How to Write Persuasive Essay

Have you ever been faced with a persuasive essay assignment? I’m guessing it is a writing project most students find challenging. If you do, however, it is important for you to note that persuasive essay is NOT just an ordinary composition that is supposed to persuade the reader. In fact, this type of essay is more about presenting your point of view based on a certain situation. In this article, you will learn How to Write Persuasive Essay.

Writing a persuasive essay is like being a lawyer arguing a case before a jury. The writer takes a stand on an issue—either “for” or “against”—and builds the strongest possible argument to win over the reader.

In a persuasive essay, it’s the writer’s job to convince the reader to accept a particular point of view or take a specific action. Persuasive essays require good research, awareness of the reader’s biases, and a solid understanding of both sides of the issue. A good persuasive essay demonstrates not only why the writer’s opinion is correct, but also why the opposing view is incorrect.

Persuasive writing is a fixture of modern life—found in advertising, newspaper editorials, blogs, and political speeches. Often persuasive writing assignments and test prompts concern contemporary issues, for example: “The school board is debating on whether or not to ban cell phone use in school. Write an essay convincing the board to adopt your position.” As shown in this persuasive writing prompt, the main purpose is not to inform, but to “persuade” or “convince” an audience (the school board) to think or act a certain way.

What Is Persuasive Writing?

Persuasive writing is a form of argumentative writing that presents logical arguments with emotional appeal in order to sway readers to a particular point of view. Where an argumentative essay introduces both sides of a debate and allows the reader to make an informed choice, a persuasive essay is about the inclusion of information that supports your thesis statement, only involving counterarguments as a means to discredit them.

Persuasive pieces appear in various forms of marketing. Advertisements often tug on heartstrings to influence people to buy a product or service. Health magazines publish columns about new must-try diets. Travel brochures convince you where the next trendiest vacation spot is. Persuasive writing is everywhere, but the writing process is not as simple as just sharing an opinion.

The Pros of Writing Persuasively

Persuasive essay writing is a useful writing skill. It allows a writer to clearly present their ideas in a structured and convincing way. Persuasive writing can be powerful, influencing people to believe in a cause and putting out a call to action, like donating to a certain charity or voting for a particular political candidate.

Persuasive writing helps improve a writer’s ability overall, teaching them how to use facts and research in an expressive yet succinct way. A writer learns to communicate their main points efficiently and present a clear argument.

How to Write Persuasive Essay

At Time4Writing, we believe the five-step writing process is the best approach to learning how to write a persuasive essay. Here are persuasive essay tips for each phase of the writing process.

1. Prewriting for the Persuasive Essay

The prewriting phase of writing a persuasive essay is extremely important. During this phase, students should plan every aspect of the essay:

• Choose a position. Students should think about the issue and pick the side they wish to advocate.
• Understand the audience. In order to write an effective persuasive essay, the writer must understand the reader’s perspective. Is the reader undecided or inclined to favor one side or the other?
• Do the research. A persuasive essay depends upon solid, convincing evidence. Don’t rely on a single source. Pull information from multiple websites and reference materials. Speak with community experts and teachers. Read and take notes. There is no substitute for knowledge of both sides of the issue.
• Identify the most convincing evidence, as well as the key points for the opposing view.

Organizing the Persuasive Essay: Outline and Structure

Next, create an outline. Organize the evidence to build the strongest possible argument. If the teacher has specified an essay structure, incorporate it into the outline. Typically, the persuasive essay comprises five or six paragraphs:

Persuasive Essay Outline

Introductory Paragraph

• Grab the reader’s attention by using a “hook.”
• Give an overview of the argument.
• Close with a thesis statement that reveals the position to be argued.

Body Paragraphs

• Each body paragraph should focus on one piece of evidence.
• Within each paragraph, provide sufficient supporting detail.

Opposing View Paragraph

• Describe and then refute the key points of the opposing view.

Concluding Paragraph

• Restate and reinforce the thesis and supporting evidence.

2. Drafting the Persuasive Essay

When writing the initial draft of a persuasive essay, consider the following suggestions:

• The introductory paragraph should have a strong “hook” that grabs the reader’s attention. Open with an unusual fact or statistic, a question or quotation, or an emphatic statement. For example: “Driving while talking on a cell phone, even hands-free, is the equivalent of driving drunk.”
• The thesis statement should leave no doubts about the writer’s position.
• Each body paragraph should cover a separate point, and the sentences of each paragraph should offer strong evidence in the form of facts, statistics, quotes from experts, and real-life examples.

• Consider various ways to make the argument, including using an analogy, drawing comparisons, or illustrating with hypothetical situation (e.g., what if, suppose that…).
• Don’t assume the audience has in-depth knowledge of the issue. Define terms and give background information.
• The concluding paragraph should summarize the most important evidence and encourage the reader to adopt the position or take action. The closing sentence can be a dramatic plea, a prediction that implies urgent action is needed, a question that provokes readers to think seriously about the issue, or a recommendation that gives readers specific ideas on what they can do.

3. Revising the Persuasive Essay

In the revision phase, students review, modify, and reorganize their work with the goal of making it the best it can be. Keep these considerations in mind:

• Does the essay present a firm position on the issue, supported by relevant facts, statistics, quotes, and examples?
• Does the essay open with an effective “hook” that intrigues readers and keeps them reading?
• Does each paragraph offer compelling evidence focused on a single supporting point?
• Is the opposing point of view presented and convincingly refuted?
• Is the sentence structure varied? Is the word choice precise? Do the transitions between sentences and paragraphs help the reader’s understanding?
• Does the concluding paragraph convey the value of the writer’s position and urge the reader to think and act?

If the essay is still missing the mark, take another look the thesis. Does it present the strongest argument? Test it by writing a thesis statement for the opposing viewpoint. In comparison, does the original thesis need strengthening? Once the thesis presents a well-built argument with a clear adversarial viewpoint, the rest of the essay should fall into place more easily.

4. Editing the Persuasive Essay

Next, proofread and correct errors in grammar and mechanics, and edit to improve style and clarity. Having a friend read the essay helps writers edit with a fresh perspective.

5. Publishing the Persuasive Essay

Sharing a persuasive essay with the rest of the class or with family and friends can be both exciting and intimidating. Learn from the experience and use the feedback to make the next essay even better.

Tips for Better Persuasive Writing

In order to be a more influential writer, there are a few persuasive writing techniques a writer may utilize:

1. Pick a topic you’re passionate about. You’ll do your best persuading when it’s something you truly believe in. If you have the option to pick a topic, choose one that appeals to your own sensibilities. There will be research to do regardless, but already having a strong opinion about your subject will make its defense a bit easier.
2. Know your audience. If you want to convince readers to believe and agree with you, know who you’re talking to first. For example, if you’re writing a persuasive letter about why standardized testing should be removed from school systems, your audience will likely be parents: Keep that in mind when writing to your targeted demographic.
3. Hook the reader’s attention. A persuasive writer should present their opinion with a declarative statement that clearly expresses their point of view. Starting with a fact, research findings, or any other evidence that explicitly states information supportive of your thesis will immediately clue the reader in to what the essay will be about, what your position is, and if they’re interested enough to read on to see if they’ll be on your side.
4. Research both sides. In order to convince the reader to agree with you, you also have to know what you’re trying to get them to disagree with. Your audience may be completely stuck in their ways, so knowing both sides of your argument—and how to effectively counter the opposition—will assuage any followup questions a reader may have that can cast doubt on your position.
5. Be empathetic. An effective persuasion technique is the use of empathy. A reader is more inclined to believe you if they feel like you can relate to and understand their experiences. Emotional appeal is important for persuasive writing, as it targets the audience’s sensitivities, while also providing a logical explanation for why their beliefs should change.
6. Ask rhetorical questions. Presenting questions that the reader will be forced to answer for themselves later on is another good persuasive strategy, especially when the information provided to help make that decision is supportive of your point of view.
7. Emphasize your point. The use of exaggeration in order to express urgency, exclusivity, or just to make a point is another useful persuasive technique. Hyperbolic statements aren’t meant to be taken literally, but are used instead to convey an impactful image. For example, if you’re attempting to persuade a reader not to go to a restaurant, you might say their bad service “nearly starved you to death.” Although likely untrue, it still creates a vivid picture. In marketing, another example is Disney’s slogan: “The happiest place on Earth.” It’s a subjective statement that makes use of hyperbole to immediately create a desirable feeling for its audience—children and their parents. Find out more about hyperbole in our guide here.
8. Repeat yourself. Strategic repetition can be an effective way to gradually remind the reader of your message. Finding different ways to make the same point by use of rephrasing, true stories, metaphors, or other literary devices all serve to reinforce your point without bogging down the reader with repetitiveness.

Conclusion

Persuasive essay is the type of academic paper that attempts to win over an audience to your point of view. You need to prove another perspective, uncover another side of the argument, provide logical explanations etc. The aim is to persuade your reader to your perspective.