It’s been mentioned before but it bears repeating: most of the best information that we have about motivating human behavior comes from business – not government. After all, it’s been projected that $558 billion will be spent on advertising in 2018 to convince you to make your teeth whiter, buy a MyPillow® or vote for this candidate cause the other guy’s evil. (To save time, I’m voting for the MyPillow® guy.) I’m guessing that the advertising and communication budget for your new general plan update was a little light, and your department of public works probably doesn’t have a sophisticated marketing machine to help people understand why your town needs a new, less smelly wastewater treatment plant. But the following explains the importance of why advertisers connect to your limbic system.

And on that subject of emotion, know that individual words can have a big, huge, or gargantuan impact on people’s perception. Choose them carefully.