 16, 2000
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This week I’d like to introduce a few higher level concepts about persuasion that may not seem readily applicable, but will sooner or later generate some powerful persuasion material for you.

So begin to notice some of these concepts I bring up in the specific events that occur in your life everyday and allow yourself to start to apply them in some positive and beneficial ways for you and the people in your life.

GENESIS PERSUASION

"We are generally better persuaded by the reasons we discover ourselves than by those given to us by others"

-Blaise Pascal

As persuaders we create meaning in people’s lives.  Unique meanings for specific events, situations, and concepts.  We take on the role of creator.

Think about this:

There are a few hundred writers in Hollywood that create the majority of the films we see.  Yet, millions of people passively watch them and ultimately absorb material they had no part in creating.

Have you ever sat down and decided to write your own movie?

Maybe, but I doubt it.

It’s like that with any kind of meaning creation.  It’s easier to take the pre-packaged meaning someone gives us about an event rather than come up with our own. And what truly works to a persuader’s benefit is that majority of the time there are two things that work to our advantage:

1. Most people don’t want to or haven’t thought about giving their own well-thought-out meanings to events in their lives.
2. Most people think there is only one possible meaning for any given event.

There’s a good reason why TV, radio, newspapers, movies, and religion are very popular.  They hand you meanings to attach/hook to life’s events on a silver platter.

Now, this is a good thing.  It opens up the window for you to add some positive, well thought out meanings to people’s daily events that create a more generative and positive direction in their lives.

It also opens up an opportunity for you to install some great frames of reference that automatically generate the behaviors you want someone to act out, without specifying those behaviors.

In almost all persuasion implication is better than specification.  Almost all TV and news uses implication.  They do it with weighted words and phrases, point of view, selective statistics, visual drama, musical cues and other ingenious methods.  With implication, you are prodding someone’s thought process in a certain direction by stepping their awareness.

Once their awareness starts moving in the direction you want it to go, they will generate additional thoughts, actions, emotions and concepts just the way you want them to- on their own. And because they feel they "thought it through" on their own- it’s their idea – and therefore you don’t need to convince them of anything.

Here’s a good example of changing someone’s mental process, emotions and future orientation through implication:

Jill is talking to Cindy about Cindy’s boyfriend Bob.

Cindy is telling Jill about how much she enjoys going out with Bob and that they have a great time every time they are together.

Jill enters the conversation while Cindy is smiling ear to ear with, "That first time you, Bob, and myself went out I thought he was the best boyfriend you’ve ever had.  But, have you noticed he hasn’t been coming over your house every night like he used to?"

Cindy replies, "Yeah, but that’s just because he has so much work to do during the week and doesn’t want to come over all tired." (She created a positive meaning to the observable behavior).

Jill then says, "Well I don’t know, I just know that the same thing happened to Sarah. Remember?  First her boyfriend would come over every day and then it was 3 times a week and then 2 times and then Sarah found out he was seeing someone else all week long.  I don’t think Bob would do that, but sometimes you just have to watch out for stuff like that."

Now, how do you think Cindy is going to attach meaning to Bob not coming around as often now?

What kind of feelings are generated from this implication?

What kind of behaviors do you think that change in thought process is going to create?

Implication focuses attention and whatever we focus our attention on will define our reality (ie- our thoughts, emotions and behaviors).

Focusing the person your persuading’s attention/awareness on things (now and in their future/internally and externally) is what creates the greatest results- covertly.

Now this kind of thing happens all the time. Usually in a negative fashion as demonstrated above.

We have been fed meanings for events since childhood, by our family, by our friends and by the media. Any event in life is a trigger for a pre-packaged associated meaning. We can enter the frozen food section of meaning making in our mind and microwave a TV meaning dinner that’s been pre-cooked by someone else at any time.

So our usual meaning choices consist of the equivalent of frozen fish sticks or Hot Pockets.

And chances are the people you surround yourself with and associate with shop in the same meaning place.

As a persuader you get to open up your own meaning market. The great thing about it is you don’t even have to sell frozen food- you can sell FRESH, HEALTHY meanings that change the perspective and frames of the people you are dealing with.

Enjoy.

Persuasively,
Christopher Tomasulo
Editor, Dr. Sulo’s Accelerated Persuasion Newsletter
http://www.covertcommunications.com

©2000, 2001  BY CHRISTOPHER TOMASULO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. "GENESIS PERSUASION", "DR. SULO",  "DOKTOR SULO" AND "ACCELERATED PERSUASION" ARE ALL TRADEMARKS OF CHRISTOPHER TOMASULO. INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THIS PAGE AND IN THIS NEWSLETTER IS FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. NONE OF THIS NEWSLETTER IS TO BE CONSIDERED LEGAL, PERSONAL OR THERAPEUTIC ADVICE. IF YOU’D LIKE TO CONTACT ME YOU CAN EMAIL ME AT DOKTORSULO at COVERTCOMMUNICATIONS.COM.

Do you have some feedback or stories you’d like to share? Just send an email to me at mailto:DoktorSulo atcovertcommunications.com I’d love to hear from you.

 

From 1999 till 2005 I ran a discussion group with many of today’s top marketers and copywriters.  Not only did we exchange great ideas but also great finds.   In 2003 I happened upon what seemed to be a predecessor of the “Two Young Men” ad that the WSJ has consistently used.

This ad was printed in 1919.

Unfortunately the original format of the ad is impossible to replicate in text format. The ad was originally in three columns with headline on top and coupon to send in. It was a full page ad in a magazine.

This lead generation ad is VERY well done.

Great use of current events (many men had just returned from WWI) and tie-ins to history.

Use of contrast by using the “Two Men” type story that was later used in the greatest sales letter of all time.

And lot’s more….

What are some of the things you notice?