5 Ways To Influence In Writing

It’s not a mistake. This article is a near-copy of a previous article on influential public speaking. Please don’t feel ripped-off. You see, copywriting and public speaking share similar critical components. Read on and judge for yourself…
To be an influential copywriter, set your targets, your key points, in your mind, visualize each point and outline how you will emphasize a particular point; then be certain to hit each target, each point as you write.
A good copywriter has these well-oiled weapons in his desktop copywriting arsenal.
Body Language
Studies show that up to 80% of a message is received through body language. What? How can you show body language in the written word? In written form, your body language is how you write, the words you use, and your punctuation.
You want to be totally engaged, relaxed and enthusiastic.
Think about it this way. What is one of the first parts of giving a speech?
Writing the speech. Once you’ve finished writing, practice reading your copy aloud in front of a mirror and really listen to yourself- paying attention to how the written word looks when you read it.
Give your finished product to friends, family, mentors and coaches to read- and ask for their honest critique about how it makes them feel, not just about the content.
Eye Contact
Conveying eye contact in copywriting sounds incredible and impossible. But isn’t the goal of good copywriting to use words to establish rapport, and convey sincerity and honesty? Think about it.
Voice Modulation
How you write something is almost more important than what you write. Don’t just write your finished product… compose it. Like great music, great copywriting – letters, prose, poems, and speeches have moods, tone, rests and rhythm.
And like great musicians, great copywriters practice their instrument-the written word. Use italics, dashes, dots, spaces, bullets, numbers, bold and uppercase to give your copywriting rhythm and rhyme… But use them wisely.
Aids
Everyone learns things differently. It’s quite popular in schools today to rank a child’s primary ‘learning style’- does the child learn visually, aurally, or physically.
The point isn’t to teach using just one style, but to leverage all styles. And storytelling is the copywriters greatest aid.
Aids – used correctly- will beat a reader’s boredom, clarify simply what might otherwise be a complex subject, and help your reader zero in on your targets.
Use traditional storytelling visual aids like pictures, graphs and charts. Or use appropriate references to popular movies, books, cliches, and stories.
Are you brave enough to tell an embarrassing story to make a point? Will it help sell your reader?
Confidence
Whatever you do, there’s no way around this one. Your reader will ‘smell’ your fear and uncertainty. Practice, practice, practice.
With practice comes confidence. It is about being comfortable with yourself, with your subject matter, with your level of preparation, and with who your reader is.
Remember these two things- 1) most people want you to succeed; and 2) the worst that can happen is that you walk away from the experience with a few ‘good to know for next time’ lessons