Notes on Persuasive Writing

In scientific writing, the facts are emphasized. In literary writing, the text is the focus of attention. In personal writing-such as a journal or diary-the focus is on the writer. In persuasive writing, the focus is on the reader. Your primary goal is to convince the reader to a certain point-of-view, or to take some specific action, so the persuasive material is carefully selected and shaped to make an affective impression on the reader or audience. Persuasive writing moves your audience.

Persuasive writing is you-directed. It shows a benefit.

Persuasion uses language with impact: it is graphic and seeks to create an emotional charge. Barriers to feeling include:

• distance (make the issues exist in the here-and-now);
• time (create the illusion of immediate presence);
• apathy (stimulate your jaded audience with new insights or humour or graphic detail).

Malcolm X: "There he is, standing up in front of other people, Uncle Sam, with the blood of your and my mothers and fathers on his hands, with the blood dripping down his jaws like a bloody-jawed wolf, and still got the nerve to point his finger at other countries."

Persuasion uses language which motivates: Maslow's hierarchies, psychographics, culturetypes (words peculiar to time and culture with a strong emotional appeal), archetypes (natural elements, light and dark, human disease, war, animals, the family, sexuality, rape, abuse).

Persuasive language is immediate, not remote or abstract. It speaks in the here and now. "Just Do It!"

Persuasive writing considers the connotations--the emotional content--of words, not just their denotation or dictionary definitions.

Consider the effects of selection and slanting.

Avoid logical fallacies (unless your audience is likely to share your view).

Consider the question of persuasive ethics. Remember that persuasion is not primarily concerned with truth but with motivation.

The history of rhetoric, from classical Greece to the present time, illustrates an on-going exploration of persuasive devices, figurative language, and tropes: alliteration ("nattering nabobs of negativism"); anaphora (repetition of an initial word); rhythm; parallel structure (Of the people, by the people, for the people…"); inversion ("Ask not what your country can do…"); hyperbole; analogy; personification; synecdoche (a part representing the whole); metonymy (represents a subject by directing attention to something else associated with it)…. etc.

"People resist change-even change in point-of-view-when they feel threatened." (Carl Rogers) A Rogerian argument is not concern with winning, but with gaining support. Try to avoid making your audience defensive by reframing threats to become opportunities for change.

In any communication, readers need: (1) an overview; (2) a method of organization; (3) specific details; and (4) a respectful, patient tone.

Consider the different effects in moving from the concrete to the abstract, or from the abstract to the concrete.

Consider the relative merits of the direct or indirect approaches when communicating "bad" news or making requests.

The typical sales letter relies on the formula A-I-D-A:

• Get the Attention of the reader
• Maintain Interest by showing a benefit
• Stimulate Desire for the product
• Promote Action

When making arguments:

• Address the counter-arguments at the appropriate point. If you feel your audience is generally receptive to your argument, introduce counter-arguments towards the end. If you feel your audience is hostile to your argument, address counter-arguments near the beginning.
• Provide evidence. Consider the power of statistics, topical analogies and illustrations, or compelling comparisons for persuasive purposes
• Establish credibility. Your enthusiasm for your subject must be balanced by expertise, experience, or credible reasoning. The persuader's image includes: expertness, trustworthiness, charisma, dynamism, sociability, collaborative.
• Refer to authority if necessary. Pick your experts with care; they too must be credible to your audience.

Links

Stephen's Index of Logical Fallacies
Logical Fallacies in Scientific Writingby A. Stephen Richardson
The Atheism Web with a section on logical fallacies.
Handbook of Rhetoriacal Devices by Robert Harris