Persuasive Writing

<p>Contents</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Section 1: What is Persuasive Writing?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Why are you writing?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Who is your audience?&nbsp; </p> <p>Reader Response = Result&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Section 2: Tools for Persuasive Writing&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Ethos, Logos, Pathos&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Using emotive language</p> <p>You, We, I – getting personal&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Storytelling&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Persuasive writing example&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Section 3: Persuasion – Beyond Logic&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>The science of decision-making</p> <p>Primacy – why coming first matters</p> <p>Availability&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Consistency and why we hate changing our minds</p> <p>Justification and evidence</p> <p>Simplicity</p> <p>Loss and reward – a bird in the hand…</p> <p>Outside influences – following the herd</p> <p>Repetition, Repetition, Repetition</p> <p>Anchoring – decision-making all at sea</p> <p>The Halo Effect</p> <p>Recency – the here and now</p> <p>The reader is always right</p> <p>Commercial Break: Advertisement Slogans</p> <p>Section 4: Conciseness Equals Clarity</p> <p>Ason and the Jargonauts</p> <p>Sentence length</p> <p>The writer’s diet – cutting padding</p> <p>Culling lazy words</p> <p>Examples, similes and analogies</p> <p>A 7-step concise writing process</p> <p>Section 5: Verbs Equal Vigour</p> <p>Grammar refresher</p> <p>Verbs just wanna have fun</p> <p>Verbs in disguise – noun suffixes</p> <p>Section 6: Mistakes&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Commonly confused words&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Using the wrong word&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Scattershot punctuation and no punctuation&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Poor spelling&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>‘Mistakes’ that aren’t mistakes&nbsp; </p> <p>Section 7: Planning and Structuring&nbsp; </p> <p>Plan, Draft, Edit&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Document structures&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Section 8: Layout, Fonts and Formatting&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Font choice&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Layout&nbsp; </p> <p>Headings&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Bullets&nbsp; </p> <p>Tables and diagrams&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Section 9: Tips for Common Documents&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>More effective emails&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Writing for the web&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Persuasive CVs&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Executive summaries and abstracts&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Grant funding&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Feedback, fear and a favour&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Section 10: Persuasion – the Dark Arts&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Assume causality&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>It’s common sense, stupid&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>It’s common knowledge&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Abuse statistics</p> <p>Widen or narrow definitions</p> <p>Flattery will get you everywhere&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>And a few more…&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>The End&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Appendix 1: Summary of rules&nbsp; </p> <p>Appendix 2: Supersized words and their alternatives&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Appendix 3: Recommended reading&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>Appendix 4: Persuasive writing flowchart&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p>