Use the Word That Boosts Credibility
Recently a client described the perfect promotion. “100% heart and 100% proof,” he said.
The perfect promotion ties together powerful stories about lives touched, changed, and transformed – backed up with statistics and facts – making your case credible to both the reader’s heart and his head.
But putting those two together can be problematic.
Because is a connector
One of the easiest and clearest ways to do it is with a cause and effect construction: X is true because of Y.
That’s why the word “because” is so powerful. It acts as the connector between the reader’s heart and her head. It links the two together.
For instance, say I’ve captured the reader’s attention with a gripping story about a girl named Anna who was caught up in a human trafficking ring. She was offered the opportunity to escape by your organization and now has built a productive life. Your next paragraph could read like this:
I’m telling you about Anna because she is one of 2-4 million victims worldwide (a conservative estimate) who are trafficked each year. Your support makes a difference for Anna and others like her …See how it works? Because ties your heartfelt story with solid statistics to build credibility.
Because is specific
OK, “because” is handy in practical terms. It’s a reliable grammatical tool that connects the dots between heart and head – making for some extremely compelling copy.
It’s also been scientifically proven to persuade because it motivates the reader with a specific reason to respond.
In a now-famous study reported by Robert B. Cialdini in Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive (Free Press, 2008), social psychologist Ellen Langer asked a stranger to approach a person waiting in line use a copy machine. Three different questions were tested.
1. When the stranger asked, “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine?” 60% waiting people said OK. Not bad for a stranger simply asking for a favor from another stranger.
2. When the stranger asked, “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I’m in a rush?” 94% said OK. The stranger gave a specific, legitimate reason for his request. The response skyrocketed! That’s enough to convince any copywriter to use because and use it often. But here’s the biggest surprise.
3. When the stranger asked, “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make some copies?” 93% said OK. The stranger gave a specific reason for his request – although the reason was not truly legitimate. (Every person in line had the same reason to be waiting.)
Even so, people responded simply because the stranger gave a specific reason for his request. The actual reason mattered little. The fact that the stranger gave a reason mattered quite a bit, indeed.
Of course, your organizations has legitimate reasons to be persuasive – much more so than the lame excuse given by the stranger in example #3.
No question – because is a powerful tool in persuasive writing. It builds credibility.
Use it often to connect the dots for your readers between their hearts and their heads --
- because you want to give them facts along with emotion
- because they need to know the wonderful ways your organization is making a difference in the world
- because they want to be a part of it
- because you want to welcome them onto your team.
About the author
Kathy Widenhouse (www.kathywidenhouse.com) is a freelance development writer who specializes in producing materials for the faith-based, nonprofit market. She also provides strategic consultation to help nonprofits get their message out and get results. Kathy’s 90+ articles have appeared in more than 40 periodicals, and she has written 5 books.