If you’re in Pittsburgh today, come hear Jef Naidoo and me try to answer this question at IPCC 2014. Here’s more detail than we’ll be able to cover in 20 minutes. (We have a couple of related details about white papers to share as well.) Why are we studying white papers? They’re important to organizations. Here’s some evidence from…
People who have influence at work know how to write persuasively. Persuasion is how you successfully lobby for resources from your boss or win funding from an investor. Research found that persuasion was central to the success of 10-30% of all internal, written communication in an organization. The negative connotation of persuasion is created by trust…
A while back, I included a personal example of audience analysis. Thanks to Tom Orr for suggesting that I follow up by showing y’all the letter. I decided it might be helpful to share even more of the process — like how we developed the content for the first draft. So here goes. Purpose & Audience:…
To influence people at work, you’ll need to earn their trust (ethos) and make good arguments (logos). See yesterday’s post for more on these rhetorical terms. Evidence is the cornerstone of effective arguments. Not all evidence is equal, of course. The video tutorial I’m posting today focuses on the use of evidence, as well as several…
Most amateurs and at least some pros are willing to ascribe the unethical intentions of individuals to linguistic forms. (See my post on passive voice.) No where is this more obvious than in the case of “persuasive” language. Yes. Workplace writers can use language to market unhealthy food to the children of their customers convince government regulators…