Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Give me an ‘ah ha’ moment at the very beginning of your talk, speech, interview, blog post, lecture. Make me lean in for more right from the start.

Your first few words are everything. Don’t waste them with some traditional, boring  introduction.

Start with

  • news,
  • self interest and
  • curiosity.

Hand me the Remote

Remember when cable TV was young? The three big networks and Disney were good. Then, there were 32 other channels filled with awful content.

Slowly we  got HBO and a few other channels that worked.

Same idea. I can’t tell you how many blogs, podcasts, Wiki pages, TV interviews, YouTube interviews I wade through trying to get some decent content. It is abysmal.

It’s On.

So I have waged war on intros.  Just my little personal  war to help clean up the slack.

There are a few really good blogs on the web that get right to the point. Frank Kern always does. Outspoken Media usually does.  Brian Clark and Aaron Wall are good. Pavlina seems to have joined the ‘agonizingly long post’ school of thought. Most are a nightmare of wordiness.

The Good, The True, and the Beautiful

Larry King is the master of straight talk. Watch him and learn . No stammering or beating around the bush. No long, stupid intros. Larry just says it and waits for a response. Thank you , God.

I’ll Be There for You…

Watch re-runs of “Friends”. The show starts with something good. A hook. Instant drama. Then the little Rembrandt’s jingle ( slightly too long but OK) then we’re back into the show. Yes! It can be done.

Here’s Your assignment.

Notice how many horrifying introductions there are on podcasts, blogposts, You Tube and the like. It is utterly amazing.

You don’t have to be a radio producer, TV director or writer to notice these things. They are so obvious.

You can easily find yourself two minutes into the piece with nothing at all to hang your hat on.

Stop this. Count the hours the world is wasting with filler.

No More.

When you find such a ridiculous introduction with a random sponsor mention, a long bio of the guest, a scene setter, a list of what we are about to do ( yes, I am aware of the formula –’ tell them what you are going to tell them’) leave a comment and link to this post.

No intros. Just get to the good part.

Frankly, I don’t know if I can ever click play on another podcast for fear that the next eight minutes of my life will be thrown into an abyss of idiotic credentials, bio experience, un-needed fluff about the topics’ or guest’s past history, awards, ‘and he used to work for Google so he must be cool’ sentiment. It’s like touching an electric fence. I am now neuro-linquistically programmed against content.

Presenting -The Untro. Just do it.

Filed under: Copywriting

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