Appendix 6 Exploiting and countering human decision-making
Chapter 3 presented many psychological techniques. This appendix gives you a handy reminder of how to exploit or counter their effects in your writing.
Primacy – people form opinions on first impressions and remember early information better.
Exploit: summaries or abstracts; attention-grabbing headlines; go first if multiple views are presented.
Counter: if someone else has got their view in first, use recency and put your point last.
Availability – information more easily recalled has more influence in decision-making.
Exploit: shock the reader; relate your point to their personal experiences; tell stories: grab their attention though your document layout; use primacy and recency. ...
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