How to build a persuasive message: this is what con artists do
Description: Learn how mission-driven organizations can use the same powerful messaging tactics as con artists and fraudsters to drive positive change. By being clear and concise, telling a compelling story, and making a persuasive argument, you can persuade your audience to take action. Avoid deception and manipulation by providing real evidence to support your claims and being transparent in your operations, finances, and impact.
As a core messaging consultant, I've seen the incredible power that clear, understandable, and relevant communication can have in driving success for businesses and organizations.
When you achieve true message clarity that perfectly aligns with your ideal audience, it feels like magic.
Unfortunately, magic has a dark side. This power of influential communication has also been wielded by some of the most notorious fraudsters in history.
Messaging Among Fraudsters
Take Theranos, the blood-testing startup that claimed to have developed a revolutionary technology for detecting a range of medical conditions with just a few drops of blood.
Despite the fact that the technology was unreliable and often produced inaccurate results, founder Elizabeth Holmes was able to raise millions of dollars in funding by projecting an image of innovation and excellence. Through her messaging, she was able to convince investors, customers, and even medical professionals that her technology was the future of healthcare.
She was recently sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Another example is Kevin Trudeau, a successful infomercial pitchman who sold a variety of health, diet, and financial products to millions of viewers.
Trudeau became known for his charismatic and convincing style, projecting an image of expertise and success. However like all fraudsters, his success was built on lies and deception. He was eventually convicted of fraud for making false claims about the effectiveness of his products and for misrepresenting his own personal history and qualifications.
What Con Artists Understand About Messaging
Why does it seems like all the terrible people and evil organizations deeply understand persuasive messaging, while truly good people trying to make a positive impact are so bad at it?
Remember, con artist stands for "confidence artist." They're not shady people in the shadows. They are usually charismatic, friendly, and right out in the open. Their primary skill is earning confidence.
Let's learn from these fraudsters. Here are a few lessons that mission-driven organizations can take away from con artists and use in their own messaging:
Be Clear and Concise
Con artists and fraudsters are able to deceive their audiences because they have a clear and concise message that resonates with their target audience.
Theranos’ core message was something like, “Revolutionizing healthcare with innovative blood testing technology that is fast, easy, and affordable for everyone.”
Similarly, mission-driven organizations must be able to clearly articulate their message in a way that is easy for their audience to understand.
Can you easily state in one or two sentences what your Big Idea actually is?
Example: Our client Dr. Heather Finley runs a program called gutTogether™. We helped her develop a one-sentence core message, what we call The Filter: "We help high-achieving women understand why they’re bloated in order to gain lasting relief and learn to love food, and life, again." This sentence gives her clients an immediate understanding of what she does, who it’s for, and why it matters.
Tell a Compelling Story
If you want to bore people to tears, give them the facts. If you want to engage them, tell them a story.
Con artists deeply understand this. They often use personal stories to create an emotional connection with their audience.
Theranos told a version of this story: “Our founder, Elizabeth Holmes, dropped out of Stanford to pursue her vision of transforming healthcare and has since raised millions in funding and won numerous awards for her innovative technology.”
It’s a classic American story about having a dream, pursuing it, and suceeding (of course, the success was built on deception).
People and organizations trying to do good must be able to tell a compelling story that demonstrates understanding of their audience's problem and establishes authority.
Example: On the gutTogether website, Dr. Finley tells a short version of her true story: "I spent years trying to fix my own digestive symptoms with bandaid solutions that didn’t get me anywhere. It was really terrible. Once I was able to understand the actual causes of my symptoms, I started to find real relief. I went from restricting and eliminating tons of foods to loving food again. Now, I have helped 1000’s of women find relief from their digestive symptoms."
Make a Persuasive Argument
This is where fraudsters are usually caught. They make arguments, but use logical fallacies, deceptions, or flat our lies to make their arguments more persuasive.
Theranos' main argument to convince organizations and investors to support them was that their technology could revolutionize the medical industry by no longer requiring traditional blood draws which are invasive and require a large sample. Instead, they would use just a few drops of blood.
Elizabeth Holmes also argued that their technology could save lives by detecting diseases early and allowing for early intervention and treatment.
Finally, she routinely emphasized the potential economic benefits of the technology, as it could reduce healthcare costs by providing more efficient and accurate testing.
To support these arguments, Holmes and her team presented data and research that they claimed showed the effectiveness of the Theranos technology.
However, as we now know, much of this data was later found to be unreliable and inaccurate.
In contrast, mission-driven organizations must be able to make a compelling argument that is based on sound reasoning and real proof. This means using facts and data to support your claims, and anticipating and addressing any potential objections or counterarguments.
By making a persuasive argument, paired with a compelling story, mission-driven organizations can build credibility and persuade their audience to take action.
Example: Dr. Finley regularly refers to how people typically try to solve their bloating problems and why it doesn't work. She then proposes a completely new approach, the gutTogether™ method, and backs it up with client successes and data (that’s real and verifiable) as proof.
Core Messaging for Good People
While the tactics of fraudsters and scammers should not be emulated, there are valuable lessons that mission-driven organizations can learn from their success in messaging.
By being clear and concise, telling a compelling story, and making a persuasive argument, mission-driven organizations can have a positive impact on the world without resorting to deception and manipulation.
As a core messaging consultant, I am committed to helping my clients develop messaging that 1) is concise, 2) reflects your company values, 3) aligns with your audience, 4) differentiates you from the competitions, and 5) puts at the forefront your audience's perspective.
Schedule a discovery call to learn about creating your core messaging.
