Page 258 - ConvinceThemFlip

convince them in 90 seconds or less
“Nicko, 80 percent of the time people have no clue why
they do anything. They make their decisions based on
their emotions—on what their hearts imagine they want—
even though they think they’re being rational. Once you
can step inside someone’s imagination with your words,
you can set off a reaction that creates pictures, sounds,
feelings, smells, and tastes. A sensory reaction that brings
things alive and makes them real.”
He pointed out the window across the street. “See that
pathway leading to the tube station? A blind beggar used
to sit there before they cleaned up this area. The old man
had a sign in his lap with just two words written on it:
“I’m Blind.” Passersby would drop the odd bit of change
into his cap from time to time but the pickings were slim.
Then, on a sunny April morning, one of the junior advertis-
ing men from the office asked if he could add a few words
to the man’s sign. The blind man said sure; he recognized
the young man’s voice as someone who often dropped in a
few coins and wished him luck. The adman turned the sign
over and wrote five words on the back and placed it back
in the blind man’s lap. At the end of the day, the adman
stopped by to see how things had been going. The blind
man said he couldn’t believe his ears when the coins came
tumbling in. ‘What did you write on my sign?’ he asked.
‘Not much. I just added three words,’ the adman replied.
‘Three words made so much difference?’ ‘Three words
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