Persuasion is the art of convincing a person's ideas or actions towards a given means. Persuasion is essentially difficult because it is, in essence, changing somebody's mind toward an opinion that you yourself probably hold. Your success in persuading someone to take your opinion will largely be the result of who the person is you are trying to persuade, what exactly you are trying to convince them of, and how strongly the person you are convincing holds their current views. Communicating persuasively is about how to get the response you are aiming at via your technical document.
A workplace in general will normally have two types of persuasive documents: implicit and explicit. Implicit deals more with presenting accurate information, assuring the reader that the writer is knowledgeable about the topic at hand. Explicit, on the other hand, is purely persuasive in that its goal is to win its readers over to a particular point of view. This chapter focuses solely on explicit persuasion. It should also be noted that explicit documents deal mostly with issues where people disagree. These topics have a rather vast range, but some examples include a debate over what the facts of an issue are, a debate over what the facts of an issue mean, and a debate over what should be done about said issue. All such debates require sufficient evidence and support for their rationale, both of which will probably be strongly considered by the reader when taking an opinion.
Identifying a specific persuasive goal is important because there are many different types of persuasive goals. These include influencing people's opinions, enlisting support, writing a proposal, and changing people's behavior. These goals may overlap, depending on the situation.
Your document will probably elicit many different reactions from the reader that you are trying to persuade, but my guess is that most of the questions that they will raise will be defensive ones. Defensive questions raise issues like why it is important for the reader, what sort of action item must they take, and will it create more work for the reader. Reactions can differ greatly, especially the larger the audience, but your brainstorming should account for all possible defensive, or otherwise, reactions.
While accounting for all possible reactions, you should also expect a certain degree of resistance from your audience. A person that hasn't made up their mind will rely on a persuasive piece of information, but a person who has made their mind up about a situation will be less inclined to change it, even after reading your persuasive document. This is because for people to admit that you are right about your opinion, they also have to admit that they are wrong about the give situation, which, given our society, is difficult nowadays. There are also several levels to persuasion response: internalization, identification, and compliance. Internalization is the ideal response, and also the most productive, because the reader is saying that they agree with whatever you are suggesting and that it aligns with their goals and plans. Identification is still a good response because it is willing and productive-- the difference is that this response is based on the fact that the reader likes you and feels as though they have something in common with you enough to go along with your agenda. Compliance is oftentimes a disgruntled and unproductive response because the reader is likely only responding due to the fact that there may be an unwanted punishment or a reward in their future depending on their response. These people do not want to respond, but they feel pressured to do so.
Persuasive people know how to connect with their audiences, but they also follow strategies to do so: the power connection, the relationship connection, and the rational connection. The power connection is based on instructions or orders from the writer to audience, while the relationship connection is based on an invitation as it leaves the ultimate choice to the reader. The rational connection brings all reasoning full circle when it implies that one should do the action item simply because it makes sense.
Most people who would consider themselves reasonable expect to see a balanced argument when reading a document, that is, an argument that presents both sides evenly. This requires an air of flexibility on the writer's part because they need to be able to accurately and without bias present the opposing view of their argument.
Also, while still remembering to include diplomacy in your views, a good persuasive writer will spell out exactly what they want. They will lay out what they expect of people in terms of what they want them to do or think. However, it is important to not ask too much of your readers because an audience will not accept something which they find unreasonable. Instead, the view or action plan that you lay out should be achievable.
As with any sort of proposal that you may be suggesting, there will be constraints. These include communication, organizational, legal, ethical, time, social and psychological contraints. Organizational constraints may be imposed due to company rules such as deadlines or budgets. There are also many unspoken rules about how to speak to whom in organizations; these should be considered because consequences could be quite costly for your argument if you make a misstep. Legal constraints will also probably hold you back. These are based around contracts, confidentiality rights or laws that affect product liability. You should always be careful not to leave your company liable for something that you said in your document. Ethical constraints are based on issues of honesty and fair play and these constraints can damage the trust that your audience may have in you if they are broken. Time constraints is self-explanatory, but your persuasive document is oftentimes dependent on it. This usually depends on the information that is being circled around your company at the time. Social and psychological constraints are constraints that are audience-centered. These are based on your relationship to the audience, the audience's personality, the audience's identity, and how large or important the issue at hand is.
A persuasive idea will not mean much to your audience unless it interests them in some way. This means that you must provide enough evidence to support your claim. In addition, this evidence must also be quality evidence procured from credible sources considered to be reasonable. There are several types of evidence that display all the afore-mentioned characteristics: factual statements, statistics, examples, and expert testimony. Factual statements are simply what they are named: facts. They are something that has been observed, recorded, and researched-- something that can, and was, proven. Statistics are numbers that represent meanings from a set of data. These can be misleading, so choose statistics that are accurate, trusted, and easy to read. Examples allow people to understand the idea visually, which helps them to remember your point. Examples ought to be aptly explained in order for them to be effective in your argument. Expert testimonies are opinions from people who are considered experts. These experts should be both recognizable and unbiased.
When evidence is not enough to appeal to an audience, you must appeal to shared goals and values. These will give real meaning to your argument. You should also remember to consider how cultural differences will affect people's goals and values. A key value that all cultures share, however, is face saving, which is an act to preserve one's dignity. Situations where face saving occurs are when a person is offended or embarrassed by blatant criticism, when a person's customs are ignored, and when a person's values are belittled. An insulted person will immediately lose interest in whatever you are arguing. When reviewing an audience's culture, you should consider what is accepted behavior is and what the values and attitudes of the culture are.
Group Discussion Question: What should be your main focus when formulating your persuasive goal for your document?
Persuasive people know how to connect with their audiences, but they also follow strategies to do so: the power connection, the relationship connection, and the rational connection. The power connection is based on instructions or orders from the writer to audience, while the relationship connection is based on an invitation as it leaves the ultimate choice to the reader. The rational connection brings all reasoning full circle when it implies that one should do the action item simply because it makes sense.
Most people who would consider themselves reasonable expect to see a balanced argument when reading a document, that is, an argument that presents both sides evenly. This requires an air of flexibility on the writer's part because they need to be able to accurately and without bias present the opposing view of their argument.
Also, while still remembering to include diplomacy in your views, a good persuasive writer will spell out exactly what they want. They will lay out what they expect of people in terms of what they want them to do or think. However, it is important to not ask too much of your readers because an audience will not accept something which they find unreasonable. Instead, the view or action plan that you lay out should be achievable.
As with any sort of proposal that you may be suggesting, there will be constraints. These include communication, organizational, legal, ethical, time, social and psychological contraints. Organizational constraints may be imposed due to company rules such as deadlines or budgets. There are also many unspoken rules about how to speak to whom in organizations; these should be considered because consequences could be quite costly for your argument if you make a misstep. Legal constraints will also probably hold you back. These are based around contracts, confidentiality rights or laws that affect product liability. You should always be careful not to leave your company liable for something that you said in your document. Ethical constraints are based on issues of honesty and fair play and these constraints can damage the trust that your audience may have in you if they are broken. Time constraints is self-explanatory, but your persuasive document is oftentimes dependent on it. This usually depends on the information that is being circled around your company at the time. Social and psychological constraints are constraints that are audience-centered. These are based on your relationship to the audience, the audience's personality, the audience's identity, and how large or important the issue at hand is.
A persuasive idea will not mean much to your audience unless it interests them in some way. This means that you must provide enough evidence to support your claim. In addition, this evidence must also be quality evidence procured from credible sources considered to be reasonable. There are several types of evidence that display all the afore-mentioned characteristics: factual statements, statistics, examples, and expert testimony. Factual statements are simply what they are named: facts. They are something that has been observed, recorded, and researched-- something that can, and was, proven. Statistics are numbers that represent meanings from a set of data. These can be misleading, so choose statistics that are accurate, trusted, and easy to read. Examples allow people to understand the idea visually, which helps them to remember your point. Examples ought to be aptly explained in order for them to be effective in your argument. Expert testimonies are opinions from people who are considered experts. These experts should be both recognizable and unbiased.
When evidence is not enough to appeal to an audience, you must appeal to shared goals and values. These will give real meaning to your argument. You should also remember to consider how cultural differences will affect people's goals and values. A key value that all cultures share, however, is face saving, which is an act to preserve one's dignity. Situations where face saving occurs are when a person is offended or embarrassed by blatant criticism, when a person's customs are ignored, and when a person's values are belittled. An insulted person will immediately lose interest in whatever you are arguing. When reviewing an audience's culture, you should consider what is accepted behavior is and what the values and attitudes of the culture are.
Group Discussion Question: What should be your main focus when formulating your persuasive goal for your document?
Very good blog on this chapter. In regard to your question for group discussion you probably need to give us some pointer as to what type of document it is, and for what audience you are writing it.
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