Euphonics

Tellya, any book goes into detail 'bout "the seductive, slippery S" kinda scores supah sensational in my speculative scenario sensorium.

Gotta figure Alexander Pope had it nailed in his exotic "Sound and Sense"

"True ease in writing comes from art, not chance,
As those move easiest who have learned to dance.
'Tis not enough no harshness gives offense,
The sound must seem an echo to the sense:
Soft is the strain when Zephyr gently blows,
And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows;
But when loud surges lash the sounding shore,
The hoarse, rough verse should like the torrent roar;
When S sounds do not make the final show,
The poet's fate is sealed, and he must know
Without art's snakery, all verse is pain
and sonnets full of Ps have naught to gain.
Seductive Ss, may you slip and rise ...
forever to uncoil your sweet surprise."

Ahh - those words, by the great British poet, brought tears to my eyes - beautiful it is.

Anyway...

I think ladies and gentleman of the Jury...

The Princess has categorically proven the case.

For the incredible powers of the letter S.

Despite me, apart from my name - not actually using any S words in this post.

I'm waiting for a new allocation.

Hoping they'll arrive on the hurry up.


Steve

Thank you Steve for a subject near and dear to my heart.

Without boring everyone, I spent my first 10 years in intensive speech therapy and unbeknownst to me (and to them, I think)
...euphonics played a huge role as sally sold seashells by the seashore...which I must have uttered 100,000 times.

Anyhow, later in life, getting diagnosed as a person with ADD (or ADHD, depending on the guy doing the diagnosing)...and then discovering that I was hypersensitive to sound, a thing called MISOPHONIA, which my mother unknowingly suffered from her whole life.

Mom went ballistic when we "smacked our lips" or chewed gum. Anyhow, back to your point.

Let me quote from a study ECHOES OF PERSUASION: THE EFFECT OF EUPHONY IN PERSUASION and share their definition of "persuasion", one most commonly held.

Most of them have a common core addressing: methodologies aiming to change the mental state of the receiver by means of communication in view of a possible action to be performed by her/him. (Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca, 1969; Moulin et al., 2002).

As a direct response copywriter, I've kept that idea forefront in my mind, that I am trying to change the mental state

of my target

with the idea I want an action (response) to be performed. Such as buying.

About 25 years ago, I created the formula: E o AtP= H+ tSOM

and it has several variations, but it is the EFFECTIVENESS of your Attempt to Persuade(your copy/sales pitch) is equal to the harmony with your TARGET'S STATE OF MIND.

We often refer to it as resonance, or being in synch, or joining the conversation inside their head...most all copywriters who have been around have heard and or know this.

What many fail to get to, is the how AND why, and often skip over the depth of such studies as Ciadini did in his INFLUENCE series.

During our first 7 to 8 years, we humans spend a lot of time in a THETA state of mind as children, and it is one reason why those nursery RHYMES and sing song sounds stay with us, and it is how we learn.

Which is a whole nuther ball of wax beans...suffice for now, to know that using EUPHONICS in your copy, can be a shortcut...

it can get your TARGET'S defenses lowered quickly, and create a receptive resonance, which a savvy, successful, copy writer uses to hasten action.

A study of some of the greatest headlines and opening sentences show how Euphonics have worked.

Again, THANKS for the start of what could be a really good learning opportunity.

GordonJ

PS. By about 12, I had Sally doing all kinds of nasty things, none of which involved seashells, but a few with some sailors by the seashores. HA!

Gordon,

Thanks so much for sharing your story.

With all your "life research" you were destined to become a copywriter - don't think you had a choice!

Tell you what resonated the most.

For the past 40 plus years in the wonderful world of copywriting - at least 1,079 times I've read, studied, seminared - aha - there's a word I don't use much - aka "at seminars."

Anyway, I've been told...


"Enter the conversation the prospect is already having in their head"


I always thought - but I'm writing to them - not talking.

So, I tended to make my copy as colloquial as I could.

But I never realized the actual "scientific" technique in how to do it.

Luckily, I seem to have done it for yonks - without knowing how.

Lo and behold - now I do - it's all down to the euphonics.


Steve


P.S. another book for us ad writers to consider -

Euphonics For Writers: Professional Techniques for Fiction Authors

On the Amazon kindle.

Special note - we should all replace "fiction" for "authentic" when knocking out the wondrous words.

I'm wondering if...

Taking a break from copywriting.

Princess B and you would write a dash of free style poetry.

Decide amongst yourselves who goes first.

Would be one heck of a read so it would (just realized there were 27 other words I could have used instead of "heck").

Also it would be an excellent euphonic tutorial.

All in favour say Aye!


Steve

Hey Gordon, that is real neat!

An' now it's here, it prevents The Warrior Forum Showtime Band formin' up in the vacuum an' stealin' the show.

What better way to save your donkey sanctuary than to soak up the dollars with a charity song by internet marketing's hottest tribute act?

You got Claude keepin' things rock solid an' steady on the drums, Dan Riffle gowin' crazy with his rhythmic twanger, Kay King on Keyboards (for this be euphonics), Taggo rumblin' from Down Undah on bass, an' Whatto shriekin' out the lyrics like Mick Jagger been stung in the ass by a B movie insect big as a CAR.

As a bonus, I figure Alex Cohen could be persuaded to shake a mean maraca up front.

But thankfully, that ain't happenin' now.

An' I will throw in sumthin' later when I fixed my hair -- which prolly jus' means hidin' it away in a sack right now, so if I don't show later, likely it's bcs I walked into a wall and concussed musself.

Awkay, here's what I got.


Best part?


I only walked into two walls while huntin' for a pen.


KISSIN' THE EUPHONICITY

Euphonics is the beat of cowboy pants
flap-flap-flappin' on the range.

It's the sound you hear
real deep in your throat
when you encounter
sumthin' strange.

An' what last gasp
is wispier
than a hamstah
dyin' from THE MANGE?

Aw, lookit the real cute baby
gooin' bubbles
outta words
she can't arrange!


Euphonics is the pop of champagne corks
when a long, hard battle is won.

It's the random syllables
of pleasure
oozin' outta lovers
havin' fun.

It's the growl from down below
that shows the world
you can't cook
canton.

An' what scream of HORROR
could be worse
than BCS THAT SNAKE
YOU SAT UPON?


Euphonics is the purr of kittens
heaped all snug in a cosy bed.

It's the swoosh
of blades an' blood an' rage
as the dissident
loses his head.

An' who needs
the crack of ancient bones
when you got a slice
of month old bread?

Want unadulterated
cacophony?
Try WHAT
YOU SHOULD
HAVE SAID.


Here's rhythm of life as voice an' soul
to greet all ears unbent --
the natural flow of breath on a roll,
received as it is sent.

Well done the two of you!

From the applause.

I think the audience may want more...

Feel free.

But only if you wish to.


Steve


P.S. Would you be kind enough to tell us you all time favourite poem?

For me - it has to be - The Road Not Taken - by Mr Robert Frost

If euphonics is all you've got, you're going to sound comedic (as we see right here in these posts ), ridiculous, or tiresome depending on the type of audience. You need to mix in and season to taste with some of the other classic rhetorical techniques such as word contrast, alliteration, echoic, metaphors, rhythm, intonation (or emphasis), etc.

I would go far back in history to see these forms used smoothly and effectively such as Martin Luther King's speeches, Pres John Kennedy, Winston Churchill, Theodore Roosevelt, etc. Those word patterns are powerful, whether spoken or written.

Grasshopper, the master chef of copywriting also knows just the right cooking temperature, and when to serve. Temperature and timing are almost always missing conspicuously in cookie cutter copy cooks secrets.

For the record, I can't cook pretty much nuthin'.


When I home for Thanksgivin', Mom places SENTRY DOGS outside the kitchen to stop me tamperin' with stuff.


Tellya, I so much as SNIFF a parsnip, the whole show is ruined.


But what is intrestin' to Moi is how we makin' our way through the sensorium here in this post.


We done sound and scent an' flavor so far -- which prolly means the next stop is detailin' the copy phenomenon usin' loominescent rubberware as a metaphor.


Deal always is, optimum relevant evocation -- which may mean comedic on occasion, or more formal appeals dependin' on a little vinegar.

This is the most entertaining and brilliantly written thread I've read in a long time.

Nothing to add...I'll just bask in the beauty of the writing.

The best "book" I've ever read about sounds is Don Martin's Dictionary of Sounds,

https://www.madcoversite.com/dmd-alphabetical.html

For example, if you need a word to describe a man's head being squashed by a large-bottomed bus rider, you can find one in there. (BPLFLT!)

Alex

Mr Cohen,

There seems to be a memo from the higher echelon of leaders in your community.

Expressing their surprise that you would deign to be reading such - as they put it - low brow literature.

I'm sure you can find a suitable word from the "dictionary" as a retort.

Btw...

There are some ace copy "descriptive" words to be gleamed - so there are!


Steve