Persuasion Lessons from the Political Trenches

Persuasion Lessons from the Political Trenches

Reader Comments (16)

  1. Storytelling and Unity are both tactics (I’d like to know if you disagree as well) yet I just finished a video on Jay Abraham and one of the couple nuggets I got was having a Strategy and Tactics. What is your view on tactics and their place in a marketing company?

    • The expression of unity can be tactical, but unity shouldn’t be that shallow. It shouldn’t even be strategic, it should run deeper than that. Otherwise it’s just cynicism — using a political statement or a statement of values to sell a few widgets. It’s always obvious, and customers loathe it.

      We have some fairly chewy content strategy laid out in the ebooks in the member library, which I recommend often. (You can get access to them by going to the Education tab at the top of the page.)

      It would be silly to dismiss tactics, but throwing random tactics at your marketing without knowing why you’re doing it doesn’t tend to be very effective. πŸ™‚

    • I’ll actually give an example — I just received my third marketing email with the heading “who I voted for.” None of them talk about a specific candidate.

      They’re tactically going for a Unity play to get me to open the email, but then they dance around any actual commitment. Normally that would merit a minor eyeroll, but this time around, with an election that’s even more intensely emotional than usual, I think it’s disrespectful and it backfires. With me, anyway.

  2. From this perspective, we can also analyse the entire position of professions in the sphere of culture, more specifically in non-profit cultural organizations, largely organized through flexible, poorly paid, utopian and idealist work of women.

  3. That’s interesting to see how Unity is more effective than story.

    So is it safe to assume that Unity informs Story (how it’s told, when it’s told, where it’s told) rather than the opposite being the case?

    Trying to see how that squares with the “Hero’s Journey” as a theme in story telling.

    • Unity comes in underneath everything. It’s what you are, based on core beliefs and principles. So for sure, it informs the stories you choose, and the way you tell them.

      Hero’s Journey is a story pattern that can be used to shape just about any kind of story. It’s part of the craft of storytelling.

      Unity informs the kind of stories you tell, and the point of view you tell them from.

  4. Hi Sonia,

    You’ve just taught me a great lesson on persuasion with your 3 points. The points were written with great persuasion (believe me).

    I know it’s all about the game of a creative mind with creative thinking that can forge content with great persuasion.

    Thanks for sharing the awesome thing with us,
    SM

  5. Maybe this is to simplistic, but unity is like water…strategy like the ocean…and tactics like waves.

  6. It’s great how Unit is easier that worldview (at least for me now) and politics makes the point. Thanks Sonia, awesome post. Ps: I’m doing my superhero pose every day!

  7. Sonia thank you for a great article. I agree that we can all be better listeners. Sometimes we get caught up writing content we think they want. The reality is that we are often wrong.

  8. Truth be told, the subheading of “the Dance between listening and speaking” caught me hook, line, and sinker. Then again, this is a great nod to the storytelling aspect of the article itself. I mean, had it been, “Why Everyone Should Vote” – I would have kept scrolling. Sonia, you crafted an article with a political tie in, centered around a nugget that I am absolutely passionate about (storytelling/dancing), and that a very non-political person read from start to finish. Thank you.

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