Techniques of Persuasive Essay Writing

You have applied for an extension of the deadline of your dissertation. While you are waiting for a reply from your professor, you get a call from him only to know that he cannot give you an extension. Now, you can do two things, say a ‘Yes professor’ and give up on it, or you can try talking and convincing him to approve your request.

This art of persuasion is what you need while crafting persuasive essays.

On that note, this blog will answer all your questions about persuasive essays and help you learn the correct techniques of persuasive essay writing.

Let’s get started!

What is a Persuasive Essay?

Most essays emphasise on relevant research and some creative touch. But persuasive essays bank on your convincing skills. Let’s say you believe the England football team follows the right strategy but are not lucky enough to get the cup. You will need to prove your point with proper data and arguments.

Now when we say arguments, do not get confused between argumentative and persuasive essays. Argumentative essays focus on both sides of the story to reach a conclusion, while a persuasive essay is focussed only on the author’s point of view. Further, argumentative essays depend entirely on facts, while persuasive essays have a personal touch to them.

Argumentative approach:

‘The England football team won the FIFA World Cup only once in 1966. Since then, the team was not able to win any major tournaments. Studies found that the team does not have many English players, and the Premier League is not interested in developing the national team.’

Persuasive approach:

‘The England football team had some of the best players in 2002, yet lost to Brazil in the quarter-finals. Despite leading by a goal, a small mistake by David Seaman cost them their journey to the semi-finals. Anything can happen in football, and England is an example of a team that displayed class yet was not lucky enough.’

Just remember that persuasive essays should not be too formal. It should be more like having a conversation with the readers.

Wondering why you are asked to write such essays? The following section will help you learn how important persuasive essays are.

Reasons Persuasive Writing is Important

‘How can writing a persuasive essay help me? Why am I asked to convince others?’

To begin with, persuasive writing is one of the crucial skills for all in the business world. You would not have ordered food from KFC if their advertisements were not convincing. Similarly, when you sit for an interview, the first thing your interviewer will look at is your resume. If that does not have enough points to convince them, you can give up on your dream of getting the job. Also, you have to answer all their questions and convince them that you are the best candidate for the job.

Learning persuasive writing is your key to success in the future. If you have the skill to convince your readers and prove your point of view, you can sail through various hurdles in the future.

Now, before moving on to persuasive essay writing tips, let’s look into the three modes of persuasion.

The Three Modes of Persuasion

In persuasive essays, the focus should be on your point of view, and writers have been using the three modes of persuasion, ethos, logos, and pathos, since time immemorial. What are they? Let’s explore:

• Ethos

‘Ethos’ in persuasive writing refers to how a writer presents themselves in a write-up. As persuasive writing is directed towards convincing readers, you need to establish yourself first. So, if you are writing about the game of football, start with, “As a player in the college football team, I keep myself updated.”

• Logos

The Greek term ‘logos’ refers to the use of logical arguments in support of your views. You need to understand that persuasive essays are not dependent only on persuasive speeches; it is crucial to provide supporting facts and figures. You cannot make a claim out of thin air. So, if you feel England has a good national team, you need to share some facts supporting your statement.

• Pathos

As mentioned earlier, a persuasive essay must have an emotional touch. A personal experience can help connect with the readers and strengthen your point in the essay. Add your experience of witnessing a match in the stadium and how the team you supported played well yet lost the match. It can help build an instant connection with the readers.

Now, there are many ways to use these three things in your essay. Once you know the steps to writing a persuasive essay, it will be easy for you to implement these elements.

7 Steps to Write a Perfect Persuasive Essay

Here are seven steps to write a perfect persuasive essay:

1. Choose your stance

First things first, take a stand for or against the topic. Some students get influenced by others’ opinions, and that impacts the entire objective of persuasive essays. You must dig deep into the topic and choose a stance that you feel is correct. It will help you frame each persuasive sentence correctly and connect with the readers. Further, it will ease the process of writing a thesis statement as well.

2. Understand your audience

It is impossible to craft a flawless persuasive essay if you don’t understand your audience. For example, if you are writing on the impact of online education, it is likely to be read by teachers, students and parents. So, your essay must have a generalised approach and explain the ways online education has impacted all. Also, you have to ensure that the essay carries some points explaining what the future of education looks like. The essay must help all readers understand how online education is reshaping the education system.

3. Research both sides

You could never win an argument if you go on speaking without listening to your opponent. This is precisely why looking at both sides of the coin is crucial for persuasive essays. You must research and find all information on the topic. For instance, many still feel that online education cannot be the future of education. Understand why they feel that way. It will help you craft those persuading statements perfectly. You can refute their points and explain why online education has a lot of potential.

4. Create an outline

Once you have the necessary data, you must start working on the essay outline. You have to distribute and arrange all the points as per the essay structure. The essay outline is a crucial part of essays. Many students avail persuasive essay writing services to get help with the process. The outline forms the base of essays, and you must create a perfect one to ease the essay writing process.

5. Support your views

Persuasive essays depend on how well you present your views and explain on what grounds your views are based on. The persuasion process entirely depends on the use of proper data in support of your statements. Remember when you asked your parents for a cell phone? You had to convince them saying how your friends used them to keep their parents updated. You need to follow the same while writing a persuasive essay.

6. End it with a strong conclusion

After you are done with your explanations, logical reasoning and everything, end the piece with a proper conclusion. Add some key takeaways for readers, restate your thesis, and summarise the entire discussion in this section. Some persuasive essays also need a call to action for readers.

7. Proofread and edit

Do not submit your essay without proofreading and editing the paper. You have to ensure that the paper is flawless. You can refer to some persuasive essay writing examples to understand the ideal structure of such essays and work on them accordingly.

Does that sound simple? Let’s make things easier for you. The following section will introduce you to some key techniques for writing a perfect persuasive essay.

Persuasive Essay Writing Essay Techniques

In addition to the steps mentioned above, you must know the correct ways to write a persuasive essay. The experts have recommended the following techniques to nail a persuasive essay:

1. Choice of words

One of the crucial steps in persuasive writing is the choice of words. Your readers will not connect with your write-up if the piece is too complicated and too formal. Never beat around the bush while writing persuasive essays. Instead, keep things straightforward, use puns, rhyming words and some humour to connect with the audience.

2. Ask questions

‘Do you feel online education will have an adverse effect on the entire education system? Here’s why you are wrong.’ If you end your introduction this way, it will create an instant connection with the readers. Asking questions is the best way to make your persuasive essay interesting and worth reading.

3. Write a clear thesis statement

The thesis statement helps communicate the main theme of the essay. The thesis statement sheds light on your point of view about the topic, and it must be written carefully. You must write the thesis statement in the introduction section and ensure it is clear and concise. There are websites offering help with writing an introduction for a persuasive essay. You can ask them and learn how to write and include the thesis statement in your introduction.

4. Speak with readers

No, you don’t have to go and talk to readers. You have to write in a way that seems like you are having a conversation with the readers. If you check persuasive essay samples online, you will only get attracted to the ones that have this characteristic. Learn how to create that impact and implement the same in your writing.

5. Revisit your main arguments

A great way to persuade your readers is by revisiting the main arguments over and over again. It helps readers recollect what they have read previously and connect with the write-up. You can relate to it if you take a look around. For instance, if you keep hearing about a brand, you will invariably go ahead and buy the product without a second thought. Persuasion is not possible if you don’t repeat the main arguments over and over again.

Few Trending Persuasive Essay Topics

Here are a few topics that you can choose from:

1. What do you think is better, pizzas or hot dogs?
2. Is it important for kids to learn how to cook?
3. What is better, eating at a restaurant or at home?
4. Do you feel healthy food must be cheaper than junk food?
5. Do you think eating meat is a good idea?
6. Which is better: snacking all day or having a three-set meal?
7. Do you feel sugary drinks should be allowed at school?
8. Should kids eat food that they don’t like?
9. Who do you think is the best athlete in the world?
10. What, according to you, is the best sport to play?
11. Do you feel team sports are better than individual sports?
12. What is more fun: playing sports or watching them?
13. What do you think is better: summer sports or winter sports?
14. Is it necessary for students to stop playing sports if they don’t score well in exams?
15. Do you think professional athletes are overpaid?
16. What, according to you, is the best thing to do on a rainy day?
17. Do you feel music and movies be made free?
18. Who are more interesting: good guys or bad guys?
19. Do you think reality shows are better than other shows?
20. What, according to you, is the best book?
21. Comedies are better than action movies: Do you agree?  
22. Do you feel schools should allow students to carry cell phones?
23. Wealthy people must pay more taxes
24. Teenagers are more impolite than other generations: Do you agree?
25. Do you think people who have mental illnesses are not treated fairly by society?
26. Social media is harmful for all
27. An insight into if capital punishments are ethical
28. Understanding parents’ level of involvement in their children’s education
29. Do you feel everyone should give money to the homeless?
30. Understanding if it is wise for teachers to use social media to talk with their students
31. College education is crucial for a good career
32. Understanding the need for security guards in schools
33. Do you think tests are the best way to evaluate students?
34. Early European exploration was good or bad?
35. Democracy is the best form of government: Do you agree?
36. Should there be limits to freedom of speech?
37. Which, according to you, is the most unjust law in a country?
38. Do you think America is the most powerful nation?
39. Too much screen time is harmful for children
40. Which do you feel has been the best scientific breakthrough?
41. Is it ethical to sell customer information?
42. Understanding if there’s any good reason for war
43. Training dogs as service animals is unethical: Do you agree?
44. Which is better? Being a morning person or a night person?
45. Which, according to you, is more important, loving your job or earning more money?
46. Do you think life is better now than it was 50 years back?
47. Understanding the importance of print media in the current era
48. Identifying the most important element of the modern economy
49. Should cloning be allowed?
50. Healthy people should not pay much for healthcare: Do you agree?

Endnote:

Persuasive essays can be fun if you choose the right topic and understand the correct methods of writing one. Many have ignored attempting such essays and refrained from reading persuasive essay examples because they felt the entire process was too complicated. If you go through all the points above, you will understand how writing a persuasive essay is easy. These essays give you a chance to put forward your points and convince readers. Further, the essays help you enhance a lot of skills for the future. So, don’t just give up on these tasks; learn how to write one to make your voice heard.

Most Popular Questions Searched By Students

How to start writing a persuasive essay?

You need to follow these steps to start writing a persuasive essay:

• Take a stand
• Understand your audience
• Research well
• Create an outline
• Find supporting data for your arguments
• Write the essay

When does a problem-solution essay involve persuasive writing?

A problem-solution essay is all about understanding a problem and finding a solution. Persuasion is very important in this type of writing. You have to make your audience understand how the solution will benefit them in the long run. At times, readers fail to relate to the problem. In such cases, you have to use persuasive writing to help readers understand how the problem must be addressed and why it is crucial to find a solution.

What are the two purposes of writing a persuasive essay?

Persuasive essays address a lot of things and help readers get answers to some crucial questions. While the main objective of persuasive essays is to convince readers, the two main purposes continue to be ‘answer’ and ‘explanation’. Understand the main question, answer it and support your answer with a proper explanation.

What are the steps of writing a persuasive essay?

Follow these steps for writing a persuasive essay:

• Organise your thoughts
• Conduct extensive research on the topic
• Develop a strong thesis statement
• Write the introduction
• Write the body paragraphs
• End it with a strong conclusion

How to begin writing a persuasive essay?

The first thing to do to write a persuasive essay is to go through the topic and understand it properly. You also have to take a stand without being influenced by others’ opinions. A persuasive essay depends on what you feel about a situation or a problem. It is not about what studies have suggested. If you support the topic, look for information that can support your views.

How to brainstorm before writing a persuasive essay?

You can follow these steps while brainstorming for a persuasive essay:

• Set a goal for yourself
• Write down all the ideas you come across
• Think and understand what interests you the most
• Consider what you want to convey through your essay
• Try free writing
• Create a map of your ideas
• List the sources you want to acknowledge

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