A period will probably do

The video is pretty short.

32 seconds.

The camera is focused on Robert De Niro’s face the whole time. He’s filming a promo for FOX.

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The video is an outtake.

“When we created Tribeca,” says De Niro, “we wanted to capture all the emotion, all the energy, and all the power of a movie. See for yourself, Tuesday on FOX.”

His voice is low, even and steady.

“OK,” says the director. “Can we try one that’s just generally more energetic?”

De Niro immediately shakes his head.

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“I’m sorry,” he says. “That’s energetic. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“It is?” says the director.

“Yes, excuse me,” says De Niro. “I’m not selling cars, OK.”

The lesson here?

The director was asking for an exclamation mark.

Because he believes saying the message LOUDER makes it more compelling.

But De Niro was only willing to give a period.

Because he’s Robert De Niro and he knows what he knows.

He knows you don’t necessarily need to be LOUD to engage people.

And so it is with copywriting...

Use fewer exclamation marks.

Because if your message is aligned with your audience, a period will probably do.

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