But before I start actually writing the copy I try to become the biggest skeptic on earth.

What if this happens?

That sounds ridiculous - prove it to me.

How do I know for sure it’s not a giant ripoff etc etc.

Then when I come to writing the copy I can use my enthusiastic side to answer my skeptical side.

This makes for far more powerful copy because you’re not leaving questions unanswered in an increasingly skeptical audience (Baby Boomers would believe anything, Generation Xers are naturally and understandably skeptical).

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

While it’s easier to write white papers from an optimistic standpoint, I think business readers are born skeptics. As a result, writing about a topic from a skeptical perspective makes it somewhat more credible in their eyes.

To make a bad analogy to prostitution, a paid writer can write a white paper from any perspective…it just may cost more to write it from the skeptical verses the more comfortable, optimistic position.

With enthusiasm — or, at least, too much of it — I think it’s easy (for *some*) to get caught up in the rah-rah-rah of a topic, potentially overlooking details or arguments that need to be addressed in order to “win over” a skeptic or at least make them less skeptical. I ran into this a lot with a marketing manager who was super-hyped about the CRM solution his company developed; he typically needed to be brought down to earth and persuaded to work on the details and exchange buzzwords and exclamation points for benefits and value.

When you start with some skepticism of your own, you’re looking for some of the same answers, details, counter-arguments that another skeptic would look for and that’s going to show in the content you provide. The trick is to write the content in such a way that doesn’t make it apparent to readers that while you were writing you were also trying to convince yourself of the merits of something.

The answer may be a matter of degrees. If you’re TOO enthusiastic, or TOO skeptical, your content will reflect it. If you’re moderately so (in either direction), it could work to your advantage.

I’d be curious to know what you think on this subject, Mike. Also curious to see what Jonathan Kantor has to say.