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Persuasion

• Emphasis is on the audience
• Knowledge and background
• Fears
• Expectations
• Values
• Criteria for judging your case

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Persuasive Appeals

• Appeal to your audience
• Appeal to logic or reason
• Appeal to values
• Appeal from your credibility

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Means of Persuasion

• Use appeals to generate content and approach
• Appeal to reason What facts or authorities
  support my case?
• Appeal to values, concerns, and fears What
  content is needed? What approach is appropriate?
• Appeal from credibility How do I present
  myself?

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Identification

• Persuasion requires identification
• Have you identified shared beliefs and points of
  agreement?
• Identification requires respect
• Can you recognize and appreciate differences in
  subject matter, approach, conventions,
  terminology, ways of thinking?

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Models of Persuasion

• Use models only as guides
• Be creative
• Problem-solve
• Focus on audiences needs, expectations, values,
  and fears.

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Adversarial Persuasion

• Introduce topic
• Explain facts and issues define terms
• State your case
• Provide supporting evidence
• Refute other positions and explain why your
  solution is superior
• Summarize arguments and refutations

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Adversarial Persuasion
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Adversarial Example

• Robert The report is due this week and I havent
  seen your part of it yet. The boss has demanded
  that I have the completed report on his desk by
  Friday morning and everything is finished except
  your part. This project is the most important
  thing we are working on. Our company stands to
  lose a lot of money if the report is late. A week
  ago, you promised me that your part of the report
  would be completed in a day. Im still waiting,
  and Im running out of time (and patience). As it
  stands now, I will have to work late tomorrow
  evening just to revise and format your part of
  the report. I must have your report by first
  thing in the morn-ing. Work all night if you have
  to. Your job may depend on it.

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Collegial Persuasion

1. Present conflict as problem
2. Demonstrate understanding of other position
3. Identify when other position is valid
4. State own position without overstating it
5. Identify when it is valid
6. Describe benefits of your position or propose a
   compromise

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Collegial Persuasion
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Collegial Example

• Hi Bob, It sounds like we are going to run into
  some problems meeting our deadlines for the
  report. I understand you have a lot of other work
  to do that is interfering with you completing
  your part of the report. I know your other
  commitments are very important and normally it
  wouldnt matter if you were a bit late. But I
  really do need your part of the report as soon as
  possible. Perhaps the deadline we face has
  slipped your mind. The boss has told me that the
  entire report must be completed by Friday morning
  because our company stands to lose a lot of money
  if it is submitted late and jobs could be lost.
  If you will get me your part of the report by
  tomorrow afternoon, I will let him know that you
  went out of your way to complete it. Thanks Bob.

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Constructive Criticism

• Describe the others specific behavior or action
  When you do _____
• Describe the specific result of the behavior or
  action _____ results
• Suggest an alternative behavior I wish you would
  do ______ instead
• If appropriate, suggest a way to implement that
  change You can accomplish that by ______

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Constructive Criticism
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Constructive Example

• Bob When you give me your part of the report
  late, I must work a lot of overtime in order to
  meet the deadlines for the project. I wish you
  would give me your work at the agreed-upon time
  instead.

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Connotation

• Connotations are contextual meanings

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Inclusive Language

• Generic Language
• He
• Businessman
• Chairman
• Foreman
• Husband, Wife

Inclusive Language ? He or she, S/he, They ?
Entrepreneur ? Chair ? Supervisor ? Spouse
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Guidelines for Inclusive Language

• Avoid nouns that imply gender
• Avoid gendered nouns with negative connotations
• Avoid gender stereotyping
• Use neutral or dual pronouns
• Switch to the plural
• Use both pronouns (he or she)
• Combine pronouns (s/he)
• Omit pronoun or replace with a definite article
  (the)
• Alternate pronouns throughout a document
• Use third-person plural pronouns as the singular
  (they, them, their)

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Example of Generic Language

• For example, a user selects Compile in order to
  collect timing signals. Later, he selects
  Analyze to produce a series of graphs for the
  compiled timing data.

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Revising Generic Language

• Original
• For example, a user selects Compile in order to
  collect timing signals. Later, he selects
  Analyze to produce a series of graphs for the
  compiled timing data.

Revised For example, users select Compile in
order to collect timing signals. Later, they
select Analyze to produce a series of graphs
for the compiled timing data.
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Principles of Persuasion

• Respect readers and let them guide planning,
  drafting, and revising
• Appeal to reason, to values, and from your
  credibility
• Build on a foundation of shared beliefs and
  points of agreement
• Respect different ways of thinking and different
  perspectives
• Use models only as guides
• Note the connotations of words
• Employ inclusive language
• Be honest