3 Ways You Can Inspire Curiosity In Your Audience

Welcome to the third edition of Social Rhetoric. Let’s imagine two scenarios:

Scenario 1: I find you seated somewhere, I put a book on your desk and say, “You should read this book, it is very good.”

Scenario 2: I find you seated somewhere, I put a book on your desk and say, “I don't think I have read something so profound than what this book talks about. It has made my business and social life better. You should read it.”

Between the two scenarios, which one have I been effective in my communication??Obviously, it is scenario number two. I have backed it with a personal account (testimonial) but didn’t share all the details. I just gave you a taste and left you with curiosity.

“It is not enough to be right, you have to be effective” - Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

People who share articles on LinkedIn and reiterate just the article’s title in the caption may not be effective in their communication. Especially if they want to start conversations about the topic. Many people may have come across that article already. So you sharing it begs the question of "so what"?

The most important thing you can achieve with your communication is inspiring curiosity in people. If people are curious, they will go and learn more about the subject than you could possibly have shared on a first encounter.?

Best teachers dont teach, they inspire curiosity in students.

LinkedIn content advisors use the word “hook” to mean almost the same thing. You must have passed mere interest to invoke curiosity in someone to have them hooked on your message.

How to inspire curiosity in your audience

There are rhetorical devices (tools of persuasion) you can use to inspire curiosity and leave a lasting memory of your message in people’s minds. Let’s see a few, some I have tried and seen their effectiveness.

1. Start your message with something slightly ambiguous, dramatic, or unusual.?

This usually makes people wonder ‘Where is this going’? A good example is how James Bond movies start before the opening credits and the story begins.

If you are a marketer and you want to make a case about the importance of a brand for a business’s staying power, you can go direct and say:

“A brand image is important for a business to grow and acquire loyal customers.”

Or you can be a little dramatic and say:

“If you rely on product value alone, you are playing the game of business on hard mode.”

I recently introduced an article by saying ‘Talking about digitizing Afrika is like promoting a false god.’ Then I went on to support that unusual claim. It wouldn’t be effective if I just plainly said ‘Digitization in Africa faces many challenges such as lack of physical infrastructure.’

2. Deliver your message by comparing things

People perceive things in context. That’s why a comparison is a powerful tool in your communication. Give a context they’re familiar with so they can understand and appreciate your message.?

A TV presenter once asked Neil DeGrasse Tyson about the cost of a space mission. The interviewer said, “Dr. Tyson, this mission cost more than three billion dollars. How can you justify this expense with all the problems we have in the world today?”

Neil Tyson answered, “First, it is $3 billion over 12 years. And by the way, Americans spend more than that in a year on lip balm.”

This is the kind of?response that makes people say, I never thought about it that way.

3. Deliver your message in a narrative form

In Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari, an Israeli historian, argued that narrative language is how our species have progressed to the top of the food supply chain. That is how powerful stories are.?

If you can weave art and fiction into your message, you will get your readers glued to the last page.

To conclude our topic today, let's get back to Neil Tyson's quote; “It is not enough to be right, you have to be effective.” Yes, SEO is important, everyone knows that. But are you being effective in delivering your message about the importance of SEO?

Social Rhetoric returns next week. Thank you for 5000+ subscribers!?