There are certain scenes I always stop to watch because they are storytelling masterpieces.
The speech in The Newsroom is one of them:
“You’re going to tell students that America’s so starspangled awesome that we’re the only ones in the world who have freedom?
Canada has freedom, Japan has freedom, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, Belgium has freedom. Two hundred seven sovereign states in the world, like 180 of them have freedom…
…there is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we’re the greatest country in the world.
We’re seventh in literacy, twenty-seventh in math, twenty-second in science, forty-ninth in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, third in median household income, number four in labor force, and number four in exports.
We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending, where we spend more than the next twenty-six countries combined, twenty-five of whom are allies. None of this is the fault of a 20-year-old college student, but you, nonetheless, are without a doubt, a member of the –
WORST-period-GENERATION-period-EVER-period
So, when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about?! Yosemite?!!!
We sure used to be.”
There are so many psychological triggers here:
~ Positioning against common belief
~ Make bold statements
~ Provide proofs to support the statement
~ Build contrast (“We lead the world in only three categories…”)
~ Intensify contrast (“defense spending against allies”)
~ Top the pain point with some humor
~ Show the light at the end of the tunnel
If you can tell stories like this in your emails, you will never again worry about “annoying your subscribers with too many emails.”
Talk soon,
– WYH