Chapter 67 The allure of shocking facts

Mike Krull, founder of a well-known periodical, once said: "A good newspaper article is one that is astoundingly factual." The factual material should be unexpected and grab the audience's heart . Let's look at some examples: Mr. Blanding of Baltimore gave a speech entitled "The Miracle of Radio," which began as follows: Did you know that the sound of a fly crawling on glass can be as loud as Niagara Falls when radioed from New York to Central Africa? Mr. Harry Jones, Chairman of Harry Jones & Co., New York City, began his review of the current criminal situation with the following:

William Howard Daft, when he was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of America, declared that "the enforcement branch of the criminal law is nothing short of the trampling of human civilization." This speech does double duty. It is not only a startling opening speech, but also an authoritative manifesto for the legal profession. Mr. Paul Gibbons, ex-President of the Optimist Club of Philadelphia, opened his speech on "crime" with the following fascinating words: The United States is the place with the largest number of criminals in the world. Although it will make you dumbfounded to say it, it is true.

In Cleveland, Ohio, the number of criminals involved in murder is 6 times that of London, and the number of robberies is 170 times that of London, which is even more than the sum of England, Scotland and Wales. On Louis Street, more people are involved in murders each year than in England and Wales combined.In New York City, there are more murders than in France, Germany, Italy or the British Isles. However, the saddest thing is that criminals don't get punished for it. If you commit murder, your chances of being tried Less than one percent. In other words, a person who died of cancer was ten times more likely than a person who was hanged for homicide.

This opening speech was a great success, because Mr. Gibbons wrote with enthusiasm and power, and because the factual material in it felt vivid.However, while other students opened their speeches with similar examples, they came across as underwhelming. why?Language dictates.Although they are accomplished in the skill of constructing sentences, their language lacks an inner passion.The way they speak diminishes the power of what they say.