Chapter 4: The Structure of Persuasion

Overview

Most people are comfortable providing information. That's a writing or speaking task you probably feel good about. Evaluations are a little tougher for most of us, and if they involve touchy material, as a performance appraisal might, we may actually dread doing them. However, for the majority of people, persuasive writing is by far the most difficult communication task. It involves a step-level increase in complexity and difficulty over what the other types of communication require.

Unfortunately, when we're short of time or feel uncertain about our readiness to proceed, we're likely to revert to the type of writing we find easiest. For most writers, that's presenting information, usually to an audience that's about as knowledgeable on the subject as we are. For proposals, that's a lethal combination. Factual information presented at a high level of technical expertise not only doesn't persuade, but may actually alienate the reader.

We have to move away from the kind of writing that's easy for us (factual, technical) and into the style that's effective (persuasive, clear), as Figure 4-1 shows. So let's distinguish among the primary reasons people write in a business setting and look at how those different purposes require different approaches.

Figure 4-1: Move out of the Comfort Zone to Persuade Effectively.