"This is important" is not the same as "This is important to you". Usually the latter message is communicated with greater strength than the former because the first message is usually communicated to get someone's attention while the second usually includes survival information.
Survival information doesn't necessarily mean "You could die if you don't pay attention". Here's an example from recent news. The orange crop in California has been pretty much devastated due to freezing cold weather. That equates to "This is important". "This is important to you" equates to "This means you will be paying more for oranges, orange juice, citrus fruits, etc.".
The "This is important to you" results and analysis are: Once again the Inaugural Address "This is important to you" was the weakest message in the stream, and also that it increased as did the other messages discussed thus far. "This is important to you" indicates the speechwriter's ability to make the general message specific to the listener or viewer, to impress the audience with the timeliness, necessity or sensitivity of the message as it pertains to the listener or viewer as an individual. This communication scored midrange in every speech the 2nd President Bush made in our analysis. Interestingly, it scored 3-4 times stronger than the "This is important" message. The indication is that, relatively speaking, the speechwriter believed individual Americans needed to be involved rather than America as a whole. (more to follow) Please contact NextStage for information regarding presentations and trainings on this and other topics. Links for this post:
Message: This is important to you Inaugural Jan 20, 2001 20% State of the Union Jan 29, 2002 34% State of the Union Jan 28, 2003 40% State of the Union Jan 20, 2004 39% State of the Union Feb 2, 2005 38% State of the Union Jan 31, 2006 43% State of the Union Jan 23, 2007 42%
(Information in this arc is from Reading Virtual Minds Chapter 4, "Anecdotes of Learning". Text and images copyright Joseph Carrabis and NextStage Evolution 2006-2007)
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