It's Not What You Write; It's When
In the last blog post, I talked about the Peak End rule - the phenomenon whereby people weight and remember information and sensation at the end of experiences more than the beginning.
By using the Peak End rule in your paragraphs, I showed you how to make your action items more memorable by leaving to the end of a paragraph. But the Peak End rule also has applications to the sentence as well as the paragraph.
By understanding Peak End, you can make your arguments better, but also catch people when they try to bamboozle you with faulty logic. So here's the Peak End rule as it applies to sentences: people value the ends of your sentences more, and remember the beginnings less.
OK, Cupid Playah.
A friend wants to recommend someone for a potential life partner for you. She thinks you and her ex would be swell together - malt shops, diamonds, honeymoon, the whole bit. First, she says the following:
"You'd really love him; he's interesting."
And of course, the appropriate response to this recommendation is "Interesting? What the hell is wrong with him? The last thing I need is interesting. What, he's some kind of serial killer? Ted Bundy was interesting; find me boring."
The next day, she decides to try again. This time, she reverses the information.
"He's interesting. You'd really love him."
Oh, well, that's a different story. You really think we'd get on well? You think it's too early to set a date?
Now that you're married, let's remember what we learned.
The order in which you receive information matters at least as much as the information you receive. Though no causality is present in those two clauses about that dud of a dude, causality is implied because that's the way the human brain works. We want to believe that one thing leads to another. And we believe the last thing we've heard. I'd better repeat the first sentence for obvious reasons: the order in which you receive information mattes at least as much as the information you receive.
How to use Peak End with sentences
The implications for the sentence-based peak end rule are obvious - you can hide bad news in the beginning of a sentence. "While the past quarter saw a loss, we've started to see sales rebound."
How *they* use Peak End
Unfortunately, cunning sales people and politicians use this rule all the time to fool you. They hide dubious or arguable premises in the beginning of their sentences, and have stronger conclusions.
"You need top-notch performance from a car, and you can't go wrong with a Porsche 911." Now wait a minute, I don't need perf--- what, you don't like the 944?
"America works best when we are united, so I have a plan to make us one again." Didn't we all agree that a war in Iraq was a good ide--- oh, tell me about your spiffy new plan!
Be aware of when you're being told things, and when you're telling them.
