Warts and all

Sometimes the speaker is riddled with flaws, and the best way to build trust is to acknowledge those flaws up front.

This is what we could call the "warts and all" approach to persuasive character.

Remember we looked at a snippet from Oliver Cromwell yelling at the British Parliament for being vain and greedy?

Cromwell supposedly coined the phrase "warts and all" when directing an artist who painted his portrait. (Or maybe someone saw the portrait and said, "That's the definition of 'warts and all'—nobody really knows.)

(You could say he had that skibidi rizz, but he would hate you for it.)

For example, there is a budget hotel in the Netherlands that only ever runs ads about how bad it is:

Hans Brinker ad losing luggage and saying no

How does this ad use a warts-and-all approach to build trust?

The character of Hans Brinker is budget: nobody to keep track of your luggage, nobody to welcome you, no heating, no showers, no towels, no lifts...

The hotel is probably not that bad, but by playing with the extremes, the speaker builds trust in an audience looking for a bargain.

When people buy fruits and vegetables, they tend to prefer the most beautiful, "perfect" specimens. Unfortunately, this leads to vast piles of food being tossed out before even making it to the stores.

So a French supermarket ran a campaign to promote "inglorious" fruits and vegetables:

Intermarche ugly carrot

How does this ad use a warts-and-all approach to build trust?

This is another warts-and-all character approach: sure these vegetables are ugly, but you're going to put them in a soup, so who cares?

(This print ad doesn't mention it, but they also offered a 30% discount on their disfigured fruit and veggies, which made the campaign a huge success.)

Similarly, politicians will sometimes try to turn supposed weaknesses into strengths.

For example, how did William Pitt, a young British Parliamentarian (and future Prime Minister), respond to an older minister who said William was being too loud, show-offy, and... well, young?

(This speech is 300 years old, so you might find it easier to understand if you read it aloud and push the parts where we have added *emphasis*.)

Sir, the atrocious crime of being *a young man*, which the honorable gentleman has with such spirit and decency charged upon me, I shall neither attempt to palliate nor deny, but content myself with wishing that I may be *one* of those whose follies may *cease* with their youth, and not of that number who are ignorant *in spite* of experience.

The wretch that, after having seen the consequences of a thousand errors, continues *still* to blunder, and whose age has only added *obstinacy to stupidity*, is surely the object of either abhorrence or contempt, and deserves *not* that his gray head should secure him from insults.

Speech in the House of Commons(1741)

How does this speech use a warts-and-all approach to establish character?

It's quite the takedown!

William Pitt doesn't deny that he's young or even challenge the accusation that in being young, he might have some uninformed or wrong-headed ideas.

Instead, he says, "Sure, I'm young, but at least I can learn from my youthful mistakes, unlike these idiots." (Note how he adds a "not like them" move to his character-building.)

In the examples above, every weakness also has a kind of strength (e.g. it might be ugly, but it's cheap; I might be young, but I can learn).

But in some situations, the weaknesses are genuinely bad, and sharing them is less about charming the audience and more about demonstrating honesty and integrity.

For example, in this snippet, President Ronald Reagan acknowledges evil parts of his nation's past (while also trying to position America as a beacon of hope):

There is sin and evil in the world, and we’re enjoined by Scripture and the Lord Jesus to oppose it with all our might. Our nation, too, has a legacy of evil with which it must deal. The glory of this land has been its capacity for transcending the moral evils of our past. For example, the long struggle of minority citizens for equal rights, once a source of disunity and civil war is now a point of pride for all Americans. We must never go back. There is no room for racism, anti-Semitism, or other forms of ethnic and racial hatred in this country.

I know that you’ve been horrified, as have I, by the resurgence of some hate groups preaching bigotry and prejudice. Use the mighty voice of your pulpits and the powerful standing of your churches to denounce and isolate these hate groups in our midst. The commandment given us is clear and simple: “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

But whatever sad episodes exist in our past, any objective observer must hold a positive view of American history, a history that has been the story of hopes fulfilled and dreams made into reality. Especially in this century, America has kept alight the torch of freedom, but not just for ourselves, but for millions of others around the world.

Evil Empire Speech(1982)

How does this speech use a warts-and-all approach to establish character?

Reagan is a politician speaking to the public, so he doesn't want to dwell on weaknesses for long.

But he does at least acknowledge that the nation has a dark legacy, and that bigotry and prejudice are not new.

Denying these things might win him favour with some audiences, but not the general public he is speaking to here.

You have a try. Using this image as inspiration, imagine a speaker is openly and honestly acknowledging their flaws and weaknesses to build trust with their audience.

How might they do it? What would they say or how would they present themselves?

Chiropractor or physiotherapist examining a senior male patient

Using this image as inspiration, how might a speaker build trust by sharing their weaknesses and flaws?

Warts-and-all can be persuasive if there are some good qualities in the "all" part of the equation.

If it's all warts, you have a problem.

Persuasive levers 1: Character