In copywriting, there’s an interesting concept called the “slippery slope”: one that gives us a lens to analyse all communication through.
This model is commonly used to frame how ads, articles, and other written media should be structured.
(Once you see it in one context, you start to see it everywhere else.)
The slippery slope teaches us that the single most important purpose of any line in your piece is to get people to keep reading.
That’s it. Because the longer they keep reading for, the more time you have to communicate your message and talk them around to your way of thinking…
But as soon as they stop reading, your chance to engage them is gone.
Rather than focusing just on what we want to say, we focus on how we convince them to hang around a little while longer. To pay attention to what we’re saying, so we can shape their worldview.
In this paradigm:
- The purpose of the headline is to get you to read the first line.
- The purpose of the first line is to get you to read the second line.
- The purpose of the second line is to get you to read the third line.
And on it goes, each incremental piece building on the last.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s not necessarily a good thing, either. It simply is.
It’s nothing more than a tool. The results a tool produces depend on the person wielding them: their intent, their skill, and the context it operates in.
But what’s more interesting than its utility as a communication framework is its potential as a metaphor for continuous progress towards any goal.
Consider the following:
- The purpose of the first step is to enable you to take the second step.
- The purpose of the second step is to prepare you for the third step.
- The purpose of your third step…
We can get bogged down in endless internal (or external) debate about why we do the things we do. How we should approach change. How to remain committed to the path ahead, even when the destination is far off & you’re growing tired.
Sometimes, it’s best to take a minute to refocus. To look ahead, get your bearings, review your plan, and then engage in the process once more.
But other times, it’s better to simply remember the purpose of each action you take.
The goal isn’t to spring from start to finish in a single bound.
The only purpose of each step is to enable you to take the next one.
Viewed like this, your path to progress becomes a slippery slope:
One where the momentum of repeated action stays on your side, propelling you towards your chosen outcome.