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Dumb It Down -War on Weakness (Eddy Quan) - Coggle Diagram
Dumb It Down
-War on Weakness (Eddy Quan)
Short, sweet, and simple.
Your audience has a short attention span
I am not trying to persuade them with my loquacious sesquipedalianism
From writing to
impress
to writing to
inform
You're not trying to impress your English teacher, you're trying to connect with your audience. Use their language.
Your writing should sound a bit like an improv speech
www.thegaryhalbertletter.com <-- Example, pay attention to the tone
3.People only care about themselves, and that includes your audience
they don't care about me. That's OK.
How is this useful to them?
Specifically.
People buy holes, not drills
reduce/eliminate "I"
Don't Be Boring
or "clever"
use casual tones
think like you're trying to talk to a beautiful woman
Or your grandma. No, seriously, start with "Dear Grandma"
controversial works, too
Be
Useful
Unusual
Entertaining
New (not "improved")
Two Formulas
PAS - Pain, Agitate, Solution
ID their pain. Be specific, use imagery, get them to
feel
it
Agitate - expand on the feeling/imagery above
Give them a solution - "buy this to make the pain stop"
AIDA - Attention, Interest, Desire, Action
Get their Attention
Headlines
Creative (images, videos, emoji)
See above - new, unusual, entertaining, unusual
Make them Desire
show them their ideal future with the product
future-pace
give examples of how others have used the product and how they can, too
paint them a picture of how awesome their life will be with this product
Get their Attention
facts, figures, benefits, features, stories, quotes
Spur Action
Clearly outline what SINGLE action to take, make it SUPER obvious, and keep it SIMPLE
Write to an Imaginary Friend
Create a persona (a client avatar) that you're writing to. Who, specifically, am I trying to communicate with?
Traits
Gender
Job
Income
Age
Married/Single
Kids
What does their day look like
biggest fears/problems
biggest goals and desires
what keeps them up at night
how can I solve these problems?
5-Step Writing Process
Plan - you cannot write clearly if you're not thinking clearly
don't overthink, it doesn't have to be complex (dumb it down, remember?)
Who am I writing to? What is the key message?
Suggested Reading: Joshua Lisec - The Best Way to Say It: Persuasion Writing System
First Draft - Stream of Consciousness
NO EDITING
Just go. As much as possible.
Trim Draft
clean it up
remove unnecessary words (adverbs!)
Use visual language - paint the picture, make a movie
Who
What
Where
Why
When
Use FEELINGS
Shorten sentences and paragraphs, lots of white space
Take a Break - probably sick of writing by now, so get away and do something else for a bit
Revise and Publish
With fresh eyes, look it over again. Trim/Revise (see step 3) where necessary. Then get it out into the world where you can start testing and manipulating it.
Remember: the goal is a conversion (whatever that means in this instance), NOT a pretty post. If it doesn't convert, it isn't working.
Headlines
Headlines are powerful. They "set the mood" for the article, they are responsible for grabbing attention so the article will be read in the first place.
Write headlines LAST - sometimes, your main idea changes as you write. Write first, find the main idea, turn it into a headline
Test Headlines!
The Rule of 1
ONE ACTION. ONE CTA.
5 Key Elements
ONE good ides
ONE core emotion
ONE captivating story
ONE single, desirable benefit
ONE inevitable Response
Before you hit "Publish"
Be sure every sentence
is maximally dumbed down
is necessary
gets to the point in as few words as possible
the "inner child" voice - Mommy! Juice!
points
if anything is unclear, hard to follow, or confusing, it MUST be revised! People will lose interest very fast (very short attention spans)
Pitfalls:
Obscure/Inside Jokes
Any hard to read sentence or sentence that makes you think twice
Anything that sounds like it is trying to be clever
3 Things to Keep in Mind
Keep "thinking reps" to a minimum - don't make them think too hard
Use Analogies - analogies are like idiot magnets
get to the damn point!
Ultimate Pre-Writing Checklist
Clean up your environment - reduce/eliminate distractions
Pretend a date is coming in 15 minutes
Hydrate and eat right (or fast!) to clear up brain fog
Affirm: Writing is EASY!
Listen to Baroque music (or my Brain.FM?)
Keep the big idea at the forefront of your mind - write it out and stick it where you can see it (post-it, top of page, etc)
Check-In and Write - check in with the moment, be mindful and present
Talk your way through the writing process. "I am about to write
_
because
_
".