Lessons on Persuasion from Jesus, Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Lady Gaga: a Book Review
With a name like "Language Intelligence: Lessons on Persuasion from Jesus, Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Lady Gaga", a book with a title like that compels one to pick it up and see what the heck the author is talking about. And Joe Romm's new book on how to communicate doesn't disappoint--it's a thoughtful and compelling look at the techniques used by some of history's great communicators to help persuade. Joe Romm is author of the climateprogress.org blog, the most visited climate change blog on the Internet, and the main blog that I use to stay current on climate change and energy news. Romm defines Language Intelligence as "the ability to convince people of something both intellectually and emotionally, at both a conscious and unconscious level." He goes on to say, "If facts were sufficient to persuade people, then experts in science would rule the world. But facts are not, and scientists do not. We filter out all the facts that do not match our views." At the heart of great communication lies great story telling, and Romm give us these tips on how to tell a story people will want to read:
- Write a great headline: Newspaper readers read 56% of the headlines, but only 13% of the stories are at least half-read. Headlines are even more important on-line, since they are what show up on Google searches and tweets. An example of one the most re-tweeted headlines Romm used in 2011: "Mother Nature is Just Getting Warmed Up: June 2011 Heat Records Crushing Cold Records by 13 to 1" (Romm uses a pun and personification to help create an eye-catching headline.)
- Short words are the best words.
- Slogans sell.
- If you don't repeat, you can't compete. Repetition and rhyming help people remember your message.
- The golden rule of speech-making is: "Tell 'em what you're going to tell 'em; tell 'em; then tell 'em what you told 'em."
- Repeated distortions and smears are as effective as repeated truths, so beware of these sorts of attacks.
- If you want to de-bunk a myth, you need to focus on stating the truth, not repeating the myth.
- If you want to be more noticed and remembered, use more figures of speech (metaphors.) Examples of metaphors I've used include comparing our melting Arctic to the attic of a house that is on fire (Earth's attic is on fire: Arctic sea ice bottoms out at a new record low) and comparing the impact of global warming on extreme weather to the impact steroids have on a baseball slugger (Extreme events of 2011: climate change a major factor in some, but not all).
- Create an extended metaphor when you have a big task at hand. Countless books and articles underscore that extended metaphors are at the core of human thinking.
Video 1. National Center for Atmospheric Research scientist Dr. Jerry Meehl uses a metaphor to explain how climate change's impact on extreme weather is similar to how steroids affect a baseball slugger's ability to hit a ball out of the park.
At 183 pages, the book only took me about two hours to read, and I was very glad I did. It was very entertaining and informative, and anyone involved in public communication can learn from this book. I give it my highest rating: four stars out of four. Language Intelligence: Lessons on Persuasion from Jesus, Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Lady Gaga is $9.67 from Amazon.com.
Have a great Thanksgiving Holiday, everyone, and I'll have a new post for you on Friday.
Jeff Masters
Reader Comments
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In The True Believer (1951) he claimed that a passionate obsession with the outside world or the private lives of others was an attempt to compensate for a lack of meaning in one's own life. The book discusses religious and political mass movements, and extensive discussions of Islam and Christianity. A core principle in the book is Hoffer's assertion that mass movements are interchangeable: fanatical Nazis became fanatical Communists, fanatical Communists became fanatical anti-Communists, and Saul, persecutor of Christians, became Paul, a fanatical Christian. For the "true believer", substance is less important than being part of a movement
Still holds true today as we look around the world.
I really find it hard to believe anyone takes that seriously, civilizations controlling galaxies, the Universe, or even multiple Universes? Really? I mean, I can understand the type 1 argument, but beyond that, its more science fiction that star wars or star trek ever was... Human beings are loony creatures. We often think we are more intelligent than we are, and when we are intelligent it sometimes seems too much for the individual to handle sanely...
I bought and read Romm's book when it came out back in the summer. I loved it, and found most parts of it to be extremely helpful. Too, while the book is geared toward Romm's field of expertise--climate change--the advice it offers can be applied toward communicating in many other areas, as well.Where's the fun in that? ;-)
I will indeed investigate this book. I speak 2-4 times a week, often more. As I am a "fact giver" any help keeping folks interested long enough for facts to sink in is a great help.
Putting Lady Gaga in with Jesus,Lincoln and Shakespeare
Beryl - strongest off-season Atlantic tropical cyclone on record to make landfall in the USA.
Debby - Earliest formation of the 4th tropical storm of a particular hurricane season on record.
Florence - 2nd earliest formation of the 6th tropical storm of a particular hurricane season on record.
Joyce - 2nd earliest formation of the 10th tropical storm of a particular hurricane season on record.
Kirk - 2nd earliest formation of the 11th tropical storm of a particular hurricane season on record.
Leslie - 2nd earliest formation of the 12th tropical storm of a particular hurricane season on record.
Michael - 2nd earliest formation of the 13th tropical storm of a particular hurricane season on record.
Tony - 2nd earliest formation of the 19th tropical storm of a particular hurricane season on record.
Sandy - Largest known Atlantic hurricane on record by gale diameter.
Nadine - 5th longest-lived tropical cyclone on record.
May 2012 - Highest number of named storms in that particular month, tied with 1887.
August 2012 - Highest number of named storms in that particular month, tied with 2004.
Debby - 14th highest tornado-producing tropical cyclone.
Sandy - 2nd costliest Atlantic tropical cyclone on record.
2012 Atlantic hurricane season - 3rd most active on record.
http://gmao.gsfc.nasa.gov/research/aerosol/ - Massive 684MB HD video of a computer model of atmospheric aerosols from August 2006 to April 2007.
http://hint.fm/wind/ - Wind Map
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/md/ - Quick access to NWS discussions about strong storms throughout the US.
Yeah.
Repeat the above (bolded) to yourself several times.
I'm sure you will be fine.
You already believe.....
that dosen't mean we shouldn't try though.
if you could teleport deniers into the future 50 or 100 years and show them evidence of AGW, they would still deny it to your face and ask to be teleported back.
the only way the serious denial machine can be stopped is when they are out of money and zombie followers...
Sad but true.
Will we spend our days spreading love and tolerance or hatred and mistrust?
It's a beautiful day in Colorado:
(Live webcam image from Nederland, Colorado).
Here in the UK we had a heatwave and drought over the winter of 2010-11. That was finally broken by another "summer" of steady rain which has left reservoirs full and the ground saturated. As a result, when it started raining heavily here in the West Country yesterday afternoon, continued overnight and much of the morning, the result was pretty predictable:
News piece with a bit of video:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-20425112
Video:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-204 27970
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-204 29051
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-20427497
News report from my particular neck of the woods:
http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/home
Edit: Oh yeah, and the Environment Agency flood warnings interactive map:
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisu re/floods/142151.aspx
Tell me about it My Local weather station in Ireland offical results for the summer were that it was the coolest wettest Summer for 40 years .Horrible summer It's official: summer was dull and wet Irish Times article
For that matter, I'm pretty sure they also forgot to anticipate the effect of earthquakes on day length.
Hopefully it was clear I was joking about the end of the world thing. That said, there's a certain wisdom to living AS IF the world might end in a month...
hundredsthousands of times.Not entirely true. (Check your "sources").Milankovich (and other) cycles.It may not "wash" with some lay people, but it certainly "washes" with the vast majority of credible climate scientists--around 97% of them, in fact.No, this blog has to do with whatever the blog's author (and site's founder) wants it to do with.Please don't; it's a holiday. ;-){tongue goes in cheek}
Awww geez...does this mean that I have to re-schedule my "End Of The World" party?
I always try to NEVER let facts get in the way of a theme party.
{tongue back to original position}
Nea, are you using an electric oven?
Have a happy thanksgiving everyone! I'm out to visit family!
Just stopping in myself to see how everyone's doing on Thanksgiving eve.
About to start the 24 hour fruit salad. One of my favorites. :)
On thing we cannot be thankful for is the FDA.
You're forgetting a lot of people are uninformed..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx14Z2TmPaA
nea is a renaissance person.
Anyway, back into the kitchen. Three more pies in the oven, and, in the meantime, I'm rising two of the three kinds of bread that I'll be crumbling for dressing once they're out of the oven. (Corn- , French-, and sourdough bread, along with sausage, apples, cranberries, a few mushrooms, and pecans. Oh, and butter. Lots and lots of butter. Just this once.)
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