If your goal is to bond meaningfully with your fans, you can do it with one simple sentence.

Are you ready?

People will do anything for those who encourage their dreams, justify their failures, allay their fears, confirm their suspicions, and help them throw rocks at their enemies.

This is Blair Warren’s one-sentence persuasion course. And it might just be the most powerful sentence in the English language.

These are the psychological building blocks behind all meaningful persuasion and influence. And they’re at the core of what creates intense emotional connection between people.

So how do you use it?

Identify who you serve (your niche). Take the time to understand what they think and feel (create an audience map). And then, use your content and communication to…

  • Encourage their dreams.
  • Justify their failures.
  • Allay their fears.
  • Confirm their suspicions.
  • Help them throw rocks at their enemies.

Here’s another way to think about this toolset.

You can connect with people by validating what’s already in their head. From there, you can bond yourself to them by creating a satisfying emotional payoff.

Basically, tell people what they want to hear, then make them feel good about it.

Do this consistently and repeatedly, and you will create diehard fans.

Now, here comes my giant, SUPER IMPORTANT disclaimer.

These are powerful psychological magnets that can be, and often are, used irresponsibly.

Just as a knife can be used to slice vegetables, so can it be used as a weapon.

Just as this sentence can be used to create true fans, so can it wreak havoc on our social and political systems.

For these are the principles underlying cults and destructive mass movements. Beneath every toxic ideology, every cultish politician, and every escalating culture war, you will find these ideas at play.

Whether we like it or not, we humans are wired to respond to these triggers. They’re a core part of our primal, tribal psyche.

That’s why we need to be aware of them. These principles will play out in our world one way or another.

As indie creators, it’s our responsibility to use them in a spirit of service, connection, and generosity.

That’s how we counteract their more destructive usage. By wielding the power of persuasive media responsibly.