No, this email has nothing to do with death or disease.
Instead, I am stuck at the airport today, much like Tom Hanks in that Terminal movie. It’s not clear when I will get out.
I was supposed to fly to London this morning to get there in time for the Copywriter Club live event tomorrow.
But I missed my flight. I have no one to blame but myself.
I booked another flight for the afternoon. I tried to go through security immediately, only to be told that I am now at the wrong terminal, and need to go back out and get on a bus and then back inside another building. I did so, only to find out my new flight is delayed.
Like I said, Tom Hanks-like. Maybe I’ll write you another email in six weeks from now as I start to get acclimated to this place.
But you surely didn’t open this email to read about my travel struggles.
So let me tell you a simple but surprisingly useful thing I discovered yesterday.
I was preparing for the presentation I’m to give in London. I decided to say the whole thing out loud while sitting at home and glancing at my notes. I also recorded what I was saying on my computer. I then went for a walk listened to that recording.
It turned out some of the presentation was good… while other parts, which seemed so clever when written down, sounded downright stupid when actually pronounced.
Here’s why I found this surprisingly useful:
I’ve noticed that it takes quite a while — days or even a week or more — to get emotionally divorced enough from what I’ve written to be able to judge it accurately.
If I read it any sooner, my brain tricks me, telling me this is as good as anything I or anyone else could ever write, so let’s drop it now.
Of course that’s not true.
I’ve also heard the advice, going back to Gary Halbert, to read your copy out loud multiple times. I’ve never found that to be useful for anything excepting getting a hoarse voice.
But this thing of reading your copy — or presentation — out loud as well as recording yourself and then listening to the recording… well, for me at least, this sidesteps the part of my brain that feels protective of what I’ve just written. And it allows me to actually come up with a better, stronger version 2.
Or 3.
Or 4.
So there you go.
Try recording yourself the next time you’re writing something important, and then listen to yourself with wonder and horror.
Maybe you will find it as useful as I have.
I will go do it once again right now, somewhere in the corner of terminal 2, where I hope not a lot of people will hear me revealing the secrets of writing for insight.
Meanwhile, if you haven’t gotten it yet, you might be interested in my Most Valuable Email training.
It’s one way to create the feeling of insight. That’s why I’ll actually be using the Most Valuable Email trick tomorrow during my presentation in London.
For more info on MVE:
https://bejakovic.com/mve/