Would you like your writing to be more persuasive? Are you trying to sell your brand? Or perhaps you are putting forward an argumentative essay paper for college? Perhaps it’s your resume that you need to be more convincing?
There are any number of reasons why you may need your writing to be more appealing. And it’s not just about the content, but also the words that you use to create logical arguments that also contain enough emotional quality to convince. That is, convince someone that your product is the solution to their requirements, or that your brand is to be trusted, or that your point of view is to be believed, or even that you are the right person for the job.
Whatever the reason you need to be persuasive, here are 5 top tips for producing writing that lives up to the task:
Know your audience
This is key. If you do not know who your writing is targeted at, how can you hope to deliver what you need? You can’t, so this is where it all begins. To know your audience you can perform any number of tasks. Market research. See what your competitors are doing. Go out and meet them. Gather feedback. And if it’s a case that you already know who you are writing to, keep that in the front of your mind as you seek to persuade them. Remember what makes them tick. It’s not about you, it’s about them.
Grab their attention early
One of the biggest problems you face with your writing is actually catching people’s attention long enough to read it. Even in the case of an essay, where perhaps your tutor has to read it, there may be an element of the captive audience – they are doing it because they have to and are therefore only going through the motions. In short, you haven’t really got their attention.
So how do you do this? Obviously, a killer first line helps. But most importantly, offer up refreshing honesty and a novel approach – don’t just restate the same old things. Another smart approach is to state a fact that supports your argument. Or even a quote from someone influential who backs you up.
Examine both sides (being empathetic in the process)
Completely failing to acknowledge that there is a different point of view does not work for reasonable-minded people. There is not much in this world that is totally black and white – often the solution is a shade of grey. So even though you may be offering a solution, failing to recognize that not everyone will see it your way is an oversight and you will lose many readers with this approach. You don’t have to sit on the fence – you shouldn’t – but you must acknowledge that not everything is cut and dried. And that brings us nicely onto empathy.
Most of us are empathetic beings. To achieve empathy, be conversational in tone and speak directly to the reader. Use personal pronouns such as ‘you’ and ‘we’, and keep it simple. By using language that is overly complex you only succeed in alienating your audience.
Speak directly to the reader (through the use of structures such as rhetorical questions)
No one likes to feel that they are just one of the masses. There may be over 7.5 billion people on the planet, but at the same time we are all individuals, with our individual needs, worries, concerns and tastes.
Those who are truly successful in being persuasive are able to make the reader feel unique. Special. Who doesn’t want to feel that way?
As well as knowing your audience down to a tee, there are particular methods that you can then utilize to achieve this goal. For example, rhetorical questions are great because, firstly they succeed in showing empathy but also, secondly, they personalise the issue for that person you are reaching out to.
You cannot hope to convey every possible alternative feeling, emotion, and problem in what you write, so instead allow the reader to ask themselves the question and formulate the response in their own mind. Now the issue has become personal, in the best possible way.
Use effective templates
The problem may be here that you are trying to reinvent the wheel when there is absolutely no need to. What you are trying to achieve has absolutely been done before. So save yourself a whole load of time and heartbreak by availing of Linguix templates so you can structure your piece of writing in the best way possible. All that is now left is to change the detail to make it yours.
Linguix offers a wide variety of quality templates for a number of different purposes. The business section provides templates for a whole host of email responses, a successful business bio, social media blog posts, press releases and a case study for marketing. Not only will your writing be professionally arranged and persuasive, but you can speed up your creation process by up to 600%.
In the essay category you can access an eclectic array of templates ranging from argumentative papers to literary analysis, an SAT essay template and even a short story. Unlock your creativity by accessing any number of these specially designed templates.
There is a well-stocked email section which covers a variety of email subjects that may be required in a number of business scenarios, including sales and meeting scheduling.
The resume section offers up a highly persuasive cover letter and CV template, while there are social and personal sections which include templates designed for persuasive social media posts, blogging activities and more besides.