Persuasive Messages

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Persuasive Messages
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Kenneth Burke, A Rhetoric of Motives (1950)

• You persuade a man or woman only insofar as
  you can talk his language by speech, gesture,
  tonality, order, image, attitude, idea,
  identifying your ways with his or hers.

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What is Persuasion?

• An attempt to change your readers attitudes,
  beliefs or actions.
• Requires an understanding of what is important
  to and motivates your reader.

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Is Persuasion a Good Thing?

• Persuasion is ethical when you are
• Influencing your reader by providing information
  and aiding understanding and trusting your
  reader to choose.
• Being truthful and non-deceptive.
• Backing your claims with evidence.

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Feasibility

• Whoever writes to a Stranger should observe 3
  Points
• 1. That what he proposes be practicable.
• 2. His Propositions should be made in explicit
  Terms so as to be easily understood.
• 3. What he desires should be in itself
  reasonable.
• Hereby he will give a favourable Impression of
  his Understanding, and create a Desire of further
  Acquaintance.
• -Benjamin Franklin 1777
•  

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Feasibility Issues Which Ones Apply to Your
Proposal?

• Cost/Benefits
• Time
• Safety
• Efficiency
• Motivation
• "Master-Plan
• Human Inertia
• History
•  

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Frame Your Argument

• Direct or Indirect?
• Use AIDA (works with either!)
• A Use an attention-getting device.
• I Build interest by expanding on and supporting
  the promises in your attention-getting opening.
• D Add details and benefits to increase desire
  to act.
• A Make it easy for readers to take the
  preferred action.

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Balance Emotional and Logical Appeals

• Emotional appeals
• Logical appeals
• Avoid Fallacies!

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Faulty Logic and Manipulative Appeals

• Create impediments to constructive discourse.
• Errors in logic or manipulative appeals can shut
  down a discussion or exploration of ideas that
  needs to take place.

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Faulty Logic and Manipulative Appeals

• Break the trust (good faith) needed for
  legitimate argument.
• The connection needed between writer and receiver
  is broken if the writer resorts to manipulation
  and/or deception.

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Some Common Fallacies

• Hasty Generalization
• Circular Reasoning (Non-sequitur)
• Attacking an Opponent (Ad Hominem)
• Oversimplification (False Dilemma )
• Faulty Causality
• Faulty Analogy

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How Can We Avoid Faulty Logic and Manipulative
Appeals?

• Demonstrate that you have adequate information
  and sufficient evidence to back your points.
• Qualify, Qualify, Qualify! Use qualifying words
  such as some, a few of, many, most,
  occasionally, under certain circumstances,
  in my experience, etc. Qualifying words will
  help to narrow your focus and ensure accuracy.
  Avoid words like all, always, everybody,
  everyone, unless they are truly accurate.
• Stay focused on the subject at hand.
• Respect the intelligence of your readers.

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Reinforce Your Position

• Bolster your word choices.
• Use the most convincing evidence.
• Put yourself in your readers shoes.

• Graph Why You Should Continue to Date Me.

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Deal with Objections

• Anticipate! Address objections head on.
• Poke holes in your own arguments.
• Avoid an up-front hard sell.

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The Motivated Sequence