Persuasion secret of an Old Testament prophet who converted devil worshippers
Published: Mon, 06/01/20
Take, for example, the part about Elijah and the priests of Baal in 1 Kings 18:27.
Elijah is pitted against 450 priests of the false god Baal who hated him. And he is competing (in front of an audience) with the Baal priests to prove whose god is going to light an offering. So the 450 priests of Baal are going through all their hootenanny and ritual. They’re putting a bunch of extra oil on the offering so it will light up easier. They’re cutting themselves, and they’re spending all day with this, and nothing is happening.
So what is Elijah doing this whole time?
Surrounded by 450+ mortal enemies?
Probably with his life at stake?
He’s over there MOCKING them:
"And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, 'Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.'"
Ancient Hebrew is different than modern English, and a lot gets lost in the translation. But basically, and I’ve had people much more well-versed in languages than me verify that Elijah's completely mocking the Baal priests:
“Where is Baal at? Is he passed out drunk in the corner? Is he taking a crap?”
So what happens?
Elijah ends up asking God to light the offering.
Then the offering lights up, and God’s powerful demonstration, "seasoned" with Elijah’s biting mockery, helps persuade the crowd watching, which never would have happened otherwise.
Anyway, this ain’t a Bible study.
But, I am going to preach some sales lovin’.
And that lovin’ is the power of using mockery.
Sometimes people confuse good, old fashioned mockery with so-called "snark", which is a completely different animal, on all kinds of levels, that destroys otherwise profitable emails.
But not so mockery.
Mockery fans the flames of sales in emails, while snark douses that flame.
And if you understand mockery, you can use it to profit from your enemies, trolls, con artists, lying goo-roo types, and anyone doing bad to your market. That kind of mocking — when done right — positions you as the go-to voice in your market, saves your readers from making horribly mistakes buying weak products, and, yes, can supercharge your sales, your brand, and your business in ways being a syrupy sweet little goodie-two shoes afraid to rock any boats can’t even touch.
It'll also make you a lot of enemies, too.
Almost always from emotionally damaged trolls who, ironically, can only use snark, and don't know how to mock.
Which brings me to the rub:
A couple years ago I taught how to use mockery in emails at one of the great Brian Kurtz’s master classes. It was a hit at the Master Class and also AWAI’s Copywriting Bootcamp that year, where I also taught the same lesson. In fact, after the great A-list “Headline Queen” Carline Anglade-Cole saw my entire talk at the AWAI bootcamp that year, she sent me this:
“Didn’t get a chance to see you after your AWAI presentation but you ROCKED it! Lots of solid advice for newbies — as well as veterans!”
And guess what?
I offer a “side stream” of the video (shot on a phone) at Brian's mastermind in the Ben Settle app store.
The talk was all about 4 “not very nice” email secrets I use.
And, mockery was merely one of them.
To get the video, simply go inside the Ben Settle mobile app (in the course store).
And look for the product called:
“Titans Master Class”
If you don’t have my mobile app, go to:
https://www.EmailPlayers.com/app
And follow the instructions.
NOTE:
Do not download the app directly from the Apple or Google Play store first. You will need a username and password to access it, which you can only get at the URL above.
Ben Settle