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Hey Reader,

It's official: I've eaten too many sausage rolls on my trip to England.

Now, before you come for me...

For the people who don't know: A sausage roll is an English staple (get your mind out of the gutter)

For the Brits: I love a sausage roll, but my wife has ordered one every single day from the same cafe. Honestly, how many sausage rolls can you eat before you start to crave anything else?!

👆

Beyond needing to get this rant out of my system, this, my friends, is an example of defending your argument.

I argued that I've eaten too many sausage rolls, which implies there is a limit to how many sausage rolls one can eat.

But I realize there could be many counterarguments here, like:

• Sausage rolls are the best how dare you speak ill of them
• There is absolutely no limit to how many you can eat — in fact, I've eaten one every day for the past 10 years
• Get out of my country, you stupid American

All valid points.

However.

I know that by getting ahead of these counterarguments, I can soften the blow.

And once I soften the blow, you'll let your guard down a bit.

And once you let your guard down?

You'll be open to hearing my side of the story.

Now of course, I'm not going to get die hard Brits like my wife to ever agree with me on this, and that's completely fine.

When you make an argument, you are not trying to convince 100% of readers to agree with you. 10% will likely always disagree with you. Let 'em go.

Instead, you want to focus on the 90% who can:

• Keep an open mind
• Consider your point of view
• Ruminate on your argument

This is how you plant persuasive seeds, which you can then nurture over time.

The end goal?

Personally, these are my favorite outcomes:

• "You've really changed my mind about why editing is important. I get it now."
• "I never thought about using social media as my creative outlet. It's made it so much easier to show up consistently."
• "You made me realize I was undervaluing editing so I bought your course and it's helped me so much. Thank you."

It's much harder to achieve outcomes like this when you never give grace to counterarguments.

Especially if what you're saying is spiky, a little bit controversial, counterintuitive, or goes against the grain.

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

Opinion based content is the best way to stand out, grab attention, and sell your products/services.

But it's so easy to put people off with strong opinions. It can feel like you're yelling at the audience, demanding them to come to your side or else.

This is why, in my opinion, the people who diffuse counterarguments come across as far more amenable, credible, thought provoking, and to be blunt, less douchey.

Let's look at a few examples, shall we?

Example 1

Wes Kao is the queen of spiky opinions. But she's also a master at diffusing the bomb so you put your pitchforks down and listen to what she has to say.

In this case, her tactic is to place herself directly in the "villain" position by saying: "Look, I've done this too!"

It's so much easier to listen to someone's critique when they admit they've "messed up" many times as well.

In fact, here I am doing the same thing:

Example 2

This is one of the first posts I ever wrote on LinkedIn. I had a powerful title "Head of Content "at the time. By making fun of myself, I created a welcoming, judgment free environment for writers of all seniority to learn.

There's nothing more annoying than a know it all. Someone with a title going, "Look at all of my experience. Now sit down, shut up, and listen."

Ummm, no.

I personally find it much more inviting when a person with authority or experience gets down on your level and says, "I'm no better than you, I've simply been doing this for longer and have learned a few things. Don't believe me? Have a look at me when I was you."

That is so damn disarming.

Example 3

Here's one from Devin Reed where he doesn't diffuse the bomb until he's poked the pain, agitated the reader, and presented a solution.

That tiny little line: "It's not better, it's just different" makes all the difference.

This is his way of saying to people who do run "status quo" conferences:

• I'm not saying all conferences are bad
• But I am saying a lot are prettttty damn boring
• And as an industry goer/speaker, we need to shake it up
• Peep Laja is giving us his way of shaking it up
• It's not the only way, but it's a damn good option
• I hope you all think harder about making your conferences better
• Let's all raise the bar

As a speaker and someone who goes to a bunch of conferences, it'd be stupid for Devin to straight up say, "All conferences are bad." He wants to get invited to them.

But he's also unafraid to speak his mind and say, "Let's raise the bar."

By diffusing the bomb, he's allowing "boring conference organizers" to let their guard down and open their minds about their next event.

Ideally, they're thinking, "Hmm, maybe we do need to make a change."

Right, it's my last day in England so I'm off to eat one more sausage roll to prove to my wife that I love her country.

Wish me luck.

I'll catch you next Sunday from sunny Greece.

Cheers,

Erica

PS. I got the most amazing unsocilited testimonial this week that made me smile so big.

I know how many people hate editing. It can feel like such a slog not understanding what the hell to change or why. The fact that I've made a resource that not only helps you become a better writer, but takes you from hating to loving a process, is the best feeling ever.

Check out the course if you're keen for similar vibes.

PPS. My latest podcast episode came out this week! I chatted with Jimmy Daly from Superpath on his Content, Briefly podcast. We covered things like how to keep content ideas flowing, the difference between a solopreneur and a creator, and a day in the week of my new offer, Content Sparring.

​Give it a listen 🙌

PPPS. I'm thinking about creating a paid newsletter option (will keep the free one of course), where you can submit your work to me and I edit it & share the breakdowns via Loom videos. I'd also get guest editors into the ring for "edit off's" so you can see how different editors change things, and why. I wrote more about that here.

I mentioned in the post it'd be $15/month but I'm thinking it'd actually be closer to $9.

​If you're interested, click this link to let me know.

Check out my 3 courses that 1700+ people have taken, loved, and gotten meaningful results from:

1. Long to Short: Turn one long-form piece into a month's worth of posts. A step-by-step system to repurpose, remix, and remaster your best ideas.

2. Hooked on Writing Hooks: Turn your ideas into content that actually gets consumed. Learn to write scroll-stopping hooks on social without resorting to clickbait nonsense that feels inauthentic.

3. Content Editing 101. Kill decision fatigue and build confidence as a writer and editor. A look inside a professional editor's workflow & best practices. Packed with lessons, examples, and a roadmap so you can stop second-guessing your writing & editing decisions.

Each course is AI-powered 🪄

You can go through them manually or use AI to play, get it done faster, and test your new skills in real time. My friend & prompt genius Rob Lennon wrote all the prompts and bots for the courses.

Want to work with me 1:1?

Check out my Content Sparring 🥊 offer: It's for seasoned solopreneurs who feel like they've hit a content plateau and want an experienced editor to ping-pong ideas and content with.

What'd you think of today's email? Reply and let me know.

Erica Schneider

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