Lecturer: Gareth Jones Class 8: Persuasive Messages

 Persuasive Messages ◦ Complaint ◦ Reference Request 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Used to change an Audience’s beliefs, attitudes, and actions  Present an argument that readers will agree with and support 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Used when: ◦ We are trying to sell something ◦ Asking people to support an idea ◦ Asking for an increase in salary ◦ Asking your boss to use your ideas 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Longer and more complicated than routine messages  Require much more planning 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Planning  Writing  Completing 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Analyse your purpose  Analyse your audience  Establish Credibility  Be ethical 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Purpose  Difficult because: ◦ Audiences are busy ◦ There are competing requests 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 For these reasons, purpose must be clear, necessary and appropriate for the written channel 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Audience ◦ Search for common ground ◦ Find points of agreement ◦ Show how you can satisfy their needs 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Ask ◦ Who is my audience? ◦ What do they need? ◦ What do I want them to do? ◦ How might they resist? ◦ What other offers exist? 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Appeal to your audiences needs!  Find out their age, gender, occupation, income, etc.  Change your message around this info 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Credibility  This is your capability for being believed because you’re reliable and worthy of confidence.  Credibility = believability 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Support your message with facts. ◦ Documents, statistics, research results  Name your sources ◦ Where did this information come from? ◦ If audience respects your sources, this is very effective 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Be an expert ◦ Clearly demonstrate your knowledge of the subject  Establish common ground ◦ Highlight the beliefs that you share with the audience. 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Be enthusiastic ◦ Be excited about your subject  Be objective ◦ Show all sides of the issue to present fair arguments 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Be trustworthy ◦ Earn audiences trust with honesty and dependability  Have good intentions ◦ Keep audience’s interest at heart 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Be ethical ◦ To be ethical is to do things in an honest, moral way. ◦ Are morals universal ( 普遍的 ) ？ 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Do not try to manipulate or trick your audience.  Persuade your audience, but keep their needs at heart  Why? 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Planning  Writing  Completing 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Direct? Indirect?  Based on audience’s reaction 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 When to use Direct approach ◦ When audience is objective ◦ When a message is long ◦ When audience has little time 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Since the purpose is to convince or to change our audience’s mind, we should usually use:  The Indirect Approach 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Planning  Writing  Completing 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Use the same techniques  Edit for style, content and readability  Correct Errors 8th December 2009 Business Communication (BUS-101)25

 4 strategies in successful persuasion ◦ Framing your argument ◦ Balancing your appeals ◦ Reinforcing your position ◦ Overcoming audience resistance 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 4 strategies for successful persuasion ◦ Framing your argument ◦ Balancing your appeals ◦ Reinforcing your position ◦ Overcoming audience resistance 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Framing your argument  Similar to indirect approach, but even more involved.  Use the AIDA approach 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 AIDA – 4 step argument ◦ Attention (Opening) ◦ Interest (Body) ◦ Desire (Body) ◦ Action (Closing) 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Attention  Begin persuasive messages with an attention getting statement that is: ◦ Personalised ◦ ‘You’ oriented ◦ Straightforward ◦ Relevant 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Interest ◦ Explain relevance of message ◦ Give more details 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Desire  Second part of your body  Provide evidence  Explain how change will help audience  Answer possible questions in advance 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Action  Closing ◦ Suggest action for readers to take ◦ Repeat audience benefits ◦ Make the action easy 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Perfect for indirect messages  Save main idea for action phase  Can be used in direct messages  Use main idea as attention getter 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 To be successful, narrow your focus ◦ Why?  Stick to one goal or objective  One action we want the audience to perform 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Used when: ◦ We are trying to sell something ◦ Asking people to support an idea ◦ Asking for an increase in salary ◦ Asking your boss to use your ideas 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Analyse your purpose  Analyse your audience  Establish Credibility  Be ethical 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Credibility ◦ This is your capability for being believed because you’re reliable and worthy of confidence. ◦ Credibility = believability 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Use Facts  Name sources  Be an expert  Find common ground  Be enthusiastic  Be honest 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 Be ethical  To be ethical is to do things in an honest, moral way  Do not try to trick your audience 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 AIDA – 4 step argument ◦ Attention (Opening) ◦ Interest (Body) ◦ Desire (Body) ◦ Action (Closing) 8th December Business Communication (BUS-101)

 4 strategies for successful persuasion ◦ Framing your argument ◦ Appealing to the audience ◦ Supporting your argument ◦ Dealing with Resistance

 In order to persuade our audience, we must appeal to them in some way  We can appeal to the heart and to the mind

 Appealing to the audience’s heart is called an: ◦ Emotional Appeal ◦ This is when we try to persuade our audience by using their feelings

 Emotional appeals ◦ Use words like: success, free, savings, value ◦ This will make your audience comfortable

 Emotional appeals ◦ Make your audience think your idea is the right thing to do

 Appealing to the audience’s mind is called a: ◦ Logical appeal ◦ This is when we use evidence and facts to convince our audience

 Logical Appeals ◦ Have plenty of evidence ◦ Don’t attack your opponents ◦ Make sure your claims are true

 4 strategies for successful persuasion ◦ Framing your argument ◦ Appealing to the audience ◦ Supporting your argument ◦ Dealing with Resistance

 Increase your credibility with strong language  Use words that are strong and direct

 Ask for small changes  Prepare for opposition  Be specific  Create a “win-win” situation  Use stories to make your points

 4 strategies for successful persuasion ◦ Framing your argument ◦ Appealing to the audience ◦ Supporting your argument ◦ Dealing with Resistance

 Present all sides of your argument ◦ The good ◦ The bad  This will increase credibility

 Think about possible objections and think of ways to answer them  This will help make your audience believe you

 These are the four components of a successful persuasive message: ◦ Framing your argument ◦ Appealing to the audience ◦ Supporting your argument ◦ Dealing with Resistance

 Persuasive Requests  Sales Letters

 Persuasive Requests  Sales Letters

 When asking for something small, use routine message strategy  When asking for something larger, use the AIDA plan

 Keep the request specific and possible  Say the direct and indirect benefits

 Begin with an attention grabbing device.  Show the readers that you are concerned and have a reason for making the request

 Interest and Desire sections  Gain credibility for you and your request  Make readers believe helping you will solve a problem

 Action Section  Once the idea has been shown, provide a specific action including dates, times, etc.

 Persuasive Requests  Sales Letters

 Your purpose is to sell your product  To do this we must highlight features and benefits, obvious right?

 Features = something our product has  Benefits = advantages the user will get

Features  LCD Screen  100 free text messages  Prints 30 pages per minute  Wireless controllers Benefits  You won`t hurt your eyes  Communicate with friends  Get work done fast  Play games from anywhere in the house

 Use the AIDA approach  Remember the other strategies as well ◦ Appealing to the audience ◦ Supporting your argument ◦ Dealing with Resistance

 Attention:  We want to use an attention getter that gets our reader to read the whole message

 An interesting question  A sample of the product  A solution to a problem  Your product`s best feature  Anything to get the audience to read the message!

 “How would you like to travel the world?”  “Here is your free sample of Chanel perfume”

 “Tired of being alone? We have the answer to your problem!”  “New software types what you say!”

 In the interest section, we must highlight the best feature of our product

 To determine this, ask: ◦ What does the competition offer? ◦ What are buyers looking for?

 Describe the product in detail, focusing on all positive features

 Mention the main benefit of your product  Mention other benefits as well (price, convenience, etc.)

 Ask your readers to do what you want  Convince them to act quickly

 If you are successful, readers will want your product and do what you ask!

 In persuasive messages, as in all kinds of business, we must be ethical and honest  This means following the rules of business

 In sales messages ◦ Lying about your competition ◦ Making false promises ◦ Lying about your product

 Lying  Bribery  Stealing information  Giving gifts  Accepting gifts  Plagiarism  Selling bad goods

 We must follow the ethics of business and do business in an honest way.

 We will look at some ethical dilemmas  Dilemma = a difficult choice