How to evoke emotions in your audience, without being manipulative
We were driving through her Michigan hometown, a quiet place where time seemed to move slower.
Then, out of nowhere, we saw it: a massive house that looked like it had wandered off from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Grand pillars framed the entrance. The lawn was trimmed so neatly it felt like someone had measured every blade of grass. The trees and bushes sat perfectly shaped, like they were standing guard. A stark contrast to the other homes surrounding it, like it had a story of its own that didn’t match the neighborhood’s.
“It’s beautiful,” someone in the car said. “Is the funeral home out back?”
“No,” my roommate replied, with nonchalance. “It’s downstairs. We live upstairs.”
Walking inside, the air felt heavy as something immediately caught my eye - a small casket near the corner of the room. It wasn’t hidden or surrounded by flowers. Just… sitting there.
It stopped me in my tracks.
At 20 years old, death had always been an abstract concept - something that happened to someone else. But in that moment, death felt real. That tiny casket wasn’t just a reminder of mortality - it shaped my relationship with death from then forward. Young people die, too.
Years later, working in financial services, that memory came rushing back.
Selling life insurance was hard. I thought charts and statistics would do the work - mortality rates, financial planning benefits, the cold, hard logic of being prepared. But time after time, people tuned out.
Then I started telling the story about the casket instead.
I didn’t embellish or try to dramatize it. I shared it exactly as it happened. And for the first time, people leaned in.
They didn’t just listen - they felt the weight of the emotions, just as I did all those years before. And when they felt it, they acted.
Did you know that 74% of people make decisions based on emotions, even when they believe they’re being rational?
But eliciting emotions in your audience isn’t about writing the perfect tearjerker. It’s about genuine, real-life emotions.
We connect to emotions when we recognize ourselves in a story. It’s not dramatic embellishment that moves us - it’s the Devil in the details: the tiny casket, the long silence, the weight of unspoken grief.
Emotional manipulation falters because it treats your audience as a target, aiming to provoke a reaction rather than inspire a connection. It weaponizes emotions, creating a fleeting impact that erodes trust over time.
Authentic emotions in storytelling, however, operate on a deeper level. They align with your audience's unspoken desires and values, using empathy to help them recall similar experiences where they felt the same emotions.
Instead of pushing for a response, it invites reflection that sparks action - not because they were convinced, but because they were inspired.
Here’s how to evoke emotions without manipulation using my E.V.O.K.E. Method:
E - Embrace the Truth
Start with a story that’s real. The most powerful moments are often the most personal.V - Visualize the Details
Use vivid, sensory descriptions. Bring your audience into the moment by showing them what you experienced.O - Open the Door
Invite your audience to feel the emotion on their own. Don’t tell them what to feel - let the story do the work.K - Keep It Real
Resist the urge to exaggerate or dramatize. Trust that the raw truth of your experience is enough.E - End with Insight
Tie the emotion back to a purpose. What lesson, insight, or action do you want your audience to take away?
Why This Works
Emotions are the foundation of connection, but forced emotions create resistance. Your audience can tell when something feels inauthentic - and they’ll tune out.
But when you share something real, complete with specific details and honest emotion, your audience doesn’t feel pushed. They’re organically pulled in instead.
Take the story of the tiny casket. It didn’t need embellishment because the truth of the moment was powerful enough. The sight of it, the silence of the room, and the weight of that realization spoke louder than any graph or statistic could.
By letting your audience feel the moment for themselves, you create a lasting impact - one they’ll carry with them long after the story ends.
Here’s What You’ll Get Out of It
Emotions That Feel Genuine: Your stories will strike a chord without ever feeling forced or overdone.
Authentic Audience Responses: You’ll move people to act because they feel understood, not because they feel pushed.
A Deeper Creative Well: By grounding your storytelling in real emotions, you’ll unlock endless opportunities for meaningful content.
“The strongest emotions don’t need a push - they just need a place to land.”
Your Turn
Think back to a time when an emotion completely overwhelmed you - joy, grief, fear, excitement, or even calm. Don’t rush to write. Sit with the memory for a moment. Let the feelings rise up again.
Now, begin to unpack it by focusing on the five senses:
Sight: What did you notice around you? Was the light dim or bright? Were there colors that stood out or movements that caught your attention?
Sound: What could you hear? Was it quiet, or was there background noise - voices, music, or something in the distance?
Touch: What did you feel under your fingertips or against your skin? Was there something soft, rough, or cool that stood out?
Smell: Did a specific scent linger in the air? Was it sharp, faint, or overwhelming?
Taste: If you were eating or drinking, what was the flavor? If not, was there a taste left in your mouth - like dryness or something metallic?
Write one detail for each sense. Then, bring those details together, for example:
“The room was dim, the faint overhead light catching the smooth surface of the tiny casket. The low murmur of voices blended with the sharp scent of lilies in the air, heavy and inescapable. My hand rested on the cool edge of the wood, steadying me as my stomach clenched. My mouth was dry, but I could still taste the bitterness of the coffee I’d been drinking to keep myself up during the road trip.”
When you pull these sensory details into your story, your audience doesn’t just read it or hear it - they feel it.