Persuasive Strategies: A Guide to Effective Communication, Exercises of English

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Common persuasive strategies

And how they typically operate :)

Adjectives, Adverbs and Connotations Adjectives - these words give descriptions Adverbs - these words give extra info about actions (verbs) Connotations - these are the feelings we get when we see certain words When we identify adjectives and adverbs we need to decide what connotations they have!

Alliteration - words beginning with same letter/sound Leaping Logan Loves the Leather Local football star Logan Hayward amassed over 30 possessions and took and great mark in his team’s big win against Dederang. In the wet weather his attack at the ball packed a punch and made his opposition look twice when he was around. Often used in headlines to be MEMORABLE and interest people to want to read more. In writing alliteration can help to EMPHASISE a point. In this case it helps to show how Hayward’s attack on the ball was very physical.

Anecdotes - short, personal stories Why do I want to ban all junk food from the canteen? Because I personally know of a student who has become very ill due to high blood pressure after visiting the canteen every day for 6 years. Anecdotes show the reader that the writer has some INVOLVEMENT with the issue and this might make their arguments more credible.

Attacks - criticise and ‘have a go’ at a person or idea Local footballer Logan Hayward needs to wake up to himself and start to get to training. He is lazy and selfish and his habits will be the reason this club doesn’t make the finals. Attacks often try to leave the reader feeling negatively about a person or an idea. Attacks often use negatively connoted words.

Bias - is when a writer is deliberately one- sided ‘Teachers are the best members of society. They are the hardest working, the most caring and it is the most important vocation one could ever have.’ - L Hayward 2018 Here we have a biased opinion from Logan Hayward. It is clearly biased towards teaching as he HIMSELF is a teacher. The way this is persuasive is that it deliberately ignores any other potential arguments making this line of reasoning appear undeniable.

Colloquial language - everyday, real-life language ‘Seriously mate, if you’re not willing to have a crack then just bugger off. Our team would be heaps better without you stuffing around and pissing us off. ’

• a letter to the editor directed to a underperforming footballer. Colloquial language helps to persuade readers as it often makes the writer appear more ‘normal’ which they hope, in turn, makes readers more likely to listen to what they have to say as they ‘speak’ the same way everyday people do.

Emotive language - makes you FEEL an EMOTION ‘This poor child was lonely, scared, starving and confused. What is our society coming to when parents think they can leave their vulnerable, helpless children in the car while they go and play the pokies?’ - Letter to the Editor regarding kids left in cars What emotions do you feel reading this? What words cause these emotions? THEY are the emotive words the writer has deliberately included. Hint: they are also adjectives.

Euphemism - a ‘mild’ way of saying something It is unfortunate that these troops were lost due to friendly fire. However, that is a risk that soldiers must face. Euphemisms often ‘soften the blow’ or help to avoid using a more emotive term. Can you spot the euphemism here? What is the effect on the reader?