Writing with the intention to influence and create narratives is the foundation of persuasive writing. As easy as it seems, writing one from scratch can be pretty difficult, considering the level of experience you, as a student, will have. Aside from the regular form of writing that just displays information, a lot of thought and planning go into doing this one. Therefore, if you want to drive narratives and persuade an audience, then some Persuasive Writing Techniques will be discussed in detail here.
The A, B, C’s of Persuasive Writing
The essence of persuasive writing is a writing style that is meant to convince the reader to take on a particular viewpoint, agree with a particular point of view, or take action. It is used in everything from everyday communication, like:
- Trying to convince a friend to watch a movie
- Political Speeches
- Advertisements
- Product descriptions
- Social Media Campaigns
- Legal Arguments, and many more.
However, the best way is to persuade an audience without even letting them know they are persuaded. Having this level of mastery requires time and constant practice.
Why Persuasive Writing Holds So Much Weight?
In any opinionated society, persuading through writing is not just a handy method; it is a basic life skill. Whether you are writing an email, creating a blog post, or running a marketing campaign, persuasive writing allows you to sway opinion, motivate decisions, and ignite action.
Shaping Opinions & Beliefs
You are exposed to thousands of messages and emails every day, many of which seek to persuade you. In the field of writing, persuasive writing can be recognised by its presentation of compelling rationale that either questions assumptions, satisfies assumptions, or persuades to assume another option.
Driving Sales & Marketing Success
In the business world, persuasive writing is at the core of sales. Writers, marketers, advertisers, and copywriters utilise persuasive techniques in writing to:
- Sell products and services.
- Attract customers.
- Build trust in a brand.
- Differentiate themselves from competitors.
Improving Academic & Critical Thinking
In education, students often create persuasive essays. This serves a purpose beyond just writing. It is to teach:
- Research a topic in depth.
- Analyse and support sources.
- Craft a reasoned argument.
- Defend the argument with logic.
- Anticipate counterarguments and respond to them.
Mistakes To Avoid In Persuasive Writing
It is quite common for beginners or just people in general to commit mistakes while doing persuasive writing. These can have a substantial impact on your ability to gain maximum grades or just influence an audience. Hence, you must avoid them at all costs:
Unsupported Arguments
A strong, persuasive argument is backed by solid evidence. This is an essential factor, and if not applied by using facts, statistics, or anything else, then you will lose credibility. However, to persuade an audience to take action or join in on your viewpoints, you need to frame an argument that has relative value.
Overgeneralisation
Using vague statements like “everyone knows this” can undermine your position as a writer. Making such statements will only result in an argument with no focus or lazy reasoning. You will definitely lose grades. Thus, you must use specificity to strive for better work.
Ignoring Counter Arguments
If you do not recognise opposing perspectives, your work might be considered biased. A quality and persuasive writer understands that there are many points of view on any issue. Failing to consider counterpoints will weaken your view and potentially lead to average-quality work.
Lack of A Clear Thesis Statement
Persuasive writing also has certain guidelines that need to be followed in order to get accepted. One of the basics is answering the thesis statement. However, not integrating a strong thesis statement will only confuse the reader. Hence, a general thesis statement will weaken your entire argument.
Ignoring The Audience
An important error is not taking into consideration the audience’s values, beliefs, and biases. If you don’t know your audience, your argument may be completely against what they believe. The goal of persuasion is to adapt the message to the audience’s frame of reference.
Lack of Structure
If your persuasive writing is not organised, it may get confusing and hard to read. If your argument is structured, it is easier for your audience to follow your thought process. Each paragraph should lead into the next one logically, which will help your overall writing to make sense.
Elements of Persuasive Writing You Must Know About
Different persuasive writing techniques depend on a lot of factors or elements that must be kept in check. Each of these elements is critical and must be applied to get a completely quality persuasive writing work.
Clear Position
To do this type of writing, it is essential to have a firm position on the topic of your choice. If you don't take a clear position, your argument will lack direction, and your reader may not be clear on what you are trying to persuade them of. Thus, taking a position on the matter is always crucial.
Proof & Support
If you don’t have the support and substance that will make your work authoritative and persuasive, then your work is of no value. Whatever claims you make have to be backed by substantial proof to strengthen them. So, whatever work you do or claims you make have to be backed by certain evidence, facts, or statistics.
Emotionally Appealing
Humans take actions based on the emotions they feel (generally). Therefore, appealing to the emotions of people is one of the best tried and tested writing methods. By tapping into the emotions of your audience, you can develop anger, fear, hope, empathy, or anything else, all of which are powerful motivators of decision-making.
Audience Awareness
Audience awareness means shaping your argument to match the needs, values, and tastes of your audience. When you understand who your audience is (i.e., whether they are sceptical, neutral, or in agreement with your argument), you will be able to craft a message that can speak to them.
Logical Structure
Only a well-organised piece of work is followed and understood by the reader. Otherwise, a scattered once, offers no value and often wastes time. A logical structure here will be end-to-end, meaning each paragraph will be connected. This helps in maintaining the logical flow of the work with 100% understanding.
Writing Techniques For Persuasive Writing That Our Experts Follow
Persuading people is kind of an art that requires the culmination of skill and will. Will is something each one of you might have. However, the skill part is what experts know how to use and when to use. Hence, some of the techniques are as follows:
Use of Rhetorical Question
Rhetorical questions are simply questions that are asked to judge the impact and not to get a response. In persuasive writing, rhetorical questions are a technique to get readers to think, contemplate, or relate to the topic with emotional engagement. To do this, the application of persuasive language techniques is used to answer the obvious rhetorical question.
For example, do you really want to leave behind a planet in crisis for our children?
Appeal To Credibility (Ethos)
How you represent yourself is the main point of contention here. People will only listen to or read what you have to say if you have credibility, trustworthiness, and authority on the domain. When the readers believe that you have substantial weight on the subject matter, they will absorb each word you write; otherwise, they will ignore it.
Appeal To Emotion (Pathos)
Pathos straightforwardly means the appeal to emotion. As much as you would like to think you make decisions logically, almost every one of them is driven by emotion. So, a good influential writing is something that engages and compels the emotional side of humans and sometimes forces them to make decisions and reach conclusions. This can be driven by social elements, personal experience, or anything else.
For example, imagine the heartbreak a child must go through who will never see their home again because of the rising sea levels. Are we going to leave our children with this legacy?
Appeal To Logic & Reasoning (Logos)
It captures the reader's attention by providing supporting evidence and reasoning in an organised manner. This strategy is especially important for the reader who is sceptical about accepting claims without a rational basis for believing them. Using statistics, research and studies, data gathered from practical experiences, and logical comparisons will help strengthen the basis of your argument.
Rule of Three
Our brains are wired to recognise patterns, which is why presenting your work in groups of three is the best way to proceed. This will make your work more effective, satisfying, and memorable. Therefore, whenever you work on your persuasive material, use three points of either benefits, examples or features.
Repetition
Repetition is the construction of key words repeated throughout your writing to reinforce a message or theme. When done strategically, it provides strength to your argument by making it more memorable and emphasising its importance. Repetition is especially useful when trying to build momentum due to perfect Persuasive Writing Techniques.
Call To Action
A call to action is a request for the reader to engage in an identified action, like signing a petition, purchasing a product, joining a movement, or simply considering a new perspective. Every persuasive piece ending with a CTA is a powerful moment in which we use the reader’s emotions and agreement to compel them into action.
Conclusion
Doing persuasive writing and using the necessary techniques can be a challenging step for most. Although the task may seem simple, writing a real persuasive piece using Persuasive Writing Techniques can be challenging. To do this, it involves some thought, an understanding of your audience, and effectively employing tested methods. Rhetorical devices like ethos, pathos, and logos are used in addition to avoiding poor organisation, unsupported claims, and faults. And if you need any assistance in creating one of your own, then connect with the Assignment Writers.
