Words That Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear

by Frank Luntz

I asked the brilliant Hollywood writer Aaron Sorkin, creator of The West Wing and Sports Night, and someone with a very different political orientation from mine, to explain the difference between language that convinces and language that manipulates. His answer stunned me: “There’s no difference. It’s only when manipulation is obvious, then it’s bad manipulation. What I do is every bit as manipulative as some magician doing a magic trick. If I can wave this red silk handkerchief enough in my right hand, I can do whatever I want with my left hand and you’re not going to see it. When you’re writing fiction, everything is manipulation. I’m setting up the situation specifically so that you’ll laugh at this point or cry at this point or be nervous at this point. If you can see how I’m sawing the lady in half, then it’s bad manipulation. If you can’t see how I did that, then it’s good.”