How to Write a Good Persuasive Essay for College?
Persuasive essay writing uses a combination of emotional appeal and logical reasoning. It involves urging the reader to admit to a certain point of view. In an argumentative essay, the writer offers all sides of a discussion and helps the reader make an educated decision.
A persuasive essay includes material supporting your thesis statement and counterarguments that discredit it. Persuasive writing itself is ubiquitous. For instance, advertisements frequently play on people’s emotions to persuade them to purchase a product or service. Also, travel brochures persuade you of the location of the next hot holiday place and whatnot.
However, those who know how to write a persuasive essay also understand it involves more than simply expressing their opinion. Before we get into all that, let’s see what makes this essay type important:
The Pros of Writing Persuasively
Learning to write persuasive essays is a must-have talent. For one, it enables a writer to communicate their thoughts in an organized and convincing manner. In addition, this form of writing can sway others to believe in a cause, such as giving to a specific charity or voting for a specific political candidate. Consequently, when you do issue a call-to-action at the end of your essay, you could galvanize readers into action!
Furthermore, persuasive writing improves a writer’s overall ability by teaching them how to use facts and research in an expressive yet concise manner. A writer learns to effectively explain their primary ideas and create a coherent argument.
Now, let’s discuss how you can write such essays:
Crucial Steps for Writing a Persuasive Essay
Follow these crucial steps for writing a persuasive essay:
Make yourself relatable to the audience
You’re more likely to catch people’s attention if you link your ads or services to an existential crisis they’re dealing with. Likewise, people will be intrigued by your offer if you provide a solution to a problem that’s been bothering them recently.
For example, when you tell them your offer or service would solve their problems, you show compassion for their plight. To do so, put yourself in peoples’ position and consider:
- What problem do they need solved?
- Have you experienced it as well? What happened?
- What makes your offering a solution for them?
- Are there USPs making your solution stand out from other similar options? What are those?
Aside from that, assure your readers you will be there every step of their journey. The more sympathetic you can be, the more people will be drawn to you.
Talk numbers
Present your audience with hard-hitting, undeniable information. You must persuade them your answer is just what they require to get on with their lives. We’re not suggesting you conjure up figures out of thin air. To get accurate data, you could conduct polls. There are other ways to incorporate genuine numbers in your copy.
Also, mention the number of persons who have benefited from your services. Most of the time, people would rather believe statistics instead of someone’s words. If you can’t understand how to incorporate stats in your piece of writing, get law essay help from a trusted site.
Mind the tone
One thing to keep at the forefront of your mind is the tone of your essay. It shouldn’t be uninteresting; otherwise, it could act as a huge deterrent. Remember to convince the reader to click, not discourage – which will happen if you say the wrong thing. You wouldn’t want for someone to be insulted by your tone, even if that wasn’t your goal. So, make sure you avoid making such mistakes.
Exaggeration is key
Another effective strategy is to utilise exaggeration as hyperbole. It implies you’d be embellishing a titbit to make a point to the readers. However, it is insufficient without proof.
Alternatively, you could back up your claim with significant personalities who have used your services or offer the opportunity of a live demo.
Hook your reader’s attention
If you open with a question that needs an instant response, you’ve got your copy’s hook right there. The title should be eye-catching to pique the customer’s interest. The idea is you need to ensure people read your material all the way through, and a hook or a headline will achieve just that.
Ask rhetorical questions
Most persuasive writing tips mention asking questions. That’s because the reader will become more curious to know the answer, making it an effective persuasive approach. That’s especially so if the evidence you offer to assist in making that decision is supportive of your point of view.
Furthermore, rhetorical questions often probe the reader to mull over the issue by themselves. It can result in them asking more questions, which you can anticipate and answer in your essay. Most law assignments feature plenty of rhetorical questions for the same purpose.
Steps involved in writing a persuasive essay introduction
Here’s how you can write a persuasive essay introduction with ease:
- Think about your topic
- Choose a relevant hook
- Provide a background
- Narrow the background to introduce a topic
- Write a thesis statement
- Avoid clichés
- Make your introduction as brief as possible
- Stay persuasive
Persuasive Essay vs Argumentative Essay
Allow us to bring the persuasive essay vs argumentative essay debate to an end. A persuasive essay aims to influence you to side with the writer based on emotion or opinion. In contrast, an argumentative essay depends upon logic to make a case using proper evidence to convince the reader.
When it comes to preparation, before writing an argumentative essay, a writer must conduct extensive study on the subject but does not need to be familiar with the audience. On the other side, when writing to persuade, a writer can create a compelling essay without conducting much research. They must, however, be familiar with the audience.
If you’re still confused, you can ask law essay teacher to clear out any doubts you’re facing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. How do you begin a persuasive essay?
- Before you start working on a persuasive essay, we’d suggest you take up the prewriting process. That way, you’d be able to get your thoughts organized and in one place.
Q. How do you structure a persuasive essay?
- A persuasive essay structure consists of three sections:
Introduction – Use a hook to get your reader’s attention, provide an overview of the topic, and enclose a thesis statement
Body – Discuss one argument in each body paragraph along with evidence
Opposite view – Present your counterarguments
Conclusion – Reiterate the thesis statement and conclude your essay
Q. What are the three main parts of a persuasive essay?
- A formal persuasive essay consists of:
- Issue
- Side
- Argument
Final word
That’s all from our side. We’re hoping we were able to provide the best guidance for you. If not, you can always let us know how we can improve ourselves to serve you better.
