Quote from John Freeman on October 24, 2023, 12:48 am

Hello Lucio,

First I want to say that the visual quality and the quality of the editing is great/professional to me.

I think you appeared more powerful when speaking slower. I understand the goal is to make a short video. As I said in another post it’s really challenging I’m aware. My opinion is I would rather speak of less topic and keep the slower pace than having more topics and a faster pace. Personal preference.

Beginning: to me the promise of what it’s going to achieve sounds more like other products than your previous video. If you use superlative such as groundbreaking and the likes it could trigger the skeptical part of our brain. It does it with me. So if you use this I would follow it up quickly with the data and address it: if you don’t believe me this is what our clients have to say. And show the survey. So I think this part is fine if followed with the data. People at that stage don’t have to know what power university is. It’s about credibility. Then you could explain what it is. So just move the survey after the superlatives (for a lack of a better word. Brain not 100%. Out of my 6th day of work) and before the description of what PU is.

I would move « getting what you want » at the top and put it bigger and explain that you get what you want through…. How to become high value and then the rest of the list. My mind understands it better this way.

I don’t understand when you talk about strategies mindset and techniques why there is the triangle with narcissist, etc. I don’t understand the correlation. That’s just me maybe you’ll get different feed back from other people.

The list 1. Effective etc. Is golden. I would not change the order. I would just dumb it down a little bit. To me it feels like it’s written by a smart person and like it’s addressed to smart people. So maybe not how people receive messages the easiest. Could be wrong though and it’s a detail. I would change it to:

It’s designed to be…

or

it’s…

or

Power university is… (my favourite).

1. Effective

2. Practical

3. Be easy to internalize (this formulation of mine I’m not convinced)

So not explain the principles that… rather shorter and more to the point  (for my tastes): 3 strengths of Power University: it’s Effective….

Using a mix of sentences and military/hospital talk. «  3 strengths… » instead of « Here are 3 strengths. » If you see what I mean.

I would remove the part about fishing. I think people get that if they learn they can do.

On my phone. Posting now so it’s saved. Posting more later.

Quote from John Freeman on October 24, 2023, 1:36 am

Correction:

Power university is… (my favourite).

1. Effective

2. Practical

3. Easy to internalize.

4. Transformational

What I mean here:

The list 1. Effective etc. Is golden. I would not change the order. I would just dumb it down a little bit. To me it feels like it’s written by a smart person and like it’s addressed to smart people. So maybe not how people receive messages the easiest. Could be wrong though and it’s a detail. I would change it to:

is that people care more about what it's going to do for them than how it was designed. Otherwise the text is golden I think.

On the survey: if I see a survey and percentages I'd like to know the number of alumni (if it's more than 20). So depends on the numbers of answers.

I love the "Yes it works". It answers to the viewer's question in my opinion. That's also how I think.

Other than say "several times over" I would rather say: "PU is now at it's 7th version and we improve it continuously."

When you say "it's not just a product" I was expecting you were going to talk about the forum.

So rather than the mission here I would say: "it's not just a product... it's a community." and say how many users are on it, how many topics and posts. And what the forum is going to do for them: "answer questions they had in PU, post questions about social situations where they are struggling whether at work, social life or dating."

I think it's important to talk about the mission. But I would not use "mission-driven project" as to me it could sound grandiose and put off some people.

I would rather say: "Our mission at TPM is to make man into high-quality..." and then bridge on the eagle and the rest of the text.

I would not use the term "our true mission" as it seeds doubt in people's minds: the word "true" makes people wonder: so what is not true then? I think.

You could also say: "I'll see you on the forum" (optional but high value I think).

Otherwise I think the posture, white shirt and body language is on point.

Quote from Ali Scarlett on October 24, 2023, 1:45 am

Hi Lucio,

This PU intro video seems like it also doubles as a sales video, so I think Nick Kolenda's advice here (at "#5: Your Sales Videos") would apply and could possibly raise its effectiveness.

Here are some ideas:

#1. “Replace broad generalizations with concrete examples.”

For example:

Broad: "Do you want to gain more status and respect?"

Concrete: "How should you socialize to come across high-value? Which competence triggers should you show? What should you say in your interactions?"

Concrete: "If you want to increase your confidence, get more respect from the people in your life and the people you meet, and generally win more friends and influence more people, then you've come to the right place. Welcome to Power University."

The more concrete the example/phrasing, the more people can imagine/visualize what they'll gain from the course.

And the more they can visualize it, the more smoothly they can move toward purchasing because they're not buying based on the words of a salesman/marketer, but based on a visualization they had in their mind and are now looking to realize. (This is in part thanks to the concept of "fluency of consumption imagery" which Nick Kolenda talks about in his book, Imagine Reading This Book, and something we discussed before when brainstorming one of the previous sales page's copywriting.)

One other reason is this:

Kolenda: "Not surprisingly, images generate a larger emotional impact than words (Hinojosa et al., 2009). To increase the persuasiveness of your content, you should transform important written content into a mental image."

And the more concrete your verbiage, the more clear the mental image for the prospect (see the "Transform generic claims into concrete terms" section).

#2. “Suggest an alternative to ‘not buying’"

Example:

You: "If you’re not sure whether you’re ready to hop into Power University today, you can check out our other related content on our blog.”

Most people, when watching any sales video, are going to be thinking to themself, "I'm not ready to buy yet," and have the image of clicking away from the video in their mind (and potentially off the website).

So, addressing that unreadiness to buy helps dilute that imagery. (Similar to the psychological effect of addressing the "elephant in the room" in that when you address it, the elephant begins to minimize and go away.)

One good way to address that "purchase unreadiness" is by suggesting that they explore the blog as an alternative to not buying (which helps keep them on the site and nurtures them toward buying with the free value the articles provide).

#3. “Show the desired motor behavior."

A POV screen recording of scrolling through the sales page and clicking one of the checkout buttons can be persuasive in removing the friction/dissonance of buying for the prospect.

That's because as they watch the video from a POV perspective, it's as if they're the ones going through the checkout process.

And now that they're seeing the desired action performed from their perspective, it's a smoother cognitive process for them to do it themself because, once again, they're simply realizing a visualization. (As Kolenda says, "Visual imagery reinforces conceptual imagery." So, by showing imagery of going through the checkout process, you reinforce the concept of checking out in their head.)

Also, (and this is more my own personal theory), they may feel more comfortable performing that behavior of checking out because, subconsciously, they're not doing it for the first time. They're redoing something they already, in a sense, (mentally) did.

#4. “If you sell educational products, teach something in your sales materials.”

One of the main objections people may have when watching the sales video is the thought, "Will I learn anything (new) in this course?"

So, by teaching them something in the intro video (even if it's something small), they'll be more likely to think to themself, "Well, I learned something (new) just now, so I guess I'll probably learn more (new things) in the course."

One easy way to do this might be at the "The Science of Power" mark where you mention power dynamics quickly but don't explain what it is.

Rather than make the viewer do the work of searching for that article with the definition and reading about it, you can share the handshake power move and one way to resolve it as an example.

This has three potential benefits:

• More people prefer watching videos over reading: so you give them a small, simple, yet convenient intro to the concept
• It's an easy-to-understand example: so there's little confusion
• Most people know that first impressions are fragile, so it's an easy pain to agitate while presenting PU as the solution: we've all fumbled a first impression or two in our lifetime thinking that we wished we would've done something differently :)

#5. “Blur a portion of preview videos.”

A blurred screen recording of scrolling through the course can be persuasive, similar to the psychological effect of showing a preview of the course.

And, even better is that now that people are actually seeing the inside of the course, they'll want to realize that visualization due to conceptual fluency. (See the "Help People Imagine Being Inside of the Course" section.)

---

Other random thoughts:

I prefer seeing the ten-day stubble on Lucio in his videos.

Maybe deep down I'm wary of the scientist archetype who has great book smarts but poor social skills.

And so, since I think the stubble is more attractive than the clean shave if one is going for the bald look, maybe I think to myself that the more physically attractive a guy is, the better they might be doing socially (and that if they know how to present themself physically attractively, they probably have plenty of good friends who give him great feedback).

But, it's all on a subconscious level and a personal feeling (that I would also consider a personal flaw sometimes).

And, it's a thought coming from a guy who's a straight male and has less style when it comes to grooming, so take it with a grain of salt :).

P.S.:

Really cool to see the TSS book on the shelf :).

Edit:

Changed some wording for clarity.

Quote from Lucio Buffalmano on October 24, 2023, 11:04 am

BOOOOOM!

Thank you so much John and Ali.

Some great great stuff there -just went through it very quickl as of now, but going to dig deeper soon and wanted to leave a quick early "thank you"-.

Just as a note: yes the dark triad triangle was a silly editor's mistake.
And I may not be able to do all the changes since the main video is recorded now.
BUT... I will reshoot one in the future, so all this advice is invaluable.

If anyone has anything to add, happy to read!

Quote from John Freeman on October 24, 2023, 11:11 am

Off-topic

Thank you for being so open to feed-back.

It makes it easier to speak one’s mind without the risk of backlash.

Of course power protection is warranted but sometimes it’s not enough and the person could perceive it as an attack.

For instance it’s only yesterday that a friend understood that me wanting him to avoid manipulative women was because I cared for him. I had to confirm him it was the case. In terms of communication I always said: I trust your judgment, you know better, the only thing I’m cautious about is… and he finally understood it.

So probably people think that it’s jealousy in these cases…

/Off topic 

Quote from Matthew Whitewood on October 25, 2023, 7:53 pm

I will add my two-cents here in addition to the already-awesome feedback from John and Ali.

Overview

I would like to touch upon the following points:

1. Content
2. Tone of Content – Comes across authoritative in competence and morals. Maybe add more emotion.
3. Vocals – More variation in melody and rhythm

1. Content

Keep Lists to 3 Bullet Points

Like John mentioned, I find that the list here at 52 seconds is challenging to absorb.
3 bullet points would be a good number.

Display the More Unique Content

If we display 3 bullet points, we could focus on the more unique content like

• Become & Display High Value
• Spot Manipulation
• Assess People's Characters

Leadership is really important and groundbreaking on this website.
But from an advertising perspecitve, a lot of other websites are doing that.
You could culminate into leadership later on, which you mentioned at the end by describing eagles.

Being More Descriptive at Certain Points Could Help

Ali already alluded to this about giving more concrete examples so building upon his point.

Later on at 1:10 minutes, you mentioned

1. Be Effective
2. Be Practical
3. Internalize
4. Be Transformational

The following points came to mind:

• "Be Practical" shows how to "Be Effective". As such, the first and second point could be combined.
• "Internalize" and "Be Transformational" seem to go hand-in-hand.

I would suggest weaving this into the previous list on Power University's content rather than telling and listing:

• "We show you word-for-word how manipulation looks like and what you can say in response"
• "Learning all these concrete examples will help you develop a feel of people's characters"
• "We show how high-value people behave: word and body language"

Mixed Feelings About Statistics

I feel that quantifying abstract concepts like status could have mixed feelings to the audience.
Some people would find it exciting and intriguing.
Other people may be skeptical about what "10x respect" and "10x status" mean.

2. Tone

Comes Across As Authoritative: Competent & Ethical

Like John mentioned, the slow and steady voice comes across as authoratative.
Additionally, the overall narrative does come across as someone who understands competent and ethical leadership.

For example, I thought that the ending was solid starting at 3:50, "Our true goal is to make men into high-quality men who succeed for themselves but also add value to the world. These men are beloved leaders and true role models. ...".

Add More Emotional Dimension

The whole video comes across as very logical.
Maybe adding more emotional element to it could give another persuasive dimension.

Touch Upon People's Emotional Pain Points

For example, on the point of comprehensive reviews of this website at 1:54,

• Are you confused about what to read with the litany of self-help books?
• Have you ever regreted buying a book or course that sounded convincing but didn't turn out to be useful afterwards?

Also, I believe that handling rude, aggressive and snarky people would be quite an emotional experience for many people.
So describing some experiences could incite these feelings:

• Has a boss or customer ever shouted at you?
• Is your friend always making fun of you?

Then, you could say "Every dreamed of the perfect comeback? In Power University, we give you word-for-word examples on how to handle these situations."

Remind Them of Scenarios Eliciting Positive Emotions

On becoming and displaying high-value, one could say

Ever nailed a presentation? Closed a sale? Convinced your boss of a new idea?
We show you how to do that time and again through examples of how high-value people communicate.

3. Vocals

Vocal Melody Could Add More Variance

This person describes this in a video than I could over here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycrBfTfvUYE

I think the stressing and intonation on the sentence level works well.
You pause and speak louder at the relevant words.

It's the sentence-level that could add more variance in melody and rhythm.
It could also help in sounding more emotionally persuasive as well.

Sounds Syllable-Timed Instead of Stress-Timed

I am working on this point myself.
My accent tends to be syllable-timed rather than stress-timed.
It's hard to change.

Spanish, French & Italian are syllable-timed languages.
English is stress-timed.
The amount of time to say something does not depend on the number of syllables.
It depends the number of stressed words.

For example, all these sentences will take the same amount of time if said stress-timed:

• Dogs chase cats.
• The dogs chase cats.
• The dogs chase the cats.
• The dogs will chase the cats.
• The dogs will be chasing the cats.

Here is a detailed video on this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXHxtpvRacc

I think your stressing in terms of pitch, volume and pausing works well.
The rhythm could add to that.

Quote from John Freeman on October 25, 2023, 8:19 pm

To add to this bombastic feedback:

I meant to use “our mission” instead of “our true mission”.

Matthew inspired me to maybe structure your speech with:

Logos: covered

Pathos: as Matthew said to evoke positive emotions all throughout.

Ethos: credibility/trust. I think to make your message more credible I would talk about yourself. “My name is…. I’m a social scientist with a degree from… I’ve been studying and codifying personal development, social dynamics and power dynamics since x years. Using proven scientific research filtered through my personal experience, I created a system for personal empowerment. That system is called Power University.

Power University allows you to get what you want in life: (3-5 bullet points agree with Matthew. Also about the grouping).

Become a high status man (sexier to me than high value)

Attract higher quality mates (or beautiful women)

Become a leader at work and in your social life

Rise in any hierarchy you enter

Defend from manipulation (or manipulators)

….”

So people can imagine themselves being/doing those things.

Then you can go in more details about what it is, the values and mission.

That’s how I would structure it.

Quote from Lucio Buffalmano on October 25, 2023, 11:16 pm

BOOM!

Thank you so much Matthew, and John as well for the latest added notes.

OFF-TOPIC

(BTW, that Timed Instead VS Stress-Timed was very interesting and it's the first time I hear it. When it comes to exercising to perfectly adapt, my very atypical POV is that as long you can be understood, I'd rather carry the native accent rather than invest too much into adapting. It feels to me a bit like the immigrants who seek too hard to shed their own culture. But that's just my very atypical point of view. On the other hand, if you sound more like your biggest market, the message may be a lot more persuasive) 

OFF-TOPIC

As for the exact ideas, there are so many fantastic points here in this thread that it would be hard to list and comment on all -just know that it was super valuable-.

I now wrote the feedback for the second edit round.

As I mentioned, unfortunately, some of the great feedback I won't be able to implement for now since I can't reshoot. BUT it's super invaluable anyway for next time I'll shoot (and will come back to this topic and incorporate much more of it).

Thank you thank you so much (in order of appearance) John, Ali, and Matthew 🙏