E-Rhetoric:

A New Form of Persuasion

Puan Azura NMC102

What is Rhetoric?

The art of effective or persuasive speaking

What is Rhetoric?

https://youtu.be/FeCz5fy02JE
The first goal of is

to gain
ATTENTION
What is E-Rhetoric?
Informing, persuading and communicating through
digital technologies

1. Websites
2. Digital media: video, movies, podcats, photos
and other images
3. Presentation programs: Powerpoint, Keynote
4. Social media: Blogs, instant messaging, texting
and online communities such as Facebook,
Twitter and Myspace
What is E-Rhetoric?

https://youtu.be/8x4lUH0QBFo
 Rhetoric and the
Challenger Explosion

Lack of rhetoric at the

written level,
and poor rhetoric at the
graphic level
were the major contributors
to
the Challenger tragedy
What is E-Rhetoric?

As Web writer/editor,

You must focus on text and all the advantages of

multiple media and interactivity for your
persuasive strategies.

E-rhetoric is the act of bringing together the

text, photographs, illustrations, typography,
animation, navigation, links, and audio video
for the purpose of
persuasion on the Web
Rhetorical Credibility

Example:

Viagra Sites and Rhetorical Credibility

Government health site - HIGH

Physician’s advice column - HIGH
Men’s health forum - MEDIUM
Pharmaceutical company - MEDIUM TO LOW
Mail-order pharmacy - LOW
Testimonial (sales site) - LOW
Rhetorical strategies for making
online content persuasive

1. Well written content

2. Information architecture (IA)
3. Navigation
4. Visuals
 The Four C’s of Quality Web Content

CREDIBILITY
• is the quality, capability, or power
to elicit belief
CLARITY
• Credibility is in the eye of the
beholder
CONCISENESS • Belief are based on an individual’s
cultural, spiritual and personal
COHERENCE experiences
The Four C’s of Quality Web Content

CREDIBILITY 5 Criteria for Evaluating the Quality

of Information
CLARITY
1. Authority
CONCISENESS 2. Accuracy
3. Objectivity
COHERENCE 4. Currency
5. Coverage and intended audience
The Four C’s of Quality Web Content

Credibility and promotional text

CREDIBILITY

CLARITY

CONCISENESS

COHERENCE
The Four C’s of Quality Web Content

CREDIBILITY Tips for credibility

1. Include logo on each page
CLARITY 2. Avoid marketing language and hype
3. Don’t be over chatty and informal
CONCISENESS 4. Skip the humor
5. Eliminates typo, grammar and
COHERENCE spelling mistakes
 The Four C’s of Quality Web Content

• The ability to write and edit text so that it

CREDIBILITY
will be clear and easily readable.
• Using plain language
CLARITY – Readers can understand better
– Readers prefer plain language
CONCISENESS – Reader locate information faster
– Document easier to update
– Document are cost-effective
COHERENCE
 The Four C’s of Quality Web Content

1. Online text
• Short sentence, short words
CREDIBILITY
• Active voice
• Concrete
CLARITY • No adverbs
• Worldwide audience considerations
CONCISENESS 2. Presentation
• Titles
COHERENCE • Headers
• Bold
• Captions for figure or photos
The Four C’s of Quality Web Content

CREDIBILITY

• Be brief
CLARITY
• Reduce verbiage
• Shrink the text
CONCISENESS

COHERENCE
 The Four C’s of Quality Web Content

CREDIBILITY
• Textual coherence occurs through
3 inter-related elements:
CLARITY i. The structure of information
- Even though the Web is non-linear,
CONCISENESS readers look for cues that will lead
them on a path through the text

COHERENCE
 The Four C’s of Quality Web Content

CREDIBILITY
• Textual coherence occurs through
CLARITY
3 inter-related elements:
ii. The ties that hold the text together
- Useful on the Web where readers can
CONCISENESS scroll and move from page to page

COHERENCE
 The Four C’s of Quality Web Content

• Textual coherence occurs through

CREDIBILITY
3 inter-related elements:
iii. Use of reader’s background
CLARITY knowledge
– Genre recognition
CONCISENESS – Understanding of conventions
– Language knowledge
– Background knowledge
COHERENCE