Three Basic Appeals for Persuasive Letters
07/15/2008
There are three basic ways you can appeal to your audience (taken from Technical Communication, Lannon, Chapter 4).
Here you use power as a supervisor or borrow someone else's authority to compel the reader to do as you ask. For example, a boss may simply send out a memo telling employees that they must all work overtime next month. Or a disgruntled customer wishing to persuade a business to make good on a transaction may threaten to involve an attorney if things aren't resolved to the writer's satisfaction. Use this sort of appeal sparingly, usually after you've exhausted every other option. People resent being backed into a corner, and coercing people may actually backfire on the writer.
Here you persuade people to do things because they respect and admire you. This appeal is used any time someone uses a celebrity to raise money for a charity. Jimmy Carter, for example, is one of the most respected living ex-presidents, and as such, is able to raise much money for Habitat for Humanity. This is certainly less coercive than using power to appeal, but this technique has its drawbacks. People may be willing to do something for you once or twice because they like you, but if you abuse your relationship with them too much, they'll feel put upon and may begin to resist your requests.
Here you appeal to people's own self interests and intelligence. For example, instead of simply telling employees that they must work overtime for the next month, you might tell them they're needed to put in extra hours in to allow the company to fill increasing orders while dealing with the constraints of a tight labor market. You might also tell them that their assistance in this trying time might allow the company to give raises as the result of increased profits. Now, instead of just giving orders or wheedling people into doing as you ask because they like you personally, you've shown them the reasoning behind your request, and assumed that they are rational individuals who will reach the same conclusion given the opportunity.