ADMN 233 — Persuasive Communication
Source: Persuasive Communication by Dr. Glen Farrelly and Rhiannon Rutherford (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), 8 pages.
Adapted from Chapters 4.6–4.7 of Introduction to Professional Communications by Melissa Ashman.
1 Why Persuasion Is Important
Persuasion = influencing attitudes and behaviours to encourage acceptance of a request.
Persuasive communication = using words, images, and media to get people to adopt your idea, policy, product, or service.
Alternatives to persuasion and their drawbacks:
| Alternative | Drawback |
|---|---|
| Building social capital / reciprocity | Requires extensive long-term effort |
| Financial incentives | Costs money |
| Flexing authority / compelling action | Generates bad feelings |
| Coercion, bribery, deception | Illegal |
Persuasive techniques can be applied affordably, quickly, and honestly. In flatter organizational hierarchies, persuasion (not authority) is how decisions get made — making it an essential job skill.
2 The Fundamentals of Persuasion
Rhetoric = the art of persuasive communication (not manipulation). Messages are not simply persuasive or not — they are more or less persuasive in a given context.
Aristotle identified three rhetorical appeals:
| Appeal | Latin root | Meaning | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pathos | Emotion | Fastest way to get attention; triggers action | Can feel manipulative if overdone |
| Logos | Logic | Facts, statistics, testimonials, expert opinion | Can be dry/boring alone |
| Ethos | Ethics | Credibility, trustworthiness, expertise, appearance | Lost if presentation is sloppy |
Pathos detail: Negative emotion (fear, anger) is most effective at triggering action but most likely to backfire. Use positive emotion (hope, pride, gratitude) more safely.
Ethos detail: Conveyed both directly (credentials, expertise) and indirectly (spelling errors, sloppy formatting, choice of medium all affect credibility).
Rhetorical Triangle: Ethos, logos, and pathos must be balanced. The right balance depends on audience, context, and goals.
Ethos
(credibility)
/ \
Pathos ——————— Logos
(emotion) (logic/reason)
3 Know Your Audience
Research Your Audience
- Understand their needs, wants, interests, feelings
- Understand the context and constraints they face
- Demonstrate in your message that you know their needs and have addressed their concerns
Have a Clear Request
- The request (= “the ask”) is the thing you want the audience to do or accept
- Must be clear and stated as simply as possible — complexity leads to inaction
Determine the Benefits
Benefits are what your audience gains — not what you gain.
Ask yourself:
- Will it save them time, effort, or money?
- Will it make them look good?
- Will it satisfy them?
- Will it solve or help them avoid problems?
Present benefits early — don’t let them fade into the background.
4 Constructing Persuasive Messages
4-Step Logic
- Get your audience’s attention
- State your request
- Convince them of the merits
- Encourage them to act
5-Component Structure
| Component | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Attention statement (hook) | Humour, novelty, surprise, dramatic fact, emotional story, or rhetorical question — must be relevant/relatable |
| Introduction | State how request benefits audience; include clear purpose statement; state the request directly (usually) |
| Explanation | Establish credibility; discuss features; compare with alternatives; proactively address concerns |
| Evidence | Statistics, testimonials, expert opinion, test results, personal anecdotes |
| Call to action | Clear next steps; motivate action now (delay = less likely to act) |
Tailoring the Message
- Supervisor/client who asked for your ideas → hook may not be needed (they’re already engaged)
- Communicating upward → polite request instead of commanding call to action (“let me know if you’d like me to implement this plan”)
- Repeat client → brief recap of evidence rather than full re-explanation
5 Additional Tips (6)
- Start with your greatest benefit — use it in the headline/subject line; audiences remember start and end, not middle
- Lead with emotion, follow with reason — get attention with pathos, then establish credibility with logos
- Be transparent — state your motivations and any conflicts of interest; opacity = perceived manipulation
- Be fair — concede contrary viewpoints, accurately represent alternatives; honesty builds credibility
- Take baby steps — one idea/product/service per message; too many options → defensive “no”
- Project confidence — believe in your idea; confidence comes from thorough research and knowledge of benefits/alternatives
Key Takeaways
- Develop persuasion skills through practice
- Balance pathos, logos, and ethos
- Know your audience; focus on benefits to them
- Structure your message effectively
- Anticipate concerns and proactively address them
- State your request clearly
- Be transparent, fair, and confident
Related Concepts
RhetoricalAppeals · PersuasiveMessages · AudienceAnalysis · CommunicationGoals · PASFramework · RhetoricalAppeals-ArgumentStructure