How do you write a persuasive message?

Persuasion is used to sell something, whether an idea, product, service, or request. So, a business professional’s persuasive writing skills are integral to the success of their marketing campaigns, proposals, emails, articles, newsletters, speeches, reports, blog posts, presentations, and more.

If you’d like to see how being a persuasive writer can benefit your career by improving your professionalism, confidence, credibility, and ability to command attention, check out our six persuasive writing tips and techniques:

1. Understand your audience so you can more effectively write to them.
2. Start with a hook to grab your reader’s attention.
3. Evoke an emotional connection to keep the reader engaged.
4. Keep your language simple and concise so your writing is accessible.
5. Use repetition to maximize your influence.
6. Proofread your writing to make sure it’s error-free.

Read on below to learn more.

1. Understand Your Audience

Take the time to analyze your intended audience. Consider things like their interests, level of understanding of the topic, and their attitudes and beliefs. When you understand who you’re talking to, you can be more persuasive by writing in a way that not only considers your audience’s wants and needs but also meets those needs. For example, if you’re putting together an advertising campaign for the general public, you probably want to avoid using an overly formal tone or technical terminology.

2. Start with a Hook

Even if you’re offering great content, without grabbing your reader’s attention from the start, they’re unlikely to want to continue listening. Start with a compelling hook, such as a question, quote, interesting fact, or story, to pull the reader in and get them interested in learning what else you have to say.

3. Evoke Emotion

Using emotive language and demonstrating empathy will resonate with your reader. If you can establish an emotional connection by relating to their experiences, they will likely feel understood and compelled to keep listening and entertaining your message. One way to evoke emotion is through storytelling. Include an anecdote to hold your reader’s attention and connect to them.

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4. Use Straightforward Language

Writing in concise sentences will keep your message accessible. When you focus on including only the most essential information and avoid overloading content, you reduce the mental energy required for the reader to digest the new information. Simple language can be more impactful and memorable, which, in turn, makes it more persuasive.

5. Repetition

Repetition of an idea leads to more familiarity, understanding, and acceptance. It’s been proven that we prefer what we’re familiar with, so once we’re accustomed to something, we’re more likely to understand and accept it.

Choose keywords or phrases that relate to your main message and strategically repeat them so the reader is consistently reminded of it. Repetition done incorrectly can alienate your reader, so find different ways (e.g., through stories, data, metaphors) to repeat your message without overdoing it.

6. Proofreading and Editing

Proofreading and editing your professional communications is crucial to maximizing their persuasiveness. If your writing contains grammar and punctuation errors, you could be dismissed as unprofessional, incompetent, and inattentive, which would hinder your ability to sell your product or idea.

At Proofed, we have professional editors available 24/7 to help with any of your professional communication needs. Try it for free by uploading a trial document today!

Wearing blue denim overalls and leather utility belt, a man stands in a subway car holding his toolbox. It’s morning, and he’s on his way to work. But this is no ordinary man.

It’s a giant bristling cactus dressed like a man.

Now before you freak, I should tell you we’re looking at an award-winning advertisement. The caption reads, “Leave your morning mood behind,” and we see the familiar McDonald’s logo along with an “easy morning” tagline.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/474707616948500897/

This ad uses of a classic form of persuasive argument. It starts by illustrating a problem (prickly morning mood) and follows with a solution (McDonald’s breakfast).

The problem-solution structuring of persuasive appeals is as old as Aristotle. Ancient rhetoricians knew that people will listen if you have information that can solve their problems. So they put the problem first. And when you look around, you see examples of problem-solution structure everywhere—in advertising, political speeches and Sunday-morning sermons.

Yet most of us don’t learn this type of persuasion in school.

We’re taught to start with a thesis, list some evidence, and tack on a conclusion. The downside is that we too often pose the solution before establishing the problem. We answer a question never asked. If the audience doesn’t immediately see how our information applies to their own lives, they have no reason to keep listening. That’s why illustrating a relevant problem upfront and alluding to a solution engages an audience.

How Problems Persuade

Problems make messages interesting and help focus attention.

As author Jonathan Gottschall observes in The Storytelling Animal, the human mind seems especially attuned to problems. We dream about problems, children’s play revolves around problems, and as adults we expect problems in the films, books and other narratives we encounter. Pedagogists going back to John Dewey have also noted the value of problem-posing in education.

Advertisers pose problems to teach us about the benefits of their products and services. Think of all those detergent ads that start with dirty laundry. Or the insurance ads beginning with “mayhem.” The audience must feel the need or fear before desiring the fix.

Problem-solution structure works on other levels as well. It helps establish trust. Mentioning listeners’ problems upfront lets them know we’ve taken the time to understand their needs. It instills confidence. If we grasp the problem, the audience will have more faith in our proposed solutions, because we seem to know what we’re talking about. And it dramatizes the need for action. Unless reminded of the problem, the audience may not be motivated to act.

In short, problem-solution structure is persuasive because it frames information in way the audience can hear. Skipping the problem reduces the power of an appeal.

Problematizing

Sometimes problems are easy to identify. For example, Alain works for an international staffing firm and wants people to use his new knowledge-sharing website, which aggregates data from partners across the globe. He plans to present the new system at a meeting in Berlin.

He could jump right in with the benefits of the new system. But the audience may think the current system is just fine. So to get their attention, Alain first points out the old system’s deficits, reminding them of how it made life difficult. The more vivid the failures, the better. “Who in this room has lost a placement because you couldn’t access a candidate file?”

Hooked.

But audience problems aren’t always obvious. Victoria owns an aquarium store and wants people to buy aquariums. On the surface, no one really needs an aquarium. So what’s the problem here?

In a case like this, we work backward from the solution asking, “What audience problem will my solution fix?” This reverse-thought process is called problematizing.

An aquarium solves a number of potential problems for listeners: the need to nurture, the need to relax, the need for a low-involvement pet for the kids. These problems become the starting point for an argument. Instead of “Who’s considered buying an aquarium?” we ask, “Who feels stressed out and needs a way to relax?” or “Who needs offline amusement for the kids?”

All of a sudden we’ve broadened the potential audience. Problematizing alerts audiences to solutions they didn’t know they needed. It connects novel solutions to preexisting problems.

When It’s Personal

Too often we’re tempted to gloss over problems, especially if we’ve contributed to their development. That new training plan I instituted? Don’t ask. Those third-quarter results I projected? Not important. That client satisfaction survey I deployed? Forget about it.

But audiences know when we’ve omitted negative information, often because our message sounds too good to be true or they’ve personally witnessed the problem. Omissions undermine trust. We do ourselves a favor by mentioning our mistakes. In the words of Jay Heinrichs, a persuasion expert and author of Thank You for Arguing, “Screwing up can improve your reputation.” That’s because it gives us a chance to demonstrate our positive qualities and core values.

Revealing our own struggles also makes us more sympathetic and relatable to listeners, because we seem more human. Audiences judge us by our character and our solutions.

Is there always a problem?

The short answer is yes. Even if you’re pitching an opportunity—like a new investment or classy hairdo—the implicit message is that the status quo is a problem. Why settle for your current tired, grumpy, prickly existence, when your life could be improved by this delicious McDonald’s breakfast? Or this sleek Apple watch? Or this satisfying political affiliation?

Thinking in terms of problems and solutions helps us zero in on audience interests and select an appropriate starting point for our argument.

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