EFFECTIVE PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATION
The ability to persuade is crucial in the business world. On a day-to-day basis, you need it to convince
employees to work toward company goals or to persuade colleagues or clients to consider your ideas
and suggestions. If you can master the art of persuasive communication, you can win the support of
others, unify your team and encourage them to work together.
Know Your Audience
How you craft your message will depend on whether you're sending a memo to your staff or
giving a presentation to the entire company. Effective persuasive communication addresses the
audience's needs, values and desires. Audiences respond better to persuasive communication
when they feel the person speaking is similar to them in some way, whether it's in age,
occupation or socio-economic status. If you address what's important to your audience, they'll
see you as someone who is similar to them. Therefore, they should be more receptive to your
message, too.
Get the Audience's Attention
Before you can persuade an audience, you must first grab their attention and demonstrate why
it's worth their time to listen to your idea or suggestion. Start with an anecdote that illustrates
the point you're trying to make or with a surprising fact that tells them why what you have to
say is important. For example, if you're trying to persuade company management to adopt a
no-smoking policy, begin with a statistic regarding how many sick days smokers take
compared to non-smokers.
Establish Credibility
To persuade an audience, you must demonstrate your credibility and authority. People are
more receptive to someone they view as an authority figure, whether that person has direct
authority over them, such as a boss, or if the person is an authority in his industry or
profession. You should attempt to persuade others of something you can prove or have first-
hand knowledge of or experience in. Back up your claims with statistics or examples.
Tailor the Message to the Medium
What persuades in writing doesn't necessarily persuade when delivered verbally. For example,
you can include numbers and statistics in a written document because readers can take their
time interpreting the data. But if you bombard listeners with these same figures during a
speech, you may confuse them and lose their attention. Face-to-face interaction often is more
effective at persuading others because you can create a personal connection with your audience
and use eye contact, gestures and other nonverbal signals to maintain their attention.
Convey Benefits
It's easier to persuade an audience when you can show them how your proposal benefits them.
If you're asking your staff to work overtime during a busy season, describe how the extra
money generated will fund additional employee perks or physical improvements to the
workplace. If you're trying to convince your supervisor to let you work from home part time,
mention studies illustrating that employees are more productive when allowed to telecommute.
If you're pitching an idea to a client, explain how using your idea will improve the company's
image and attract more customers.
Use Body Language
With verbal communication, your demeanor influences your ability to persuade as much as
your words. If you cross your arms, your audience may perceive you as hostile or angry. If you
fidget, they may see you as weak or uncertain. If you rarely make eye contact, they may think
you're hiding something. To sell your message to your audience, connect with them by
maintaining eye contact and project authority and confidence by standing up straight.
Demonstrate your sincerity and openness by relaxing your arms and keeping them at your sides
– unless you're using them to gesture – instead of crossing them behind or in front of you.
Types of Persuasive Communication
Persuasive communication is one of the most widely practiced types of communication, but you
may not even know you’re doing it. You use persuasion every day, even when you’re trying to
convince yourself to go to the gym. But how to define persuasion in psychology depends entirely
on the size of the message’s audience.
Intrapersonal Persuasive Communication
Intrapersonal communication involves reflective thinking or internal vocalization. Persuasive
intrapersonal communication happens when you try to convince yourself to do something. If
you’ve ever been on the edge of a diving board and tried to persuade yourself to jump, you were
practicing persuasive intrapersonal communication. Another time you may have used persuasive
intrapersonal communication is if you were dealing with a stressful situation and used self-talk to
calm yourself down.
Interpersonal Persuasive Communication
Interpersonal communication is communication between two people who already possess a close
bond. Persuasive interpersonal communication involves the use of persuasive techniques
between these people. Have you ever begged your mother to let you stay out late? Guess what.
You were practicing persuasive interpersonal communication.
Since persuasive interpersonal communication occurs between two people, it can use more
elements of composition than intrapersonal communication. Persuasive interpersonal
communication can include persuasive reading and visuals as well as conversational speech.
Group Persuasive Communication
Group communication occurs between individuals who may not have a close, established bond.
This type of communication also happens in a larger setting where more than two people are
present. Persuasive group communication most often involves one or more people trying to
convince a group of something. You may have experienced persuasive group communication
while working on a group project in class or trying to decide what to do with friends on a Friday
night.
The main difference between persuasive interpersonal communication and persuasive group
communication is the number of people involved. Like persuasive interpersonal communication,
persuasive group communication makes use of many combinations of audio, visual and verbal
techniques to convince its audience. Persuasive group communication can include persuasive
reading and limited presentation techniques as well as conversational speech.
Persuasive Public and Mass Communication
Public communication focuses on the person delivering the message. The messenger may be
performing, possibly giving a speech in front of a live audience. For example, a lawyer giving
her closing argument would be practicing persuasive public communication.
Mass communication is public communication that is transmitted through media to a larger
audience. Wide distribution of persuasive reading materials, advertisements, newscasts and radio
programs all fall into the category of persuasive mass communication.
4 modes of persuasion
Understanding the primary modes of persuasion, according to Aristotle, can help you determine
which mode works best in each specific situation you may encounter:
1. Ethos
Ethos relies on credibility as the method for convincing others. You can establish credibility in a
range of ways, such as experience or education. If an established and trained psychologist wrote
a paper on the psychology that impacts anxiety and depression, the credibility comes from that
individual's experience and knowledge in the field. However, if that same psychologist wrote an
article about cooking, they wouldn't have the same assumed credibility in that particular field.
For some, credibility is assumed based on their qualifications. People can establish their own
ethos by emphasizing what makes them an expert in a particular field. Individuals may also build
their ethos by referencing and citing credible sources in their arguments or appealing to the logic
of the audience.
2. Pathos
Pathos is a mode of persuasion that appeals to the human emotions. Human beings feel complex
emotions, and feelings can often trump common sense and logic in behaviors and actions. Due to
the complexity of feelings, pathos is a powerful mode of persuasion that allows people to
connect with one another and experience emotions. The feelings a person experiences can also
motivate them to act differently or believe something to be true, making pathos very effective for
persuasion.
Of the key modes of persuasion, pathos is often the least respected due to its inability to remain
objective. People feel different emotions based on their experiences in life, so appealing to those
emotions may not always be the best course of action for a wide and varied audience.
3. Logos
Logos appeals to the logical side of the audience members, and using logos can help establish the
ethos in writing. Performing research is a good starting point when relying on logos as your
dominant mode of persuasion. As you research a topic, you can glean information that will help
you present it more logically to your audience.
4. Kairos
Aristotle also mentioned a fourth mode of persuasion, although he didn't group it with the other
three in his teachings. This mode is known as kairos, which translates from Greek to opportune
or right moment. When applying the mode of persuasion known as kairos, the speaker or writer
must take advantage of or create the ideal moment to deliver a message.
For example, a government representative trying to convince their constituents to take action
around gun laws might reach out to them after a local shooting incident. This example
incorporates both kairos, or taking advantage of the right moment, and pathos, or appealing to
emotions.
Language and persuasion
It’s very important to use language that fits the audience and the purpose you want to achieve.
Inappropriate language uses can damage your credibility, undermine your argument, or alienate your
audience. The following sums up the aspects of language:
1. Levels of formality: The level of formality should be determined by the expectations of your
audience and your purpose. Use formal language for unknown audience and semi-formal for
well-known audience. Use of informal language is incorrect in persuasion.
2. In-group jargon: Use group specific jargon, if you want to address in-group audience. This
signals that you are a member of the group and have mastered the group’s terminology. This can
increase your credibility. Avoid using jargons in general audience, however.
3. Slang and idiomatic expressions: Avoid these as these may make you sound informal and hence
less credible.
4. Deceitful language and euphemisms: Avoid both as they seem to mislead or cheat. These can
arise when language is overly complex or confusing.
5. Biased language: Avoid them as they lead to stereotypes and gender or group (sexual orientation,
ethnicity, interest, race) bias. Such a language is unethical and ineffective. Use humankind
instead of mankind; firefighter instead of fireman; ancestor instead of forefather; a person with
AIDS instead of an AIDS victim, etc.
Persuasion Strategies
1. Implicit and explicit conclusions: Conclusions are implicit; audience allowed to draw
its own conclusions. Aka ‘soft-sell’ strategy. Implicit conclusions are effective when
audience involvement is high, audience is knowledgeable. Explicit is when claims are
stated by the source. Aka ‘hard-sell’ strategy. This works when audience has low
involvement, is less knowledgeable and message is complex or difficult.
2. Gain-framed vs. Loss-framed messages: Gain-framed emphasizes the positive. E.g. you
will live longer if you quit smoking; loss-framed emphasizes the negative. E.g. you will
die sooner if you do not quit smoking. People are generally loss averse; we fear losing
much more than we are attracted to gain.
3. Quantity vs. quality of argument: For receivers with low involvement, it is the
quantity of argument that counts. For receivers with high involvement, it is the quality
of the argument that counts.
4. Use of evidence: Best way to use evidence is by identifying relevance; combining
different forms; starting with stories and following with statistics.
