CARLISLE COMMUNICATIONS
Effective Communication Skills for the Workplace
Persuasive
Messages
“Facts
and
figures
alone
will
never
convince
anyone.
If
you
can’t
connect
your
facts
to
the
dreams
of
the
client,
then
all
the
statistics
and
charts
in
the
world
won’t
make
any
impression.”
Rene
Nourse,
VP
Investments,
Prudential
Securities
Inc.
A
persuasive
message
may
help
solve
a
problem,
achieve
a
work
objective,
or
simply
make
a
process
or
procedure
easier.
Most
writing
experts
agree
on
the
basic
elements
of
a
persuasive
message,
although
depending
on
the
message,
the
sequence
may
differ.
We
can
take
our
lead
from
the
advertising
industry
where
persuasion
experts,
advertisers
and
copywriters,
have
crafted
well‐tested
theories
on
persuasion.
First,
ask
yourself
the
key
question:
What
do
I
want
to
happen
as
a
result
of
this
communication?
Keep
your
answer
as
clear
as
possible.
For
example,
your
might
say:
I
want
my
department
to
purchase
…
or
I
want
to
my
customer
to
do
…
Once
you’ve
answered
this
question,
and
you’re
clear
on
your
writing
direction,
you’re
ready
to
break
down
the
four
parts
to
persuasion.
The
four
key
elements
include:
Opening:
1.
Gain
the
audience’s
attention.
Body:
2.
Build
interest.
3.
Overcome
resistance.
4.
Motivate
action.
Close:
1. Gain
the
audience’s
attention.
Before
you
can
persuade
your
readers,
you
need
to
grab
their
attention
in
a
logical
way
and
connect
them
to
the
main
focus
of
your
document.
Unless
you
have
their
attention,
they
simply
won’t
continue
to
read
your
message.
Advertisers
understand
this
well
and
try
to
appeal
to
an
individual’s
basic
human
needs,
physical
and
emotional,
for
grabbing
their
reader’s
attention.
Keep
in
mind,
the
most
important
thing
to
most
people
is
usually
themselves;
what
they
need,
what
makes
their
life
easier,
better,
what
helps
them
reach
their
individual
goals
or
their
organizational
goals.
If
your
opening
can
hint
at
this,
you
have
a
good
chance
of
being
heard.
You
want
to
be
brief,
targeted,
and
interesting.
You
can
also
stir
up
your
reader’s
interest
by
appealing
to
their
productivity
bottom‐
line,
or
a
competitive
advantage
they
might
have
over
others.
Consider
also
the
values,
needs,
or
goals
of
their
organization.
A
few
attention‐grabbing
tools
for
a
persuasive
message
include:
•
Product
feature
Our
new
humidifier
has
a
unique
self­cleaning
system.
•
•
Problem
statement
Last
month
our
department
was
forced
to
work
120
overtime
hours,
costing
us
$5,000
and
causing
considerable
morale
damage.
Unexpected
or
surprising
statement
If
you
checked
carefully,
you’d
probably
find
that
20
percent
of
your
customers
account
for
80
percent
of
your
profits.
Your
local
R&G
supplier
is
going
out
of
business!
• Reader
benefit
Now
you
can
immediately
protect
all
your
computers
from
the
latest
viruses
with
our
online
anti­virus
program.
• Compliment
Because
no
one
generates
as
much
audience
enthusiasm
as
you
do
in
your
presentations,
we
are
asking
you
to
speak
at
our
conference.
• Related
fact
A
virus
is
a
computer
program
written
to
perform
malicious
tasks.
• Stimulating
question
How
would
you
like
to
cut
employee
overtime
costs
in
half?
• Headlines
An
update
of
401K
deadlines
is
included
in
this
newsletter.
www.marilouisecarlisle.com
2
•
Questions
If
I
could
show
you
how
to
save
$50
a
month
on
your
utility
bill,
would
you
be
interested?
When
your
employee
calls
in
sick,
how
much
does
it
cost
your
company
to
recover?
2. Build
interest.
After
you
gained
their
attention,
you
need
to
retain
it.
Here
you
need
to
show
why
a
change
is
needed
and
why
readers
need
to
feel
affected
by
the
problem.
Because
your
readers
are
interested
in
their
own
goals,
their
problems,
their
needs,
their
hopes,
their
fears,
their
dreams
and
aspirations
‐‐
your
product
or
service
is
of
secondary
importance
to
them.
Your
focus
needs
to
be
on
addressing
your
prospect’s
wants
or
needs,
or
solving
one
of
their
problems
before
you
start
talking
about
the
details
of
anything
else.
•
Supply
facts
and
figures
Currently
30,000
known
computer
viruses
are
in
effect,
and
the
number
increases
by
300
to
400
each
month.
•
Give
examples
One
company
lost
valuable
data
and
had
no
recent
backup
disks
to
replace
infected
files.
•
•
•
Cite
expert
opinion
“Hostile
code
can
hit
without
warning,”
says
virus
specialist
Dr.
Tony
Tims,
“so
companies
must
have
a
virus
antidote
or
they
risk
all
of
their
operations.”
Provide
specific
details
In
a
test
comparing
six
of
the
leading
anti­virus
programs,
our
program
was
flawless
in
virus
detection,
easy
to
administer,
and
low
in
ownership
cost.
Mention
direct
benefits
Our
anti­virus
program
can
protect
you
from
subtle
corruptions
of
data
that
may
go
unnoticed
for
months.
If
you
accept
our
invitation
to
speak,
you
will
have
an
audience
of
50
potential
customers
for
your
products.
•
Mention
indirect
benefits
Your
company
continues
to
be
a
pacesetter
in
the
health
care
industry
by
setting
an
example
for
other
organizations
who
might
be
apprehensive
about
increased
governmental
regulations.
Your
appearance
would
prove
your
professionalism
and
make
us
grateful
for
your
willingness
to
give
something
back
to
our
field.
www.marilouisecarlisle.com
3
3.
Overcome
resistance.
Here
you
want
to
identify
possible
obstacles
and
offer
counter
arguments
including:
• Demonstrate
your
credibility
by
being
knowledgeable.
• Show
how
the
receiver
or
others
will
benefit,
especially
when
requesting
favors
or
making
recommendations.
Make
sure
you
answer
the
question,
“Why
should
I
do
this?”
or
“Why
should
I
want
this?”
Anticipate
the
“what
if?’’
question
coming
from
your
reader.
In
the
advertising
world,
advertisers
use
both
benefits
and
features
for
persuasion.
Depending
on
your
audience,
your
prospects
may
be
interested
both
in
the
features
and
the
benefits
of
your
product
or
service;
however,
when
you
describe
a
feature,
try
to
link
it
to
a
customer
benefit.
Buyers
not
only
want
to
know
what
the
product
is
and
what
it
does,
they
want
to
know
how
it
can
help
them
achieve
the
benefits
they
want—such
as
saving
money,
saving
time,
making
money,
etc.
Here’s
an
example
of
writing
where
a
potential
vendor
gives
credentials
designed
to
make
the
consumer
feel
more
comfortable
in
doing
business
with
them
and
choosing
them
over
other
vendors
offering
similar
products
and
services:
Michael’s
special
blend
of
unique
research
combined
with
an
unprecedented
award
record
led
one
Los
Angeles
Times
reporter
to
dub
him
the
“dean
of
landscape
architects.”
One
way
to
reduce
resistance
is
with
credibility.
If
you
are
believable
and
reasonable,
you’ll
have
less
resistance.
Another
way
to
offer
credibility
in
persuasion
is
to
show
prospects
a
full
or
partial
list
of
your
customers,
your
history,
or
your
successes.
4.
Motivate
action.
Now
you’ve
grabbed
your
reader
and
hopefully
interested
them
in
your
idea,
proposal,
production
or
service,
and
you
want
to
them
to
act.
Most
people
will
avoid
taking
action
if
they
can,
so
some
suggestions
for
motivating
action
include:
•
Asking
for
specific
action
confidently.
•
Including
an
end
date,
if
appropriate.
•
Repeating
a
key
benefit.
Example:
If
you
take
advantage
of
this
first­time
offer
now,
we’ll
pay
all
shipping
and
handling
charges.
We
are
offering
complimentary
evaluations
to
the
first
ten
buyers
who
sign
up
for
our
technical
system
today.
The
goal
of
persuasive
writing
is
to
bring
about
a
change
to
your
reader’s
opinions,
attitudes,
beliefs,
behaviors,
purchasing
plans,
brand
preferences,
or
immediate
buying
actions.
www.marilouisecarlisle.com
4
To
effect
this
change,
your
writing
must
be
specific
about
the
action
your
reader
should
take
if
they’re
interested
in
responding
to
your
idea
by
taking
advantage
of
your
offer
or
at
least
learning
more.
You
want
to
tell
them
clearly
what
they
need
to
do
next.
Specify
the
next
step
directly,
or
else
few
people
will
take
it.
More
About
Persuasive
Requests
Here’s
an
interesting
fact:
according
to
a
study
conducted
by
Yale
University,
the
most
persuasive
words
are
safety,
save,
result,
money,
new,
health,
love,
guarantee,
discovery,
easy,
proven,
and
you.
Writing
a
persuasive
request
includes:
Requesting
a
favor
or
action
Examples
include
asking
your
employer
to
reimburse
your
educational
costs,
collecting
from
local
retailers
for
a
community
food
drive,
and
petitioning
your
company
to
split
your
position
so
you
can
job
share
with
another
employee.
Selling
an
idea
or
making
a
suggestion
Examples
include
requesting
your
employer
to
use
automated
check
deposit,
creating
a
fitness
program
for
your
staff
during
their
lunch
hour,
or
suggesting
additional
support
staff
for
an
upcoming
special
project.
You
have
two
choices
for
opening
your
persuasive
request:
direct
or
indirect
approaches.
Use
a
direct
opening
approach
and
present
your
main
idea
first
when:
• you
have
a
long,
complicated
request
(you
might
lose
your
reader
if
the
request
gets
too
long)
• you
know
the
reader
prefers
directness,
especially
if
it’s
your
supervisor
• a
strong
case
for
persuasion
does
not
need
to
be
made
• you
know
your
audience
will
be
objective
Use
an
indirect
opening
approach
and
gain
the
reader’s
attention
first
when:
• you
need
strong
persuasion
• you
know
your
reader
prefers
indirectness
www.marilouisecarlisle.com
5
Seven
Rules
for
Persuasion
Rule
1:
Rule
2:
Consider
whether
your
views
will
create
problems
for
your
audience.
Wait
until
your
audience
is
prepared
before
you
offer
new
ideas,
directives,
or
recommendations.
Rule
3:
Rule
4:
Rule
5:
Select
a
strategy
that
supports
your
credibility.
Present
both
sides
of
the
argument
if
your
audience
disagrees
with
your
ideas
or
is
uncertain
about
them.
Win
respect
by
making
your
opinion
or
recommendation
clear.
Rule
6:
Place
your
strongest
points
strategically.
Rule
7:
Try
not
to
count
on
changing
attitudes
by
offering
information
alone.
Practice
Template
Persuasive
practice:
take
an
opening
from
#1
and
build
on
it.
1.
First,
gain
your
reader’s
attention.
If
possible,
consider
their
DiSC
style.
Last
month
our
department
was
forced
to
work
120
overtime
hours,
costing
us
$5,000
and
causing
considerable
morale
damage.
(Sounds
like
an
opening
for
a
D
style.)
2.
Next,
build
interest.
3.
Now,
reduce
resistance.
4.
Finally,
motivate
action.
www.marilouisecarlisle.com
6