Persuasive levers 4: Combining persuasive levers

See you next time!

That's the end of this lesson!

A few reminders before we go:

  • Character, emotion, and argument can all work together.
  • Each lever is complex in its own right, with many aspects and flavours.
  • Our way of categorising things in this lesson is not comprehensive or rigid; it's just a way to help you explore the landscape.
  • Argument and reason are about trying to reach agreement on reality and values.
  • Persuasion is about trying to change an audience.
  • They are related but not the same:
    • Argument is persuasive, but persuasion does not need argument.
    • An audience can be persuaded by character or emotion alone.

Persuasion is everywhere. Grab anything you find persuasive and study it to see which levers it uses and in what combination.

And if you are trying to be persuasive, see if applying these levers helps you!

There were many great examples of persuasive writing that we couldn't include in this lesson.

We'll end with one of them, in which a community debates how to spend a $3 million fine collected from their local nuclear power plant:

See you next time!

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