A Step-by-Step Approach to Persuasive Writing
A guest post by David Masters of inkably.
There’s more than one way to win an argument.
Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath Aristotle developed his own philosophy on the best way to beat an opponent using words. He called this rhetoric.
Rhetoric, Aristotle said, is “the ability, in each particular case, to see the available means of persuasion.”
The three main means of persuasion are:
- Reason – appealing to your audience’s rationality and logic. Giving your point of view in an informed and fair manner.
- Emotion – creating feelings in your audience that lead them to your point of view.
- Beliefs – using the values and beliefs of your audience to build your argument.
You can use all of these for persuasive writing.
Of course, just because a tool is available to you doesn’t mean you should use it. (...)
