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Considering the Context of Your Argument

UNDERSTANDING YOUR AUDIENCE’S BROADER GOALS

WORKING WITHIN CONSTRAINTS

Crafting a Persuasive Argument

IDENTIFYING THE ELEMENTS OF YOUR ARGUMENT

USING THE RIGHT KINDS OF EVIDENCE

CONSIDERING OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS

APPEALING TO EMOTIONS RESPONSIBLY

DECIDING WHERE TO PRESENT THE CLAIM

• DOCUMENT ANALYSIS ACTIVITY: Analyzing Evidence in an Argument

UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF CULTURE IN PERSUASION

Avoiding Logical Fallacies

Presenting Yourself Effectively

• GUIDELINES: Creating a Professional Persona

• ETHICS NOTE: Seeming Honest Versus Being Honest in Persuasive Writing

Using Graphics as Persuasive Elements

A Look at Several Persuasive Arguments

WRITER’S CHECKLIST

EXERCISES

LEARNINGCURVE: Communicating Persuasively and

CASE 8: Analyzing the Persuasiveness of a Website and

Technical communication, like any other kind of communication, calls for making persuasive claims and supporting them effectively. It is a mistake to think that technical communication is only about facts. Certainly, facts are important. But communication is about determining which facts are appropriate, describing the context that helps people understand what those facts mean, and presenting a well-reasoned argument about those facts. Your job as a communicator is to convince a reader of a viewpoint—about what factors caused a situation, for example, or what a company ought to do to solve a problem. If you are lucky, you will be reinforcing a viewpoint the reader already holds. Sometimes, however, you will want to change the reader’s mind. Regardless, you are presenting an argument: an arrangement of facts and judgments about some aspect of the world.

This chapter explains how to craft a persuasive argument, avoid logical fallacies, present yourself effectively, and use graphics in your arguments.