The Power of Persuasive Writing

Being able to write persuasively is a very powerful skill to have. Whether you’re writing an essay, a proposal, an article, a review, an advert, or even a letter to your MP, being able to convince your audience to side with your point of view is essential to success. In this article we explain some of the most effective ways of being persuasive in your writing, whatever you need it for. The PEE technique You might recognise this famous persuasive technique from your essay writing days if you took English GCSEs. The PEE technique is an extremely effective way of structuring a persuasive paragraph. Point - state your point "Plastic waste is bad for animals" Evidence - back it up "Studies have shown that one million sea birds and 100,000 marine mammals are killed annually from plastic in our oceans" Explain - explain it "This shows that waste plastics are having a detrimental effect on wildlife populations" The rule of three This is a writing rule that can be used to make your writing more effective, persuasive and memorable. It suggests that listing three events, characters or adjectives has the best effect when it comes engaging to readers (as opposed to just one or two). Here are some examples of effective and memorable lists of three in historical speeches:

• “Veni, vidi, vici” (I came, I saw, I conquered) – Julius Caesar
• “Government of the people, by the people, for the people” – Abraham Lincoln
• “Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be” – Winston Churchill

So how can you harness this power in your own writing? There are a few easy ways:

• Use three adjectives in a row. Just look at the first line of this paragraph. We used three adjectives in a row to emphasise our point
• Organise your argument into three main sections
• Use the PEE technique.

Kevan Lee, director of marketing for Buffer, lists 27 copywriting formulas that you can use to grab your readers’ attention. Here are two that we love: The four Cs

• Clear - keep what you’re saying simple and easy to understand. Your reader doesn’t know the product/service as well as you do
• Concise - stick to the point and don’t try to bombard your audience with unnecessary information
• Compelling - write from your readers’ perspective, not your own. Tell them exactly what they want, and need, to know
• Credible - back up what you’re saying to instill faith in what it is that you’re selling/saying

Remember the five basic objections

• I don’t have enough time
• I don’t have enough money
• It won’t work for me
• I don’t believe you
• I don’t need it

These are the basic reasons that people will come up with not to follow through on what you’re offering. Keep these points in mind when you’re writing and try to counter and many of them as you can.