COR-COMM1304 Lesson 3

Shyamala Deenathayalan
 At home
 In school
 At the workplace
 Think of instances of persuasion within the organisation

 Think of instances of persuasion between the organisation

and its external parties
 It is no longer only about ‘great’ ideas.
 It is about being able to ‘sell’ your ideas.

 Recipients may understand the message, but they may

not act.
 You must convince them to acknowledge and act.
 The Direct approach – use when
 recipients will agree with your message easily
 recipients are objective (prefer the information as it is)
 corporate/ethnic culture encourages this approach

 The Indirect approach – use when

 your intention is to change beliefs, attitudes and actions
 you want to build interest before revealing the objective
 A I D A

Attention Interest Desire Action

 Capture and compel to create positive emotion
 Be honest, not extravagant
 Activity: An interesting subject line?

 Some strategies
 Feature  Offer / Promise
 Question  Common ground
 Quotation  Testimonial
 Solution  Startling statement
 Fact  Personalised action
 Build credibility for yourself
 Create a connection with the audience
 Provide a clear description /explanation of your argument

 Aristotle’s Rhetorical Appeals

 Ethos (Ethical appeal)
relates to the degree of authority one has (extrinsic and intrinsic ethos)

 Pathos (Emotional appeal)

engages the senses and emotions (feelings, needs like status/success/ego)

 Logos (Logical appeal)

targets the conscious mind (saving $, improving a process, generating profit)
 Balance the appeals by considering
 the action you are trying to put in place
 the belief you are trying to instil
 your audience’s expectations
 the level and type of resistance
 your comfort level
 the preference of the organisation you represent
 AVOID the following:
 Hasty generalisations
 Circular reasoning
 Attacking the opponent
 Oversimplifying a complex issue
 False analogies
 Mistaken assumptions of Cause & effect
 Advertisers tend to use these appeals:
 Fear
 Humour
 Rational practicality
 Sex
 Bandwagon
Never dismiss resistance
 Make them WANT to change

 Bolster the strength of your message

 Word choice (survival / spider web QC)

 Overcome / minimize resistance by including

 Vested interest
 Testimonials / authority figures
 Warranty / guarantee / freebies
 Performance tests / awards
 Benefits in the long-run
 Sacrifice for a more important goal
Our financing plan includes no downpayment, no interest, no
payments for 24 months. (Interest)

You can buy whatever you want right now, even if you have
limited cash on hand. (Desire)

The spool in our fly fishing reels are machined from solid blocks
of aircraft grade aluminium. (Interest)

Go fishing with confidence. These lightweight reels will stand up

to the toughest conditions. (Desire)

Activity
 Offer a reason for prompt action
 Promise an incentive (save time, save $)
 Show the cost of delaying action
 Limit the offer
 Guarantee satisfaction
 Set a realistic deadline
 Make it easy for them to act
Albert Einstein - The measure of intelligence is the ability
to change.

John F. Kennedy - Change is the law of life, and those

who look only to the past and present are certain to miss
the future.

Oprah Winfrey – The greatest discovery of all time is

that a person can change his future by merely
changing his attitude.