Persuading your audience without tricking them A lot has been written on how to convince an audience to accept your point. With all this specific information being tossed around, I think the basics of persuasion have become lost in the shuffle. To me, you have to understand the fundamentals before you can start thinking about any specific persuasive techniques you want to use. Instead, you are trying to offer your audience the information they need to figure out that they should WANT to do what you are asking. Ever since the times of the ancient Greeks, people have been discussing the different ways that you go about accomplishing this Herculean task.
Logical arguments are the most basic type of persuasion.
If you can use facts, figures, or basic logic to help show that your point is correct, it is hard for your audience to ignore. For instance, discussing the benefits of a product or service would fit into this category, as would showing how your company is superior to the competition. A message will always be more persuasive if you can include things that your audience has strong attitudes about. For instance, if you know that your audience is afraid of losing their savings, show how your product will help protect their financial security. Imagine that you were trying to raise money for a program to stop drunk driving, and you are addressing a community meeting of concerned parents.