Now’s the time to make fundraising rhyme

I know that rhyming’s out of date, but what it does is truly great.

Advertisers used to do it a lot: Don’t get mad. Get GLAD and Takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

People find rhyming statements more believable and memorable than non-rhyming ones.

Unfortunately, rhyming is out of style. It’s just not cool. Anyway, it’s harder to write. It takes an actual word-obsessed copywriter to pull it off consistently. But it might be worth the effort to use it here and there.

The human mind loves patterns and is attracted to beauty. That’s why rhyming is an effective communication tool.

As are other sound devices from the world of poetry, including:

• Pleasing rhythm or metrical structure. You need to walk the line between copy that’s so iambic it sounds excessively sing-songy … and copy that jangles along with no rhythm at all.
• Well placed syllabic emphasis. It’s great when the strongest emphasis in a sentence is also the most important point. (Which, by the way, should usually fall at the end.)
• Consonance. Repetition of consonant sounds (but don’t overdo it).
• Assonance. Repetition of vowel sounds (you’re less like to overdo this).

Copy doesn’t need to be set in lines and follow formal rules to get the benefits of poetry — in fact, you’re better off not looking like poetry. All these things aid in communication. Even if they’re old-fashioned. Give it a try.