Talk Like a Leader: Turn Any Pitch Into a Yes

Marketing Execution with Mark Donnigan · Oct 14, 2026 · 26m

Changing “help” to “helper” made children 30% more likely to act, while asking people to be a “voter” increased turnout by roughly 15%. Those small shifts illustrate Jonah Berger’s central argument in Magic Words: language choices that appear interchangeable can materially change behavior, confidence, trust, and persuasion.

We break down how machine learning and natural language processing are creating a new science of language from sales calls, customer-service conversations, emails, and online reviews. Mark and Tim turn the research into a practical communication playbook: transform actions…