For behavior-based empathy, your goal is simple: Learn why your audience does what they do when it comes to your issue, product, or company. In order to do that, find someone in your target group to talk with, then get yourself in the mind-set of a journalist taking down facts without judgment.

Our tagline at maslansky + partners is “It’s not what you say, it’s what they hear.”®

Nike’s “Just Do It” tagline was an expression of their master narrative of bringing out the athlete in all of us. GE’s “We Bring Good Things to Life” was an expression of their master narrative that their diverse products make life good for everyone. Smucker’s “Choosy Moms Choose Jif,” is an expression of their master narrative of quality ingredien

Persuading someone to give you what you want starts with intimately knowing that person and caring about who they are and what they need.

Once you let your vision dictate your focus, devoting time and energy becomes easier.

Own the truth of who you are. Because when you acknowledge a truth your client can plainly see, you are instantly engaging in a dialogue with them. You’re saying, “I validate and respect your perspective of me. Now let’s talk.”

Ultimately, I leave you with this. Imagine you have thirty seconds in an elevator, or two minutes on a job interview, to make the impression that will get you what you want. Your master narrative is the one thing you can do for whoever you’re trying to persuade, the one thing that they will remember and is meaningful to them. Master stories are dea

The era of subtlety is over.

The bottom line is that pictures are worth a thousand words. And the more we can make our point with a visual that underscores our message, the more impactful and memorable it will be. Because often it’s the negative images that stick with us. Our job in persuasion is to replace those negative images with positive ones. To change the narrative. To