Organization: Organizing the Persuasive Message
If you have ever received a letter encouraging you to apply for a credit card, purchase a subscription to a magazine, or buy something â anything, everything â then you have ample experience with the organizational pattern we call the persuasive or sales message. In fact, even TV commercials, and especially longer infomercials, use the techniques established by this pattern. But, more surprisingly, so do many technical writing documents.
Persuasive Message Organization
The persuasive news message consists of four interrelated steps:
1: Get Your Readerâs Attention
This step, known as the hook, pulls in the reader by appealing to need:
Example 1
Congratulations! You have been pre-approved for a $5000 line of credit with AMPLE Credit Card Services
Example 2
I was quite impressed when I heard about the recent decision of your information technology department to convert all of its computer applications to web-based versions. And I was especially impressed to hear that the implementations of the applications are going to be completed using Java technology. As a senior computer science major at Virginia Tech who has a solid background in leading computer technologies and languages, I would very much like to work for Shenandoah Life as a software developer dedicated to developing efficient and reliable web applications for your employees.
The first example is a typical introduction to a sales letter; the second, though, is that of a well-developed cover or application letter. Both appeal to the reader in some way: the first, through tapping the individualâs desire for monetary gain; the second, by paying a compliment and linking the writerâs skills to the companyâs needs.
2: Build Your Readerâs Interest
The first section of the body builds the readerâs interest by providing specific details about product, idea, concept, or project about which you are writing.
Example 1
The AMPLE card offers a low interest rate of .4% annually, with no interest on purchases if paid in full before 30 days.
To complete your application, simply complete the enclosed form and return it within 30 days or â even quicker! â submit the online form at our web site (http://amplecc-app/).
Example 2
To prepare myself for a career in web application development, I have taken several software technology classes, including Java web development, two database management classes, and two information design classes.
The sales letter provides information about the credit card that would appeal to the readerâs logical side, while the cover letter provides educational proof of competency, which would pique the potential employerâs interest in hiring the writer.
In both cases, the subject of the letter is a product -- in the first, a manufactured item; in the second, you, a potential employee -- so it makes senses that the approach to âsellingâ each would be the same.
3: Build Your Readerâs Desire
Your first question here is likely to be What is the difference between interest and desire? Interest refers more to logical things: facts, figures, concrete explanations about services. Desire, on the other hand, implies a craving; it is one step more intense than interest. It speaks to the âgot to have itâ side of us.
Example 1
Need a new car? If you use our car at approved dealerships, you can be driving interest free for two years! Need a new laptop? All laptops and tablets are discounted 15% if you use our card to purchase online at WeBuy.com!
Example 2
To apply the theoretical knowledge I have developed in school, as well as to gain practical experience, I have worked in the development of small-sized applications for public retailers and of larger web-based applications for client usage. The main responsibility I was given in both positions was to observe the needs of the users and to then fulfill them by upgrading or modifying the existing applications. Both of these positions provided me with the experience of working within very large information technology departments and with first-hand knowledge of how crucial communication is between all members of a design team.
Example 1 speaks to your basic human desires for possessions. You might not really need a new car or a new laptop, but wouldnât it be really nice to have one? Example 2 adds one level to the employerâs willingness to hire the applicant because it proves he or she has real-world experience and skills. Concrete details add to the building of that desire.
4: Ask for Action
In the final step in the persuasive news message, you ask for action on the part of the reader.
Example 1
Hurry, though, because the low interest rate on this card is locked in only until 30 June. So apply today!
Example 2
I am excited about the possibility of becoming a member of your team and would like to discuss this opportunity with you. I will call you in five to seven days to make sure you have received my application and to answer any questions you might have. Thank you for your time.
Example 1 actually puts a time limit on the offer in order to make you move more quickly. In commercials, time limits might even be represented by a clock counting down the minutes until the offer ends. Example 2 does not actually give the potential employer an ultimatum â hire me by this date! â but it does prompt him or her to consider your application, because it indicates that you will call within a certain amount of days.
What is most interesting about the persuasive news message is that it can be applied to almost any technical writing document that adopts a position on something: hire me (cover letter), fund our project (proposal), purchase this software instead of that software (recommendation report).
Adapting the Persuasive Message Pattern
Of course, itâs very easy to see how this pattern works in a one or two-page letter, particularly if you have to produce only one paragraph for each step. Four steps = four paragraphs. But what happens if you are asked to produce a 5-page proposal or a 10-page report â even one thatâs 25 pages, 40 pages, or longer?
All you need to do is adapt this framework to your larger document. For example, you can quite easily mold the persuasive message pattern to the needs of a recommendation report:
1: Get the Readerâs Attention
In the report becomes the Introduction
In it, you introduce the subject by providing interesting facts or information about it; end section with purpose statement
2: Build the Readerâs Interest
In the report becomes the Problem Section
In it, you discuss fully the problem you want to solve by providing ample proof that it exists. Section might last several pages as you provide both written and visual evidence. This will make the reader fully interested in the problem because they will recognize its importance.
3: Build the Readerâs Desire
In the report becomes the Solution Section
In it, you discuss each possible solution before zeroing in on your own solution(s). By the time you have discussed each one, including its flaws, you will have built the readersâ desire for the BEST solution, which is yours. You then discuss it fully, providing plenty of evidence.
4: Ask for Action
In the report becomes the Conclusions/Recommendations Section
In the first part, you wrap up the report by providing conclusions: based upon our research, this is what we have found. In the second part, you provide your recommendations by telling the readers what they should now do (action).