Persuasive Writing

El método, paso a paso

1. 1

   State your position in the first paragraph

   the reader should know your view before the second paragraph ends

   A persuasive piece that withholds its argument reads as indecisive. State the position early and spend the rest of the piece supporting it — the reader is being asked to agree, and they cannot agree with something not yet said.

2. 2

   Identify the audience and write for them

   a letter to a headteacher differs from an article for classmates

   Register, examples and the kind of evidence that will convince all depend on who is reading. Exam questions always specify an audience and a form, and ignoring that specification costs marks regardless of how well written the piece is.

3. 3

   Support each point with evidence

   statistics, expert opinion, examples, anecdote

   Assertion without evidence persuades nobody. Different evidence suits different audiences — a school governor may respond to figures where a peer responds to a specific story — so choose deliberately rather than defaulting to statistics.

4. 4

   Address the strongest opposing argument

   'Some argue that… however…'

   Acknowledging the other side and answering it strengthens a piece considerably. Ignoring it leaves the reader's objection unaddressed, and a reader who is silently disagreeing has already stopped being persuaded.

5. 5

   Use rhetorical technique with restraint

   rhetorical questions, rule of three, direct address, repetition

   These devices work when they are used sparingly and drown the argument when they are not. A piece consisting mainly of rhetorical questions reads as a checklist rather than as an argument.

A structure that works

Open by stating your position and why the issue matters. Give your strongest argument first with evidence, then further arguments in decreasing order of strength. Acknowledge the opposing view and answer it. Close by restating the position and telling the reader what to do.

Leading with the strongest point runs against the instinct to build to a climax, and it is the better choice here. A reader who is convinced early reads the rest sympathetically; one who is unconvinced early may not reach the end at all.

• State the position early
• Strongest argument first
• Evidence for every claim
• Acknowledge and answer the counter-argument
• Close with a clear call to action

Why the counter-argument helps you

It seems counter-intuitive to raise the objection to your own case, but it does three things. It shows you understand the issue fully, it removes the reader's unspoken 'but what about…', and it lets you answer the objection on your own terms rather than leaving it to grow.

The technique only works if the counter-argument is a real one. Choosing a weak version of the opposing case and defeating it is transparent, and a reader who notices it trusts the rest of the piece less.

Devices support the argument, they are not the argument

Students taught a list of persuasive techniques often produce pieces that deploy all of them and argue nothing. Three rhetorical questions in a paragraph is not persuasion; it is a demonstration that the writer knows what a rhetorical question is.

The test is whether removing a device would weaken the argument. If it would not, the device was decoration. One well-placed direct address is more persuasive than five scattered through a page.

How we teach persuasive writing

We require the counter-argument paragraph in every piece, because it is the section that most reliably lifts a grade and the one students most reliably omit.

We also make students write the same argument twice for different audiences — once to a headteacher, once to classmates. Nothing teaches audience awareness faster than seeing how much has to change.