The Fight Between Persuasion and Manipulation

ByJowi Witt

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Greetings Reader,

Recently I did a deep dive into the world of communication. There are generally two different skillsets to communication. One is the personal communication. Your journal to your dinner table conversation.

When we enter the arena of public communications we have a lot of traditions. We have the historic school of the Orator – aka. Speaker. Over the centuries we have seen a specialization. The speaker was trained in propaganda. The Art of public persuasion. After the second world war propaganda was stamped with manipulation.

So Propaganda became Public Relations. New name for the same craft. Public persuasion. We see the actions in Marketing, in Sales, in Motivational Speakers.

Today AI is trained on the same foundation.

The challenge is to understand the difference between persuasion and manipulation. In my understanding this line gets thinner and harder to see every day.

More and more people try to become a copywriter. Trained in the craft of persuasion by the written word.

This takes us to a moral dilemma once more.

What is right and wrong. When is persuasion becoming manipulation.

We are at the brink of everybody having access to AI and being able to write persuasive texts.

This challenge is not new though. It is the fight of the Rhetor vs. Sophists.

The Rhetor standing up that your values matter and your character is important to becoming a public speaker. The Sophists on the other hand only aimed to win, make more money, and become more powerful.

Both use the same skills. The outcome is different. That’s why I’m standing up to become the new generation of Rhetors. Are you in?

Yours in Stewardship

Jowi

PS: Are you looking to grow faster, then ​book a free 15min Call​ with me. I’ll help you find Clarity quick.

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