I have never won an Olympic gold medal. Frankly, the world doesn’t care, and neither do I. But contrast that to yesterday’s events in Paris:
Novak Djokovic, a 37-year old tennis player, who has won every other major tennis tournament multiple times but never the Olympics, finally won an Olympic gold medal.
The odd thing:
Unlike other tennis tournaments, the Olympics doesn’t pay any money, and it doesn’t carry any ranking points on the pro tour.
And yet, yesterday, after this purely symbolic win, Djokovic said it was the “biggest success in his career.”
The mass mind seems to agree, or at least the tiny portion of it that 1) follows tennis at all and 2) doesn’t hate Djokovic beyond repair.
Following the match, millions of people on the Internet were discussing Djokovic’s crowning achievement… every major newspaper has written the story up… and TV stations around the world are showing highlights, including Djokovic’s emotional reaction after the win.
Again, I would like to contrast this to my own tennis career.
I have not won a single tennis tournament, even at the most local and recreational club level, in spite of 30+ years of on-again, off-again tennis dabbling.
And if I were to announce today that I still do not have an Olympic gold medal in my trophy closet — which is 100% true, in the same way that I do not have a Wimbledon trophy or the platter from the Banja Luka Challenger — then the most likely reaction will be the sound of a dog barking somewhere in the distance, or maybe the white noise of a ceiling fan blowing overhead.
In other words, nobody cares that I haven’t won this year’s Olympic gold medal in tennis. Nobody cares that I will most probably never win it. Like I said, even I don’t care.
But it’s kind of curious when you think about it.
Why would a missing gold medal be a blot on Djokovic’s incredibly successful tennis career to date… but not a blot on mine?
Ponder on that for a moment, while I artfully pull out the the following quote:
“Someone who knows the state capitals of 17 of 50 states may be proud of her knowledge. But someone who knows 47 may be more likely to think of herself not knowing 3 capitals.”
It’s the same psychology — 3 missing state capitals, 1 missing Olympic medal.
And since this is a newsletter about effective communication, let me get to the point:
It’s also the same psychology if you are trying to get people curious and invested in reading more of your message, so you have a chance to guide them to where you want.
You can find all this discussed in full detail in chapter 2 of the book below. You can also find step-by-step instructions for using this information to make your message intriguing and fascinating, even if it’s dry and boring now.
All inside chapter 2 of the book below, which is one of my favorite books about effective communication.
If I ever create my AIDA School, with a curriculum all about persuasion and influence, this book will be part of the required reading for semester 1.
But you can get a head start, today, right now. In case you’re curious, here’s the link: