#and electric/POISON? badass typing. incredible typing

[front-facing-pokemon]

[askkrenko]

Krenko’s Guide to Pokemon: Magikarp Line

“A Gyarados appears as a giant sea serpent that can fly for no reason at all, save that it is one terrifying monstrosity and who's going to stop it? You? I don't think so.” ~ Frank Trollman, d20 Pokedex

DESIGN:

Magikarp is a stupid giant koi with hard scales and a long moustache. It’s awful, it’s dumb, it’s useless, and I love it so much. You know Magikarp. They’re pathetic and everywhere and everyone loves them. I’m just going to put the Magikarp song here.

That’s it. It’s so weak that it’s memes but the memes are good. The memes became their own video game, Magikarp Jump. But what really endears people to Magikarp is that unlike other weak, pathetic Pokemon, there’s serious payoff. Magikarp was one of two Pokemon in the original 151 that was awful to the point that you couldn’t actually use it in battle but became a complete monster when it evolved. While Abra was clearly super rare and hard to catch, and Kadabra is super good but reasonable… Gyarados is just something special.

Far more powerful than anything else in its level range, Gyarados is a huge, ferocious, draconic monster that dwarfs everything else in the generation in raw presence. With its long body, huge mouth, and spikes everywhere, Gyarados is just awe-inspiring. Further, the games and anime make sure to take full advantage of this. Gyarados is THE monster. The biggest enemies have it (Lance and, if you didn’t start with Charmander, Blue), and when it first appeared in the Anime in it was this huge, frightening thing that seriously threatened the lives of the heroes in a show where things aren’t usually life-threatening.

I cannot overstate how COOL Gyarados is, but if you’re a fan of Pokemon at all I’m sure you know. I’m sure you know that Gyarados is scarier than most Legendaries, more iconic than most starters, and is just pure, peak badass.

Which is why it’s so disappointing that Mega Gyarados is fat. 

I’m not sure whose decision it was, but bulking up Gyarados for its mega form without lengthening it doesn’t make it look stronger or more powerful, it just looks like it’s swollen and inflamed. In fact, it looks like it’s shorter despite being the same length. I appreciate some aspects of the design, like the huge fins and the change in color pallet, but overall I just look at Mega Gyarados and think ‘this is not as cool as Gyarados.’ Honestly, it’s a problem that a lot of evolutions added later have, because how do you improve on perfection?

Magikarp’s Life by Teahaku

TYPING:

Gyarados is a Water/Flying type, which winds up being very complementary. Yes, Gyarados is extremely susceptible to electric attacks, but we’re talking five resistances and an immunity to only two weaknesses here. Offensively, Water/Flying SHOULD be a great combo, super-effective against six types with no type resisting both, but Gyarados’ only physical flying move is Bounce which gives the opponent the opportunity to switch into something that can catch it better. 

Mega Gyarados is Water/Dark, and while defensively this is much more vulnerable than Water/Flying, it’s important to remember that you don’t have to Mega Evolve. Gyarados can just stay a Gyarados if you’re expecting a move Mega Gyarados would be more susceptible to, and can Mega Evolve later. Offensively, Dark works just fine. It’s only super-effective against two types, but it hits all three types that resist Water, and Gyarados learns Crunch. 

Water/Flying alone is a good type. Water/Dark is solid. But the ability to be a Water/Flying who can turn into a Water/Dark mid-combat is something really special.

Someday... by mark331

STATS:

Gyarados has a good stat lineup with above average defenses, average speed, and 125 Attack. Its only poor stat is special attack, but if you’re going to have one dump stat, it should be one of the attacks. 

Mega Gyarados has more Attack, more Defense, and more Special Defense, honestly just making it really strong and really survivable. 155 is a serious attack stat, and when a pokemon’s lower defense is 109 you know it’s going to be hard to take down. 

This Pokemon is powerful in regular form and a complete beast when it Mega Evolves. No complaints here.

Art by Arvalis, who does a lot of great realistic Pokemon 

ABILITIES:

Gyarados’ abilities, Intimidate and Moxie, are honestly both very good. Intimidate lowers the opponent’s attack by a stage when entering battle, and Moxie raises Gyarados’ attack by a stage if it knocks something out, helping it to sweep. For a normal Gyarados, these are both great abilities and it just depends on whether you want to be a more offensive or defensive build.  If the plan is to go Mega Gyarados, always take Intimidate, as the attack drop will occur before you Mega Evolve. 

Mega Gyarados’ ability is Mold Breaker, which is meta-dependant but also really good. Mold Breaker ignores the defending Pokemon’s ability when you attack it, which is honestly mostly used to use Earthquake on things with Levitate, but there’s a lot of random abilities it shuts off. 

Art by nganlamsong

MOVES:

Gyarados’ best water move is Waterfall, and its speed is enough that the Flinch effect isn’t unreasonable. Making a Gyarados without Waterfall is… weird. Aqua Tail works, too, generally a bit stronger, but the miss chance means they’re about the same power on average.

Gyarados does not have any good Flying attacks. Bounce is a heavy-hitting move with a 30% chance to paralyze, but because it’s a two-turn activation, it gives the opponent the opportunity to switch or use a status move. On the other hand, if you’re building with Leftovers, that two-turn activation also gives Gyarados a chance to heal. Bounce isn’t an inherently bad option, but it’s not nearly as necessary as a secondary STAB move normally is.

Mega Gyarados is Dark instead of Flying, and its best STAB move is Crunch. If you’re going to go Mega, take Crunch. Between that and Waterfall you’ll be able to hit just about anything fine.

And then there’s Earthquake. Earthquake is a powerful attack that works well on Electric, Steel, and Poison types (as well as Rock and Fire, but you have Waterfall for that.) It’s a solid option on Gyarados and, thanks to Mold Breaker, an incredible option for Mega Gyarados. 

Art by BlackSapphireDragon ; is that a thing? Can Sapphires be black?

Gyarados does have other coverage options, like Power Whip, Ice Fang, and Stone Edge, but these are more meta-dependant while Waterfall and Earthquake are going to be good generic answers.

So there you’ve got some attacks. After that it’s up to status moves. Now, there’s a fair number of these that can be decent for a Gyarados, like Rest, Substitute, Taunt, and Roar, but there’s one that really makes Gyarados into a monster: Dragon Dance.

Dragon Dance raises Gyarados’ already impressive Attack, while also increasing its decent but mediocre Speed. With Gyarados’ significant bulk, coupled with Intimidate, it can often afford the turn or two to set up Dragon Dance, and, once it’s going, can act as a serious sweeper. This is true for both regular and Mega Gyarados, and it’s one of the reasons Gyarados has never left the meta.

OVERALL:

Magikarp is memes, Gyarados is awesome. What else is there to say? I wish Mega Gyarados was longer? It’s a great Pokemon line with great designs, a real concept of payoff for leveling up something super weak that gets used multiple times in the series, and then Gyarados is good enough for the big leagues, especially when Mega Evolved. 

I guess if I had one real complaint it’s that Gyarados doesn’t have just a straight Flying physical attack like Drill Peck or Aerial Ace and it doesn’t have the Special to use Hurricane effectively, but Gyarados does just fine without. 

Magikarp Jump! by ArtifexStudio

[sugarysweetsprites]

ALL THIRTY OF MY ENTRIES FOR FAKEATHON 2020 COMPILED BELOW THE CUT

ROUND 1: HOMETOWN MONUMONK - Derived from monument, monk

did you know I like maybe four miles away from a field of 109 identical 7 foot corn statues

FAKEATHON ROUND 2: THE USA ROBINOX - Derived from robin, autumnal equinox

Round one was our hometown, and I did my current city. But my childhood belongs to Connecticut, so I wanted to do a connecticuter. The american robin is the state bird of Connecticut, and as a part of New England it has a colonial history, hence the style. A type of garnet is the state gemstone, hence the species name.

Mostly though, I associate Connecticut with the vibrant autumns. The falls of New England are magic.

FAKEATHON DAY 3: CANADA CURTLE - Derived from curling, turtle

Very simple this one. Canada has a lot of curling events, right? Put the CURLING STONE. On the TURTLE. and you get the CURTLE. Dudes in this other server I’m in really love this one

FAKEATHON DAY 4: MEXICO CASOLURO - Derived from first two letters of the cards it’s based on; el CAtrin, el SOl, la LUna, la ROsa

A very fun one to work on. These are based on those Loteria cards - Specifically, the sun, moon, rose, and the dandy. The 4x4 grid on the inside of its cape is a reference to the 4x4 grid of a loteria play mat. Just threw crap at the wall here and got this funky friend.

FAKEATHON DAY 5: BRAZIL CAPYERA, CAPOBARA - Derived from capoeira, capybara

Not new designs, so much as designs I really needed to give another go. Much happier with these. And frankly, couldn’t think of a concept more wholly Brazilian short of slapping the flag on them.

FAKEATHON DAY 6: FRANCE CHÈVAÇAY - Derived from chèvre (French for goat), Chevalier (French for knight), valençay (French variety of cheese)

F🥐R🎨A🍷N🚬C🥖H

I stole the grease type from someone in that fakemon server it fit this cheesy boy too well

FAKEATHON DAY 7: SPAIN POMEGRIA - Derived from pomegranate, bandurria

Typically tried to avoid the lady-in-dress motif, but felt too justified here. Spain is home to pomegranates, with the blossom being the national flower. The body shape was inspired by the instrument the bandurria, with the base of the body being a halved pomegranate, and her “earrings” being both the tuning pegs and pomegranate seeds.

FAKEATHON DAY 8: UNITED KINGDOM MEMORI - Derived from memento mori, memory

I could’ve uh. Had this idea at a better time huh :^)

FAKEATHON DAY 9: ITALY MEDITIVE - Derived from Mediterranean, olive

Tried going more off-the-wall, but it didn’t quite work. Based on olive branches clearly - olive oil was often used as lamp oil, hence the fire typing. I meant for it to resemble a nuns habit or monastery robes, a la Italy’s heavy catholicism, with the floating olive leaf circlet as a halo. It was… good ideas that didn’t come together perfectly. Probably my least favorite of the lot

FAKEATHON DAY 10: NORDICS MINKJAVIC - Derived from mink, Reykjavik

Look when I think Iceland I always think black metal. This is the second time I’ve done a heavy metal pokemon. The first one was more badass. This one’s instead uh A lot : )

FAKEATHON DAY 11: EGYPT DJEDLY - Derived from Djed, deadly

One of the easiest to draw for… obvious reasons. Based on a canopic jar, sort of like an off-brand yamask or cofagrigus. It’s meant to open up twice; If you take off the lid, you see the fleshy eyeball dude in the lower corner. And if you pull that like a handle, you see what’s inside… and die with that knowledge : )

FAKEATHON DAY 12: ETHIOPIA CAFFIEND - Derived from caffeine, fiend

Obviously hyenas live in Ethiopa. But moreover, Ethiopia is also known as pretty much the birthplace of coffee, and coffee drinking/making is important to the culture. So I thought, why not make a hyena that’s super happy cause it’s always super hyped up on caffeine? Dunno if the electric typing makes much sense, I just thought caffeine = energy = electricity

FAKEATHON DAY 13: MADAGASCAR TENROCK - Derived from tenrec, rock

Tenrecs are endemic, yeah, but this wasn’t just based on a native animal. It was based on the land of Madagascar - specifically, the gorgeous and incredibly sharp structures of Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park. I’ll post a photo above the art, when I saw Madagascar was a theme day I knew I had to base something on that park.

FAKEATHON DAY 14: SAUDI ARABIA MASQAREEN - Derived from masquerade, Qareen

This is based on the Islamic idea of the Qareen. People don’t 100% agree on what Qareens are, but they are consistantly considered to be spiritual doubles - Every person has a Qareen associated with they’re spirit. This is based on one idea, them as dark spirits who attempt to lead their companion-spirit astray. I chose them because even though they’re evil from the start - hence the dark typing - they can become good based on their companion - in this case, trainer’s - actions and whims.

Since they’re counterparts to humans, I thought having them mimic humans would be fitting. It’s body is ALMOST humanoid, it’s many pink extremeties ALMOST resemble clothes. It would be a zoroark like situation, where it could make illusions to resemble human.

FAKEATHON DAY 15: RUSSIA MATEESHKA - Derived from mastryoshka, tea SAMOSHKA - Derived from samovar, matryoshka

Fun fact, I actually used to collect matryoshka dolls. Have a whole box of them in the basement somewhere. So I felt I had to. I have a thing for designs that look a little snobby, Samoshka certainly fits that little niche of mine : D

FAKEATHON DAY 16: INDIA BOVIQUIN - Derived from bovine, palanquin

I like ride pokemon, and I like customizable pokemon. So I made one that’s both! It’s supposed to be based on the water buffalo. The simple colors are because it’s supposed to be customizable - As in, the fabrics hung from it (and maybe the markings painted on it) could be swapped out, so I wanted something simple as a base. Sort of like Furfrou, but the customization doesn’t wear off

FAKEATHON DAY 17: CHINA LONGRUSH - Derived from Long (chinese for dragon), brush, rush

I expect here will be a lot of chinese dragons this round, I wanted to avoid the obvious. But… this is one of the best concepts I’ve ever come up with. The second I had the mental image, I knew that was it

FAKEATHON DAY 18: JAPAN SPIROUS - Derived from spirit, cirrus, pious

This is a myth from both China and Japan, but I associate it with yokai primarily. This is based on Hangonkō, incense that brings forth the spirits of the dead. Hence it’s body obscured by the clouds - It’s literally being summoned by the incense it carries. In retrospect, this could have been an interesting pokeball mimic with different colors.

FAKEATHON DAY 19: INDONESIA WHALEEN - Derived from baleen whale

The Philippines are home to the coral triangle, a stretch of ocean  that’s home to a stupidly large amount of coral life. So I initially  wanted a coral mon… but it’s known for its reefs. So why not make the  whole reef?  

FAKEATHON DAY 20: AUSTRALIA OPALINE - Derived from opal, mine

One town in Australia I’ve loved since middle school is Coober Pedy. Known as the opal capital of the world, it’s a desert town that’s so hot, almost all the residents live in houses carved into the ground. Even many businesses and hotels are underground! Coloring was fun on this dude :3

FAKEATHON DAY 21: ANTARCTICA SOUTHAIR - derived from south, hairgrass.

I wanted to do something unexpected. So rather than do that obvious penguin or similar, I went with southern hairgrass, the south most flowering plant. Did it’s closer meant to loosely resemble any wet clothes, but since there are no Inuit populations to Antarctica, only loosely. It’s species, the 1000-to-1 pokemon, Refers to both its chances of survival and the fact of the body is comprised of many many blades of grass

FAKEATHON DAY 22: SOMEWHERE HOT - DEATH VALLEY HELINDRA - Derived from helios, indra

The reason I chose the Indra butterfly is because it's native to death valley. I figure, if death valley gets HELLA sun, why not instead of it living in spite of the harsh sun, living so well because of it?

FAKEATHON DAY 23: SOMEWHERE COLD - GREENLAND STUFFIN - Derived from storm, stun, puffin

I know there are myths that say puffins can bring thunderstorms, so I thought why not turn a puffin into a storm cloud? But uh. It kind of just. Is a puffin isn't it :/

FAKEATHON DAY 24: ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS KYTHURA - Derived from Antikythera, Urania

One of my favorite remnants of ancient times is the Antikythera Mechanism. It was an ancient Greek computer. With proper gears and mechanics and everything, that was used to plot the locations of the planets and the stars in stunning detail. This first go around turned out… not that great, I’ll be honest. But I wanna do something with the Antikythera Mechanism. It shouldn’t take TOO much tweaking to make this something I love

FAKEATHON DAY 25: FUTURE WORLDS COCOWATT - Derived from coconut, watt

One of my favorite images of the future is, instead of all streets having street lights, some having bioluminescent trees! I wanted to make something to that effect. Even though we have Exeggutor I chose palm trees cause they already have a street-lamp-like shape. Finally got to bust out my super neon pencils :3

FAKEATHON DAY 26: RANDOM COUNTRY - IRELAND AMANEELIE - Derived from amanita, unseelie

I have irish blood, so I wanted to do an irish mon. I took the idea of the fairie ring in a weird direction - when it extends its arms and the little purple "hands" touch, anything in the loop of its arm - the fairie's ring - will become hideously poisoned. Visually referenced the deathcap. Just like imagining these things in a secluded dense forest, floating along like swimming jellyfish

FAKEATHON DAY 27: THE OLYMPICS SYNCRA - Derived from synchronized, tetra

This is similar to wishiwashi, in that it's a schooling mon. But instead of it having a schooling form, it's ALWAYS in a school of five fish, constantly swimming in unison. Clearly based on synchronized swimming, I wanted the tails to be super long, so they'd flow all elegantly when they maneuver around. Kinda... power rangers in execution, innit

FAKEATHON DAY 28: THE OCEAN EXPLORB - Derived from explore, orb

The idea to turn the bathysphere into a pufferfish-like dude just came together really clearly in my head. I imagine their attack would be terrible but their defence would be amazing - basically, they aren't out to fight, they just wanna explore the oceans :3

FAKEATHON DAY 29: THE MOON MOOMOON - Derived from moomoo, moon

its the cow that jumped over the moon

FAKEATHON DAY 30: LEGENDARY CORRA - Derived from core, cor (latin for heart), terra

I figured, we’ve done every part of the earth this challenge… except the interior. So for the legendary representing the world, I based mine on the core of the earth. The body itself is meant to resemble the phylotypic stage of an embryo - the stage of development where most species are virtually identical. It cannot leave its lava bubble. At the center of its body is a heart glowing with all the colors of magma.

The FIRST person to make a legend of korra joke is getting slapped

[wellesleyunderground]

The Coolest City in the World: Mexico City/Distrito Federal, Mexico by Sara Hess ‘08

Hola from Mexico City!

Or as locals like to call it—DF, which stands for Distrito Federal (the equivalent of DC). I was one of those people who said I would leave the country if Trump was elected and then when personal circumstances allowed for it, I actually did. So I’ve been here for a little over a year and I really, truly love it. The weather is perfectly temperate. The people are super nice and compassionate. The food is delicious. And there is a strong creative vibe pulsating through the city unlike anything I’ve experienced elsewhere. A lot of people compare DF to New York in the ‘80s or Berlin in the ‘90s—it’s grungy, relatively inexpensive, and full of artistic types. But I would argue that DF, with its 20 million+ inhabitants, is a world unto itself.  

Here is a list of a few of my favorite places for your next trip. I tried to focus on spots that are not in every guidebook so you can go a tiny bit off the beaten path.  

Starting with food, because that’s obviously what we are all interested in…

For market and street food… When I first moved here, I wasn’t sure if I should eat street tacos or not and if the intestinal problems that could potentially ensue would be worth it. Let me tell you—TOTALLY WORTH IT. Sincerely though, I’ve never gotten food poisoning here (while I once had a horrible bout of it in New York). To each her own, but I highly recommend the blue corn tortilla tacos sold on the corner of Mérida and Colima in the Roma Norte neighborhood. Or in Mercado de Medellin (also Roma Norte) check out the huaraches at Las Tablas de Roma, a little restaurant in the center of the market.

For faaancy food… Enrique Olvera’s Pujol in Polanco is arguably the hottest spot in town. They only serve a tasting menu that will set you back $100+ but the same meal would cost you three times as much in New York or San Francisco. Call in advance for reservations here—at least a month ahead. A lot of people don’t realize that there are a lot of great non-Mexican food restaurants in DF. In this category, I would recommend Sartoria, which recently opened in Roma Norte. The pasta dishes there are delicioso. For one of the fanciest brunches in town, the spread at the St. Regis on Reforma will make your jaw drop.  Finally, Blanco Colima in Roma Norte is a great dinner or lunch spot with Mexican/ Mediterranean dishes. Don’t miss out on the apple crumble dessert with cinnamon ice cream. It sounds kind of basic but it’s spectacular.

Chocolate skull from the jaw-dropping St. Regis brunch (disclaimer: skull’s jaw may not drop).

Other great mid-range restaurants… Make sure you go to either Parnita or Páramo en Roma. Parnita is open for lunch and a great spot for an extended brunch on the weekends, while Páramo, on the floor above Parnita, is open for dinner in the evenings and is sort of a place to be seen. Order the muñeca pork tacos and ask to be seated in the main dining room. El Cardenal is a chain throughout the city; I recommend the one in San Ángel on Saturday mornings so you can visit the nearby markets. Here is where you can order Mexican delicacies like escamoles (ant larvae) and gusanos de maguey (fat white worms served fried). Also, the bread made with star anise and served with nata (heavy cream) is not to be missed and only served at breakfast. Get there before they run out because they always do.

Gusanos de magquey from El Cardenal

For ice cream… Yes, for me ice cream merits its own category. Nómada on Avenida Amsterdam in La Condesa has the best cardamom (cardamomo) ice cream. If you don’t see it out, ask for it. Helados Palmeiro is an ice cream placed owned by a friendly Cubano in Mercado de Medellín. The flavor made with María cookies is my favorite.

For chill nights out… Go to live jazz at Casa Franca in Roma or Zinco in Centro. For Zinco, you will need reservations and you’ll probably wanna do dinner there as well. Luciferina in Juárez sells a cocktail with a drop of tarantula venom mixed in. This is what I was drinking when the first earthquake struck in early September—my world was truly spinning.

For crazy nights outs… Start at Departamento, which I’m gonna be honest—looks like any bar on the Lower East Side in New York but this is THE DF scene at the moment. Make friends there who can take you to the members-only club M.N. Roy, which doesn’t get going until 3:30 or so. These are both electronic music. If that’s not your vibe, a good alternative is Café Paraíso. I’ve only been once right as they were closing but I’m told the music is an electric calypso mix.

Nights in Departmento

For cool sites during the day time… One of my favorite places in the city is Museo Tamayo in Parque Chapultepec. It’s a contemporary art museum and it also has a great restaurant so wander around the exhibition spaces and then have lunch there on the patio sipping wine with the cool kids. The Museo de Arte Moderno, also in Chapultepec, has great exhibits as well. My favorite bookstore is El Péndulo—there are branches in Polanco and Condesa. Biblioteca Vasconcelos is also a wonderful place to sit and read and write for awhile. Favorite market is Mercado de Flores, which is the wholesale site for all the flower vendors in the city with incredibly large and ornate flower displays.

Biblioteca Vasconcelos (Editor’s note: ME GUSTA)

For shopping… I’m kind of a fashion fanatic and Mexico City is home to a very vibrant local design scene. Please buy lots and support the talented people here! Caarmela is a local shoe manufacturer with a shop in Condesa that also sells great (though pricey) designer vintage clothes. Goodbye Folk is another shoe/boot manufacturer that sells super badass leather jackets as well + vintage. Muhna in Polanco has beautiful jewelry, clothing, and accessories from designers and artisans from around Mexico (and the world). Lago DF, also in Polanco, is where you will find some of the more avant-garde Mexican designers and is well worth a visit.

Leather jacket from Goodbye Folk

For places to stay… Disclaimer—I’ve never stayed in a hotel here. There are so many amazing affordable options on AirBnB. The only hotels I know are places I’ve went for brunch—the St. Regis and Condesa DF. Condesa DF is in a great location and it has a cool rooftop bar/lounge as well.

Finally… Feel free to say hello if you’re in town! There are few things I enjoy more than showing people around DF. Find me on Instagram (@saralynnhess) for real time updates on life here and contact info.

Ah, and one last pro tip—pack a lot of black and no shorts. Never shorts.

[williamlwolf89]

801+ Power Words That Pack a Punch and Convert like Crazy

Power words are like a “cheat code” for boosting conversion rates. Sprinkle in a few, and you can transform dull, lifeless words into persuasive words that compel readers to take action.

And the best part?

You can use them anywhere.

In this post, you’ll learn how to use power words like a kung fu master. Specifically:

The definition of power words (and why they’re so powerful);

The 7 types of power words proven to increase conversions;

Examples of how bloggers, freelance writers, and businesses are using powerful words to boost conversions;

A huge list of power words you can use, bookmark, and reference (again and again).

Download All 801+ Power Words(in one handy, free PDF)

Want to bring your ideas to life, to make them take up residence in the reader’s mind, lurking in the background, tugging, pulling, and cajoling their emotions until they think and feel exactly as you want?

Then you’re going to love this post.

Let’s jump in.

What are Power Words?

Power words are persuasive, descriptive words that trigger a positive or negative emotional response. They can make us feel scared, encouraged, aroused, angry, greedy, safe, or curious. Authors, copywriters, and content marketers use “power words” to spice up their content and compel audiences to take action.

Clear as mud?

Let’s deconstruct an example from the great Winston Churchill. All the power words are underlined:

We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.

Inspiring, right?

Here’s why:

Power Words = Emotional Words Packed with Persuasion

Smart speakers, as well as their speechwriters, sprinkle their speeches with carefully-chosen power words drenched in sensory details, drawing the audience from one emotion to another as skillfully as any novelist or screenwriter.

And it goes beyond speakers and storytellers.

Email marketing messages, copywriting, infographics, step-by-step tutorials, sales pages, inspirational quotes, content marketing, case studies, call to actions, testimonials, tweets, and other social media posts are all designed to influence the reader in some way. You want to pass along information, yes, but you also want the reader to feel a certain way about that information.

Maybe you want to impress them, get them excited, make them cautious, get them angry, encourage them to keep going, or any number of emotions. The better a job you do at making them feel, the more influential you are, and the better your chances of getting what you want.

So…

Looking for a quick way to give your writing more punch?

Maybe add a little personality or pizzazz — that extra little “oomph” that grabs your reader’s attention?

Then you need to infuse your content with power words.

Back to Top

The 7 Different Types of Power Words

Fear Power Words

Encouragement Power Words

Lust Power Words

Anger Power Words

Greed Power Words

Safety Power Words

Forbidden Power Words

We’ve organized our power words into seven different types, which all accomplish the same goal: Each elicits emotion in your reader.

Let’s go over each type and see why these words work.

1. Fear Power Words

Let’s do a little experiment.

Just for a moment, stop reading this post, turn on the television, and go to a major news channel. Watch it for five minutes, listening for the words below.

Chances are, you’ll hear dozens of them. Here’s why:

Fear is without a doubt the most powerful emotion for grabbing and keeping an audience’s attention. To make sure you don’t change the channel, news networks load up with fear words, making you worry you might miss something important.

Granted, you can overdo it, but in my opinion, most writers don’t use these types of words nearly enough. They really do connect with people.

How to Crank Up Emotion with Fear Words

Here’s an example of a blog post headline here at Smart Blogger that utilizes three different fear words:

Open it and you’re greeted by this fear-packed introduction:

I was in agony.

Waves of pain unimaginable shot down my spine, causing every muscle in my body to contract as if I’d been shocked with 20,000 volts of electricity. My back arched up at an unnatural angle. My arms and legs began to shake.

One moment, I was on a webinar talking to a few hundred people about traffic, walking them through exactly how to start a blog and make it popular. The next, everything went dark. I was still conscious, but just barely.

Pretty effective, right?

Here’s another one:

If I’m working from home, will I lose my sanity if I don’t read this post? There’s only one way to find out. (Click!)

Want to sprinkle fear power words into your writing? Here are a bunch to get you started:

Agony Lunatic Apocalypse Lurking Armageddon Massacre Assault Meltdown Backlash Menacing Beating Mired Beware Mistake Blinded Murder Blood Nightmare Bloodbath Painful Bloodcurdling Pale Bloody Panic Blunder Peril Bomb Piranha Buffoon Pitfall Bumbling Plague Cadaver Played Catastrophe Plummet Caution Plunge Collapse Poison Corpse Poor Crazy Prison Cripple Pummel Crisis Pus Danger Reckoning Dark Refugee Deadly Revenge Death Risky Deceiving Scary Destroy Scream Devastating Searing Disastrous Shame Doom Shatter Drowning Shellacking Dumb Shocked Embarrass Silly Fail Slaughter Feeble Slave Fired Strangle Fool Stupid Fooled Suicide Frantic Tailspin Frightening Tank Gambling Targeted Gullible Teetering Hack Terror Hazardous Terrorist Hoax Torture Holocaust Toxic Horrific Tragedy Hurricane Trap Injure Vaporize Insidious Victim Epidemic Cataclysmic Bufoon Suffering Reckoning Trauma Dangerous Annihilate Invasion Volatile IRS Vulnerable Jail Warning Jeopardy Nerd Lawsuit Wounded Looming Cringeworthy Last chance Fugacious Worry Wreaking havoc

2. Encouragement Power Words

Let’s face it.

When they’re reading, most people aren’t exactly bouncing off the walls with energy and enthusiasm. They’re probably bored, maybe a little depressed, and almost definitely tired.

And they’re looking for something, anything, that’ll wake them up and make them feel better.

The good news?

Your writing can do that for them.

How to Crank Up Emotion with Encouragement Words

Here’s an example email from Mirasee:

With two encouraging words — life-changing and magic — in one email subject line, it’s a message that stands out in most inboxes.

Want to give your readers a pep talk and get them charged up again? Want to encourage them?

Use these persuasive words:

Amazing Jubilant Ascend Legend Astonishing Life-changing Astounding Magic Audacious Marvelous Awe-inspiring Master Awesome Mind-blowing Backbone Miracle Badass Miraculous Beat Noble Belief Perfect Blissful Persuade Bravery Phenomenal Breathtaking Pluck Brilliant Power-up Celebrate Praise Cheer Prevail Colossal Remarkable Command Revel Conquer Rule Courage Score Daring Seize Defeat Sensational Defiance Spectacular Delight Spine Devoted Spirit Dignity Splendid Dominate Spunk Effortless Staggering Empower Strengthen Epic Striking Excellent Strong Excited Stunning Extraordinary Stunt Eye-opening Supreme Fabulous Surprising Faith Terrific Fantastic Thrive Fearless Thwart Ferocious Titan Fierce Tough Force Triumph Fulfill Tremendous Glorious Unbeatable Glory Unbelievable Graceful Unforgettable Grateful Unique Grit Unleash Guts Uplifting Happy Valiant Heart Valor Hero Vanquish Honor Victory Hope Win Incredible Wonderful Jaw-dropping Wondrous Kudos Brighten Lovable Radiant Flawless Classy Affable Stupendous Virtuoso Cheery Openhearted Jovial Beauteous Logophile Adorable

3. Lust Power Words

Like it or not, lust is one of the core human emotions.

Just look at the men’s and women’s magazines in the checkout aisle, and you’ll see what I mean. Nearly every headline on the cover is either blatantly or indirectly about sex.

And it works, not just for headlines in men’s and women’s magazines, but for messages to your email list, subheads in your articles — anything.

Editor’s Note: Adding one or two power words to your subheads will compel readers to stick around longer, which will increase your dwell time — a big deal in Google’s eyes.

As a writer, you can use words that inspire lust to make almost anything intriguing.

How to Crank Up Emotion with Lust Words

See if you can spot the lust words in this headline from Cosmopolitan:

Okay, the orange underlines probably give it away, but my hunch is you didn’t need them.

Power words like captivating and love jump off the page. And if you use them properly, they can stir all sorts of emotions in your readers’ heads. (Want to see your click-through rates soar? Add a lust word or two.)

Here’s a lascivious list of descriptive words to get you started:

Allure Naughty Arouse Nude Bare Obscene Begging Orgasmic Beguiling Passionate Brazen Pining Captivating Pleasure Charm Provocative Cheeky Racy Climax Raunchy Crave Risque Delight Rowdy Delirious Salacious Depraved Satisfy Desire Saucy Dirty Scandalous Divine Seduce Ecstasy Seductive Embrace Sensual Enchant Sex Enthralling Shameless Entice Sinful Entrance Sleazy Excite Sleeping Explicit Spank Exposed Spellbinding Fascinate Spicy Forbidden Steamy Frisky Stimulating Goosebumps Strip Hanker Sweaty Heavenly Tantalizing Hottest Taste Hypnotic Tawdry Impure Tease Indecent Tempting Intense Thrilling Intoxicating Tickle Itching Tight Juicy Tingle Kinky Turn on Kiss Unabashed Lascivious Uncensored Lewd Untamed Lick Untouched Lonely Urge Longing Voluptuous Love Vulgar Pleasurable Charismatic Riveting Obsession Mouthwatering Compelling Magnetic Enchanting Lovely Engaging Intriguing Fascinating Flirt Alluring Lure Wanton Luscious Wet Lush Whip Lust Wild Mischievous X-rated Mouth-watering Yearning Naked Yummy Sneak peek Promiscuous

4. Anger Power Words

As writers, sometimes our job is to anger people.

Not for the fun of it, mind you, but because someone is doing something wrong, and the community needs to take action to correct it.

The problem is, with wrongdoing, most people are pretty apathetic — they’ll wait until the situation becomes entirely intolerable to do anything, and by then, it’s often too late.

So, we have to fan the flames.

How to Crank Up Emotion with Anger Words

The authors of this Forbes headline don’t pull any punches:

I didn’t realize some people get angry over business jargon, but apparently it’s a thing. And this headline, undoubtedly, had such people frothing at the mouth.

If you want to connect with people’s anger and slowly but surely work them into a frenzy, use the power words below.

Just be careful who you target. Lawyers can eat you alive if you pick on the wrong person. 🙂

Abhorrent Money-grubbing Abuse Nasty Annoying Nazi Arrogant No good Ass kicking Obnoxious Backstabbing Oppressive Barbaric Pain in the ass Bash Payback Beat down Perverse Big mouth Pesky Blatant Pest Brutal Phony Bullsh*t Pissed off Bully Pollute Cheat Pompous Clobber Pound Clown Preposterous Cocky Pretentious Corrupt Punch Coward Punish Crooked Rampant Crush Ravage Curse Repelling Debase Repugnant Defile Revile Delinquent Revolting Demolish Rotten Desecrate Rude Disgusting Ruined Dishonest Ruthless Distorted Savage Evil Scam Exploit Scold Force-fed Sick and tired Foul Sink Freaking out Slam Full of sh*t Slander Greedy Slap Gross Slay Harass Smash Hate Smear High and mighty Smug Horrid Sniveling Infuriating Snob Jackass Snooty Kick Snotty Kill Spoil Knock Stuck up Knock out Suck Know it all Terrorize Lies Trash Livid Trounce Loathsome Tyranny Loser Underhanded Lying Up to here Maul Useless Broke Stink Fear Raise hell Sneaky Screw Rant Miff Diatribe Vicious Weak Diminish Provoke Hostile Morally bankrupt Worst Thug B.S. Agitate Boil over Annoy Violent Misleading Violate Lollygag Quixotic

5. Greed Power Words

The legendary copywriter Gary Halbert once said, “If you want people to buy something, stomp on their greed glands until they bleed.” Graphic, yes, but also true.

Skim through good sales copy on an e-commerce site, and you’ll find a lot of power words based on vanity or greed. Many of them are so overused they’ve become cliché, but that doesn’t stop them from working.

The truth is, nearly every human being on the planet is interested in either saving or making money.

How to Crank Up Emotion with Greed Words

Its explicit and implicit use of greed words makes this popular book from Dave Ramsey a great example:

“Money” is hard to miss — it’s probably the ultimate greed word and it’s sitting there in capital letters.

But a title like “Total Money Makeover” also implies another greed word (even though it doesn’t directly state it): money-saving.

(It also gets bonus points for using alliteration and the safety power word “proven”, which we’ll discuss in a moment.)

If you want to stomp on your readers’ greed glands, use these power words:

Bank Jackpot Bargain Lowest price Best Luxurious Billion Marked down Bonanza Massive Booked solid Money Cash Money-draining Cheap Money-saving Costly Nest egg Discount Pay zero Dollar Prize Double Profit Explode Quadruple Extra Reduced Feast Rich Fortune Savings Don’t miss out Fast Giveaway While they last Instantly Expires Never again Premiere Final More Hurry Sale ends soon Value Monetize Big Save New Deadline Handsome Noteworthy Kick ass Moneymaking Knockout Lucky Notable Amplify At the top Attractive Wealthy Ahead of the game Legendary Beautiful Optimal Good-looking Successful Bold Fortunate Sassy Smart Elegant Gorgeous Clever Foxy Quick-witted Genius Effective Elite Drop-dead Crowned Dazzling You Turbo charge Bright Super-human Brassy Booming Boss Unbeaten Undefeated Boost Exclusive Frugal Special Price break Before Running out Upsell Bonus Free Six-figure Freebie Skyrocket Frenzy Soaring Prosperous Surge Gift Treasure Golden Triple Greatest Waste High-paying Wealth Inexpensive Whopping Cheat sheet

6. Safety Power Words

Greed isn’t the only emotion you want buyers to feel. You also want to make them feel safe.

They need to trust both you and your product or service. They need to have confidence you’ll deliver, and they need to believe they’ll get results.

Of course, building that kind of trust starts with having a quality brand and reputation, but the words you use to describe yourself and your product or service also matter.

How to Crank Up Emotion with Safety Words

On the landing page for one of our Smart Blogger courses, we use power words to make sure our potential customers feel safe:

In addition to “legitimate” and “guaranteed” in the screenshot above, our landing page is sprinkled with numerous safety words:

Money-back

Results

Refund

Proven

Risk-free

They work for us, and they can work for you.

Help your customers feel safe by using as many of these power words as possible:

Above and beyond Privacy Anonymous Professional Authentic Protected Automatic Proven Backed Recession-proof Bankable Refund Best-selling Reliable Cancel anytime Research Certified Results Clockwork Risk-free Endorsed Rock-solid Foolproof Science-backed Guaranteed Scientific Moneyback Bona fide Recognized Authority Studies show Because Scientifically proven Genuine Worldwide Authoritative Safety Accredited Fully refundable Case study Well respected Dependable Improved Ensured Expert According to Track record Approved Ironclad Secure Legitimate Sure-fire Lifetime Survive Money-back Tested No obligation That never fails No questions asked Thorough No risk Trustworthy No strings attached Try before you buy No-fail Unconditional Official Verify Permanent World-class Guilt-free Don’t worry

7. Forbidden Power Words

Remember when you were a kid, and someone told you NOT to do something? From that point on, you could think about little else, right? Curiosity always got the better of us.

The truth is, we’re all fascinated by the mysterious and forbidden. It’s like it’s programmed into our very nature.

So why not tap into that programming?

How to Crank Up Emotion with Forbidden Words

This Ahrefs article tempts you with its headline:

What’s the “secret”? Only one way to find out.

Whenever you want to create curiosity, sprinkle these power words throughout your writing, and readers won’t be able to help being intrigued:

Ancient Lost Backdoor Never seen before Banned Off the record Behind the scenes Off-limits Black Market Outlawed Blacklisted Private Bootleg Restricted Censored Sealed Remote Be the first Ridiculous Become an insider Secrets Bizarre Shocking Class full Ssshhh!!! Closet Spoiler Elusive Supersecret Hilarious Thought-provoking Illusive Top secret Incredibly Trade secret Insane Uncharted Interesting Unconventional Invitation only Undiscovered Key Unexplained Login required Unexplored Members only Unheard of Myths Unsung Odd Untold On the QT Unusual Priceless Wacky Privy Zany Psycho Classified Secret Cloak and dagger Smuggled Concealed Strange Confessions Tried to hide Confidential Unauthorized Controversial Uncensored Covert Under wraps Cover-up Undercover Exotic Underground Forbidden Under-the-table Forgotten Undisclosed From the vault Unexpected Under the table Unlock Hush-hush Unreachable Illegal Unspoken Insider Unveiled Little-known Withheld Hidden

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Now that we’ve looked at the different types of power words (and gone over a few quick examples), let’s go over all the different places you can use them:

Powerful Words in Action: 14 Places Where Strong Words Can Help You

Headlines

Subheads

Email Subject Lines

Opt-In Boxes

Homepage

Business Names/Blog Names

Product Names

Sales Pages

Testimonials

Bullet Lists

Button Copy (Call to Action)

Author Bios

YouTube Videos

Book Titles

1. Using Power Words in Headlines

Any writer or blogger who’s been in the game for a while knows the headline is the most important part of writing your blog post.

Its purpose, after all, is to entice the reader to read the rest of your content. If your headline fails to get attention, potential readers will ignore it when it shows up in their tweets and social media feeds.

And just one or two power words in your headline is usually enough to make it stand out.

Just look at this headline from BuzzFeed:

The word “Unveiled” makes it feel like a secret is being exposed, and the word “Breathtaking” makes you curious to see what the photo looks like.

Here’s another example from BoredPanda:

People generally love anything adorable, so this headline will easily catch attention. (The fact that it refers to snakes will only make people more curious.)

The headline then drives it home by using the powerful verb “Conquer.”

Here’s one from BrightSide:

While one or two power words are often enough, this headline proves you can use more when it fits.

This headline has four powerful words, but they feel natural in the headline, which keeps it from feeling like over-the-top clickbait.

Last one:

This headline from our How to Make Money Writing: 5 Ways to Get Paid to Write in 2020 post incorporates two greed words: “money” and “get paid.”

It’s one of our most-popular posts, and its headline’s use of power words is a big reason why.

2. Using Power Words in Subheads

Too many writers overlook the value of subheads, which is a mistake. Once people click on your headline, most will scan the post first to see if it looks worthy of their attention.

Adding some power words to your subheads is a good way to make your post look like an interesting read.

For example, here are three subheads from our post on E-book mistakes:

See how the power words in these subheads grab your attention and make you want to read the text that follows?

Adding one or two power words to your subheads will compel readers to stick around longer, which will increase your dwell time — a big deal in Google’s eyes.

3. Using Power Words in Email Subject Lines

Having an email list is of little use if only a handful of readers bother to open your emails.

And these days, most people’s inboxes are flooded, so they’re selective in which emails they open.

You can stand out in their inbox and raise your open rates by including power words in your subject lines.

Just look at this one from Ramit Sethi:

If this subject line would’ve read “The rules of learning,” do you think it would be as appealing? The word “unspoken” is what makes it interesting.

Here’s another one from Cal Fussman:

Both “Triumph” and “Tragedy” are powerful words full of emotion.

And finally, here’s a good example from AppSumo:

The power phrase “Unleash the power” makes you feel this email is hiding something incredibly powerful inside.

See how that works?

When you send out emails to your list, try to add a power word to your subject line so it stands out in readers’ inboxes.

4. Using Power Words in Opt-In Boxes

As a blogger, one of your main goals is to grow a large and engaged readership, and the best way to do it is by converting readers into subscribers.

That means — unless you’re using a blogging platform like Medium which doesn’t allow them — you should have opt-in forms scattered across your website.

You can place them on your homepage, at the end of your posts, in your sidebar, in a popup, or anywhere else.

But no matter where you place them, your opt-in boxes must catch people’s eye and make them want to share their email address with you. Because they won’t give it away to just anyone.

(Remember, their inboxes are already flooded, so they’re not necessarily eager to get even more emails.)

Fortunately, you can use power words to make your offer more enticing.

As an example, here’s an old popup from Cosmopolitan:

This popup had power words everywhere, but it avoided feeling like overkill. I bet it converted like crazy.

Here’s a slightly more subtle example from Betty Means Business:

It’s understated, but still quite effective.

Again, you don’t have to overdo it with the power words on these. A little can go a long way.

Here’s one final example from Renegade Planner:

In short:

If you’re not using power words in your opt-in boxes, you’re missing out.

Big time.

5. Using Power Words on Your Homepage

Your homepage is the face of your website and it’s usually one of the most visited pages. Many people who visit your website will see this page first, so you want it to make a good first impression.

Some people use their homepage to promote their email list, others use it to promote one of their products, and others use it as a red carpet — welcoming new visitors and explaining what their site is all about.

In any case, your homepage is a good spot to add a few power words, as it can determine whether people stay (and take the action you want them to take) or leave (never to return).

Look at this value proposition on the homepage for Nerd Fitness:

“Nerds,” “Misfits,” and “Mutants” are unusual power words that work well for Nerd Fitness’ target audience. These words immediately separate it from all the other fitness blogs out there.

But they push it even further with “Strong,” “Healthy,” and “Permanently.”

Here’s another value proposition from MainStreetHost’s homepage:

It’s quite minimal, isn’t it? They just wrote down three power words and follow it up with a service they provide.

Of course, you don’t have to limit your use of power words to the top of your homepage.

You can use it in other parts of the homepage too, as Ramit Sethi does here in his list of what you’ll get when you sign up for his email list:

Go look at your homepage now and see if you can find any areas you can spruce up with some power words.

6. Using Power Words in Business Names/Blog Names

Having a forgettable name is poison to your website’s growth. So when you start a blog, you want to make sure you have a name people can easily recall.

If you haven’t chosen your blog name yet (or if you’re thinking about rebranding), you should use a power word to give it some punch. It’ll make you stand out from all the boring, forgettable brands out there.

Just take a look at the collection of blog names below and see how well they’ve incorporated power words:

7. Using Power Words in Product Names

Just like you can use power words to spruce up your blog name, you can also use them to make your product names pack more of a punch.

It can make the difference between your potential customers thinking, “Ooh, this product sounds cool!” and them thinking, “Meh.”

Just check out this subscription product from Nerd Fitness:

It has such a powerful name that you’d almost want to sign up without learning anything else about it. Who wouldn’t want to be part of a community of rising heroes?

Here’s another good example from Pat Flynn:

It’s a powerful name for his podcasting course that instantly informs you of the benefit.

So if you’re about to launch a product (or if you’ve launched a product with a tepid name), consider giving it a power word to make it pack a punch.

8. Using Power Words on Sales Pages

You can also use power words to spruce up your sales pages and make them more effective at selling your e-commerce products or services.

They will grab people’s attention when they arrive on the page, they will keep their attention as they scroll down, and they’ll help seduce readers before they reach your “buy” button.

Just look at this headline on Ramit Sethi’s sales page for his product 50 Proven Email Scripts (which also has a power word in its name):

And as you scroll down, you see he keeps using power words throughout his sales page.

His headline is followed by emotion-packed subheads:

And he even uses power words in his guarantee:

9. Using Power Words in Testimonials

Power words are also tremendously effective in testimonials.

Of course, I’m not suggesting you change people’s testimonials to include power words. But you can certainly select the ones that already use them to great effect.

Just look at this example from Betty Means Business:

Or look at this one from Farideh’s blog:

And here’s another example from Renegade Planner:

All these testimonials will lend extra credibility and excitement due to their power words and phrases.

10. Using Power Words in Bullet Lists

Many sales pages include a list of benefits of the product they’re selling. Many opt-in forms include a huge list of reasons you should sign up to their email list. And many case studies use bullet lists to quickly summarize information.

You can use power words in these lists to inspire more excitement in your reader as they read through them.

Here’s one example from Ramit Sethi’s sales page for his How to Talk to Anyone course:

And here’s another example from an opt-in form on Restart Your Style:

Without these power words, these lists wouldn’t convince nearly as many readers to buy or subscribe.

11. Using Power Words in Button Copy and CTA (Call to Action)

Yep, you can use power words in your button copy too — even if you only have a few words you can fit in there.

One of the most common power words used in buttons is “Free” (as in the example below):

But you can be more creative with buttons than you might think.

Takes this button from the sales page for the book The Renegade Diet:

“Immediate,” “Money Back,” and “Guarantee” are all incredibly powerful words, and the author manages to squeeze them all into one button.

Here’s an example from Tim Ferris:

He could’ve used “Send Me the List” as most people would do, but “Unlock” makes it sound a lot more intriguing — like you’re getting access to something that’s been kept hidden away.

Now take a look at the buttons on your site.

Do you see any opportunities to spruce them up with a power word?

12. Using Power Words in Author Bios

Your author bio is another extremely important part of your marketing.

When you guest post for another blog (or write a paid article as a freelancer), your author bio has the difficult job of making readers want to know more about you so they click through to your site.

That means your author bio needs to spark attention and interest. And you usually only get three sentences, so you need to carefully consider the words you use.

As an example, here’s the author bio from Henneke Duistermaat in her post on overcoming writer’s block:

Henneke’s author bio is full of power words. It shows her uniqueness and makes her stand out from other copywriters.

You can tell she has carefully picked each perfect word for maximum impact.

Here’s another example from Sarah Peterson’s post on blog ads:

She opens strong immediately by mentioning her guides are insanely useful. And just the name of her report alone is full of power words: “Free,” “Reveal,” and “Begging.”

Makes you want to get your hands on that report, doesn’t it?

13. Using Power Words on YouTube Videos

If you’re publishing videos on YouTube and you want to get more views, you should use power words in your titles.

All the biggest YouTube channels do this.

They understand most of their views will come from their subscribers finding them in their feeds, and from people finding them in the sidebar of other videos.

In both cases, you’re competing with many other videos for their attention. If you want your video to stand out and be the one they choose to watch, your title has to be captivating.

See how Philip DeFranco does it below:

“Disgusting,” “Punishment,” and “Controversy” are all attention-grabbing words (and that’s besides the attention-grabbing names of Brock Turner, Star Wars, and Kim Kardashian).

Note also how he has capitalized “Disgusting.” It’s another smart trick many YouTube channels use to stand out more in YouTube’s lists of video suggestions.

Style vlogger Aaron Marino often does it as well:

By capitalizing the power words “Don’ts” and “Stupid,” his title catches a lot more attention (as you can see for yourself by the millions of views it’s received).

14. Using Power Words in Book Titles

If you’re interested in writing your own book, adding power words to your titles will help it sell better.

With all the competition in the book market these days, you need a title that grabs people’s attention and makes them want to peek inside.

Here are a few quick grabs from Amazon’s list of bestsellers in the self-help niche:

I’m sure you’ve seen this title before.

You might say Stephen Covey’s use of power words in his title has been highly effective. (See what I did there?)

Here’s another:

Mark Manson’s bestselling title is packed with power.

The power word “Subtle” juxtaposes well with the F-bomb in the title, and his use of “Counterintuitive” will spark some interest as well.

One more:

Lastly, Jen Sincero’s encouraging book title makes you want to flip it open and read it in one go.

The use of “Badass” alone will make it stand out in the self-development section, but her use of “Greatness” and “Awesome” in the subtitle truly seals the deal.

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Go Ahead and Tell Me. What Powerful Words Did I Miss?

They’re known by many names…

Emotion words. Good words. Strong words. Powerful words, creative words, sensory words, trigger words, persuasive words, descriptive words, impactful words, interesting words, positive words, unique words, and even — yes, seriously — awesome words.

But whatever you call them; smart, attractive people such as yourself have mastered the strategic use of power words and use them every day to pack their writing with emotion so they can increase conversions.

Yes, this is an enormous list of words, but with so many power words and power phrases available, you’d need a thesaurus or Word of the Day dictionary to catch every single word on the first pass. (Plus, new words seem to be added to the English language every day.)

What are some other good words that seem to have that extra little spark of emotion inside them?

The post 801+ Power Words That Pack a Punch and Convert like Crazy appeared first on Smart Blogger.

from SEO and SM Tips https://smartblogger.com/power-words/

[cwtwheely]

Top 10 Favourite Pokémon

Twitter didn’t want this. But I’ve wanted to do this since my Blogger days, so... fuck them. It’s probably the toughest post I’ve done since... well, there’s over 800 Pokémon. And there are so many that I really like. But I’ve (just about) managed it. Here are my 10 favourite Pokémon.

Honourable Mentions

Heracross

Heracross has a really badass design, but it only became truly great from Generation 4 onwards. It would’ve made my list but that mega evolution looks awful.

Lapras

A Pokémon I’ve always loved using. Its design is beautiful, it has a great variety of moves. The only reason it’s not on the list is because I’ve been using another water type in recent years.

Lugia

There’s been so many good legendary Pokémon, but Lugia is the most elegant of the lot. But one from Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire is slightly better.

Volcarona

My favourite Bug type so far. It has issues: 4x Rock weakness and it’s late to evolve. But it looks fantastic and it has some brilliant moves, Fiery Dance especially.

10. Crobat

The Zubat line has been the bane of cave travelling trainers since Red and Blue. In Gold and Silver, the line gained another evolution. And it was great... visually, at least.

Move-wise, it was below average. It couldn’t learn any Poison moves and its coverage moves weren’t much better (Steel Wing was the best one).

Things didn’t improve until Generation 4. It finally gained a Poison move (Cross Poison), support moves were slightly better and Fly was increased from 70 to 90 base power.

It gained even more in Generation 6 with Fairy types being weak to Poison (and Steel) types. Then, in Generation 7, Leech Life’s base power increased dramatically from 20 to 80. Sure, it lost 5 PP and it could only learn it via TM. But it’s the best Bug move for Crobat now since it still has the healing ability that X Scissor doesn’t. Add Big Root and you can heal a majority of your HP while dealing a lot of damage.

Overall, Crobat has really grown in time. And in turn, it’s grown on me. There are, admittedly, better Poison types. But it’s been my go to, especially since Generation 4. It’s also rather funny that it evolves due to happiness yet it looks angrier than Golbat when it happens.

9. Ferrothorn

Generation 5 is a really underrated generation when talking about character design. It has stupid designs, but so does every generation. The only issue I have is that so many evolve so late.

Ferrothorn has this issue too, but it’s honestly worth it. Its design is really good, its ability is great (add a Rocky Helmet and it’s even better) and the move set is really varied.

There’s more! Its defences are fantastic, it’s immune to Poison and it has nine resistances. It’s honestly a great Pokémon, and only got better when Fairy types were introduced.

8. Eelektross

Eelektross is a really weird one. Its ability is Levitate, yet the only time that’s incorporated into its visual design is in Generations 6 and 7. Its highest stat is its Attack, yet it learns more Special Attacks. But... I really like it.

First off, its Levitate ability means it has no weaknesses (the only Pokémon that has none now that Sableye and Spiritomb have Fairy types to deal with now. Second, I used an Eelektross in Generation 6 and I had a real appreciation for it from that point.

It has Wild Charge, Drain Punch, Dragon Tail and U Turn, so it can learn a variety of moves. It’s just a shame there’s only one great Electric type physical move (and even that has recoil damage!) in its arsenal.

That said, there’s something about it that draws me in despite its flaws. It’s something I can’t really put my finger on. But it’s not really let me down and it looks cool.

7. Greninja

It’s easy to say “this is cool because Ash has one!”, but I gave up on the anime halfway through XY, so I didn’t see it in action that much. Hell, I’ve tried getting back into it with XYZ, but I just can’t. The characters simply aren’t interesting enough and Bonnie is so bloody annoying.

The reason I like Greninja is because of one I got via Wonder Trade in X as a Froakie. And, to put it simply, a Greninja with Protean is a badass. It can’t take too many hits, admittedly. But the Protean ability could catch opponents off guard. It changes a Pokémon’s type to that of the last move used. So not only does everything it learns have a STAB bonus, but it can throw opponents’ strategies off when used right.

It’s incredibly important they get the starter Pokémon just right, and they did with Greninja. However, it’s not the best starter..!

6. Groudon

Wow. There have been so many brilliant legendary Pokémon. But after playing Omega Ruby, I think Groudon just pips it. For one reason: that Primal version is incredible.

Don’t get me wrong, the original is fantastic too. Its Drought ability, and learning Solar Beam, is great and its design is badass. But I think the Primal version is slightly better.

The design is even better, the additional Fire typing is great (and makes sense since the original could learn Fire type attacks) and Desolate Land is a fantastic upgrade from Drought. It still boosts Fire attacks and Solar Beam, but Water type attacks are rendered useless. So unless you have a Primal Kyogre or other abilities that negate weather, its 4x Water weakness is rendered moot, so it’s only weak to Ground or Rock types.

Updating older Pokémon for newer games has been hit and miss so far. But with Groudon, they absolutely nailed it.

5. Flygon

Throughout the years, quite a few Pokémon have become undervalued by fans or Game Freak themselves. The worst victim of this is yet to come, but Game Freak have completely wasted Flygon.

And it’s a shame because, despite the 4x weakness to Ice, the problem with Fairy types and the fact that Salamence got a mega evolution when Flygon didn’t, it’s still a great Pokémon.

I’ll admit that I have a couple of issues of my own: it’s a pain in the arse to raise a Trapinch to Flygon and Vibrava’s first Dragon type attack is Dragon Breath... a special attack. For a Pokémon that’s strongest asset is physical attacks. But getting to Flygon is worth it.

The move pool is varied, the design is fantastic and I just love using it in battle.

4. Eevee

Eevee’s one of the most adaptable Pokémon produced so far. With 8 different evolutions depending on certain circumstances, it can fit in to...

OK, I can’t keep this up. I love Eevee’s design. It’s the most adorable Pokémon of the lot. Look and this and tell me otherwise.

If Pokémon were real, I’d definitely own an Eevee as a pet. I’d imagine stroking that fur would leave a similar sensation you’d get stroking a dog’s.

3. Raichu

And we’ve reached the most undervalued Pokémon of the franchise. And that’s solely because it evolves from Pikachu, which gets all the attention from Game Freak and many casual fans.

I love Pikachu, absolutely. But for me, Raichu has the cute factor while still having the ability to kick ass. Hell, one Pokédex entry literally says it could knock out an Indian elephant! Now that is badass.

Its moveset is also really varied. Certain moves it can learn include Dig, Grass Knot and Focus Blast. A lot of coverage there.

But in Generation 7, it finally got a bit of love, being given an Alolan form. And I instantly fell in love. That design is simply adorable, and I love the addition of the Psychic type (naturally, it’s now my go to Psychic type).

I’ve loved Raichu since day one. I love it now. And I love the Alolan version. That’s pretty much it.

2. Incineroar

I’ve been going back and forth since Sun and Moon were released about whether this or the next Pokémon are my favourite. But I like them both for the same reason: they’re badass Fire types (Incineroar is also part Dark), their movesets are incredibly varied and their designs are superb. I also love how the typing and design of this is based on wrestling heels. I’ve a lot of appreciation for that since I grew up loving WWE and my favourite wrestler was Triple H, one of the best heels of that era.

There’s not much to say. I love Incineroar, but there’s one more that I love that little bit more.

1. Typhlosion

The same things said about Incineroar can be said about Typhlosion. Badass design, great moves. What Typhlosion has that Incineroar doesn’t is Flash Fire as a Hidden Ability. And while that’s cool, there’s another reason I love Typhlosion.

Simply put, it’s been my go to whenever I’ve been in trouble during a battle. In my recent play through of Gold, there have been multiple times where I’ve used my Typhlosion (that I named after my best friend) to save me. There have also been times where it came close to defeat before it turned things around. And that was in game that didn’t have as much move variety as it does now.

Because of this, I will always hold a special connection with Typhlosion. Oh, and I love the one in Pokémon Chronicles. It’s so badass, yet charismatic.

I can gush about Typhlosion for days. But I’ll leave things here. It’s simply amazing. It’s my favourite Pokémon ever and it’s introduced in my favourite generation (even if it’s dated now).

Feel free to share your opinions on here or on my Twitter @CWTWheely!

[iprobablyneedcoffee]

HP/Pokémon AU

So, I keep seeing all our favorite HP characters paired up with different Pokémon they’d have, and I am fed up with one thing: people pairing Luna up with fairy types, only. Like, excuse you, do you know Luna Lovegood? My bitch would take in anything BUT fairy type Pokémon. She’d be into the Pokémon who are less popular than others; the ones who really need friends.

Luna would have so many interesting Pokémon. If she was a monotype trainer, she’d be psychic. But because she is so curious of the world around her, she’d have a lot of different Pokémon, including a solrock, lunatone, xatu, kakuna, skiploom, lots of unknowns, mawile, chimeco, hypno, dragonite (she deserves a dragonite), buneary (her patronus is a rabbit), Mr.Mime, ditto, smeargle, scraggy, dugtrio, girafarig, phanpy, litwick, a few phantumps (ever hear of the legends? Luna would have a few and play games with them), shedinja, yamask, and chingling. Legit, a bunch of these would just be running around in the garden. Xenophilius would be writing new articles of The Quibbler while the family ditto makes copies. The litwicks would feel safe and secure in the lantern fixtures. The chimeco and chingling would love to hang out by the yard and see who can ring the loudest when a gust of wind comes by. Luna’s starter would more than likely be a chikorita. It starts out as a little green dog thing and evolves into a motherfucking flower dinosaur. Luna would be so pleased. If Luna had an eevee, it’d probably evolve into an umbreon or an espeon. Her mother left her a ludicolo named Hallow.

I can only think of two characters who would get a sylveon: Harry and Hagrid because those two are the most loving characters. Harry was legit saved by his mother’s love. He has so many friends he considers family, and because of them, he knows what love really is. He’s always kind to people, unless they’re mean to his friends. If he had an eevee, it would have so much love for Harry that it would evolve into a sylveon. With Hagrid, there is no question. Hagrid is so loving toward all his critters that I’d bet a tiny, wounded, little eevee fainted in front of his hut, and he used a homemade revive and some potions to cure it. And when it came time to evolve, the little eevee evolved into a sylveon because of the love it has for its big, gentle friend.

As far as Harry’s starter goes, it would be a shiny rowlet, and that would be Hedwig. He would have a propensity for bird Pokémon, and fairy types. However, Hedwig gets jealous of other birds. So, Harry would just keep Hedwig, a sylveon, a stantler (because his patronus is a stag), and an arbok that he raised from a small ekans. He would name all of them.

Hermione would more than likely have a buizel because her patronus is an otter. Crookshanks would probably be a fluffy meowth. She would also have a flareon who keeps the foot of her bed warm at night. She would name all of them.

Ron would have an electrike, because his patronus is a Jack Russell, it makes sense that this small electric dog is a part of his team because his and Hermione’s patronuses counter each other’s. Scabbers would be a raticate. Being a quidditch player, he’d probably have a ponyta because a fire horse is badass and helps him be a better broomstick rider. His starter would be a charmander.

Neville would have mostly grass and poison types because he loves herbology. His starter would be a bulbasaur, and Trevor would be a crogunk who has a habit of coming out of his pokeball to give bullies a poison jab. He would most definitely have a bonsly named Mandrake.

Ginny would have a lotad that she found in the yard while getting rid of garden gnomes. She would have a rapidash because her patronus is a horse. Her starter would be a cyndaquil because it is cute, but also strong and deadly. The lotad bosses the cyndaquil and rapidash around.

Most Gryffindor and Slytherin starters would be fire-types because of their strength and courageous nature. Most Hufflepuffs would choose grass-type starters because of their unique abilities, and most Ravenclaws would choose grass or water-type starters because of the healing abilities and the aesthetic. Ravenclaws would have the most balanced teams, Gryffindors and Slytherins would have the most powerful teams, and Hufflepuffs would have the most unique abilities (good luck trying to battle without getting poisoned, frozen, paralyzed, burnt, or put to sleep). Hufflepuffs would have the most Pokémon because they love everything they find, and they are such good finders that it would not be incredibly difficult. Ravenclaws would love a challenge because their teams would be perfect counters to their challengers. Gryffindors would carry tons of pecha berries because Slytherins all have at least one poison type. Slytherins carry tons of rawst berries because Gryffindors all have at least one fire type. Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs carry a lot of change because they sell lots of berries and potions to the Gryffindors and Slytherins.

Madame Pomfrey has a chansey. Professor Sprout has one of every grass-type starter and a sudowoodo. Professor Flitwick has a litwick because he likes the play on words; he named it Shakespeare. McGonagall has a very old persian. Fawkes is a ho-oh that Dumbledore has had for 50 years. Mrs. Norris is a Purgly that Mr. Filch overfeeds. Professor Trelawney has a kadabra that she has had forever; his name is Spoons.

[askkrenko]

Krenko’s Guide to Pokemon: Psyduck Line

What a majestic creature. DESIGN:  I absolutely love this stupid thing that is simultaneously very clearly a duck and very clearly not a duck. It doesn’t have wings, and it’s got hair or something, and it’s bipedal, but it has a duck bill and webbed feet. Is it a Platypus? Maybe, but it doesn’t have any of the classic Platypus abilities. It’s just Psyduck. It’s cute, it’s goofy looking, and it’s iconic. Fun fact: We almost had a Pokemon Let’s Go Psyduck, but the devs decided they didn’t want the second pokemon to be yellow. Pikachu, of course, was a lock from day one.  The devs basically just went out to figure out which Gen 1 pokemon were the most popular that could be the second Pokemon, and Psyduck was on the short list. For as goofy and silly as Psyduck is, Golduck is pure badass. It’s sleek, it’s spikey, it’s dangerous, it’s only vaguely duck-esque but it’s clearly some sort of monster.  Pokedex entries suggest it’s partially based on the Kappa, and while it’s very clearly not a Kappa, it’s got enough Kappa-esque elements. And Kappa are awesome and badass. 

Golduck is super cool, but more importantly it’s incredibly unique. I’ve never seen Golduck in anything other than Pokemon, which is something I really appreciate in designs. In a game where you have creatures that are often just ‘a butterfly’ or ‘a cat’ or ‘a phoenix,’ having something that’s this unique and undefinable is really a boon.

EVOLUTIONS:  Though in the beta there was a form between Psyduck and Golduck, this is just a two-stage evolution that evolves at level 33. This is fine, but it leaves room for growth that I’m really surprised hasn’t been explored yet. Golduck could easily get a third stage or a Mega, or if they just wanted something marketable they could have given us a baby form.  Regional variants would be a good option, too. A golduck that’s actually water/psychic or just Psychic, but still knows Water and Psychic moves, could be really interesting, especially if they tweaked its stats a bit. TYPING:  Water is the most abundant type in the game, and pure water is the second most common type after pure normal.  Now, water’s a great type to be, with four resistances and only two weaknesses, but there’s a lot of competition among Water Pokemon. It’s a good type to be, but Golduck’s not special for being it. STATS:  Golduck is very average. I don’t just mean the fact that its stats total to 500, which is basically ‘average’ for a fully evolved Pokemon, but also the fact that five of its stats are within a few points of 80, and the outlier, Special Attack, is still only 95.  Now, there’s nothing wrong with being average, certainly, but the problem is that for any given strategy you’d want to do with Golduck, there’s another pokemon, probably even another pure water pokemon, that can do it better. On the other hand, this means Golduck can take hits fine and dish them out, and there’s no major weakness to exploit.  You can basically throw Golduck out in any situation and assume he’ll be able to fight fair.

ABILITIES: Golduck has three abilities, two of which are good. The useless one, Damp, prevents your opponent from kabooming itself with Self-Destruct, Explosion, Mind Blown, Misty Explosion, or Aftermath.  Now, I’m not going to tell you that nobody’s ever going to use one of these abilities (except for Mind Blown, which is a signature move of one of Gen 7′s digimon who has better moves of the type), but I am going to tell you it’s not worth using your ability slot on. Golduck’s hidden ability is the relatively common Swift Swim, which is actually super good. Doubling speed in the rain (including IVs, Evs, etc) means Golduck suddenly goes from ‘average stats’ to ‘top tier speed and good special attack, and also it’s raining so Hydro Pump has +50% damage.’  Obviously this takes setup, and an item like Life Orb for even more damage, but it’s an entirely solid Golduck build. Golduck’s remaining ability is Cloud Nine, which is super useful, and much fewer Pokemon have it. Cloud Nine  negates the effects of Weather, which can significantly mess with an opponent’s strategy, especially in a battle where Dynamaxing is allowed. If your plan is not to use Rain Dance, then Cloud Nine is a great way to mitigate opponent strategies. And it also means Golduck can’t be hit with a SunnyBeam combo, doesn’t take damage from Sandstorm or Hail, and doesn’t have Hydro Pump’s damage reduced in sunlight, which is just a useful bonus. 

MOVES: Golduck’s a Water type Special Attacker, and the move of choice is going to be Hydro Pump or Surf.  Hydro Pump’s bigger, Surf is more Accurate, take your pick.

For other special attacks, Golduck can learn Ice Beam, Psychic or Psyshock, and Focus Blast. As Grass, Dragon, and Water resist Water, taking Ice Beam for Grass and Dragon is the obvious decision, while the other two are dependent on move slots. 

For utility, a Swift Swim Golduck likely wants Rain Dance so he can set it up himself when needed. If you want to take the risk to go for a full sweeper, Calm Mind and Substitute will let Golduck set up so that he can then use Ice Beam and Hydro Pump (or Surf) to tear through an enemy team.  Armor recently introduced a new move to Golduck’s arsenal- Flip Turn.  Golduck’s base 82 Attack means it’s bonus damage will be fine even without investment, and having a way to get in a bit of free damage while running from grass and electric moves is certainly reasonable.  My ideal Golduck would probably be Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, Psyshock, and Rain Dance, but there’s plenty of modifications to make depending on your team.  OVERALL:  I love Golduck. It’s always been one of my favorite Pokemon. Nothing it does is particularly splashy or overly interesting, but its stats are all decent and its move choice is decent, so it can hold its own just fine. Its biggest issue is that all it is is decent in everything. It has no really great ability or stat to lean into, and “water type that learns Ice beam” isn’t exactly uncommon. Gaining psychic moves is good, but Psychic’s only strong against Fighting and Poison, and if Rain Dance is up, Golduck’s doing just as much damage with a water move as he is with a super effective Psychic move. I’d like to see a regional variant of Golduck that gets the Psychic typing and has a smidge more special attack. Would it be good? Dunno, but I’d like to see it.

[williamlwolf89]

600+ Power Words That Pack a Punch and Convert like Crazy

Power words are like a “cheat code” for boosting conversion rates. Sprinkle in a few, and you can transform dull, lifeless words into persuasive words that compel readers to take action.

And the best part:

You can use them anywhere.

In this post, you’ll learn how to use power words like a kung fu master. Specifically:

The definition of power words (and why they’re so powerful);

The 7 types of power words proven to increase conversions;

Examples of how bloggers, writers, and businesses are using power words to boost conversions;

600+ powerful words you can use, bookmark, and reference (again and again).

Download All 600+ Power Words(in one handy, free PDF)

Let’s jump in.

What are Power Words?

Power words are persuasive, descriptive words that trigger a positive or negative emotional response. They can make us feel scared, encouraged, aroused, angry, greedy, safe, or curious. Authors, copywriters, and content marketers use “power words” to spice up their content and compel audiences to take action.

Clear as mud?

Let’s deconstruct an example from the great Winston Churchill. All the power words are underlined:

We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.

Inspiring, right?

Well, there was a lot on the line. Under attack from Germany, Britain was fighting for its survival, and somehow, someway, Churchill had to find a way to inspire his countrymen to greatness.

He chose words. Or, to be more accurate, power words.

Each underlined word makes the audience feel something.

In this case, Churchill intermixes words that cause fear, such as “struggle,” “tyranny,” and “terror,” with words that cause hope, such as “strength,” “God,” and “victory.” The last, in particular, is repeated over and over, practically drilling the emotion into the minds of the audience.

It’s no accident.

Power Words = Emotional Words Packed with Persuasion

Smart speakers, as well as their speechwriters, sprinkle their speeches with carefully-chosen power words drenched in sensory details, drawing the audience from one emotion to another as skillfully as any novelist or screenwriter.

And it goes beyond speakers and storytellers.

Email marketing messages, resumes, copywriting, blog posts, infographics, step-by-step tutorials, sales copy, inspirational quotes, content marketing, and proposals are all designed to influence the reader in some way. You want to pass along information, yes, but you also want the reader to feel a certain way about that information.

Maybe you want to impress them, get them excited, make them cautious, get them angry, encourage them to keep going, or any number of emotions. The better a job you do at making them feel, the more influential you are, and the better your chances of getting what you want.

So…

Looking for a quick way to give your writing more punch?

Maybe add a little personality or pizzazz — that extra little “oomph” that makes your reader pay attention?

Want to bring your ideas to life, to make them take up residence in the mind of the reader, lurking in the background, tugging, pulling, and cajoling their emotions until they think and feel exactly as you want?

Then you need to infuse your content with power words.

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The 7 Different Types of Power Words

Fear Power Words

Encouragement Power Words

Lust Power Words

Anger Power Words

Greed Power Words

Safety Power Words

Forbidden Power Words

We’ve organized our power words into seven different types, which all accomplish the same goal: Each elicits emotion in your reader.

Let’s go over each type and see why these words work.

1. Fear Power Words

Let’s do a little experiment.

Just for a moment, stop reading this post, turn on the television, and go to a major news channel. Watch it for five minutes, listening for the words below.

Chances are, you’ll hear dozens of them. Here’s why:

Fear is without a doubt the most powerful emotion for grabbing and keeping an audience’s attention. To make sure you don’t change the channel, news networks load up with fear words, making you worry you might miss something important.

Granted, you can overdo it, but in my opinion, most writers don’t use these types of words nearly enough. They really do connect with people.

How to Crank Up Emotion with Fear Words

Here’s an example of a blog post headline here at Smart Blogger that utilizes three different fear words:

Open it and you’re greeted by this fear-packed introduction:

I was in agony.

Waves of pain unimaginable shot down my spine, causing every muscle in my body to contract as if I’d been shocked with 20,000 volts of electricity. My back arched up at an unnatural angle. My arms and legs began to shake.

One moment, I was on a webinar talking to a few hundred people about traffic, walking them through exactly how to start a blog and make it popular. The next, everything went dark. I was still conscious, but just barely.

Pretty effective, right?

If you’d like to sprinkle fear power words into your writing, here are a bunch to get you started:

Agony Lunatic Apocalypse Lurking Armageddon Massacre Assault Meltdown Backlash Menacing Beating Mired Beware Mistake Blinded Murder Blood Nightmare Bloodbath Painful Bloodcurdling Pale Bloody Panic Blunder Peril Bomb Piranha Buffoon Pitfall Bumbling Plague Cadaver Played Catastrophe Plummet Caution Plunge Collapse Poison Corpse Poor Crazy Prison Cripple Pummel Crisis Pus Danger Reckoning Dark Refugee Deadly Revenge Death Risky Deceiving Scary Destroy Scream Devastating Searing Disastrous Shame Doom Shatter Drowning Shellacking Dumb Shocked Embarrass Silly Fail Slaughter Feeble Slave Fired Strangle Fool Stupid Fooled Suicide Frantic Tailspin Frightening Tank Gambling Targeted Gullible Teetering Hack Terror Hazardous Terrorist Hoax Torture Holocaust Toxic Horrific Tragedy Hurricane Trap Injure Vaporize Insidious Victim Invasion Volatile IRS Vulnerable Jail Warning Jeopardy Worry Lawsuit Wounded Looming Cringeworthy Last chance Fugacious

2. Encouragement Power Words

Let’s face it.

When they’re reading, most people aren’t exactly bouncing off the walls with energy and enthusiasm. They’re probably bored, maybe a little depressed, and almost definitely tired.

And they’re looking for something, anything, that’ll wake them up and make them feel better.

The good news?

Your writing can do that for them.

How to Crank Up Emotion with Encouragement Words

Here’s an example email from Mirasee:

With two encouraging words — life-changing and magic — in one subject, it’s an email that stands out in most inboxes.

Want to give your readers a pep talk and get them charged up again? Want to encourage them?

Use these persuasive words:

Amazing Jubilant Ascend Legend Astonishing Life-changing Astounding Magic Audacious Marvelous Awe-inspiring Master Awesome Mind-blowing Backbone Miracle Badass Miraculous Beat Noble Belief Perfect Blissful Persuade Bravery Phenomenal Breathtaking Pluck Brilliant Power-up Celebrate Praise Cheer Prevail Colossal Remarkable Command Revel Conquer Rule Courage Score Daring Seize Defeat Sensational Defiance Spectacular Delight Spine Devoted Spirit Dignity Splendid Dominate Spunk Effortless Staggering Empower Strengthen Epic Striking Excellent Strong Excited Stunning Extraordinary Stunt Eye-opening Supreme Fabulous Surprising Faith Terrific Fantastic Thrive Fearless Thwart Ferocious Titan Fierce Tough Force Triumph Fulfill Tremendous Glorious Unbeatable Glory Unbelievable Graceful Unforgettable Grateful Unique Grit Unleash Guts Uplifting Happy Valiant Heart Valor Hero Vanquish Honor Victory Hope Win Incredible Wonderful Jaw-dropping Wondrous Kudos Brighten Lovable Radiant Flawless Classy Affable Stupendous Virtuoso Cheery Openhearted Jovial Beauteous Logophile

3. Lust Power Words

Like it or not, lust is one of the core human emotions.

Just look at the men’s and women’s magazines in the checkout aisle, and you’ll see what I mean. Nearly every headline on the cover is either blatantly or indirectly about sex.

And it works, not just for men’s and women’s magazines, but for anything.

As a writer, you can use words that inspire lust to make almost anything intriguing.

How to Crank Up Emotion with Lust Words

See if you can spot the lust words in this headline from Cosmopolitan:

Okay, the orange underlines probably give it away, but my hunch is you didn’t need them.

Power words like captivating and love jump off the page. And if you use them properly, they can stir all sorts of emotions in your readers’ heads.

Here’s a lascivious list of descriptive words to get you started:

Allure Naughty Arouse Nude Bare Obscene Begging Orgasmic Beguiling Passionate Brazen Pining Captivating Pleasure Charm Provocative Cheeky Racy Climax Raunchy Crave Risque Delight Rowdy Delirious Salacious Depraved Satisfy Desire Saucy Dirty Scandalous Divine Seduce Ecstasy Seductive Embrace Sensual Enchant Sex Enthralling Shameless Entice Sinful Entrance Sleazy Excite Sleeping Explicit Spank Exposed Spellbinding Fascinate Spicy Forbidden Steamy Frisky Stimulating Goosebumps Strip Hanker Sweaty Heavenly Tantalizing Hottest Taste Hypnotic Tawdry Impure Tease Indecent Tempting Intense Thrilling Intoxicating Tickle Itching Tight Juicy Tingle Kinky Turn on Kiss Unabashed Lascivious Uncensored Lewd Untamed Lick Untouched Lonely Urge Longing Voluptuous Love Vulgar Lure Wanton Luscious Wet Lush Whip Lust Wild Mischievous X-rated Mouth-watering Yearning Naked Yummy Sneak peek

4. Anger Power Words

As writers, sometimes our job is to anger people.

Not for the fun of it, mind you, but because someone is doing something wrong, and the community needs to take action to correct it.

The problem is, with wrongdoing, most people are pretty apathetic — they’ll wait until the situation becomes entirely intolerable to do anything, and by then, it’s often too late.

So, we have to fan the flames.

How to Crank Up Emotion with Anger Words

The authors of this Forbes headline don’t pull any punches:

I didn’t realize some people get angry over business jargon, but apparently it’s a thing. And this headline, undoubtedly, had such people frothing at the mouth.

If you want to connect with people’s anger and slowly but surely work them into a frenzy, use the power words below.

Just be careful who you target. Lawyers can eat you alive if you pick on the wrong person. 🙂

Abhorrent Money-grubbing Abuse Nasty Annoying Nazi Arrogant No good Ass kicking Obnoxious Backstabbing Oppressive Barbaric Pain in the ass Bash Payback Beat down Perverse Big mouth Pesky Blatant Pest Brutal Phony Bullsh*t Pissed off Bully Pollute Cheat Pompous Clobber Pound Clown Preposterous Cocky Pretentious Corrupt Punch Coward Punish Crooked Rampant Crush Ravage Curse Repelling Debase Repugnant Defile Revile Delinquent Revolting Demolish Rotten Desecrate Rude Disgusting Ruined Dishonest Ruthless Distorted Savage Evil Scam Exploit Scold Force-fed Sick and tired Foul Sink Freaking out Slam Full of sh*t Slander Greedy Slap Gross Slay Harass Smash Hate Smear High and mighty Smug Horrid Sniveling Infuriating Snob Jackass Snooty Kick Snotty Kill Spoil Knock Stuck up Knock out Suck Know it all Terrorize Lies Trash Livid Trounce Loathsome Tyranny Loser Underhanded Lying Up to here Maul Useless Misleading Violate Lollygag Quixotic

5. Greed Power Words

The legendary copywriter Gary Halbert once said, “If you want people to buy something, stomp on their greed glands until they bleed.” Graphic, yes, but also true.

Skim through good sales copy, and you’ll find a lot of these power words. Many of them are so overused they’ve become cliché, but that doesn’t stop them from working.

The truth is, nearly every human being on the planet is interested in either saving or making money.

How to Crank Up Emotion with Greed Words

Its explicit and implicit use of greed words makes this popular book from Dave Ramsey a great example:

“Money” is hard to miss — it’s probably the ultimate greed word and it’s sitting there in capital letters.

But a title like “Total Money Makeover” also implies another greed word (even though it doesn’t directly state it): money-saving.

(It also gets bonus points for using the safety power word “proven”, which we’ll discuss in a moment.)

If you want to stomp on your readers’ greed glands, use these power words:

Bank Jackpot Bargain Lowest price Best Luxurious Billion Marked down Bonanza Massive Booked solid Money Cash Money-draining Cheap Money-saving Costly Nest egg Discount Pay zero Dollar Prize Double Profit Explode Quadruple Extra Reduced Feast Rich Fortune Savings Free Six-figure Freebie Skyrocket Frenzy Soaring Frugal Surge Gift Treasure Golden Triple Greatest Waste High-paying Wealth Inexpensive Whopping

6. Safety Power Words

Greed isn’t the only emotion you want buyers to feel. You also want to make them feel safe.

They need to trust both you and your product or service. They need to have confidence you’ll deliver, and they need to believe they’ll get results.

Of course, building that kind of trust starts with having a quality brand and reputation, but the words you use to describe yourself and your product or service also matter.

How to Crank Up Emotion with Safety Words

On the landing page for one of our Smart Blogger courses, we use power words to make sure our customers feel safe:

In addition to “legitimate” and “guaranteed” in the screenshot above, our landing page is sprinkled with numerous safety words:

Money-back

Results

Refund

Proven

Risk-free

They work for us, and they can work for you.

Help your customers feel safe by using as many of these power words as possible:

Above and beyond Privacy Anonymous Professional Authentic Protected Automatic Proven Backed Recession-proof Bankable Refund Best-selling Reliable Cancel anytime Research Certified Results Clockwork Risk-free Endorsed Rock-solid Foolproof Science-backed Guaranteed Scientific Ironclad Secure Legitimate Sure-fire Lifetime Survive Money-back Tested No obligation That never fails No questions asked Thorough No risk Trustworthy No strings attached Try before you buy No-fail Unconditional Official Verify Permanent World-class Guilt-free

7. Forbidden Power Words

Remember when you were a kid, and someone told you NOT to do something? From that point on, you could think about little else, right?

The truth is, we’re all fascinated by the mysterious and forbidden. It’s like it’s programmed into our very nature.

So why not tap into that programming?

How to Crank Up Emotion with Forbidden Words

This Ahrefs article tempts you with its headline:

What’s the “secret”? Only one way to find out.

Whenever you want to create curiosity, sprinkle these power words throughout your writing, and readers won’t be able to help being intrigued:

Ancient Lost Backdoor Never seen before Banned Off the record Behind the scenes Off-limits Black Market Outlawed Blacklisted Private Bootleg Restricted Censored Sealed Classified Secret Cloak and dagger Smuggled Concealed Strange Confessions Tried to hide Confidential Unauthorized Controversial Uncensored Covert Under wraps Cover-up Undercover Exotic Underground Forbidden Under-the-table Forgotten Undisclosed From the vault Unexpected Hidden Unlock Hush-hush Unreachable Illegal Unspoken Insider Unveiled Little-known Withheld

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Now that we’ve looked at the different types of power words (and gone over a few quick examples), let’s go over all the different places you can use them:

Powerful Words in Action: 14 Places Where Strong Words Can Help You

Headlines

Subheads

Email Subject Lines

Opt-In Boxes

Homepage

Business Names/Blog Names

Product Names

Sales Pages

Testimonials

Bullet Lists

Button Copy (Call to Action)

Author Bios

YouTube Videos

Book Titles

1. Using Power Words in Headlines

Any blogger who’s been in the game for a while knows the headline is the most important part of writing your blog post.

Its purpose, after all, is to entice the reader to read the rest of your content. If your headline fails to get attention, potential readers will ignore it when it shows up in their tweets and social media feeds.

And just one or two power words in your headline is usually enough to make it stand out.

Just look at this headline from BuzzFeed:

The word “Unveiled” makes it feel like a secret is being exposed, and the word “Breathtaking” makes you curious to see what the photo looks like.

Here’s another example from BoredPanda:

People generally love anything adorable, so this headline will easily catch attention. (The fact that it refers to snakes will only make people more curious.)

The headline then drives it home by using the powerful verb “Conquer.”

Here’s one from BrightSide:

While one or two power words are often enough, this headline proves you can use more when it fits.

This headline has four powerful words, but they feel natural in the headline, which keeps it from feeling like over-the-top clickbait.

Last one:

This headline from our How to Make Money Writing: 5 Ways to Get Paid to Write in 2020 post incorporates two greed words: “money” and “get paid.”

It’s one of our most-popular posts, and its headline’s use of power words is a big reason why.

2. Using Power Words in Subheads

Too many writers overlook the value of subheads, which is a mistake. Once people click on your headline, most will scan the post first to see if it looks worthy of their attention.

Adding some power words to your subheads is a good way to make your post look like an interesting read.

For example, here are three subheads from our post on E-book mistakes:

See how the power words in these subheads grab your attention and make you want to read the text that follows?

Adding one or two power words to your subheads will compel readers to stick around longer, which will increase your dwell time — a big deal in Google’s eyes.

3. Using Power Words in Email Subject Lines

Having an email list is of little use if only a handful of readers bother to open your emails.

And these days, most people’s inboxes are flooded, so they’re selective in which emails they open.

You can stand out in their inbox and raise your open rates by including power words in your subject lines.

Just look at this one from Ramit Sethi:

If this subject line would’ve read “The rules of learning,” do you think it would be as appealing? The word “unspoken” is what makes it interesting.

Here’s another one from Cal Fussman:

Both “Triumph” and “Tragedy” are powerful words full of emotion.

And finally, here’s a good example from AppSumo:

The power phrase “Unleash the power” makes you feel this email is hiding something incredibly powerful inside.

See how that works?

When you send out emails to your list, try to add a power word to your subject line so it stands out in readers’ inboxes.

4. Using Power Words in Opt-In Boxes

As a blogger, one of your main goals is to grow a large and engaged readership, and the best way to do it is by converting readers into subscribers.

That means — unless you’re using a blogging platform like Medium which doesn’t allow them — you should have opt-in forms scattered across your website.

You can place them on your homepage, at the end of your posts, in your sidebar, in a popup, or anywhere else.

But no matter where you place them, your opt-in boxes must catch people’s eye and make them want to share their email address with you. Because they won’t give it away to just anyone.

(Remember, their inboxes are already flooded, so they’re not necessarily eager to get even more emails.)

Fortunately, you can use power words to make your offer more enticing.

As an example, here’s an old popup from Cosmopolitan:

This popup had power words everywhere, but it avoided feeling like overkill. I bet it converted like crazy.

Here’s a slightly more subtle example from Betty Means Business:

It’s understated, but still quite effective.

Again, you don’t have to overdo it with the power words on these. A little can go a long way.

Here’s one final example from Renegade Planner:

In short:

If you’re not using power words in your opt-in boxes, you’re missing out.

Big time.

5. Using Power Words on Your Homepage

Your homepage is the face of your website and it’s usually one of the most visited pages. Many people who visit your website will see this page first, so you want it to make a good first impression.

Some people use their homepage to promote their email list, others use it to promote one of their products, and others use it as a red carpet — welcoming new visitors and explaining what their site is all about.

In any case, your homepage is a good spot to add a few power words, as it can determine whether people stay (and take the action you want them to take) or leave (never to return).

Look at this value proposition on the homepage for Nerd Fitness:

“Nerds,” “Misfits,” and “Mutants” are unusual power words that work well for the audience Nerd Fitness is targeting. These words immediately separate it from all the other fitness blogs out there.

But they push it even further with “Strong,” “Healthy,” and “Permanently.”

Here’s another value proposition from MainStreetHost’s homepage:

It’s quite minimal, isn’t it? They just wrote down three power words and follow it up with a service they provide.

Of course, you don’t have to limit your use of power words to the top of your homepage.

You can use it in other parts of the homepage too, as Ramit Sethi does here in his list of what you’ll get when you sign up for his email list:

Go look at your homepage now and see if you can find any areas you can spruce up with some power words.

6. Using Power Words in Business Names/Blog Names

Having a forgettable name is poison to your website’s growth. So when you start a blog, you want to make sure you have a name people can easily recall.

If you haven’t chosen your blog name yet (or if you’re thinking about rebranding), you should use a power word to give it some punch. It’ll make you stand out from all the boring, forgettable brands out there.

Just take a look at the collection of blog names below and see how well they’ve incorporated power words:

7. Using Power Words in Product Names

Just like you can use power words to spruce up your blog name, you can also use them to make your product names pack more of a punch.

It can make the difference between your potential customers thinking, “Ooh, this product sounds cool!” and them thinking, “Meh.”

Just check out this subscription product from Nerd Fitness:

It has such a powerful name that you’d almost want to sign up without learning anything else about it. Who wouldn’t want to be part of a community of rising heroes?

Here’s another good example from Pat Flynn:

It’s a powerful name for his podcasting course that instantly informs you of the benefit.

So if you’re about to launch a product (or if you’ve launched a product with a tepid name), consider giving it a power word to make it pack a punch.

8. Using Power Words on Sales Pages

You can also use power words to spruce up your sales pages and make them more effective at selling your e-commerce products or services.

They will grab people’s attention when they arrive on the page, they will keep their attention as they scroll down, and they’ll help seduce readers before they reach your “buy” button.

Just look at this headline on Ramit Sethi’s sales page for his product 50 Proven Email Scripts (which also has a power word in its name):

And as you scroll down, you see he keeps using power words throughout his sales page.

His headline is followed by emotion-packed subheads:

And he even uses power words in his guarantee:

9. Using Power Words in Testimonials

Power words are also tremendously effective in testimonials.

Of course, I’m not suggesting you change people’s testimonials to include power words. But you can certainly select the ones that already use them to great effect.

Just look at this example from Betty Means Business:

Or look at this one from Farideh’s blog:

And here’s another example from Renegade Planner:

All these testimonials will lend extra credibility and excitement due to their power words and phrases.

10. Using Power Words in Bullet Lists

Many sales pages include a list of benefits of the product they’re selling. Many opt-in forms include a huge list of reasons you should sign up to their email list. And many case studies use bullet lists to quickly summarize information.

You can use power words in these lists to inspire more excitement in your reader as they read through them.

Here’s one example from Ramit Sethi’s sales page for his How to Talk to Anyone course:

And here’s another example from an opt-in form on Restart Your Style:

Without these power words, these lists wouldn’t convince nearly as many readers to buy or subscribe.

11. Using Power Words in Button Copy and CTA (Call to Action)

Yep, you can use power words in your button copy too — even if you only have a few words you can fit in there.

One of the most common power words used in buttons is “Free” (as in the example below):

But you can be more creative with buttons than you might think.

Takes this button from the sales page for the book The Renegade Diet:

“Immediate,” “Money Back,” and “Guarantee” are all incredibly powerful words, and the author manages to squeeze them all into one button.

Here’s an example from Tim Ferris:

He could’ve used “Send Me the List” as most people would do, but “Unlock” makes it sound a lot more intriguing — like you’re getting access to something that’s been kept hidden away.

Now take a look at the buttons on your site.

Do you see any opportunities to spruce them up with a power word?

12. Using Power Words in Author Bios

Your author bio is another extremely important part of your marketing.

When you guest post for another blog (or write a paid article as a freelancer), your author bio has the difficult job of making readers want to know more about you so they click through to your site.

That means your author bio needs to spark attention and interest. And you usually only get three sentences, so you need to carefully consider the words you use.

As an example, here’s the author bio from Henneke Duistermaat in her post on overcoming writer’s block:

Henneke’s author bio is full of power words. It shows her uniqueness and makes her stand out from other copywriters.

You can tell she has carefully picked each perfect word for maximum impact.

Here’s another example from Sarah Peterson’s post on blog ads:

She opens strong immediately by mentioning her guides are insanely useful. And just the name of her report alone is full of power words: “Free,” “Reveal,” and “Begging.”

Makes you want to get your hands on that report, doesn’t it?

13. Using Power Words on YouTube Videos

If you’re publishing videos on YouTube and you want to get more views, you should use power words in your titles.

All the biggest YouTube channels do this.

They understand most of their views will come from their subscribers finding them in their feeds, and from people finding them in the sidebar of other videos.

In both cases, you’re competing with many other videos for their attention. If you want your video to stand out and be the one they choose to watch, your title has to be captivating.

See how Philip DeFranco does it below:

“Disgusting,” “Punishment,” and “Controversy” are all attention-grabbing words (and that’s besides the attention-grabbing names of Brock Turner, Star Wars, and Kim Kardashian).

Note also how he has capitalized “Disgusting.” It’s another smart trick many YouTube channels use to stand out more in YouTube’s lists of video suggestions.

Style vlogger Aaron Marino often does it as well:

By capitalizing the power words “Don’ts” and “Stupid,” his title catches a lot more attention (as you can see for yourself by the millions of views it’s received).

14. Using Power Words in Book Titles

If you’re interested in writing your own book, adding power words to your titles will help it sell better.

With all the competition in the book market these days, you need a title that grabs people’s attention and makes them want to peek inside.

Here are a few quick grabs from Amazon’s list of bestsellers in the self-help niche:

I’m sure you’ve seen this title before.

You might say Stephen Covey’s use of power words in his title has been highly effective. (See what I did there?)

Here’s another:

Mark Manson’s bestselling title is packed with power.

The power word “Subtle” juxtaposes well with the F-bomb in the title, and his use of “Counterintuitive” will spark some interest as well.

One more:

Lastly, Jen Sincero’s encouraging book title makes you want to flip it open and read it in one go.

The use of “Badass” alone will make it stand out in the self-development section, but her use of “Greatness” and “Awesome” in the subtitle truly seals the deal.

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Go Ahead and Tell Me. What Powerful Words Did I Miss?

They’re known by many names…

Emotion words. Good words. Strong words. Powerful words, creative words, fancy words, sensory words, trigger words, smart words, feeling words, descriptive words, impactful words, interesting words, positive words, unique words, and even — yes, seriously — awesome words.

But whatever you call them; smart, attractive people such as yourself have mastered the strategic use of power words and use them every day to pack their writing with emotion so they can increase conversions.

Yes, this is an enormous list of words, but with so many power words available, you’d need a thesaurus or Word of the Day dictionary to catch every single word on the first pass. (Plus, new words seem to be added to the English language every day.)

What are some other good words that seem to have that extra little spark of emotion inside them?

Leave your answer in the comments, and as time goes by, I’ll come back periodically and update the power words list. Eventually, I hope to have over 1,000 words here, separated and organized by category, making this the definitive “cheat sheet” of favorite power words on the web.

Thanks in advance for commenting and sharing the post with your friends!

About the Author: Jon Morrow has asked repeatedly to be called “His Royal Awesomeness” but no one listens to him. So, he settles for CEO of Smart Blogger. Poor man. 🙂

The post 600+ Power Words That Pack a Punch and Convert like Crazy appeared first on Smart Blogger.

from SEO and SM Tips https://smartblogger.com/power-words/