“The University of Chicago Writing Program is not real popular in the world of writing programs. And you can see why. A lot of people think we’re fascists. I don’t dispute it.”
Thanks to a reader named Lester, I got turned on to a YouTube video by Larry McEnerney. McEnerney heads the University of Chicago’s Writing Program. In the YouTube video, he persuades you to follow his fascist writing philosophy. In a nutshell:
“We say, identify the people with power in your community… and give them what they want.”
If you’re a marketer or copywriter, you might say, “Come on… I knew that already. Just swap out ‘people with power’ and put in ‘people with money.'”
Sure, you might know it. But do you really, really get it? And do you practice it?
For example, a few days ago I sent out an email about wizard positioning. I concluded that email by saying:
“Give your clients clear guidance. Take away their doubts before they even have them. Resist your urge to explain yourself.”
It seems nobody had any issue with the first two parts of that advice. But quite a few people took issue with the last piece.
“Not explain myself! But the world needs to know!”
To which I can tell you something from McEnerney’s video:
“You participate in the world, not by sharing your feelings or your thoughts… but by changing other people’s thoughts.”
Again, this might be obvious if you are a copywriter. But if it’s not obvious, or there’s some part of you that keeps nagging you to explain and express yourself, then it might be helpful to watch this video.
Not only because it gives you practical advice on how to write better so you persuade more people…
But also because it might give you some insight about where this urge to explain yourself comes from. Here’s a hint: it ain’t coming from inside you. Not originally. If you’d like to find out the truth, and maybe even profit from it, here’s the video: