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Magic Words
Words are levers, not just labels. Jonah Berger reveals how tiny linguistic shifts — swapping a verb for a noun, dropping a hedge, timing an emotional swing — change how people respond to you. Backed by data from millions of calls, emails, and loan requests, this microbook shows which words persuade, build trust, and reveal hidden truths.
Listen to the intro
Who it is for
For anyone who has ever walked away from a conversation wondering why they didn't land the point, felt unheard at work, or simply wants to communicate with more intention and impact in everyday life.
Lessons
- Understand how nouns, not just verbs, activate identity and drive people to act.
- Learn when to project certainty — and when a sliver of doubt is more persuasive.
- Discover how concrete or abstract language can work for or against you depending on context.
Key Takeaways
- Asking someone to 'be a helper' instead of 'help' can dramatically increase their engagement, because people are motivated by identity labels, not just tasks.
- Dropping hedges like 'I think' or 'maybe' and replacing filler sounds with silent pauses makes speakers sound more credible and authoritative.
- The words people unconsciously choose — pronouns, prepositions, emotional vocabulary — reveal hidden biases, future behavior, and even authorship of anonymous texts.
More knowledge in less time
Listen to the key ideas
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