Be
earnest, make reasonable statements, appeal to the intelligence or
the experience of the reader and deal with specific facts rather
than with mere assertions or claims. There is no inspiration to
confidence in the time-worn claims of "strongest," "best," and
"purest". Tell the facts. Instead of saying that an article is
useful in a dozen different ways, mention some of the ways. When you
declare that the cylinder of your mine pump is the best in the
world, you are not likely to be believed; the statement slips off
the mind like the proverbial water from a duck's back. But when you
say that the cylinder is made of close-grained iron thick enough to
be rebored, if necessary, you have created a picture that does not
call for doubt. But watch out that you don't start an argument.
Brander Mathews gives us a great thought when he says that
"controversy is not persuasion." Don't write a letter that makes the
reader feel that he is being argued into something. Give him facts
and suggestions that he can't resist; let him feel that he has
convinced himself. This paragraph fails of its purpose, simply
because it argues. You can almost picture the writer as being
"peevish" because his letters haven't pulled:
"This stock is absolutely the safest and most staple you could buy.
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