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How To Be Effective In Your Persuasive Writing

The goal of persuasive writing is to have the ability to influence or change a person's mind with your words. You encounter this in your normal everyday life. Whether it is a politician trying to convince you to vote for them, a commercial for a company that wants you to buy their product, or from your children trying to explain the reason why they should be allowed to go to that concert, persuasion is all around you. You may even use the power of persuasion on yourself, like deciding whether or not you should eat that last piece of pizza, or if you really need to buy another white shirt even though it is a really good deal. Everyday you have to decide on whether one choice is better than another and why.

To succeed in your persuasive writing venture you need to follow a few simple rules. You must have focus. Decide what position you are trying to persuade. Are you for or against the topic you are writing about? Choose a side and stick with it. Arguing both sides of the fence will be detrimental to your persuasion.

There are three techniques that you will need to use to be convincing at persuasive writing.

You need to provide facts and evidence to support your writing. Statistics and examples are used to provide the reason people should choose your position and believe your writings. You can also include facts and evidence that demonstrates why the opposition is wrong. This should be eased into. Remember you are trying to persuade and convince them as to why your position is better; not offend or alienate them. This is called the logos technique of persuasion writing.

Another persuasive writing technique is called ethos. This is where you have to prove yourself to be a credible person. To be able to make your readers believe that they should have confidence in what you are telling them. The best way to prove your credibility is to provide true and undisputable facts, be articulate, and explain why you are capable of proving this information to them.

Pathos is the third technique you will use in your writing. This will appeal to the emotions of your readers. This can be the most important technique but also the most critical. It must be used with caution or you can just as easily turn your readers against you as you could convince them to believe you. Appealing to your readers emotions can be tricky. This must be done subtly. To work this effectively, you must have the ability to make the reader feel your emotions, the joy, the pain, or the hurt - whatever the case may be.

You need to pinpoint your target audience and write to appeal to them. What sounds interesting and persuasive to a teenager most likely will not work with a middle aged woman. Whether you are targeting men or women will make a difference in your writings. Identify with your target audience. An example of this would be “only the cool kids will be wearing product XYZ” or “we know as a respectable home owner you will want to…..” By identifying with the intended audience it pulls them into what you are writing and how or why it pertains to them.

Persuasive writings can be a challenge. You have to objective and open minded to other positions of the topic at hand even though sometimes you don’t want to. Remember, your goal is just to persuade them why your position is better. This does not necessarily mean that the opposition is bad or wrong, just that yours is a superior choice.

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SolveYourProblem.com : 2008

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