The Mathematics of Persuasive Communication by Philip Yaffe

At first glance mathematics and persuasive communication ? writing, and particularly presentation - would appear to have little in accordance. After all, mathematics can be an objective science, whilst speaking involves voice quality, inflection, eye contact, personality, body language, and also other subjective components.





However, under the surface these are very similar.



Above anything else, the success of an oral presentation depends on the precision of the structure. Mathematics is all about precision. It is therefore less than odd to think that applying a number of the concepts of mathematics to oral presentations may make them substantially more potent.



As they say in the film industry, three main reasons go into building a successful movie: the script, the script, as well as the script. Likewise, three key factors go into building a successful speech: the structure, the structure, and also the structure.



Not convinced? Then let's begin with something less radical.



I think we can easily all agree that good speaking is related to good writing. If it is possible to write a good text, then you are well on your way to preparing a great oral presentation. Therefore, in the event you improve your writing, you will also improve your speaking.



To simplify matters, from now on we will talk mainly about good writing, because typically the same ideas apply straight away to good speaking.



Know what you're doing



Many commercial companies don't live up to their potential - and occasionally go bankrupt - because they fail to correctly define the business they may be in.



Perfume companies, as an example, do not sell fragrant liquids, but instead love, romance, seductiveness, self-esteem, etc. Bio-food companies tend not to sell organic produce, but alternatively honesty, purity, nature, etc. Automobile manufacturers usually do not sell transportation, but rather freedom, adventure, spontaneity, prestige, etc. The fact is, each industry, even everyone product, might have to determine what it's truly information on - where there are thousands of them!



Writers are lucky. There are numerous variations to what we do, but you will find really only two fundamental forms of writing. It is important to recognise this, because they are not only quite different, in a few respects they are exactly opposite. So unless we clearly recognise which kind of writing we are doing - and exactly how it differs from one other one - we're going to almost certainly commit serious errors.



What are the two types? And how will they differ?



Creative Writing



Texts like short stories, novels, poems, radio plays, stage plays, television scripts, film scripts, etc.



The fundamental intent behind creative writing is usually to amuse and entertain. Expository Writing



Texts for example memos, reports, proposals, training manuals, newsletters, research papers, etc.



The fundamental intent behind expository writing would be to instruct and inform.



Essential attitude towards expository writing



Because the objectives of creative and expository writing are extremely different, before striking an important you must adopt the proper attitude on the type of writing you are carrying out.



Creative writing attitude



Everyone desires to read want what you are going to write down.



After all, who doesn't want to be amused and entertained?



Expository writing attitude



No one would like to read what you will be going to publish.



Most people don't like to get instructed and informed. They probably would much prefer being doing something more important.



The need for recognising and adopting the "expository writing attitude" can not be over-stated, because it can dramatically alter the very nature of what you are writing. Here are a number of examples.



A. Corporate image brochure



I had been commissioned to publish a corporate image brochure. Two things are certain about these expensive, glossy booklets:



? Almost all companies from a size feel compelled to produce them.



? Virtually nobody ever reads them.



Starting in the attitude that no one would need to read what I was about to publish, I created a brochure that folks not only read. They actually referred to as company to request additional copies to give to friends, clients and professional colleagues!



B. Stagnating product



On another occasion, I was commissioned to build up an advertising campaign to revitalise an item with stagnating sales. Applying the expository writing attitude, I discovered that three with the product's key benefits are not being properly exploited. Why? The manufacturer felt that everything about their product was important, so for a long time they had been systematically burying these three key benefits under an avalanche of additional information of less interest to possible buyers. The new campaign sharply focussed about the key benefits; virtually all additional information was gone to live in the background or eliminated. As a result, sales increased some 40% inside first year.



With some nuances, this self-same expository writing attitude can be - and should be - put on speaking, as well.



Essential way of expository writing



Because creative writing and expository writing have essentially different objectives and attitudes, they need essentially different approaches.



Creative writing approach



Play with language to create pleasure.



In simple terms, use your mastery in the language to amuse and entertain.



Expository writing approach



Organise information to create interest.



Clever usage of language will not make dull information interesting; however, you are able to organise the data to make it interesting. Forget about literary pyrotechnics. Concentrate on content.



We are now planning to leave creative writing, because most of the items we write, and say, is expository.



What can we mean by "good writing"?



We have become ready to return to the notion of how mathematics relates to good writing, and also by extension to good speaking.



When someone reads an expository text or learns an expository speech, they are likely to judge it good or not good. You probably do this yourself. But so what can you actually mean once you say a text or possibly a speech is "good".



After some struggling, a lot of people will usually choose two criteria: clear and concise.



Mathematics is dependent upon unambiguous definitions; should you are not clear concerning the problem, you're unlikely to get the solution. So we're going to examine these criteria in some detail so that you can establish objective definitions - and in many cases quasi-mathematical formulae - for testing whether a text or even a presentation truly is "good".



A. Clarity



How did you know that a text is see-through?



If this seems like a silly question, make an effort to answer it. You will probably do something like this:



Question: What makes this text clear?



Answer: It is obvious to see.



Question: What makes it obvious to see?



Answer: It is simple.



Question: What do you mean by simple?



Answer: It is see-Click Through The Next Webpage.



You the truth is end up open in a circle. The text is apparent because it's easy to understand . . . because it is simple . . . because it's clear.



"Clear", "straightforward", and "simple" are synonyms. Whilst synonyms could have nuances, they usually do not have content, so you happen to be still left in your own subjective appreciation. But whatever you think is obvious may not clear to another individual.



This is why we give "clear" a goal definition, similar to a mathematical formula. To achieve clarity -i.e. virtually everyone will agree that it can be clear - you need to do three things.



1. Emphasise what exactly is of key importance.



2. De-emphasise precisely what is of secondary importance.



3. Eliminate what exactly is of no importance.



In short: CL = EDE



Like all mathematical formulae, this works only in case you know how to utilize it, which requires judgement.



In this situation, you need to first decide precisely what is of key importance, i.e. what include the key ideas you desire your readers to adopt away from your text? This is not simple to do. It is far simpler to say that it is all totally of key importance, so you put in everything you have. But there can be a dictum that warns: If things are important, then absolutely nothing is. In other words, until you first do the work of defining that which you really want your potential customers to know, they won't do it for you personally. They will get lost in your text and either give up or come out the other end being unsure of what it's they have read.



What in regards to the second element of the formula, de-emphasise precisely what is of secondary importance?



That sounds easy enough. You don't want key information and ideas to have lost in details. If you clearly emphasise what's of key importance - via headlines, Italics, underlining, or just how you organise the info - then whatever is left over is automatically de-emphasised.



Now the one thing left to complete is eliminate what is of no importance.



But how do you distinguish between what's of secondary importance and what is of no importance? Once again, this involves judgement, that is helped with the following essential test.



Secondary importance is any situation that supports and/or elaborates one or more of the key ideas. If you judge which a piece of information in fact does support or elaborate more than one key ideas, then you certainly keep it. If not, you cure it.



B. Conciseness



How do you know that a text is concise?



If this once again feels like a silly question, let's make an effort to answer it.



Question: What makes this text concise?



Answer: It is short.



Question: What do you mean by short?



Answer: It doesn't have too many words.



Question: How did you know it doesn't need too many words?



Answer: Because it can be concise.



So again we turn out going around in a very circle. The text is concise because it really is short . . . since it doesn't have too many words . . . because it is concise.



Once again, we've got almost a mathematical formula to solve the problem. To achieve conciseness, your text should meet two criteria. It should be as:



1. Long as necessary



2. Short as you possibly can



In symbols: CO = LS



If you have fulfilled the standards of "clarity" correctly, you already understand "as long as necessary". It means covering every one of the ideas of key importance you might have identified, and every one of the ideas of secondary importance needed to support and/or elaborate these key ideas.



Note that there's nothing said here regarding the number of words, because it is irrelevant. If it takes 500 words to become "as long as necessary", then 500 words can be used. If it takes 1500 words, this is all right too. The important point is the fact that everything that should be in the text is fully there.



Then what's meant by "as short as you possibly can"?



Once again, it is nothing do today to with the quantity of words. It is useless to express at the beginning, "I should not write a lot more than 300 words for this subject", because 500 words could be the minimum necessary.



"As short as you can" means staying as close as you are able to to the minimum. But not because people prefer short texts; in the abstract the terms "long" and "short" have no meaning. The important point is the fact that all words at night minimum often reduce clarity.



We really should not be rigid about it. If being "as long as necessary" may be done in 500 words and you also use 520, this is probably a matter of individual style. It does no harm. However, in the event you use 650 words, it's almost without doubt the text will never be completely clea r- understanding that the reader can become confused, bored or lost.



In sum, conciseness means saying what needs to get said in the minimum level of words. Conciseness:



? Aids clarity by ensuring best structuring of data.



? Holds reader interest by giving maximum information in minimum time.



C. Density



Density is a less familiar concept than clarity and conciseness, but is also important. In mathematical form, density contains:



1. Precise information



2. Logically linked



In simple terms: D = PL



Importance of precise information



Suppose you enter a place where you will find two people and say, "It's very hot today." One of those people originates from Helsinki; in their mind he interprets "hot" to mean about 23?C. The other one arises from Khartoum; to him "hot" means 45?C.



You are away and off to a rather bad start, because they all have a totally different idea of the you want to convey. But suppose you say, "It's very hot today; the temperature is 28? C." Now there is no room for confusion. They both know quite clearly that it's 28? C outside which you consider this to get very hot.



Using all the precise information as possible inside a text provides writer two significant advantages:



? Mind Control



Let's stop embarrassed by the term "mind control", since this is precisely what the excellent expository writer desires to achieve. He needs for your reader's mind to travel only where he directs it and nowhere else.



Because they can be interpreted in unknown ways, ambiguous terms (so-called "weasel words") like "hot", "cold", "big", "small", "good", "bad", etc., allow people's mind to escape in the writer's control. An occasional lapse is just not critical; however, too many weasel words in a very text will in the end lead to reader confusion, boredom and disinterest.



? Reader Confidence



Using precise information generates confidence, because it tells the reader that the writer really knows what he could be talking about.



Reader confidence is important in any kind of text, but it's crucial in argumentation. If you happen to be trying to win a point, the last thing you need is your reader to challenge important computer data, but this is the first reaction imprecise writing will provoke. Precise writing ensures the discussion will be about the implications with the information, i.e. what conclusions should be drawn, not if the whole thing needs to visit back for more investigation.



Importance of logical linking



Precise data (facts) alone are insufficient. To be meaningful, data must be organised to generate information, i.e. help the reader understand.



There are two important tests to use when converting data into information:



1. Relevance



Is a particular little bit of data really needed? As we now have seen, unnecessary data damages understanding and ultimately undermines confidence. Therefore, any data that usually do not either aid understanding or promote confidence needs to be eliminated.



2. Misconceptions



The logical link between data has to be made explicit to prevent the various readers from arriving at false conclusions. For example: a particular situation may be confused for a general one; credit on an achievement might seem to belong to only one person when it really is owned by a group; a company policy may appear to utilize only in very specific circumstances instead of in all circumstances, etc.



To ensure that a logical link is obvious, squeeze two components of data as close to each other as possible, preferably right next to each other.



When data are widely separated, their logical relationship is masked as well as the reader is unlikely to make the connection.



What do you need? What do the future prospect want?



I frequently ask non-professional writers what they are thinking once they sit down with the keyboard to compose their text. The answer is usually similar to, "How do I need to present my material?" "What tone and type should I use?" "In what order should I put my key ideas?" And so on.



However, in the event you start with all the correct attitude, i.e. no one would like to read what you write, the first task is none of these. Ahead of everything else, you need to find reasons why people should spend their time for you to read that which you write.



In general, you are unable to force people to learn what they don't need to, even if they are being paid to do so.



For example, you produce a report defining opportunities for increased profits. However, if it can be not well written, even people that must read it as being part of their job are unlikely take their full attention. On the other hand, if they immediately see their very own self-interest in reading everything you have written, they'll do so gladly sufficient reason for full attention. In fact, you almost certainly couldn't stop them from reading it!



There are various methods to generate such a strong desire to see, depending on the kind of readers as well as the type of data. Whatever the best suited device, the important thing would be to recognise the imperative require to use it. Until this should use is met, nothing else is from a importance.



Editor's note: Reading is an isolated activity and paying attention to a speech is often a social one. Therefore, whilst the main principles of good writing and good speaking are constant, the way they may be applied might be markedly different. In the 'I' from the Storm: the Simple Secrets of Writing & Speaking (Almost) just like a Professional, Mr. Yaffe's recently published book, clearly explains these differences. It also offers several appendices with cogent examples and pertinent, effective exercises.



Philip Yaffe can be a former reporter/feature writer with The Wall Street Journal plus a marketing communication consultant. He currently teaches a course in good writing and good public speaking in Brussels, Belgium. In the 'I' from the Storm can be acquired either in the print version or electronic version from Story Publishers in Ghent, Belgium ( and Amazon (



For more info, please contact:

Philip Yaffe

61 avenue des Noisetiers

B -1170 Brussels, Belgium

Tel: +32 (0) 660 04 05

Email phil.yaffe@yahoo.com



Philip Yaffe is really a former writer with The Wall Street Journal and international marketing communication consultant. Now semi-retired, he teaches courses in persuasive communication in Brussels, Belgium. Because his clients use English being a second or third language, his method of writing and presenting and public speaking is somewhat distinctive from other communication coaches. He could be the author of In the ?I? of the Storm: the Simple Secrets of Writing & Speaking (Almost) like a Professional. Contact: phil.yaffe@yahoo.com.