April 2024 Vol 6 Issue 4
Tell Your Story Newsletter (TYSN):
Specializing in Entrepreneurial and Organizational Storytelling
Let Us Help You Tell Your Story
Welcome Mid-April, 2024!
With spring now upon us (minus the snow forecasted for tomorrow) and Easter having flown by, local entrepreneurs (not to mention our clients) are firmly focused on summer promotions.
Local, writer-friendly cafes like City Perks, Sparrow, HomeQuarter and D’lish by Tish have rolled out their patios–and downtown newcomer, Pique, is soon to follow. 
Ice cream and gelato faves like Dairy Queen on 8th (with decades of history), the equally iconic Homestead, Fable Ice Cream (thanks to Julie Barnes for recommending the latter’s Haskap with Lavender flavour!) and Beppi’s Gelato (with its dog-friendly variety), all saw line-ups of salivating customers last weekend.
Garden Centres have begun to open their gates, with Floral Acres announcing that they will provide client shopping and delivery for those with disabilities or restrictions who cannot shop, in-person.
And the store’s famous “Toonie Tuesdays” started last week. It’s the perfect
time to scout out both perennials and annuals for the upcoming season!
Those of us who have balconies (i.e. container pot gardening) and/or can only grow plants indoors need not worry! Lushly green Boston Ferns, Philodendrons and Hoya among other exotic species are already available at Floral Acres and (before long) many of the city’s other garden centres.
In years like this one, when spring evolves, as late winter reluctantly cedes to it, I find joy in walking in my neighbourhood, observing neighbours deeply engaged in beautifying their yards and porches.
Daylight hours are lengthening appreciably (tonight’s sunset will occur at 8:06 pm!). I hope that your plans are developing for the “great weather” months ahead!
May this spring and forthcoming summer bring you JOY through time in nature, among family and friends, and through renewed health and personal growth. And may prosperity also greet you, valued readers.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth
Principal
Storytelling Communications
www.elizabethshih.com
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N THIS ISSUE:
ARTICLE 1: Five ways that Emotionally Intelligent writing (EI) outpaces Artificial Intelligence (AI), with Nick Usborne
STORYTELLERS’ CORNER: Is it “none is” or “none are,” with Bryan Garner?
SHOP NEWS
ABOUT US
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Article One: Five ways that Emotionally Intelligent writing (EI) outpaces Artificial Intelligence (AI), with Nick Usborne
While Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT and Gemini are useful, especially as timesavers in many ways, their specialists have stressed that AI is not good with emotion.
Bots simply can’t write with emotional intelligence (EI), many say. This is because they do not feel human emotions—whether to laugh, fall in love, hold a newborn child, feel the sensation of sea air caressing one’s face, etc. No amount of technology will change that.
As Anglo-Canadian copywriter and AI expert Nick Usborne writes, “Lines of code don’t care about people, and how they feel.”
This creates a challenge for “marcom” specialists who may rely heavily on AI.
How do we develop content that may easily not appeal to the emotions of our readers?
Enter what Usborne refers to as “Emotionally Intelligent writing.” It brings good news! There are five ways that EI outperforms what AI can do, without it:
(1) Emotionally Intelligent writing validates people’s feelings to engage with them
–By empathizing with other people’s feelings, we can weave those feelings into our copy. Then the reader feels seen, heard and therefore respected. That is a powerful feeling.
–When a reader feels validated by the marketing copy we write, “they’ll lean into whatever you’re going to say next.” So writing with empathy gains us a much deeper level of engagement and attention.”
(2) Emotionally Intelligent writing elicits trust from the reader
–When readers feel validated and believe we genuinely care about their needs and wants, their trust in us (and our product/service) deepens.
–And trust turns prospects into customers.
(3) Emotionally Intelligent writing is easier for readers to recall, so it delivers more value
–Usborne reminds us that human emotions “play a large role in memory formation.” While advertisements we read and think about briefly in a magazine or on a billboard will “disappear fromour [minds] within minutes, or even seconds,” promotions that appeal to our emotions last far longer.
–Remember that 1970’s and 80’s advertisement for Life-brand cereal (still remembered by GenXers):
“He likes it! Mikey really likes it!” Some fifty years later, many of us still recall that ad, while we can’t name (by contrast) the most recent household cleaning solution to hit the market. 
(4) Emotionally Intelligent writing builds a “sense of community”
–When our prospects feel that we connect with their emotions, they feel they belong and appreciate the care we show for them.
–We can build community with prospects by using emotionally intelligent copywriting on social media, where they reach out to us.
–Where prospects feel they belong to a community, they are more easily persuaded to buy/use the services that their neighbours do, describe and recommend. Community recommendations become sacred, as the idiom goes: “like motherhood and apple pie.”
(5) Emotionally Intelligent writing is more persuasive than AI alone
–Copywriters and “marcom” specialists all know that every sale we win occurs because we’ve appealed to our customers’ emotions. Customers purchase our services because they make them feel better about themselves or their circumstances.
–When we write with EI, we intensify our capacity to persuade: we increase the emotional response of our prospects and, with it, our conversion rates.
AI copy, on its own, can’t accomplish any of these benefits.
So while the latest developments of AI like Claude3 and “hume” get plenty of airtime in industry and academia, AI will always have what Usborne calls “zero emotional intelligence.”
“Hume” claims to be “the first AI with emotional intelligence”– its marketers say it can “interpret vocal and facial and emotional expressions,” and so generate empathic responses. But the system’s code imitates, not generates, human feelings.
One of the few enduring truths we know about the limits of AI is that (no matter the amount of revision) it will never be completely human. 
This is why the future lies with writers who can combine the efficiencies and strengths of AI with the emotional power of EI, as Usborne writes.
So, “no, Virginia, copywriting and content writing are not dead.” They just need (us) to fuse AI with EI.
PS: If you feel “in the dark” about how to integrate EI into your copy, Usborne recently provided a one-minute masterclass over Linkedin on the importance of mirroring your prospects’ and customers’ emotions (EI) when you use AI to write for them.
He used this very simple (teacherly) example:
(1) When he prepares to write copy to promote a product or service, he starts by reading and then copying 50 product/service reviews from users (found online).
(2) He downloads the script that the company uses of its customer service calls.
(3) He feeds this information into ChatGPT, with this prompt: “Give me a sentiment analysis of all of this information and highlight for me the language people use when they express positive feelings about this product/service.”
(4) Usborne then takes those “sentimental” phrases (EI) and weaves them into his copy. This process employs one’s writerly chops.
(5) Through this process, AI has NOT written the copy for Usborne. But it has quickly and accurately enabled him to mirror the persuasive language of a happy customer. He has used AI to help to elicit from readers the EI that he has also already woven into his copy.
And that work should make good sense–not only to copy/content writers, but to all users of AI.
And now it’s your turn: What do you do to incorporate EI into your use of AI? Please write in; I’d be delighted
to hear from you.
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STORYTELLER’s CORNER . . . .
Is it “none is” or “none are,” with Bryan Garner?
Some of you may have heard a writer or editor insist that the
noun “none” requires a singular verb form: “ ‘None is
there,’ is correct, they may say, but never ‘None are there.’ ”
So, is this true?
Usage and grammar specialist, usage specialist, Bryan
Garner, recently blogged on this topic, saying,
“Unequivocally NO. For more than 1,200 years, English
speakers and writers have said none are—especially in
sentences like ‘None of them are,’ where the subject
is None (not them). In fact, ‘None of them are’ is more than
twice as common in modern print as ‘None of them is.’ ”
The conventional view of usage experts (as opposed to
armchair grammarians) is that both “none is” and “none
are” should be considered correct. “None is” expresses a
greater degree of emphasis, and it’s much more
formal; “None are” is more usual and more relaxed.
Garner says that grammar and style “pedants argue
that none is a contraction of not one, and etymologically
that’s true. But you must go way back in history for that.”
He continues: “By the 1600s, the plural usage was more
common, and it remains that way. The Oxford English
Dictionary quotes the noted writers John Dryden, Henry
Fielding, Oliver Goldsmith, Edmund Burke, and Somerset
Maugham for using the plural none.”
Garner also cites conservative linguistic specialists from
H.W. Fowler [1926], George P. Krapp [1927], Wilson Follet
[1966], William Safire [1982], Kenneth Wilson [1993] and
the 2017 edition of the Chicago Manual of Style as
advocating the plural use of “none are!”
He adds that the U.S. Supreme Court has published opinions
saying “None of them were” a full 49 times! That should be
evidence enough for us writers and editors, no?
One of the reasons I abide by Garner’s usage blog is that he
has (for years) contributed heavily to the Chicago Manual of
Style, the foundation of style and usage in the Western
World. That makes Garner an expert, in my book.
What grammar or stylistic bug-bears do you have, good readers?
Please share them with me for future issues of TYSN!
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SHOP NEWS:
While studying accent reduction as a part of my English as a Second Language (ESL) services, I was delighted to branch out to teach a business communication seminar on “resume preparation in the age
of AI,” to folks with disabilities at The Ability Hub in Saskatoon.
Thank you to Business Coach Tolu Jacobs and Executive Director Chelsea Wisser for offering me this opportunity. (Here are Tolu and me.)
I especially enjoyed the class discussion on ways to use AI ethically when creating our job search documents!
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Two of my students have recently “graduated” from my ESL teaching practice, ready to take their learning forward as entrepreneurs and government advisors. Congratulations to them, on their success.
If you know of any newcomers to our community who are seeking English language classes, please refer them to this newsletter or to my website. I teach ages 15 years and up, including beginners (Canadian Language Benchmarks 0-2) to advanced (CLB 10-12).
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I’m grateful to Rose Marie Laird for a recommendation, several years ago, of the work of American psychologist, Dr. Rick Hanson.
Hanson is a specialist who brings Buddhist-inspired mindfulness and meditation to the emotional demands of Western (especially North American) life. He offers no-cost, online meditations and accompanying talks each Wednesday evening over Zoom.
Hanson also markets fee-based workshops on self-worth and on pathways to personal wellness and
joy.
I highly recommend his gentle but persistent energy, which can be witnessed through his website, including a regular podcast:
https://rickhanson.com/
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I also thoroughly enjoyed a house concert late last month, featuring the singing of two-time JUNO-nominated musician, former Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra conductor, Eric Paetkau; and opened by local songster, Wyndham Thiessen.
Both men shared wonderful stories and quirky meditations on life through their music, which were at turns fascinating, soothing and great fun!
I do encourage you to attend one of Eric’s future concerts, as he returns to Saskatoon and to Saskatoon-area schools annually to sing his repertoire of both adults’ and children’s music!
And special thanks to Eric’s agent, Julie Barnes, for coordinating and promoting Eric’s concerts!
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ABOUT US:
Between 2011 and December 2018, Elizabeth Shih Communications chronicled the stories of B2B marketing and communications on the Prairies and across the country.
Effective January 1, 2019, I rebranded as “Storytelling Communications.” I now help Canadian newcomers land better jobs by communicating more effectively; and I write the legacy stories of major companies.
Interested in learning more? Please contact me through my CASL-compliant
website (www.elizabethshih.com).
After I receive your message, I’ll be pleased to discuss projects with you!
Please visit my website for more information: www.storytellingcommunications.ca).
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