Identifying Persuasive Language

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Identifying Persuasive Language
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills
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Definition

• Persuasive having the power to influence others
  into believing or doing what one wishes
• Persuade to cause to do something by reasoning,
  arguing, begging etc
• Language the system of human expression by
  means of words

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Related terms

• Influence
• Induce
• Convince

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Why?

• We want to win the arguments
• We want people to believe us
• We want to prove that we are right
• We want to influence other people to accept our
  opinion

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Propaganda techniques

• Vagueness
• Ambiguity
• Emotive language
• Euphemism
• Language of advertising

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1. Vagueness

• Words that lack a clear and distinct meaning
• A matter of degree a scale between extreme
  generality and extreme specificity
• "She is really smart" - General     
• "She got an A in physics" - Specific          
• One strategy for clarifying vague language is to
  ask and try answer the following questions Who?
  What? Why? Where? How?

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2. Ambiguity

• A word with more than one meaning that is open to
  different interpretations used to represent
  various areas of experiences
• We make the mistake of thinking that each word
  stands for one distinct area of experience - an
  object, thought or feeling.
• "I hope you get what you deserve".
• We may or may not be sure if the speaker is
  wishing us well or ill unless the context of the
  remark make clear his or her intention.

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3. Emotion language

• Words that is probably stimulate certain feelings
  in you
• "The pen is mightier than the sword!".
• Kuala Lumpur is so polluted and filthy. Only
  idiots would want to live there.    
• She's the most generous, wise, honest and warm
  friend that a person could have.

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4. Euphemism

• The term comes from the Greek word meaning "to
  speak with good words" and involves substituting
  a more pleasant, less objectionable way of saying
  something for a blunt or more direct way.
• He died              
• We say He departed his life
• Garbage collector    
• We say Sanitation engineer

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5. Language of advertising

• Advertisers to influence people's perceptions,
  beliefs and actions
• One basic strategy is to associate positive or
  negative thoughts and emotions with the product
  or service being sold        
• Many people buy products not because they are
  better quality than another, but because of
  associations that have absolutely nothing to do
  with the products
• NOKIA Connecting people"

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Other techniques

• Stereotyping
• Euphemisms
• Dysphemisms

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1. Stereotyping

• Convince people that someone has a particular
  characteristics because he/she belongs to a group
  that has this characteristic
• Makes hasty generalizations
• Eg Shes probably a dumb blonde.

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2. Euphemisms

• Substitution of a negative word with another word
  with positive connotation
• Used in political and social issues to be
  politically correct
• Eg instead of anti-abortion,
• use pro-life

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3. Dysphemisms

• Substitution of a neutral/positive word with
  another word with negative connotation
• Used to persuade people to think negatively about
  a person, situation or event
• Eg instead of problem or challenge,
• use mess

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Examples
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Most persuasive words used in advertising

• Suddenly miracle
• Now magic
• Announcing offer
• Introducing quick
• Improvement easy
• Amazing wanted
• Sensational bargain
• Remarkable hurry

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10 minutes task

• You are selling your house or flat
• Create an illustrated advert (persuasive
  description) that you could put in the newspaper
  or estate agents window or web page.