Influence With Words



As a graphic designer I spend my days creating beautiful images that visually evoke emotion and inspire reactions for my clients whether that is in branding or brand promotion designs. 


However I often find myself giving my clients advice on enhancing the wording that forms part of their design through tag lines, ebook or product titles and promotion post content too.

So often people use negative words without it even registering that these may be deterring their audience from taking the desired action steps. Here are a few common examples with easy reframes.

SAVE TIME by doing xxxxx



Giving a positively motivated clear instruction is so much more powerful… “Don’t” is probably the most commonly used negative word out there… I see it on adverts all the time. If you say “Don’t look over there now but there is a rainbow flamingo doing a dance”… then it is highly likely they will look over there thus doing exactly what you just told them not to do… which is the opposite of the action you want to inspire. Instead of putting any focus on what you don’t want them to do, reframe your words to tell them only the benefit of taking the right action.

which can be reframed to

Remember to xxxxxx



Other words to avoid are


You Can’t Keep doing xxxx …… You can do xxxx (the opposite)

You Shouldn’t find xxxx ….. You will find xxxx (the opposite)


You Won’t get xxxx …. You will have xxxx (the opposite)

Say No to xxxx …. Say Yes to xxxx (the opposite)


Why Not go and do xxxx now

???

By saying ‘Why not’ you are literally asking people to think of reasons to not take the action you want them to take…

Instead say



Go and do xxxx now because…



This way you are giving your audience strong reasons that will resonate with them and help them to easily choose to take the desired action.



Words and Visuals are both important when creating inspiring positive designs.