One of the major topics that I found within chapter nine was about the ethics of persuasion. Persuasive writing is an incredibly important tool for a number of social institutions. However, persuasive writing also comes with an obligation and responsibility to be honest in what you are presenting as the truth. Although complete honesty can sometimes be hard in persuasive writing, this chapter was able to provide some helpful rules for trying to be ethical in professional communication. Some of these include the obvious such as staying within the law and giving credit when using or referencing other people’s work. Other principles include showing respect in your communication, being honest, and being responsible for mistakes. All of these are important to remember but it’s easy for them to get forgotten when trying to persuade people in business.
This chapter also discussed the AIDA approach to persuasive writing, as well as the three most common rhetorical strategies: ethos, pathos, and logos. The AIDA approach includes attention, interest, desire, and action as the four steps to persuasion. One thing that I noticed was important throughout all of these steps was creating a sense of urgency and making the process as easy as possible for the receiver. Creating urgency can be a great way to grab someone’s attention and make them hear your proposal. It can also be useful in promoting desire and action, pushing the receiver toward action sooner whether it be before the offer expires or before the benefits are somehow diminished.
