1. The Persuasive Power of Words (Week 2) Colin Neville

2. Persuasion The persuasive power of words was discussed by Aristotle around 350 BC. He presented an analysis of rhetorical strategies, which included three elements: logos, pathos and ethos.

3. LogosPathosEthos Logos are appeals to reason and an attempt to persuade an audience or reader through sound reasoning. Pathos is concerned with an appeal to the emotions of the audience or reader. Ethos is the appeal of the speaker or writer to the audience or readership, in terms of his or her credibility, trustworthiness, and/or experience.

4. Three elements of persuasive communication. Effective writing usually contains all three elements. Pathos Ethos Logos

5. Business and Academic Writing Aristotle's idea can be applied to both writing for business and academic purposes, although there are some differences in approach. This workshop concerns application of Aristotle's ideas in a business context.

6. Logos (Logical elements) You present clear information in sufficient detail for the type of communication chosen You write to prompt action in some form (even if it just for the reader to make a mental note of something) You acknowledge opposite viewpoints, if relevant Logical elements will often dominate formal business communication

7. Pathos (Emotional connection) Although logical elements may predominate in formal business writing, the pathos element can be an important dimension, and includes issues of: Addressing the reader directly Addressing the specific needs of the reader Adopting the right tone Ensuring your writing sounds natural Using words that connect with the senses of the reader, or convey a sense of action and purpose Making the writing look good, so the reader is attracted to it.

8. Ethos (Credibility element) In business writing you gain credibility if: There is a clear structure to the text Your writing is plain and clear You are courteous (even when provoked) You are perceived as someone with integrity (truthful) There are no spelling or grammatical mistakes

9. Mistakes are costly to UK businesses Research carried out by Royal Mail in 2003 with 1,000 customers suggests that British businesses are losing up to £700 million through bad grammar and poor spelling in their letters, emails, brochures, websites and leaflets. Nearly three quarters of customers do not trust businesses that use poor spelling and grammar and 30 percent say they would not do businesses with companies that made these mistakes. One in five respondents (20%) said they would not do business with a company who spelt their name incorrectly

10. How to destroy your credibility (1)

11. How to destroy your credibility (2)

12. How to destroy your credibility (3)

13. How to destroy your credibility (4) “I am a motivated, self-igniting person who greatly entertains the challenges of bettering myself and the performance of work that I do.“ “I am a well-motivated person who always looks for ways to improve my work performance”. Better

14. KRYPTON & CO Mr.Donald Brown 33 Wrose Avenue Wrose Bradford BD10 9JR 19 February 2007 Dear Mr Brown On behalf of Krypton & Co I would like to thank you for buying a Camcorder recently from us. We hope you are enjoying using it and that it is working to your complete satisfaction. It is vital for a small company like ours to get feedback from our customers on how they were treated in the shop by our sales staff. Without customers we have no business, so your views are important to us. I would, therefore, be grateful if you would complete the short questionnaire that is attached, and return it in the pre-paid envelope. There are six questions and it should take you only a few minutes. We realise, however, that many people regard questionnaires like this as a nuisance – and just throw them away. But we hope you will complete this one, as there is a one in ten chance of you winning a £25 voucher if you do. Once we have 100 completed questionnaires they will go into a draw, and we will select 10. The customers drawn will each receive a voucher to use in any of our three shops. You can exxchange it for goods to the value of £25. Thanks again for choosing us for your purchase, and we look forward to reading your feedback. Yours sincerely Shoeb Desai Mr Shoeb Desai Sales Manager Emotional & Credibility Logical and emotional Logical Emotional Logical Emotional & Credibility