Tips for Writing Persuasively

Gonzo

Dollar Dollar Bills Y'all
Jun 25, 2010
317
5
0
I took a business class last semester where I had to write a bunch of speeches. One of those speeches was persuasive.

As I was writing content for my affiliate sites, I found that a lot of what I learned in that class could be effectively used to persuade readers to buy a particular product/service I was selling/marketing, so I started employing a variety of techniques in my writing.

I looked through my notes from the semester, and took out some key points that I thought could be useful to those of you attempting to do the same with your sites.

I know the book was a lot more thorough than my notes, but I can't find it anywhere. It's likely I sold it one day when I was broke so I could go to the bar, haha. Oh well.

Here is what I did find:


Persuasion is the process of influence.


  • Changing existing beliefs/attitudes/values
  • Reinforcing existing beliefs/attitudes/values
  • Influencing the actions of others

Three types of persuasive appeals


  • Ethos – appeal based on a speaker’s personal character
  • Pathos – appeal based on emotional impact
  • Logos –appeal based on logic or rationality

Persuasion and Dissonance

  • The act of persuasion involves the creation and resolution of dissonance in the minds of audiences.
  • Cognitive dissonance is inconsistency or conflict between one’s beliefs, values, attitudes, or actions which produce a state of psychological tension.


Five responses to dissonance by the reader/listener


  • Discredit the source
  • Reject or deny the new action that caused the inconsistency/reinterpret message
  • Stop listening
  • Seek new information about the source of message
  • Alter values, beliefs, attitudes, or actions


Persuasive Organizational Sequences/Tips:


Monroe’s Motivated Sequence - an organizational strategy for persuasive speaking based on the creation of cognitive dissonance. This may be the most powerful persuasive method of all. Think Martin Luther King Jr. here.

  • Attention – Grab audience attention, create interest
  • Need – Introduce information/arguments that create dissonance (i.e., you are creating the “need” for resolution of dissonance)
  • Satisfaction – Provide a “way out” of dissonance for the audience; tell them how to resolve the tension they feel.
  • Visualization – Get your audience to visualize two scenarios
  • (1) What the world looks like if they accept what you propose in the Satisfaction stage
  • (2) What the world looks like if they fail to adopt your solution.
  • Action – Tell the audience what they can personally do with respect to your proposal/argument/solution.


More organizational tips:



  • Items of logical proof: Put your least controversial point first. Ease your audience into the controversy.

  • Familiarity: Establish value criteria that are familiar to the audience, then demonstrate how your argument fulfills those values.

  • Justification: If you can demonstrate that a policy (for example) violates a variety of standards or values that the audience holds, then make each main point demonstrate your argument using a different value.

That's all I have for now. I'm going to look through and see if I can find anything else useful. If I find my book I'll edit the post and throw in some more details and examples.

I hope someone finds this of use. Good luck.
 


Mayneee, what is dissonance...........on another note caldini' s book was fucking brilliant
 
  • Cognitive dissonance is inconsistency or conflict between one’s beliefs, values, attitudes, or actions which produce a state of psychological tension.

Dissonance is creating inconsistency in the mind of the viewer. Everyone has beliefs and values — and your ability to compromise/change those values and beliefs is key if you wish to persuade them to take any type of action (make them buy something!).

I hope that helps ;)
 
Just as well that you lost that book it sounds like it was full of shit anyway.
The cost involved to change a person's mind is sooo high -- it is not worth even trying.
Example: I'm fat and hate to work out. You have an exercise device to sell. Where are you gonna bank? On people that hate to work out? Not in this lifetime. Your target market are people that already believe in the benefits of exercise. You will be able to convince a profitable percentage of these folks to buy your device.
Read Al Ries and Jack Trout "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing"
 
Hmm. Maybe my audience would be fat people.... or just people who are out of shape.

Then convince them the benefits of being in shape and make them make an emotional decision based on that.

You're right, there are likely better books out there. I'll look into the book you recommended.

Monroe's motivated sequence is probably the most powerful motivational tool in history though, I doubt that's going to change depending on the quality of the book.
 
Hmm. Maybe my audience would be fat people.... or just people who are out of shape.

Then convince them the benefits of being in shape and make them make an emotional decision based on that.

You're right, there are likely better books out there. I'll look into the book you recommended.

Monroe's motivated sequence is probably the most powerful motivational tool in history though, I doubt that's going to change depending on the quality of the book.

Ok so you want the tough challenge -- that's cool, your young. Shit I did a similar thing when I was your age.
So read "Positioning: The battle for your Mind" also by Ries and Trout. It gives an effective blueprint for changing a person's mind by using what's already in there. This does work -- I used this tactic effectively when I sold cars. (effectively being a relative term -- I mean a few times, out of thousands of sales presentations I gave or was involved with as a sometimes closer for other salespeople).
However I really can't overstate how much easier it is to sell to people who already own and enjoy a like product. Two people pull into the honda store -- one is driving an Accord the other is driving a Sedan Deville -- I'll take the Accord driver every time.
 
Just as well that you lost that book it sounds like it was full of shit anyway.
The cost involved to change a person's mind is sooo high -- it is not worth even trying.
Example: I'm fat and hate to work out. You have an exercise device to sell. Where are you gonna bank? On people that hate to work out? Not in this lifetime. Your target market are people that already believe in the benefits of exercise. You will be able to convince a profitable percentage of these folks to buy your device.
Read Al Ries and Jack Trout "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing"
I disagree to an extent. While it's extremely difficult to change someone's mind permanently, you don't need to do that - only long enough to get them to hit the buy button. Same reason people have piles of shit in their garage/attic that they used for a week, then stopped. If you can convince them it's easy, worth it, and that they can stick to it, then they'll buy it.

They won't stick to it, same reason they're fat, but they'll think they will, and that's what matters. They'll probably use it for a week, make an excuse why they can't use it for the week after that (holiday, work, whatever) and then reassure themselves for a few weeks that they'll get back to it, before forgetting about it altogether. Warranty expired, cash in your pocket.
 
I agree. Buying on impulse is huge in internet marketing. A skilled marketer can trigger these emotions and create this impulse, which is great when all it takes is a few clicks on their part and you've sold them a product.
 
  • Cognitive dissonance is inconsistency or conflict between one’s beliefs, values, attitudes, or actions which produce a state of psychological tension.

Dissonance is creating inconsistency in the mind of the viewer. Everyone has beliefs and values — and your ability to compromise/change those values and beliefs is key if you wish to persuade them to take any type of action (make them buy something!).

I hope that helps ;)


Not really. Cognitive Dissonance is one of those things that people never quite fucking grasp. Like using the phrase "begging the question" incorrectly. :angryfire:

I studied psychology for 2 years, BTW.

Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance is the feeling of "uneasiness" created when a person holds conflicting points of view, or their actions and thoughts are contradicting each other. People don't like this "uneasiness" so they will naturally change either their behavior or their thoughts to get rid of the dissonance.

An example of this would be when a 16-year-old male, who grew up in a hardcore Christian household and was taught that sex was very bad, has sex for the first time with a girl, his mind is saying "this is bad" but his body is saying "this is fucking awesome!" Guess what he will wake up thinking? "Sex is awesome!"

Another better, tried-and-true example of this phenomenon is the ability to alter a person's political views. Let's say John is staunchly opposed to communism. If you give him a 3-page speech to read aloud to a group of people which speaks of communism in a positive light, extolling the virtues of communism, guess what? After he gives the speech, he will give a much more favorable light to communism. This is because his body is putting him through the motions of being in favor of communism. His actions are saying one thing, and his thoughts are saying something completely different. This creates the "uneasiness" that is cognitive dissonance, and because of this, he will change his views, or go through one of the actions explained by the OP.

SO, how do we use cognitive dissonance to convince people to buy our products? Link the purchasing of your product to an idea they hold very true to themselves. Get those environmental hippies to believe that everyone who cares for the environment will buy your product. In fact, everyone who doesn't buy your product hates the environment!

Even more blatantly, tell your customer to say out loud "I want to buy those shoes" 10 times. Just the act of saying it out loud will change any contradicting thoughts because the mind seeks congruence. The mind always seeks congruence.

I know these examples were pretty basic, but cognitive dissonance is a really powerful tool when used properly.