How to Organize a Persuasive Message

Give your audience members good reasons why they should act.

A persuasive message is effectively a call to action and can be spoken or written. In both cases though, a persuasive message almost always includes five components: an introduction, a problem, causes, solutions and a conclusion. Organize your persuasive message effectively so that what you say is clear, concise and easily acted upon, and you will find yourself that much closer to success.

Instructions

1. Get your audience members' full attention with a smart, interesting or funny introduction. Keep their attention by linking it to the problem you will present. State your position clearly, and briefly preview some of the points you will discuss. Choose vocabulary that evokes emotion and connects you to your audience members. Speak with them and not at them.

2. Define the problem and explain how it affects them. Will a planned new hypermarket take away jobs from local independent businesses? Will a gang prevention program losing funding put their children at risk? Focus on your audience members, and tell them why they should care.

3. Explain the causes of the problem. While there may be many causes, choose only two or three main ones. Personalize the causes so that the audience members feel involved. Did the politician they voted for not tell the truth about the hypermarket project? Were their tax dollars diverted from the gang prevention program? They must believe the connection between the problem and the causes, as well as their involvement in it, if they are to act. Give at least three pieces of evidence that back up your claims.

4. Firmly state step-by-step solutions to the problem and what the audience can do to ensure that the solutions work. Use strong language that calls the audience members to action and gives them a reason why they should. Give them a time frame for when the actions should be completed. Show them how they can make a difference.

5. End on a positive note. Conclude your message by briefly reviewing the problem and the solutions. Concentrate on the solutions rather than on the problem and in their part in ensuring that the solutions happen. Motivate them to action, and let them know you believe they can do it.

Tips & Warnings

• Use a persuasion map (see Resource below) to easily and effectively organize your thoughts.

• Keep your message positive and brief. A short, upbeat message identifying a problem and a few actionable solutions is more effective than a long speech or passage full of doom and gloom.

References

• Read, Write, Think: Persuasive Writing Strategy Guide
• Western Michigan University: Steps in Planning a Persuasive Message
• Toastmaster's International: The Equation for Persuasion

Resources

• Read, Write, Think: Persuasion Map