PERSUASIVE WRITING

Persuasive means- able to persuade/convince

There are many forms of persuasive writing; some are more persuasive than others, e.g. leaflets
and advertisements are written to persuade the reader to buy something. Letters, speeches and
formal arguments are often written to change the readers opinion about something.
Most persuasive writings use some or all of the following techniques:
1. Emotive language
It is use of the words and phrases that create readers sympathy for something or someone or
evokes an emotional response. Be careful not to overuse it.
You will find lots of emotive language in advertisements and charity appeals.
Which is more persuasive?
Please give Rs.100 to help this child.
Just Rs.100 will save Mohan from torture and starvation.
Remember some words have more emotive power than others, e.g. Slaughtered is more emotive
than killed.
2. Repetition
It helps to reinforce the main points of your text and build up a pattern in your writing. Repetition is
particularly useful if you are writing a speech. It will help your audience to remember main points.
Some different kinds of repetition you could use:
You might use an emotive phrase at the end of each paragraph, e.g. we are Indians.
You might repeatedly stress on good or bad features of an object, person or situation, e.g.
smoking is bad for health.
You might use some repetitive sentence structures, e.g. why do most schools insist on
having a school uniform? It isuncomfortable; it is unfashionable; it is impractical and it has
to go!
3. Rhetorical questions
Such questions do not require an answer. They are used to achieve strong emphasis. The writer
assumes that the answer to the question is obvious, e.g. It is unfair, isnt it? is a rhetorical
question and assumes that the answer will be yes.
4. Personal address
Address your audience personally
5. Get the audience on your side
Use the word we as it makes your audience feel as though you, the writer, and they, the reader,
are working together to achieve a common goal.
6. Guilt
Sometimes, making the audience feel guilty makes them sympathetic towards your viewpoint.
Dont overuse it.
7. Flattery

Flattery is good way of getting someone on your side, e.g. you all are intelligent, smart students.
But dont over use it.
In general, its good to start with flattery and end with repetition because flattery puts the reader in
good mood and the repetition leaves the reader with the most important issues firmly in their
heads.
8. Fear
Using fear successfully must be a careful and subtle method, based on an understanding of your
audience. It is also important to understand how the people you are persuading respond to fear.
Important Tip:
You dont need to use every technique listed here in your persuasive writing. Choose the ones
that suit your needs and your audience.

EXEMPLAR PERSUASIVE SPEECH

Write a speech for your school mates to create awareness about child labour
Dear friends, I thank you for attending this meeting. For those of you that do not know me, my
name is Vijay and I would like to address you on the topic of child labour.
How would you feel if you had to wake up at 6 o clock tomorrow morning, work for 16 hours in a
hot brick factory with little or no rest and receive Rs.50 as a daily wage?
I can see the shock on many of your faces.50 rupees for a days work! But my friends, this
happens all over the world.
One out of six children in the world is engaged in child labour.
India has the second largest child population in the world and it also has the largest number of
child labourers in the world .Around 14-17 million Indian children work for a living, most of them
under the age of 14.They work in factories, mills and construction sites, get paid very little or not at
all.
These children, most of who cannot read or write live miserable lives. They are beaten and
starved and made to work harder than any of us could ever imagine.
They are also exposed to many health hazards. In July 1991 at a factory in Sivakasi 39 children
were charred to death! They were all children younger than many of you sitting out here.
Many children suffer from acute breathing problems due to exposure to toxic substances.
After working for 14-16 hours of hard labour, with daily mental and physical torture many children
grow up to become criminals.
Makes us think, doesnt it?
We should think ourselves lucky. We are entitled to a proper education, many children are not.
Just remember when you get up for school tomorrow morning, children in many parts of the world
have been up hours before us, working in terrible conditions, dangerous conditions, inhuman
conditions! They have no education and have to work for less money than is needed to buy a
packet of sweets!