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Welcome to this week's issue of Unpacking Meaning. If you received this from a friend and enjoy it, ​subscribe here.

Would you like decision fatigue with that latte?

Last week, I walked into my usual coffee spot - a cozy little place near my house. You know the type - minimalist but warm, smells like freshly ground beans and possibility.

Like clockwork, the barista catches my eye, smiles, and before I can say anything: "The usual?" A quick nod, and five minutes later I'm settled in my favorite corner upstairs, laptop open, perfect coffee in hand. Just like that.

There's another café nearby that's quite different. Every order feels like a questionnaire: "Have here or take away? Which size? Where will you be sitting? Name for the order?" Each question jolts you out of your flow, making what should be a simple coffee run feel like filling out a form.

Great copy. We often think it's about eliminating decisions. But really? It's about making them feel inevitable.

I always tell my clients that "we don't sell products, we sell decisions." And the key is doing the hard work upfront to make those decisions feel effortless for our prospects.

Think about it - every paragraph your reader encounters is actually a micro-decision ("Should I keep reading?").

Every claim requires a micro-judgment ("Do I believe this?").

Every section break is a micro-commitment ("Should I continue?").

The art isn't in removing these decision points - they're necessary steps in the journey. It's in stringing them together so seamlessly that your reader never feels like they're deciding at all. They're just... flowing. Reading without feeling like they're reading. Deciding without feeling like they're deciding.

Just like that first café doesn't actually made fewer decisions for me - they've just done the work to understand and anticipate each step of my journey, making those decisions feel like natural steps in getting exactly what I wanted all along.

Here’s a quick framework to implement this:

1. Map out every micro-decision your prospect needs to make (from first headline to final CTA)
2. For each decision point, ask: "What context do they need here to make this feel natural?"
3. Look for ways to connect these points smoothly - each decision should feel like it naturally leads to the next
4. Test the flow by reading it through your prospect's eyes: Does any point feel like it's asking them to "work"?

The best copy doesn't feel like copy at all.

It feels like someone reading your mind.

DISCOVERY

Excited to share our latest case study for the work with ​Moz​! 🎉

When the SEO tool market is over crowded and almost everyone claims the same features, how do you make your value impossible to ignore? That was the challenge Moz faced – and together, we found the answer.

Through collaborative workshops and deep customer research, we:

• Created clear positioning, messaging and copy for both Moz Pro and Moz API
• Helped everyone get on the same page on target audiences and key differentiators
• Built a scalable messaging framework for future growth

A huge thank you to the incredible team at Moz, especially Chima Mmeje for being such an amazing collaborator throughout the process. Your insights, ruthless (but super welcome 😄) feedback, and enthusiasm made this project truly special.
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Want to see how we helped Moz cut through the noise? Check out the full case study on my website.
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Shoutout to Alexandra Mosnitska for the amazing case study design. 🎉

AI can already simulate humans

(Source)

Yep, apparently some researches tried replicating people's personalities with AI and they got 85% there. I'm consistently more bullish on the area called "synthetic research" ( I wrote 5 pieces on how I use it my copy work) where we can use LLMs to simulate our customer personas and use them for research, testing and even writing copy.

Looks like more people are catching on to it.

Spoiler alert: yesterday I interviewed Hugo Alves, co-founder at Synthetic Users, and we went deep into this stuff. The episode is coming out with season 2 of The Message-Market Fit podcast in the new year, along with other super cool guests.

RESONANCE

Seth Godin, The Practice

We don’t rise to the level of the external praise we get, we fall to the level of our self talk on our most challenging moments. Watch it.

Have a great weekend!

Cheers,

Chris

Chris Silvestri Founder & conversion alchemist

🙌🏻 Let’s be friends (unless you’re a stalker)​

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