Some stimuli seize attention almost automatically. They don’t persuade by themselves; they open the gate.
Attractors are the cues that pull the mind toward a target: what relates to the self, what signals danger or opportunity, what is novel, vivid, or unfinished. They work because attention is a survival tool before it is a thinking tool.
If you can attach your message to an attractor, you don’t have to beg for focus. You borrow it. The audience leans in, not because they agree, but because the brain is wired to look.
The risk is obvious: attractors can hijack. Used well, they create a clean entry. Used crudely, they create suspicion. The best ones feel natural to the situation, not pasted on top of it, so curiosity stays open.