The Mathematics of Persuasive Communication by Philip Yaffe

At first glance mathematics and persuasive communication ? writing, and particularly presenting and public speaking - would seem to have little in common. After all, mathematics is an objective science, whilst speaking involves voice quality, inflection, eye-to-eye contact, personality, body gestures, and also other subjective components.



However, beneath the surface they're very similar.



Above whatever else, the success of an oral presentation depends on the precision of the structure. Mathematics is about precision. It is therefore not odd to consentrate that applying some of the concepts of mathematics to oral presentations will make them substantially far better.



As they say in the film industry, three key factors go into creating a successful movie: the script, the script, along with the script. Likewise, three key factors go into building a successful speech: the structure, the structure, along with the structure.



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



I think we can easily all agree that good speaking is related to get affordable writing. If you are able to write a good text, then you're well on your way to preparing a great oral presentation. Therefore, should you improve your writing, you will also boost your speaking.



To simplify matters, to any extent further we will talk mainly about good writing, because in many instances the same ideas apply directly to good speaking.



Know what you are doing



Many commercial companies usually do not live up to their potential - or even go bankrupt - since they fail to correctly define the business these are in.



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



Writers are lucky. There are numerous variations to what we do, but you can find really only two fundamental varieties of writing. It is very important to recognise this, because also, they are quite different, in most respects they may be exactly opposite. So unless we clearly recognise which kind of writing we are doing - and exactly how it differs from one other one - we'll almost certainly commit serious errors.



What include 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 function of creative writing is always to amuse and entertain. Expository Writing



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



The fundamental intent behind expository writing is usually to instruct and inform.



Essential attitude towards expository writing



Because the objectives of creative and expository writing are very different, before striking an integral you must adopt the proper attitude for the type of writing you are carrying out.



Creative writing attitude



Everyone desires to read want what you really are going to create.



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



Expository writing attitude



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



Most individuals don't like to become instructed and informed. They probably would much prefer to be doing something else.



The importance of recognising and adopting the "expository writing attitude" cannot be over-stated, since it can dramatically change the very nature of what you really 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 of the size feel compelled to generate them.



? Virtually no-one ever reads them.



Starting in the attitude that no-one would want to read what I was about to write, I created a brochure that folks not only read this post here. They actually called the company to request additional copies to give to friends, clients and professional colleagues!



B. Stagnating product



On another occasion, I was commissioned to produce an advertising campaign to revitalise a product or service with stagnating sales. Applying the expository writing attitude, I discovered that three from the product's key benefits were 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 other information of less interest to potential customers. The new campaign sharply focussed around the key benefits; virtually all more information was gone to live in the background or eliminated. As a result, sales raised some 40% within the first year.



With some nuances, this self-same expository writing attitude could be - and really should be - applied to speaking, too.



Essential procedure for expository writing



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



Creative writing approach



Play with language to create pleasure.



In other words, make use of mastery of the language to amuse and entertain.



Expository writing approach



Organise information to generate interest.



Clever use of language won't ever make dull information interesting; however, you'll be able to organise the knowledge to make it interesting. Forget about literary pyrotechnics. Concentrate on content.



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



What will we mean by "good writing"?



We are now ready to go back to the notion of how mathematics refers to good writing, and by extension to get affordable speaking.



When someone reads an expository text or hears an expository speech, they may be likely to judge it as being good or not good. You probably do this yourself. But so what can you actually mean if you say a text or even a speech is "good".



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



Mathematics depends on unambiguous definitions; in case you are not clear in regards to the problem, you happen to be unlikely to find the solution. So we're going to examine these criteria in most detail so that you can establish objective definitions - and also quasi-mathematical formulae - for testing whether a text or possibly a presentation truly is "good".



A. Clarity



How are you aware that a text is obvious?



If this sounds like a silly question, try to answer it. You will probably make a move like this:



Question: What makes this text clear?



Answer: It is easy to understand.



Question: What makes it easy to understand?



Answer: It is simple.



Question: What do you mean by simple?



Answer: It is apparent.



You actually end up going around in a circle. The text is apparent because it can be easy to understand . . . because it is simple . . . because it really is clear.



"Clear", "straightforward", and "simple" are synonyms. Whilst synonyms might have nuances, they don't have content, so you are still left in your own subjective appreciation. But that which you think is see-through may 't be clear to another individual.



This is the reason why we give "clear" goal definition, just like a mathematical formula. To achieve clarity -i.e. virtually everyone will agree that it's clear - you must do three things.



1. Emphasise precisely what is of key importance.



2. De-emphasise what is of secondary importance.



3. Eliminate what exactly is of no importance.



In short: CL = EDE



Like all mathematical formulae, this place works only in case you know how to make use of it, which requires judgement.



In this situation, you must first decide precisely what is of key importance, i.e. what are the key ideas you want your readers to take away from your text? This is not easy to do. It is far much easier to say that everything is of key importance, which means you put in all you have. But there can be a dictum that warns: If things are all important, then nothing is. In simple terms, if you don't first perform the work of defining that which you really want your potential customers to know, they don't do it for you. They will get lost in your text and either quit or come out one other end being unsure of what it really is they have read.



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



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



Now one and only thing left to accomplish is eliminate what's of no importance.



But how would you distinguish between what's of secondary importance and what exactly is of no importance? Once again, this involves judgement, which can be helped from the following extremely important test.



Secondary importance is any situation that supports and/or elaborates one or more from the key ideas. If you judge that the piece of information in fact does support or elaborate several key ideas, then you definitely keep it. If not, you eliminate it.



B. Conciseness



How do you know that a text is concise?



If this once again sounds like a silly question, let's try to answer it.



Question: What makes this text concise?



Answer: It is short.



Question: What do you mean by short?



Answer: It does not have too many words.



Question: How have you any idea it doesn't have too many words?



Answer: Because it really is concise.



So once more we find yourself going around in a circle. The text is concise because it really is short . . . since it doesn't have too many words . . . because it can be concise.



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



1. Long as necessary



2. Short as you possibly can



In symbols: CO = LS



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



Note that nothing is said here in regards to the number of words, because it can be irrelevant. If it takes 500 words to get "as long as necessary", then 500 words can be used. If it takes 1500 words, than the is all right too. The important point is always that everything that should be inside text is fully there.



Then precisely what is meant by "as short as you possibly can"?



Once again, it is nothing do today to with the number of words. It is useless to convey at the beginning, "I should never write over 300 words for this subject", because 500 words could be the minimum necessary.



"As short as is possible" means staying as close as you are able to to the minimum. But not because individuals prefer short texts; in the abstract the terms "long" and "short" have zero meaning. The important point is that all words beyond the minimum have a tendency to reduce clarity.



We shouldn't be rigid relating to this. If being "as long as necessary" might be done in 500 words and you use 520, this is probably a question of individual style. It does no harm. However, in the event you use 650 words, it can be almost certain that the text will not be completely clea r- knowning that the reader can become confused, bored or lost.



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



? Aids clarity by ensuring best structuring of information.



? Holds reader interest by maximum information in minimum time.



C. Density



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



1. Precise information



2. Logically linked



In other words: D = PL



Importance of precise information



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



You are off to a rather bad start, because every one has a totally different idea of what you want to state. But suppose you say, "It's sizzling hot today; the temperature is 28? C." Now there is no room for confusion. They both know quite clearly that it really is 28? C outside understanding that you consider this to become very hot.



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



? Mind Control



Let's not be embarrassed through the term "mind control", as this is precisely what the excellent expository writer wants to achieve. He needs for the various readers's mind to go only where he directs it and nowhere else.



Because they can be interpreted in unknown ways, ambiguous terms (so-called "weasel words") including "hot", "cold", "big", "small", "good", "bad", etc., allow people's mind to escape from your writer's control. An occasional lapse is just not critical; however, a lot of 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's talking about.



Reader confidence is vital in any kind of text, but it's crucial in argumentation. If you're trying to win a place, the last thing you would like is people to challenge important computer data, but this will be the first reaction imprecise writing will provoke. Precise writing ensures that this discussion will be about the implications from the information, i.e. what conclusions must be drawn, not whether or not the whole thing needs to travel back for additional investigation.



Importance of logical linking



Precise data (facts) alone are insufficient. To be meaningful, data has to be organised to make information, i.e. help people understand.



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



1. Relevance



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



2. Misconceptions



The logical link between data should be made explicit to prevent the various readers from coming to false conclusions. For example: a particular situation may be confused to get a general one; credit to have an achievement might seem to fit in with only one person if it really belongs to a group; a company policy may appear to utilize only in very specific circumstances instead of in all circumstances, etc.



To ensure a logical link is clear, squeeze two bits of data as close to each other as possible, preferably right next together.



When data are widely separated, their logical relationship is masked and also the reader is unlikely to generate the connection.



What do you desire? What do your readers want?



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



However, if you start with the correct attitude, i.e. no one wants to read what you write, your first task is none of such. Ahead of everything else, you have to find reasons why people should spend their time for you to read whatever you write.



In general, you cannot force people to read what they don't desire to, even if these are being paid to accomplish so.



For example, you produce a report defining opportunities for increased sales and profits. However, if it really is not well written, even people who must read becoming part of their job are unlikely to give it their full attention. On the other hand, should they immediately see their very own self-interest in reading whatever you have written, they are going to do so gladly along with full attention. In fact, you almost certainly couldn't stop them from reading it!



There are various methods to build such a strong desire to learn, depending on the type of readers and also the type of information. Whatever the most suitable device, the key thing is to recognise the imperative require to use it. Until this require is met, hardly anything else is of any importance.



Editor's note: Reading is definitely an isolated activity and hearing a speech is really a social one. Therefore, whilst the underlying principles of good writing and good speaking are constant, the way they are applied may be markedly different. In the 'I' from the Storm: the Simple Secrets of Writing & Speaking (Almost) as being 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 is a former reporter/feature writer with The Wall Street Journal and a marketing communication consultant. He currently teaches a program in good writing and good speaking in public in Brussels, Belgium. In the 'I' of the Storm can be acquired either in a 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 often 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 as being a second or third language, his way of writing and speaking in public is somewhat different from other communication coaches. He is the author of In the ?I? in the Storm: the Simple Secrets of Writing & Speaking (Almost) as being a Professional. Contact: phil.yaffe@yahoo.com.