How to Make Your Arguments Effective to Convince People
Welcome to Lucy Adams from BuzzEssay, here today with a guest post.
There are a lot of different books and training on how to be successful. Many aim to achieve it through thick and thin, but very few notice that all that they need is the skill of convincing. Yes, convincing and nothing more!
Knowing how to manipulate and change opinions of others, you’ll easily reach personal goals. So if you’re dreaming of becoming a master of conviction, this article is just for you!
To begin with, let’s state that the structure of persuasion consists of three key elements – thesis, arguments, and support. Use them wisely, and you’ll be able to change the position of others towards what you say and do.
#1 Thesis
A thesis is the point of view you want to convey to the audience. Try to state it briefly, clearly, and within one sentence. For example, let’s imagine you say, “Fast food is unhealthy.” Of course, that’s not enough! Explain why you think so. People usually take little for granted, except the well-known axioms that are difficult to argue.
#2 Argumentation
Argumentation is the most complicated stage of convincing, which is carried out to change the position of the interlocutor. It’s used with respect to the social context (if you’re the boss, it’s unlikely that you’ll convince your subordinate of something as you can just put him before the fact).
There are also situations when a person simply does not have enough information to change his position. And when you disclose some additional data, he changes his view. Actually, in this case, you just give information, not using any other tricks.
Argumentation can be either theoretical (based on logical reasoning) or empirical (relying on practice or experience). So how to build your proof? The rules are quite simple:
· First of all, you should prepare in advance. Approach to the matter seriously – write down all your arguments, and then distribute them into four groups:
o Safety (for example, a guarantee).
o Respect (how the person will fill after taking your point of view or buying your product).
o Independence (the positive implications).
o Perfection (how the person can use his potential due to the change of his/her previous point of view to yours).
At first glance, these concepts are quite abstract and in some cases even stretched, but they are actively and quite successfully used in sales when you need to convince a potential customer to buy some product or service.
· Once you divide all your arguments into the four groups, check whether they give comprehensive answers to the following questions:
o What problems does your statement/thesis solve?
o Is it convenient for the opponent to take your point of view? Will it be worth much to the interlocutor?
o Have you provided the interlocutor with enough information so that he/she can safely take your position?
If you have clear answers to all these questions while the arguments are backed up and related to safety, respect, independenceand perfection, most likely, you’ll be able to persuade the other person.
Now let’s get back to the example. You should explain the thesis using several arguments, ideally three. These may be:
· Substandard products are used for cooking.
· Fast food contains many preservatives.
· Fast food contains harmful flavor enhancers.
#3 Support
Any argument becomes much more significant if you prove it. For this purpose, you can use statistics, personal experience, reviews, references to authoritative sources, documents and so on. For example:
· After I had lunch at a fast food restaurant, I had a stomach ache.
· The doctor said that consuming a lot of cheeseburgers leads to gastritis.
· According to “XXX” documentary, fast food restaurant use poor-quality raw materials.
The main requirement at this stage is that the provided information must be truthful and not contrary to the arguments.
Some oratory masters believe that the three stages of conviction should strictly follow each other, some say that this sequence is not important. Also, there is the following technique:
· Thesis->Argument no.1 + Support no.1, Argument no.2 + Support no.2, Argument no.3 + Support no.3, summary concerning the thesis in the beginning.
Well, the most important is that all these strategies work! The main point is that you should rely on your personal experience and context of the particular situation when choosing between them.
Bio:
Lucy Adams is a blogger from BuzzEssay – a website that provides research paper writing and many other writing services. She’s an aspiring author who never refuses to cover intriguing themes, regardless of their origin. Education, literature, business, psychology – whatever – if you have something exciting to suggest, Lucy will bring it to life! Contact this diligent author at lucyadams@buzzessay.com
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