In this talk, Kevin Simpson introduces priming—a psychological effect where the first word or impression heavily influences how subsequent information is perceived. He demonstrates the effect with a live audience exercise, showing that identical word lists are judged differently depending on which word is presented first, labeling one as the "saint" and the other as the "sinner." Simpson explains that the initial word can account for up to 90% of the perception of later words, while later words have minimal impact. He then connects this principle to marketing and copywriting, emphasizing that the first sentence or tagline on a website, as well as first impressions such as attire and handshake, dominate how a business is perceived. The core message is that marketers should prioritize crafting powerful opening statements and visual cues, because they shape the audience’s interpretation of all subsequent content.
Chapters
The subject we're going to talk about is it's a form of marketing and copywriting. Anyone here write a lot for their website or. Okay, is there any professional copywriters here? It's a technique called priming. I'm going to. I wrote this down on my wallet here, my pocket here. I want to write down some words. Now, for this to work, you have to go with your initial instinct. I'm going to write two lists of words across the board. I want to know which one's the saint and which one's the sinner from list one, which will. Right across here. So I'm sorry if my back's to you and you can't see this, but I'm going to write a list and a list kind of simultaneously. And as soon as you know which one's which, which one's the saint and which one's the sinner, just acknowledge that. You don't have to shout it out or anything. Just acknowledge you recognize which one's which, and then I'm going to talk about it. So now I'm really going to block everyone so no one can see it. And I hope you can read my handwriting from all the way over there. Don't shout it out. Just. All right, so we're looking for the sinner and the saint. Okay, those are. So can you guys see those words? Can you tell instinctively which one's the center, which one's the saint? Do you have a gut feel? Okay, sinner. I mean, the saint, right? Obviously the saint. Obviously the sinner. And when you look at these words and perhaps you notice it already, they're the exact same words. It's the exact same words, yet instinctively we know which one's the saint and the sinner. Why? Because there's a thing called priming, and this is how priming works. The very first word we see in a sequence sets a prejudice in our mind for. For the definition of every other word. Perhaps your mind operated like this. You saw the word love, and you're like, oh, okay, clearly a good person. And they're a giving person. This person must be great, ordinary. Of course, an ordinary person can be loving and giving. Taking. They're probably taking donations to give to some charity. And dark. They work in a dark room. They work in, like, a cathedral or something. So all the subsequent words we see have been defined by the first word. In studies. This word has a 90% influence over every other word that occurs. This has a 5% influence. This has a 3% influence. And these all become Negligible. Okay, now, exact same words. Exact same words. 90% influence. The first word you see is dark, and then you see, take this validates this first word. And you're like, that's the sinner. And now when it's ordinary, it's like, well, probably had a tough, ordinary life. That's probably a very difficult life giving. Yeah, they probably give a lot of trouble to other people. And love. They've never experienced what love really is. That's called the priming effect. As marketing, as marketers and every single person here markets our business, recognize the. The first impression has an extraordinary impact. It's in your attire, it's in the way you present. It's the handshake you give. But on your website, it's the words you use. And I am telling you that first sentence on your website has a 90% influence over the rest of the site that they read. It's shocking how much we put all this effort into making this wonderful long paragraphs and paragraphs of information. That first sentence determines what everyone else sees in those paragraphs anyway. So the priming effect. I want you guys to recognize the influence of the first words. The tagline of your business. Absolutely crucial, because that gets read if you have your logo and a tagline under it, that's highly likely to be read. Those words are more important than the paragraph or two you have below. The way you dress has a huge impact on how people perceive the conversation going forward. So when you go to a meeting and you're wearing sweatpants there, I don't care if you're Bill Gates and you're a genius. What's up with this slob? So all these first impressions have this huge impact, and you just experienced it yourself. You picked out the sinner and the sink like that, and it was the exact same words. Kind of cool. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
