“A recent survey says…”
“A new poll shows…”
“According to the latest statistics…”
Those references put us to sleep more times than not. The words themselves are boring. Numbers and percentages even more so.
So here’s what works better (because it’ll will sound more conversational):
“They say…”
“I saw a thing that said…”
And with numbers, trying painting a picture. Instead of “25 percent of people say they read a book when they actually didn’t…” try something more visual and personal, like “Think of your four best friends. One of them lies to you about reading a book.”
Two lessons in this tip:
- Polls are just measurements of when they’re taken, but to quote Natasha Bedingfield, “the future is unwritten.”
- Numbers are just numbers. But PEOPLE aren’t numbers. If you want to connect with people, don’t just throw numbers at them.
