The aim of persuasive writing is to influence and persuade the reader(s) of your content. In order for your writing to be persuasive and have the required impact, it needs to have some key characteristics. Read on to find out about the key features of persuasive writing.
Changes the Way Your Reader(s) Think
Fundamental to any type of persuasive writing is making your reader(s) change the way they think. Whatever piece you’re writing, whether it is an opinion column, an essay, a report or a business proposal, you need to be able to alter your reader(s) perspective, usually in the direction you want them to go.
One way you can do this, is through starting off with the status quo of the main area of which you are writing about, stating the problems and issues with the way things currently are, and how improvements can be made should alternative methods, theories, techniques, and products be adopted instead.
Changes the Way Your Reader(s) Feel
Emotive language used appropriately certainly can have a positive impact on your persuasive writing. By describing a real problem faced by people vividly, this can powerfully change the way your reader(s) feel. Likewise, explaining a success experienced by you, your team or others clearly, can have a similar effect.
If you can get readers to sympathise or relate with what you are suggesting at an emotional level, then this has the potential to have a lasting impression, and lead to the action you want from them.
Contains Cause-Effect Connections
Another major feature of persuasive writing is the incorporation of lots of cause-effect connections in it. These need to be simple and logical and can help to continue building the argument for your case. An example could be a new property development project having negative consequences on the local community living in the surrounding area.
Has Real Evidence
If you really want to persuade readers to take your view point, demonstrate this through including facts and statistics from credible reports, which suggest problems, and solutions that exist.
Even better is hearing about issues straight from the horse’s mouth. A sentence like ‘In a survey conducted, 20% of a sample of 100 people stated they would be against the building of new homes in their village’ is far more powerful than simply stating that ‘I believe there will be uproar in the village should new homes be built’.
Has Lots of Verbs and Adjectives
Persuasive writing usually contains lots of verbs to illustrate actions of people, processes and products. Verbs like ‘think’ and ‘consider’ can also be used directly on your reader(s) to help nudge them to take the action you want them to. Also, adjectives can be extremely useful to add rich descriptions to your words and sentences. These can be highly effective in creating pictures in the minds of your reader(s).
Compels Your Reader(s) to Act
Your persuasive writing has its ultimate effect when it makes your reader(s) act. This means including a call to action in your writing, be it telling your reader(s) to go out and improve their lives, or to sign the contract, or award you money.
Image credit: brett jordan on flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingtipsoasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/hv1.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Hiten Vyas is the Founder and Managing Editor of eBooks India. He is also a prolific eBook writer with over 25 titles to his name.[/author_info] [/author]