390+ power words to stand out and boost conversions

Why power words matter

Research backs up the claim that certain words have the power to influence a person’s mental and emotional state. According to Andrew Newberg, M.D., and Mark Robert Waldman, authors of Words Can Change Your Brain, some words literally alter the expression of genes throughout a person’s body.

Dr. Newberg and Mark Robert Waldman point out that powerful words specifically stimulate activity in the brain’s motivation centers. Thus, words may inspire a person to take action.

In their book, the researchers also explain that using the right wording can help a speaker or writer build trust with an audience. 

Types of power words

Different words generate different emotional and psychological responses. Therefore, we’ve created a list of power words that evoke specific emotions, including: 

• Greed
• Curiosity
• Encouragement
• Trust or Safety
• Authority
• Exclusivity
• Novelty
• Ease or convenience
• Urgency

When you are creating content—whether it’s an email, landing page, or something else—identify which emotions or actions you want your audience to take. Then, pull from the corresponding power words list that we’ve provided.

Greed

The desire for “more” is a natural human experience. Although the word greed sometimes has negative connotations, all people feel greed in some form.

Greed is more than just the desire for money. It can be a desire for more attention, relaxation, food, entertainment, freedom, or anything else a human being may want.

For example, let’s say you’re selling a product that boosts a customer’s productivity. Your target customer wants to be more productive so they have more free time. 

You’d consider this when choosing persuasive words to include in your copy. Alternatively, if they want to increase productivity to make more money and have more freedom, you’d include phrases relating to wealth and freedom.

If you’re selling a product or service, try to determine what your target audience desires. Doing so will help you decide which power words will be most effective.

Examples of greed words include:

Greed
Bargain	Giveaway	More	Rich	Treasure
Bonus	Inexpensive	Must have	Regal	Triple
Cash	Instantly	Nest egg	Sale	Unbeatable
Discount	Jackpot	Net worth	Save	Upsell
Extra	Luxury	Price	Six-figure	Value
Feast	Massive	Productivity	Skyrocket
Fortune	Monetize	Profit	Special
Frugal	Money	Reduced	Thrifty

Curiosity

Like greed, curiosity seems to be a natural experience virtually all humans share. Researchers believe people have an innate drive to satisfy their curiosity that is arguably as powerful as the drive to satisfy hunger.

Curiosity power words appeal to this basic human urge. In addition, people are prone to distraction. We live in an age where we are bombarded with websites, online ads, social media, emails, text messages, and more. As audiences become exposed to more and more content, you need to capture their curiosity to stand out. 

Curiosity words help you achieve this goal. Use them in content that shares important information with your audience. This ensures they are more likely to absorb all the valuable information.

Curiosity is particularly useful in email subject lines, social media posts that link to longer pieces of content, and headings. They tell a potential reader that a piece of content deserves their attention.

The following is a sample list of words that may pique someone’s curiosity:

Curiosity
Amazing	Controversy	Insider information	Reveal	Supersecret
Astonishing	Cringeworthy	Little-known	Secret	Top secret
Astounding	Extraordinary	Mysterious	Secretive	Trade secret
Awe-inspiring	Eye-opening	Myth	Shh	Unexplained
Banned	Find out the secret	Odd	Shocking	Unique
Bizarre	Forbid	Off the record	Spoiler alert
Censored	Hush	Peek inside	Strange
Confidential	Incredible	Prized	Stunning

Encouragement

Words that generate positive emotions are particularly effective in marketing content. For instance, you may notice that even when a product or service solves a problem, marketing copy for that product emphasizes its benefits. It outlines the before and after—what impact will this product or service have and how will it transform your life? 

Instead of focusing too heavily on the problem (negative), focus on how the solution will improve your customer’s life (positive). Although addressing “pain points” is wise to a degree, copy and content should ultimately trigger feelings of enthusiasm, optimism, or confidence. 

Words of encouragement help trigger those emotions. Plus, encouraged people are more likely to take action. They make readers feel that purchasing your course (or subscribing to your email list, ordering your eBook, etc.) will help them achieve a personal or professional goal.

If you were to only use phrases that focus on the pain points that your course addresses, you might accidentally induce negative feelings. For instance, maybe you’re writing a landing page selling an online course on ways to save money as a business owner.

To an extent, you can mention how saving money when running a business is challenging. You should establish that you understand the frustrations of your target audience. 

However, if you only cover the challenges a prospect faces, by the time they reach your CTA, they’ll feel drained and pessimistic. Instead, use words that emphasize how your course helps them save money and how that will impact their life. As a result, they reach outcomes like fueling business growth, peace of mind thanks to financial stability, and so on.

Use encouragement power words when writing copy that convinces audience members that taking the desired action will benefit them. These include: 

Encouragement
Accomplish	Brilliant	Energize	Glory	Miraculous
Achieve	Celebrate	Enthusiastic	Grit	No-quit
Amaze	Challenge	Excite	Growth	Optimize
Ascend	Champion	Fantasize	Healthy	Power
Badass	Conquer	Fearless	Heroic	Score
Become	Create	Fierce	Hope	Seize
Believe	Defeat	Fighting spirit	Life-changing	Strengthen
Boost	Destiny	Force	Magic	Succeed
Brave	Dominate	Fulfilling	Magnificent	Thrive
Breakthrough	Empower	Gain	Mastery	Transform

Trust or safety

Generating a sense of trust is another way to convince your audience to take action. When someone spends money on a product or service, they want to feel that doing so involves minimal to no risk.

They also want to believe they will receive something of value when they make a purchase. 

Anyone who’s experienced buyer’s remorse knows it’s an unpleasant feeling they’d prefer to avoid in the future. A customer who’s thinking about signing up for your online course or scheduling a coaching session may be hesitant to finalize the purchase until they’ve established trust.

Words that induce feelings of trust and safety reduce the friction that prevents a potential customer from converting. 

For example, perhaps you have a policy of fully refunding a purchase if a customer is unsatisfied with your product. If so, trust and safety words like “money back guarantee” ease concerns while explaining your policies.

Words that cause a person to feel you and your brand are trustworthy and safe include:

Trust or safety
Accredited	Confidential	Licensed	Refund	Track record
Anonymous	Documented	Lifetime	Research-backed	Try before you buy
Approved	Don’t worry	Moneyback	Risk-free	Thorough
Awarded	Endorsed by	No obligation	Satisfaction guaranteed	Unconditional
Backed	Expert	No risk	Secure	Verified
Bestseller	Free trial	No strings attached	Science-backed	Vetted
Bona fide	Full refund	No credit card required	Studies show	World-renowned
Cancel whenever	Genuine	Official	Tested
Case study	Guaranteed	Recognized	Testimonials
Certified	Guilt-free	Recommend	That never fails

In addition to power words, you should also include testimonials, reviews, and social proof. 

Authority

Conveying a sense of authority is important when marketing any product or service. Potential customers must feel the person or brand selling something possesses the knowledge and expertise necessary to deliver results.

Establishing yourself as an authority is even more vital when offering online courses and coaching services. Your marketing copy must convince a reader that you’re a professional who’s qualified to teach them. 

The content of your course itself must also reassure a customer that you’re experienced. If midway through a course, a student starts to question your credentials, they might not finish the course, and may even leave a poor review. However, if you consistently use language that reminds them that you are a true expert, they are more likely to finish the course, see its value, and refer others in their network.

Like safety and trust words, authority words minimize friction when you use them in content, especially when it comes to your call-to-action. 

Words that establish your authority include:

Authority
Academic	Definitive	Foolproof	Legal	Proven
Accurate	Degree	Formula	Legitimate	Qualifications include
Actual	Designated	Highly-trained	Masterclass	Recognition
Agree	Data	Globally recognized	Mentioned in	Results
Authorized	Established	Graduate of	Name-dropped by	Scientific
Award-winning	Esteemed	Honored	Original	Ultimate
Backed by	Experienced	Knowledge	Past successes
Confirmed	Expert-backed	Known	Popular
Covered in	Featured in	Lauded	Praised

Exclusivity

Regardless of the topics your online courses and coaching services focus on, students are trying to acquire knowledge and skills. These may be little-known tricks of your trade. It may be access to a community with shared interests and values. Either way, they all have an element of exclusive access.

Suggesting you offer exclusive value or knowledge also ensures your own products and services stand out. Odds are your leads are researching multiple options when looking for products like yours. You must give them a reason to believe your course or coaching service is the option most worth their money.

Leveraging words that imply a product or service is exclusive is one way to do so. Exclusive words include:

Exclusivity
Access	Break into	Gain entry	Network	Restricted access
Available only to	Confidential	Insider secrets	Official membership required	Register as a VIP
Backstage	Club	Invitation only	Only a few select members	Special content
Become an insider	Don’t tell anyone, but	Join the cohort	Private	Test before anyone else
Be one of the first	Early release	Join the elite ranks	Privy to	Unlock the door
Before everyone else	Exclusive access	Login required	Professional secrets	VIP access
Behind-the-scenes	For subscribers only	Members only	Pull back the curtain	You’ve been selected

Novelty

Power words that express a sense of novelty capture attention in a distracted world. Incorporating novelty suggests that your products or services offer a new experience or information that captures their attention.

Research confirms that appealing to an audience’s desire for novelty yields benefits. Neuroscientists have proven through numerous studies that new experiences trigger a release of dopamine in the brain.

Dopamine is one of the brain’s top “pleasure chemicals.” If you use words that show novelty, you’ll grab their attention. Examples of novelty words you might use include:

Novelty
All-new	Find out	Innovation	Opening	Starting now
Announcing	First-ever	Introducing	Original	Testing phase
Beginning now	For the first time	Invention	Outside the box	The time has come
Break your routine	Futuristic	Just released	Pre-release	This is huge
Come find out	Get a glimpse	Learn	Rediscovered	Undiscovered
Create	Groundbreaking	Never-before-seen	Refresh	Unlocked
Debuting	High-tech	New	Renew	Wait is over
Discover	How to	Newfound	See the new	You never knew
Exciting	Hot off the press	Not until now	Showcasing

Ease or convenience

Humans are inherently lazy. That’s not a criticism. It makes us strive for efficiency and look for ways to be more productive, so we get more done in the long run. 

Using words that evoke ease or convenience shows someone your value and inspires action. This is especially true if you show them how your product or service helps them spend less time and energy on a given task (without sacrificing quality). 

When writing marketing copy and creating a curriculum for your courses, look for opportunities to use power words. They help give your customers a sense that you can make their lives easier in some way.

Fintech and on-demand services apps frequently use these to attract users and explain how they simplify daily processes. Consider the following example from Mint for inspiration.

By combining the words “effortlessly”, “gain”, and “save,” this simple piece of copy appeals to convenience, encouragement, and greed.

Other power words include:

Ease or convenience
Accessible	Comprehensive	In minutes	Painless	Step-by-step
All you need to do is	Declutter	In seconds	Piece-by-piece	Straightforward
Anywhere	Demystify	In your free time	Quickly	Take a break
As little as	Easy	Instant	Roadmap	Template
Basic	Efficiently	Just follow these simple steps	Self-paced	Time-saving
Beginner-friendly	Effortless	Kickstart	Short and sweet	Toolbox
Breeze	Fill-in-the-blanks	Mere	Simplify	Uncomplicated
Cakewalk	Free	No stress	Smooth
Cheat sheet	Get rid of	No time	Snap
Clear	Guide	On-demand	Speedy

Urgency

There are many reasons a potential customer might decide not to buy a product or schedule a service right away. Even if they are interested, they may not purchase it immediately, telling themselves they’ll do so later on. Unfortunately, “later on” doesn’t always come. 

Most people don’t purchase after just one interaction. As a result, you have to be intentional about how you re-engage your audience and move them through your marketing funnel. One way to move customers closer to the buying stage is to leverage urgency. 

Your audience is more inclined to make a purchase when they know that there is limited time to do so. 

Psychological experiments have consistently shown that a person is more likely to complete a given task or action when there’s a time limit or scarcity. It’s the reason phrases like “While supplies last!” are so popular in ads.

Examples of urgency words include: 

Urgency
Act fast	Ending soon	Items left	Offer expires	Sale ends soon
ASAP	Every minute that passes	Limited time	On the double	Selling fast
Attention	Expiring on	Last chance	Once in a lifetime	Spots available
Before it’s too late	Few remain	Last opportunity	One chance	Supplies limited
Claim your spot	Filling up	Mark your calendar	One shot	Time is running out
Clock is ticking	Final	Move fast	Only a few more	Vanishing
Countdown	For one time only	Never again	Promotion ending	While it lasts
Deadline approaching	Going soon	No time to wait	Right now	Won’t last forever
Don’t wait	Hurry	Now	Running out	You only have X more days

Personalized

General power words like “you” and “because” personalize your message. A reader sees them and subconsciously feels like the content is addressing them directly.

“More” is another basic word that earns a spot on the list below due to the way it adds emphasis. When writing copy, think about the way common word substitutions can better connect with your audience. These include: 

1. Because
2. Me
3. More
4. Our
5. You
6. Yours

How to use power words—see how it’s done with examples!

Now that you have a basic understanding of what power words are and why they play a valuable role in your marketing, let’s look at a few real-world examples. 

Power words for headlines

A headline serves two purposes: capturing the attention of your audience and telling them why they should be interested. By adding one or more power words to a headline, you can attract more readers.

Consider the power words in the headlines and subheaders on Robinhood’s investing tool landing page. The page includes greed words like “commission-free,” and “buying power.” 

Other effective power words in these headlines include “level up,” “break into,” and “increase”.

They also include ease and convenience with “as little as”, and exclusivity by using “be one of the first”. 

Regardless of your opinion on the company and its services, there is no denying that Robinhood has attracted a large number of users in a relatively short amount of time.

This is at least partially due to how Robinhood’s content marketers and copywriters leverage power words to tap into the desires of their customer base.

Product name and pages power words

Using power words in product names and landing pages can also boost sales. For example, the online course Product Marketing Core uses them to attract students that are interested in learning the basics of product marketing.

In their course names, they use the word “certified” to establish authority. 

When you click on a course sales page, they build trust right off the bat, stating they are “trusted by the world’s biggest brands”. They reinforce their authority again with words like “industry standard” and give a sense of convenience by saying it’s “comprehensive” and “self-paced”. 

Power words also strengthen brand names. A basic example is HotelTonight, a hotel booking platform.

This brand name only consists of two words. However, one of those words is powerful enough to resonate with customers.

The word “hotel” may not be a power word, but it’s useful in this context. It tells customers what they can find through the service.

The true power word in this brand name, though, is “tonight.” A typical HotelTonight customer is someone who’s looking for a hotel or motel room at the last minute. The word “tonight” triggers an emotional and psychological response in such a customer. It has a sense of urgency, explaining in just one word that HotelTonight is a tool they can use to find lodging that very day.

Email subjects

Crafting strong email subject lines is one of the most important aspects of strong email writing. The average email open rate for 2022 across all industries is 21.33%. Including power words in your subject lines encourages recipients to open and read your emails.

Generate a basic subject line that gives a recipient a sense of what your email’s content will be. Then, add power words to optimize the subject line.

For example, maybe you’re promoting an online course on investing. A simple email subject you might use could read “Investing Tips for Beginners.” 

Instead, this email subject with power words might look like “Free Investing Cheat Sheet” or “10 Investing Tips in 10 Minutes”.

Landing page power words

Landing pages, aka sales pages, are the primary place that prospective students will learn about and decide to buy your courses. If your copy features power words, you’ll be more likely to make sales. For example, Adam Enfroy uses them throughout the copy for his Blog Growth Engine course. 

Notice that he’s capturing ease and convenience by using “step-by-step”, and greed with “7-figure”. On the landing page for his free blogging masterclass, you’ll also see power words. 

Examples include “free”, “masterclass”, “profitable”, “massively”, and that’s just to name a few. He’s intentionally evoking feelings of ease, greed, encouragement, authority, and more to increase the chances that the person reading will be persuaded to sign up for his free class. You can do the same when you’re creating your landing pages.

(Tip: Check our guide on landing page design for more ways to improve your pages.)

Call-to-action CTAs

A CTA is a specific action that you want users to take. You’ve probably seen “Get Started”, or “Learn More” call-to-action buttons. Those are familiar and straightforward—visitors understand what you want from them. But, what if you injected power words into your CTAs? 

When crafting a CTA think about:

• Which emotions to evoke
• What objections you’ll need to overcome
• How to set next steps or expectations 

This image from a landing page for Supernatural, a popular VR fitness subscription app, highlights how to use power words in a call-to-action. 

Phrases like “healthy” and “Don’t sweat it” resonate with a person’s desire to get in shape easily. The CTA names the steps a person can take to address this desire (“Join Supernatural”), and it uses greed to address objections. 

It includes specific information about what a customer will experience as a result of taking action. Calm also uses power words on its landing pages and CTAs. For example, “Unlock more sleep stories” taps into novelty and discovery. 

It may sound simple, but don’t undercut the importance of a well-written CTA. With a few small tweaks, you can inspire action and increase conversions. 

Testimonial power words

Adding customer testimonials to your site and landing pages establishes your credibility. 

Of course, you should never alter a customer testimonial. But, the beauty of testimonials is that they tend to include power words naturally. You can identify the most impactful reviews to include on your site and in marketing by looking for the ones that have these specific words.  

For example, how powerful is a positive review that just says “The course was great” or “I learned a lot”? It’s better than a negative one, but what about this one instead? 

“In months of taking this course, I increased my salary by 40%. Because I was able to network with industry experts, I was able to break into a tech role that gives me more flexibility and freedom. I would highly recommend!” 

Resume power words

Color your resume with powerful synonyms that demonstrate your job responsibilities. As you read through the words below, notice which words light you up or that you gravitate toward.

Instead of helped, try:

• Supported
• Facilitated
• Mentored
• Cultivated
• Trained

Instead of fixed, try:

• Navigated
• Negotiated
• United
• Arbitrated
• Resolved
• Consulted
• Forged
• Secured

Instead of started, try:

• Created
• Innovated
• Produced
• Initiated
• Disrupted
• Spearheaded

Instead of grew, try:

• Developed
• Expanded
• Yielded
• Enhanced

Instead of wrote, try:

• Reported
• Researched
• Edited
• Investigated

It’s also impactful to include analytics, such as number of page views, impressions, social media engagement, etc, whenever possible. Similarly, if you’re applying for a finance job, specific numbers and statistics will make your resume stand out.

Power words for sales

Power words for sales are crucial to help inform and persuade a customer about a product or service. They grab attention and are generally active, rather than passive, as they move a potential customer forward in the sales cycle.

• [Client’s name] – Personalizing interactions increases connection and makes the client feel seen, which can have a greater impact.
• You – Similarly, making the product or service about what it can do for the customer or client can close the deal faster.
• We – “We” also creates an experience of connection and shared experience.
• Because – This word connects the what with the why and offers reasoning to help influence customer behavior.
• Thank you – Expressing gratitude extends kindness and appreciation, which can go a long way.
• Imagine – Allowing clients to dream of what a product or service can do for them evokes possibility.
• Help – Offering support before, during, and after the sale builds trust.

Power words for customer service

For customer service communication, positive words go a long way with making a customer feel seen, heard, and understood. It’s also important to allow the customer to feel in control. Consider using these affirmative words when interacting with clients or customers:

• Absolutely
• Definitely
• Always
• Understand
• Exactly
• Completely
• Free
• Certainly
• Willing

To communicate your customer service job responsibilities on a resume, try using words like reached, served, communicated, aided, and experience.
Business power words

As we’ve outlined above, emotion and psychology plays a big role in business communication. Some of the top motivating words for business overlap with many of the words we’ve already explored and include:

• Imagine
• Grow
• Earn
• Exclusive
• Save
• Proven
• New
• Effective
• Trusted
• Earn

You can also play around with aforementioned words to evoke inspiration, safety, curiosity, urgency, and more.

Adding power words to your content can yield impressive and measurable results. It’s also very easy to do. By making strategic word choices, you’ll unlock your content’s full potential and increase conversions.

That said, you still need to offer a strong course in the first place. Teachable makes creating and launching one easy. Test out Teachable for free today to learn more about what it can do for you.