9.5 Persuasive Messages

Persuasive messages essentially move people to change their behaviors, opinions, or serve to reinforce existing ones. Examples of persuasive messages include those that make requests of resistant readers, those that sell products or services, as well as those that change opinion–like the imperative to implement inclusive communication practices. These messages can shift minds and move mountains through the various logical, emotional, temporal, and credibility appeals covered in Chapter 3.4 Writing to Persuade.  These persuasive messages often initiate organizational change and advancement, leading to new projects when responding to need and opportunity. To be persuasive, the content of such messages must be carefully constructed.

The basic message structure for a persuasive message employs the indirect method:

Persuasive Message Structure

Note: When the background information is so brief as it does not warrant a separate paragraph, you may include the background information in the opening paragraph.

Applying the AIDA Model

A structural guide for persuasive messages especially in marketing is the AIDA model, which has been popular since 1898, when Elias St. Elmo Lewis first began to use it to explain personal selling (Oxford Reference, n.d.). This model describes the sequential elements of an effective persuasive message: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action.

See Figure 9.5.2 for an example of a simple persuasive invitation making use of the AIDA method.

Figure 9.5.2 Sample persuasive message using the AIDA method

This message consists of various strategies that create a persuasive appeal:

• It makes use of the following AIDA features to engage and move the reader to action:
  • Gaining the readers attention
    • Attention in this example is gained by mentioned in the opening “new customer engagement initiative involving virtual sessions” require the need to learn how to use Zoom
  • Developing the reader’s interest
    • Interest is developed by explaining the context requiring the use of Zoom
  • Engaging with the reader’s desire or motivation to act
    • Desire to act is activated by providing information about the training session
  • Offer concrete suggestions on what the reader can do (action)
    • Action is promoted by requiring a response by a specified date

This video, Dan Pink on Persuasion (2014), offers an overview of a few persuasive tactics, some of which were used in the email above.

Using the Indirect Approach to Organize Ideas

The message in Figure 9.5.1 makes use of the indirect method to persuade employees to participate in virtual meeting software training. With the indirect method, you place the key idea near the close of the message. The indirect method involves establishing need or explaining a rationale before stating the key idea or purpose of the message. By creating a delay, you are using information to influence the mindset of the reader so that your key message will be more easily accepted.

When using the indirect method, information an be organized as follows:

1. An opening that describes a problem or an opportunity.

2. Background information that establishes the need for what you are about to suggest (product, service, solution).

3. An explanation of the product, service, solution you are suggesting, including information about features, costs, functionality, freebies, discounts, etc.

4. A close containing a clear call to action, including specific actions that the reader should take.

Emphasizing Benefits

To be effective, persuasive messages must not only address the needs of the sender, but also account for the needs of the receiver. As such, when planning the message, not only should you consider what’s in it for you, but also what’s in it for the receiver. In other words, carefully consider the interests of all stakeholders as you craft your message and stress benefits to the reader. So, for example, if you were to craft a message that has as its goal to compel employees working with hazardous materials to wear safety gear when at work, you would not only mention the workplace health and safety regulations but also discuss the benefits of protecting the health and safety of workers. Consider both the intrinsic and extrinsic benefits. The extrinsic benefits in this example consist of protecting the health of fellow workers and the interests of the company. The intrinsic benefits would be the sense of satisfaction felt when participating in a common effort to protect employee well being. Extrinsic benefits are tangible; whereas, intrinsic benefits are intangible.

See the example below in Figure 9.5.3 for an illustration of how these characteristics can be applied to persuasive messages.

Figure 9.5.3 Example of a sales letter using the indirect method and stressing benefits.

Using Arguments to Reinforce Your Points

When creating longer documents like short or long reports generally, and proposals, feasibility studies, marketing campaigns, sales campaigns, and recommendation reports more specifically, you may find that you will need to construct a sound argument in order to make your point and persuade your audience. For example, to persuade an audience that it is far better to implement diversity initiatives than not doing so, you would first show the need for such an initiative, discuss the benefits, account for opposing views, and reinforce your points with evidence.  Effective argumentation is often a sign of a thoughtful approach to an opportunity or problem. Here are a few suggestions on how you can create an argument.

What are arguments?

By definition, arguments articulate viewpoints, support the views with evidence, and provide reasons to link the elements together. For arguments to be arguments, the views you are putting forward must be debatable, meaning that different people can take different positions on them. When making an argument, the objective is to persuade readers that your viewpoint is sound through the logical and coherent delivery of quality information.

What are the building blocks of arguments?

An argument is composed of three key elements: claims, evidence, and reasons. A claim communicates a standpoint, a particular stance on something. Taking this definition into account, some claims cannot be argued. Facts, for example, cannot be argued because they are indisputable, meaning they are true in all instances. Points of view that cannot be supported with research-based evidence also cannot be argued, at least not in academia or the workplace. LLM outputs tend to largely consist of claims, but these are quite often unsupported with the evidence to make them credible.

Evidence is information used to support claims so that an audience can make determinations regarding their legitimacy. Evidence can take a wide variety of forms, such as quotations, paraphrases, summaries, visuals, numerical data, and facts. The audience should readily understand the connection between claims and evidence, perceive that the evidence sufficiently reinforces the claims, and regard the evidence as credible. LLMs are improving: If you ask Copilot to produce citations, it will, but it is often very difficult if not impossible to verify them. Other LLMs, like Copilot’s foundation model ChatGPT, are improving and will provide citations that lead to verifiable evidence. In addition, ChatGPT plug ins and OpenAI’s Deep Research will also offer citations that lead to verifiable evidence. Your task when working with output is to verify the citations, integrate relevant quotes, summaries, and data, and to ensure that the evidence aligns closely with the claims being made.

Reasons connect claims and evidence. In plain terms, a reason is a because statement, a rationale for a claim that leads into the evidence that supports the claim. A reason may sometimes be implied by a writer rather than stated outright. When working with an LLM output, your task is to ensure that the reasons connect the claims and evidence in a logical manner. Sound arguments contain all three elements described here: claims, evidence, and reasons.

Strong arguments also include coverage of alternate points of view—in other words, counterarguments—and their accompanying claims, evidence, and reasons. By incorporating these elements, writers demonstrate that they

• recognize the multifaceted nature of issues,
• can be reasonable by considering different viewpoints, and
• have been thorough when investigating topics.

Writers have choices when deciding how to acknowledge counterarguments. They can concede that the arguments are valid, at least in part, to demonstrate a fair-minded approach. Indeed, they might use certain phrasing to indicate this intention, as the following examples illustrate.

• While it is true that ___, I argue ___ because ___.
• ___ makes a legitimate point when claiming that ___; however, he/she seems to overlook ___, which is a key concern for ___.
• Although I concede the legitimacy of ___, I still maintain that ___ because ___.
• Though ___ is no doubt an authority on this issue, the evidence points to ___.

Alternatively, writers may refute the validity of counterarguments by first explaining them—touching upon their claims, evidence, and reasons—before transitioning into a discussion of their own arguments. Writers may signal this intention to readers by using the following phrases or similar.

• ___ makes the point ___, but another way to view this topic is ___.
• This paper however argues ___.
• ___ claims that ___ but offers little research-based evidence to support that viewpoint. I instead contend that ___, using ___ as evidence to support my view.
• ___ challenges the view that ___ because ___.

Whether writers concede or refute the legitimacy of counterarguments, they should maintain a respectful tone and treat opposing sides fairly rather than belittling or oversimplifying them. Doing so will help to establish credibility in readers’ eyes, contributing to the persuasiveness of the writers’ documents.

What are the different types of claims in arguments?

If we acknowledge that a claim communicates a standpoint, it stands to reason that claims can be more or less strong. A spectrum of strong and less strong language can be used both when presenting one’s own claims and when reporting others’ claims to indicate, for example, degrees of likelihood, rates of occurrence, or measures of extent.

• Degrees of likelihood: certainly → probably → likely → possibly → doubtfully
• Rates of occurrence: always → usually → often → rarely → never
• Measures of extent: all → most → many → few → none

When writers feel certain about claims, they may use strong (unqualified) language to articulate them in a straightforward manner, as in the following example.

Students who spend two hours on homework for every one hour of class time are more successful in college.

On the other hand, if writers wish to acknowledge that claims might not be true in every situation, they can use qualified language (also referred to as hedging) to moderate the force of those claims, as in the following example.

Students who spend two hours on homework for every one hour of class time tend to be more successful in college.

Qualified language does not necessarily point to a flawed claim or argument; instead, it demonstrates a careful approach to argument construction, one that takes readers’ anticipated reactions to a text into account. However, misrepresenting reality by making exceptionally weak claims implies an attempt to mislead readers that can damage the persuasiveness of an otherwise sound argument.

In addition to the points about qualifying language already mentioned, also be aware that different verbs convey different levels of certainty when paired with claims. Table 9.5.1, adapted from Lingard (2020, p. 108), presents examples of verbs and the degrees of inevitability they express.

Table 9.5.1 A variety of verbs and their associated levels of certainty

You can ask an LLM to help you to create a sound argument in two ways.

A persuasive message is created through the skillful use of appeals, usually blending logical, emotional, temporal, and credibility boosting content, as well as constructing sound arguments. Use these persuasive devices to create a balanced approach that is confident, informed, accurate, and fair.  Be sure to avoid the common logical fallacies discussed in Chapter 7.2 Finding and Evaluating Research Sources and explained in Table 9.2.4 that only serve to create pitfalls for messages that would otherwise be persuasive.

Using an LLM to Assist with Persuasion

LLMs have developed strong reasoning capabilities and can be enlisted to assist in constructing persuasive messages and work through complex problem solving tasks that involve careful analysis. ChatGPT 4o has a reasoning feature that users can select to quickly direct the application into its reasoning mode. Regardless of the mode used, you can ask any LLM to assist when working on a persuasive writing task. You can ask it to do the following:

• Develop a persuasive strategy
• Review a draft persuasive message and provide suggestions for improvement
• Draft a persuasive message given key situational and information points

Using an LLM to obtain information about what it needs from you can be way to ensure that you provide all the necessary information for it you give you purposeful and meaningful output. You can also ask the LLM to review a draft that you have created:

Knowing what you want to achieve and including enough specific detail in your draft will give the LLM enough information for it to offer helpful feedback on your draft. Another option when using LLMs is to ask it to draft the message for you. To do this, you must include in your prompt enough information for the LLM to provide you with a useful draft:

Persuasion is a skill that will be developed through practice over time. To persuade you must have a good knowledge of the context and your goal. Your knowledge of your audience and their interest will enable you to tailor the message in such a way as to address their concerns and emphasize benefits to them. Adopting various strategies like the AIDA method, argumentation, and tone will make for a more effective message. Using LLMs to assist in the development of persuasive messages can be effective in obtaining information on persuasive strategies and message drafts.

References

Atkinson, D. (2020).  Writing to Persuade – Mindful Technical Writing By Dawn Atkinson and Stacey Corbet. CC by 4.0

Guffey, M., Loewry, D., & Griffin, E. (2019). Business communication: Process and product (6th ed.). Toronto, ON: Nelson Education. http://www.cengage.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=9780176531393&template=NELSON The RSA. (2014).

Lingard, L. (2020). The academic hedge part I: Modal tuning in your research writing. Perspectives on Medical Education, 9, 107-110. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40037-019-00559-y

Oxford Reference. (n.d.). AIDA. https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095432783

RSA. (2014). Dan Pink on Persuasion [Video file].   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OCAT0Uk5j0&t=106s