Choosing a goal

Finally, what does the speaker want to achieve with their argument? A speaker may want to change an audience’s:

Thoughts
Emotions
Actions

Changing audience thoughts

Can be facts, opinions or beliefs
Doesn’t require physical action
Example: persuading someone the Earth is not flat

Changing audience emotions

Can be feelings about themselves, others, or the issue
Doesn’t require physical action
Example: cheering up a friend after they lose a competition

Changing audience actions

Can be starting or stopping an action
Can be a one-off action or ongoing behaviour
Often requires more effort and investment, hardest to change
Example: persuading someone to move to a new town

There are many factors that can determine how difficult any of these goals are to achieve, or if one is more achievable than the others.

For example, it’s probably easier to persuade someone to run from a burning building than get them to believe that aliens control the government — but that might not be true if there is no smoke, you have a history of lying about fires, and/or they already believe in conspiracy theories.

Sometimes one persuasive goal depends on or is aided by others. For example, you might need to convince someone the fire is real and make them feel alarmed by the danger before you can persuade them to run from the building.

Selection and sequencing of goals is part of forming a good persuasive strategy.

Remember, persuasion doesn’t have to be about dominance over the audience.

We can use persuasion to help an audience achieve their own goals. A speaker can help an audience calm down, feel better, do nothing, find their way to a good decision, and so on.

Teaching Persuasive Writing with Frankenstories