Learn some Valuable Persuasive Essay Writing Techniques

Do you apply every persuasive essay writing technique?

A basic rule about writing essays (any kind of essay) is try to catch the reader’s attention and maintain it all trough the paper. But this is especially true when it comes to this specific kind of essay we know as persuasive or argumentative essay. These essays apply a series of techniques for persuading the readers to adopt the same point of view or opinion as the author.
When you are writing this kind of essay, what you must basically do is use logic and reason to demonstrate that one idea (that is, your own) is more valid than another. By using a series of procedures and typical persuasive essay writing techniques, you will try to push the reader to adopt the same point of view you are expressing or even taking an action based on the reading. You will find it clearer if you consider the purpose almost the same as in advertising, when the sender of the message is looking for the receiver to buy their products or services.

Some basic techniques

Here we will provide you with some persuasive essay writing techniques you may have probably heard before. But, are you sure you apply them consistently in your essays?
The first one is providing reasons: you can’t limit yourself to make a statement, you should explain why. And always try to make the explanation as logical as possible. Do not appeal to the reader’s emotions but to their sense of logic. For example, if you are defending affirmative action, do not write that it is great for “those poor single African American moms who can’t make ends meet”, but instead write about how more employment improves the numbers in the whole national economy.
Other basic technique (largely used in advertising, by the way) is repetition. That doesn’t mean repeating the same words or sentences more than twice. Instead, try using synonyms and paraphrasing: that way the reader will receive the same message many times without realizing.
Another persuasive essay writing technique you may probably know is comparing. By using similes, metaphors and analogies, you can relate your statement to something that the reader already accepts as true. In this way, you are half way through on your way to convincing them to see things your way.

More advanced techniques

Of course, if you have chosen a statement and you are trying to persuade people about it, that means a different statement is possible. As a writer, you must cope with it. How? By addressing all potential objections and proving them wrong in advance. In rhetoric this procedure is called reductio ad absurdum: try to use inverse logic, proving that the opposite argument is just ridiculous.
One last persuasive essay writing technique is storytelling: if you express your statement as a maxim of a fable, you will persuade many more readers than by providing the statement alone. After all, by telling the right story you don’t need to convince anyone of anything but you simply help others independently decide that you are right. Storytelling really is the heart of persuasion!

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