How to persuade people to do what you want

“David, your face is going to explode.”

My mum’s words to me in 2010, when I weighed almost 21 stone (294lbs). Words only a mother could get away with saying to her son.

She was quite rightly worried about the amount of chicken foo yungs I was devouring from my local Chinese takeaway, and didn’t want me having a heart attack before I was 30.

And even though she’d said stuff like “why don’t you start eating healthier” in the past, I’d never listened, because she’d always told me in the same ordinary way.

But the power of her carefully chosen words that day hit me like a hammer…

• “David,” – stern, like she was telling me off.
• “your face” – not ‘you’, but specifically YOUR FACE, the most important part of my body.
• “is going to” – not ‘might’, or ‘could’ or ‘should’, but a certainty. This is going to happen.
• “explode” – Jesus, like my cheeks and chin are so bulbous, my head will literally kaboom.

You know, like that guy from Big Trouble in Little China…

Her words had finally resonated with me, and three months later, I’d lost 4 stone (56 lbs). All because she’d found a way to make me listen.

Think about this the next time you want people to click on your email, or read your blog post, or buy from your website.

Don’t tell people they should maybe start eating healthier, tell them their face is gonna explode!?

How about you? Do you struggle to convince people to buy from you? Head over to thewordman.co.uk for more writing tips, and get in touch if you'd like me to persuade them for you.