1. Principles for Powerful Persuasion
Persuading
Principles for Powerful Persuasion

2. Persuading
What is Persuasion?
The art of persuasion is the art of finding the best available means of moving a specific audience in a specific situation to a specific decision
Corollary: You can’t expect to persuade the same people in the same way in different situations. New situations require new tactics.

3. The Persuasion Triangle
Persuading
The Persuasion Triangle
Presenter
(Ethos)
Audience
(Pathos)
Classical persuasion techniques are based on three primary elements:
Ethos – How trustworthy is the presenter (you) and does your audience like you?
Pathos – What are the values of the audience and what motivates them?
Logos – How reasonable, straightforward, and well-documented is your argument?
Subject
(Logos)

4. Persuasion in the Real World
Persuading
Persuasion in the Real World
Audience
Presenter
Your Needs &
Interests
Their Needs & Interests
Each of the three elements is complicated by the constantly changing backgrounds in each unique situation.
Presenter – You come to the table with your own personal and professional needs and interests. You must focus on the specific decision that will be made on this occasion (the subject).
Audience – They come distracted by their own personal and professional needs and interests. Your job is to help them relate your subject to their needs and interests, to convince them that this decision will help meet their needs as well as yours.
Subject – Your program comes with its own history and needs to continue or grow. Here you want to put a set of human faces on your program: it is not what you do—it is who you affect that sells your program.
Subject
Your Program’s Needs & Accomplishments

5. Persuading is like making a candle
Melt
Mold
Harden & Ignite!
The “Forest Gump” principle of persuasion:
You must melt the natural resistance every person has to change.
You must mold opinion to move your audience toward the decision you desire.
You must harden that opinion into a firm decision and ignite them into acting on it.
Adapted from E.M. Griffin. The Mind Changers. Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale Publishers, 1976.

6. Try to melt resistance before meetings
Persuading
Melting Resistance
To Raise Resistance:
Be insincere
Shout “You’re wrong!”
Use weak humor
Guilt trip them
Use improbable threats
Lecture them
To Melt Resistance
Be honest
Find common ground
Use humor carefully
Appreciate what they are already doing
Give realistic pros and cons
Ask them to make your case
Try to melt resistance before meetings

7. Molding Opinion: Know your Audience
Persuading
Molding Opinion: Know your Audience
They are concerned about local issues and local people
Make local arguments
They make decisions with both their minds and hearts
Appeal to both
They feel financially pressured
Show how your programs save money or bring new money into the community
You can quote national figures but make local applications.
Facts and figures for their minds/illustrations and stories for their hearts (pictures?)

8. Molding Opinion: Know what moves your Audience
Persuading
Molding Opinion: Know what moves your Audience
What do they all commonly want?
They want happy & healthy constituents
They want the respect of others
They want to be responsible leaders
They want a successful community
They want to hear success stories
They want to avoid pain and failure
Show your programs meets their needs
Among many other things, they are motivated by obligation, common sense, and fear.
Obligation – they want to do what is right, to fulfill the commitments they have made
Common sense – they want to do what is possible
Fear – they do not want to fail or be rejected (= not elected)

9. Molding Opinion: Present Professionally
Persuading
Molding Opinion: Present Professionally
To trust you, your audience must believe you are a competent person, a professional
Present information accurately
The data
The names
The spelling & grammar
If you cannot be trusted to get the small things (the details) right,
how can you be trusted to get the big things (the funded programs) right?

10. Molding Opinion: Present Personally
Persuading
Molding Opinion: Present Personally
Never talk down to or over the heads of your audience
Tell your story simply
Use short simple sentences
Show rather than tell
Illustrate with short stories of success
Treat your audience as people should be treated—with respect.

11. Molding Opinion: Make your argument clear
Persuading
Molding Opinion: Make your argument clear
Answer basic questions (5W’s & H)
Show the real, positive results achieved by your program to meet real needs
Show what your program has done
Show what your program will do
Show what your program cannot do if not funded and what the cost will be to the community
Who, what, where, when, why, and how and never forget the “So what?”

12. Persuading
In Closing, IGNITE!
People may feel for you and agree with you, but if they do not act on your behalf, your presentation fails its purpose
Mind, emotions, and will diagram

13. Harden & Ignite!: Believe in your cause
Persuading
Harden & Ignite!: Believe in your cause
To ignite others to support your cause, first YOU should be on fire
Why should others care if you do not?
You show your convictions by your
Passionate presentation
Confident presentation
Positive presentation
People will not care what you know until they know that you care.

14. Harden & Ignite!: Summarize & Seek a Decision
Persuading
Harden & Ignite!: Summarize & Seek a Decision
Summarize what you already agree on
Smile
Assume the best
Make a specific request
Be thorough but . . .
Be brief
Close the deal.
You can’t sell if you never ask people to buy.
Don’t leave your audience wondering what they should do next.

15. Principles for Powerful Persuasion
Persuading
Principles for Powerful Persuasion
Melt Resistance
Mold Opinions
Know your audience well
Make your argument clear
Present personally & professionally
Harden & Ignite!
Believe in your cause
Summarize & make a specific request
Know your audience well (pathos)
Make your argument clear (logos)
Present personally & professionally (ethos)

16. Does it always work? Of course not!
Persuading
Does it always work?
Of course not!
Some people come equipped with closed minds (They’ve already decided)
Some people come with busy minds (They aren’t really listening to you)
Some people will not agree with you (so if you can’t convince them, at least help them be sorry they can’t agree with you)
Remember there will be other times and other decisions.
Burn no bridges!

17. Persuading
Remember….
The people expect us to be accountable – to show the positive results of our land-grant programs
So inform the people about the difference you are making in people’s lives
Show the people that your services are vital to growing communities
Ask the people for active financial support without apology
You don’t have to apologize for asking others to help you do what is right.

18. Where can you go for additional help?
Persuading
Where can you go for additional help?
You are welcome at the Purdue University Writing Lab
Heavilon Hall, Room 226
Grammar Hotline: (765)
Check our web site:
brief questions:
You can always come to the Writing Lab for extra help with any writing tasks you are working on.
Purdue University Writing Lab

19. Questions? Thank you for listening;
Persuading
Questions?
Thank you for listening;
Now put these principles to work in your programs.