3.4 Writing To Persuade
Sometimes, you may want to persuade your reader to take a particular action or position on an issue. Persuasion involves putting forth a compelling argument to reinforce or otherwise influence behaviour, action, and motivation. When persuading, you are drawing on a number of factors: ethics, emotion, facts, and timeliness. Each of these contributes to creating an argument that will move people to align with your goal. To be effective, you should consider how to make effective use of these elements of persuasion, often referred to as rhetorical appeals. The ancient Greek words are ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos (see Figure 3.4.1).
Let’s explore the rhetorical appeals further, along with how to avoid ad speak and ensure that you communications are ethical.
(Three Persuasive Appeals, 2017)
The Persuasive Toolkit
Ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos are key elements in the creation of effective persuasive messages. These used all together or singly function in specific ways to support and enhance your arguments.
- Ethos – Appeal to Credibility/Authority: This element of persuasion involves establishing your credibility, expertise, or authority for making the argument. What experience or expertise do you have? What knowledge or skills do you possess? What’s your role within the organization and/or in relation to the reader? Why should the reader trust you as a reliable, knowledgeable, authoritative, and ethical source of information? For example, when writing a proposal, establishing your credibility will help to inspire confidence in your abilities to do what you are offering to do.
- Pathos – Appeal to Emotion/Interest/Values: This element involves appealing to the emotions, values, and/or interests of the reader. How does your proposal benefit them? Why should they care about it? How does it relate to the goals of the organization? How can you build “common ground” with your reader? What will make your reader feel “good” about your project? How can you evoke emotions such as pride or outrage? Emotional appeal alone is used sparingly in business communication unless it is for marketing purposes.
- Logos – Appeal to Reason/Logic: This element involves grounding your argument in logic, reason, and evidence. What evidence supports your claims? On what facts and data is your reasoning based? Arguments grounded in reason and evidence are often considered the strongest. Government organizations and companies alike generally like to make “evidence-based decisions.” In a proposal, for example, providing evidence on the soundness of your proposed action would help to convince the reader that you have done your research and that your methods are grounded in facts.
- Kairos – Appeal to Timeliness/Appropriateness: Using this appeal means being aware of what is appropriate and timely in a given rhetorical situation. Sometimes, a well-crafted argument can fail because it comes at the wrong time. Kairos involves knowing what is “in” or “hot”