Persuasive context

Timing

The second choice the speaker can make is timing.

It boils down to the question: why now?

  • What else is happening in this moment?
  • Is this the best time to persuade this audience?
  • Is it the best time for this particular goal?

Timing is important because if an audience is invested in the status quo, it is often hard to get them to change. However, certain moments in time make it easier.

For example, it is easier to get someone to feel a certain way if they've just had an experience that makes them already feel that way.

And it's easier to persuade someone to do something when a crisis creates a sense of urgency to act.

We talked about this scene. Darth Vader wants to persuade Luke to join the dark side. But is this good timing? Why or why not?

Luke skywalker defiant gantry

(From The Empire Strikes Back)

  • What's going on at this moment?
  • Is this the best time to persuade this audience?
  • Is it the best time for this particular goal?
Using the questions to guide you, what can you say about the speaker's timing in this situation? (Rough notes are fine.)

This moment comes at the end of a longer sequence in which Darth Vader has been trying to convince Luke to join the dark side.

In some senses, the timing is good:

  • Luke has completed his first round of training and he is really angry at the Empire, so he is getting powerful and it's not completely out of the question that Darth Vader could convince Luke to join him.
  • Also, there is pressure on Vader to act now before Luke does any more damage to the Vader's plans.

On the other hand:

  • Darth Vader has captured Han Solo, which makes Luke stressed, and he and Luke have been fighting, which also doesn't put Luke in the best mood, so maybe this isn't the best moment.

In the end, the situation is very high pressure with both speaker and audience fighting, so it's more likely that Luke will dig his heels in and resist Darth Vader.

The image below shows what's called a front-end checkout display. It's also an act of persuasion because the store is trying to get customers to make a few impulse purchases before they leave.

What do you think about the timing in this context?

checkout display unit 001

(From Pilotes)

  • What's going on at this moment?
  • Is this the best time to persuade this audience?
  • Is it the best time for this particular goal?
Using the questions to guide you, what can you say about the timing of this persuasion? (Rough notes are fine.)

These point-of-sale displays are about what you'd call low-stakes urgency:

  • They catch people while they are queuing at the checkout, probably bored and impatient, and they offer quick and cheap fixes for boredom such as candy, gum, & magazines.
  • They want people to do something—which is hard—but what they want the audience to do is low-cost and low-effort, and they are catching them at a time when they are probably dissatisfied with the status quo of waiting in line.
  • So the timing is good; the problem from the store's point of view is now everyone looks at their phones while they wait, so fewer people notice these displays at all.

What about the letter from the father to his young daughter with epilepsy? What would you say about the timing of that letter?

November 1921

Dear Margaret,

This is only a little letter from your daddy to say he thinks about you hours and hours and he knows that there was never a princess or a fairy worth so much love. We are starting on a long journey and hard fight — you and mother and daddy — and we are going to go on slowly, quietly, hand in hand, the three of us, never giving up. And so we are going to win. Slowly, quietly, never giving up, we are going to win.

Daddy

More Letters of Note
  • What's going on at this moment?
  • Is this the best time to persuade this audience?
  • Is it the best time for this particular goal?
Using the questions to guide you, what can you say about the timing in this snippet? (Rough notes are fine.)

The timing here is perfect. 

The little girl has just had her diagnosis and has gone to the hospital for treatment. She's scared and not happy with the status quo.

Her father acts immediately, but rather than trying to persuade her to change too drastically, he just tries to convince her to believe that her parents love her and they will go forward together, and she has reason to be brave.

(If Darth Vader had been as good a parent as this father, he might have gotten on better with Luke.)

Here are some images from an ad campaign. What do you think about the goal and timing of this message?

Print ad IBM Smart ideas for smart cities built environment installation

  • What's going on at this moment?
  • Is this the best time to persuade this audience?
  • Is it the best time for this particular goal?
Using the questions to guide you, what can you say about the timing of this ad? (Rough notes are fine.)
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