Persuasive Memo Assignment
For this assignment, you will craft in internal memo that addresses the need for better on-site health management programs at your company. Examples of health management programs might include things such as free yoga/exercise classes, onsite workout facilities, reduced memberships to local health clubs, healthier choices in workplace cafeterias, etc. Do some research to find out what sorts of programs actually exist in companies across the globe. You should include a little of that research in your message. You should choose 1-2 options from those listed above to explore in your persuasive message.
This memo should be addressed to the members of the board at your organization in anticipation of an upcoming monthly meeting. This memo should employ the message structure detailed in your textbook regarding persuasive messages.
Persuasive messages should have a bit more of a personal touch to them. That being said, you should still avoid using “I” in your memo. Using “we” is fine, as part of the goal of this memo is cultivate a healthier corporate culture, which includes everyone at your place of employment.
Your job is to figure out the appropriate amount of logic and emotion to evoke in order to sell a particular service or product to your audience. For this assignment, your audience is a board of directors whose primary goal is to cut costs and increase profits for the organization. Keep this in mind when crafting your message.
PERSUASIVE MESSAGES
Every day on social media, television, and elsewhere, we’re constantly confronted with
persuasive messages in the form of pop-up ads and commercials. As with other kinds of
messages discussed in this chapter, persuasive messages follow a kind of formula. Whether
you’re composing an external memo, a media kit, or a speech, there are certain aspects of
developing a good persuasive message that you need to know. Before we get to the process of
creating, we should discuss the three things you need to know in order to craft a solid
persuasive message. They are: know the product, know your audience, and know the desired
action. We’ll look at these briefly, and then discuss how to craft a good persuasive message.
Know the product-If you don’t know what you’re selling, whether it’s a product or a service, then
you won’t be a very effective salesperson. Common sense, right? Do your research, and, when
necessary, rely on the testimony of experts to help you understand exactly what you’re trying to
sell. The word “sell” here, by the way, doesn’t just mean trying to get someone to give you
money for a thing. It also refers to the mere act of trying to get someone to accept or take on
whatever it is that you’re proposing. If you’re trying to convince someone to collaborate with you
on a project, you’re essentially trying to sell them on that idea.
Know your audience-In the information and social media age, Facebook has become pretty
adept at understanding exactly what you’re likely to buy. Have you ever Googled something and
then have that exact product show up in a Facebook ad? The algorithms used by Mr.
Zuckerberg’s company are pretty impressive, but since you don’t have that kind of computing
power at your disposal, you have to go on familiarity with your audience. Are you selling to
college students? If so, they probably don’t have much use for denture adhesive. Learn
everything you can about your audience and put that information to good use when you appeal
to them.
Know the desired action-I see students give great sales speeches all the time, right up until the
point when they should ask their audience to buy the thing they’re trying to sell. They treat the
speech more like an informational speech and forget to ask people to buy what they’re selling.
Stay focused right up until the end of your persuasive message. If you want your audience to
buy something, make it easy for them. Give them all the necessary information: price, where
they can go to buy the product, etc. If you’re not actually trying to sell a product, you still need to
know what it is that you want your audience to do. If you want them to collaborate with you or
act on some other request, be explicit. Tell your audience exactly what it is that you want from
them.
AIDA FORMAT
As for crafting a persuasive message, the most well-known and effective method in the U.S. for
this is referred to as the AIDA strategy.
1. AGrab the reader’s attention
2. IIntroduce and arouse interest in the product
3. DCreate desire for the product through solid evidence
4. ARequest action
This method works for sales speeches, business proposals, claim requests, and a host of other
business-related scenarios. Let’s look a little more closely at each of these before we move on.
rab the reader’s attention-People have short attention spans these days. In the world of
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business especially, you have to hook people right away if you want them to keep reading your
pitch or proposal. There are several ways to accomplish this. You can ask a provocative
question, present a little-known or shocking fact, tell a compelling story, or provide a memorable
quote by a celebrity or expert. Whatever you choose to do, give the reader a reason to keep
reading.
Introducing and creating interest-You have to compel your audience to action, and if they’re not
interested in what you’re selling in the first place, then you won’t accomplish your goal. After you
hook your readers, introduce your product in such a way that ties into your hook. Make
whatever you’re offering seem irresistible.
Create desire for the product- Give strong selling points and focus on the necessity of what
you’re selling. Explain to your audience why they need what you have to offer. Depending on
your audience, you may need a more subtle approach in doing this, or you may need to be
more upfront and direct. People don’t like pushy salespeople, but they do like genuine
storytellers who can make them feel at ease when making big decisions.
Request action-Make it easy for your audience to follow through on purchasing what you have
to sell. Doing so doesn’t just involve logistical concerns, though you may have to address those
as well. One way to make it easier for your audience to buy what you’re selling is to place them
in the context of the product. Describing the material good or service on its own often isn’t
enough. Use the second person “you” and make the decision personal. Instead of saying, “This
vacation package is really exciting,” say something like, “Just imagine hiking the rainforest with
family and friends. Think of all the great wildlife you’ll get to see.” When an audience can
actively participate in imagining themselves using a product or service, they’re much more likely
to want it.
SELLING POINTS AND EVIDENCE IN PERSUASIVE MESSAGES
Along with using the AIDA Format listed above, you have to provide strong selling points and
clear evidence to convince your audience to buy what you’re selling. This goes back to knowing
what you’re selling. You don’t want to overwhelm your audience with information, but you do
need to provide enough of it to make them feel comfortable with the product or service you’re
describing. Keep things simple and straightforward. There is no exact amount of evidence you
should provide for every persuasive message, but you do need to have some structure to your
message.
The structure will be different depending on whether or not your message is written or spoken. A
speech may have time constraints that a written message doesn’t. And there are, of course,
different time constraints for various written messages as well. A thirty second ad presents a lot
of information in a kind of clipped way, whereas a longer memo can really delve deeper into
important details. Whatever claims you make about your product or service should be backed
up by evidence when possible. Give scientific results, heartfelt customer testimony, or your
business’s track record for making profits on the kind of deals you’re trying to convince a new
client to accept.
Each of these three methods fall into a separate category of argumentative appeals first
described by Aristotle. Those categories are ethos (appeal to authority), pathos (appeal to
emotion), and logos (appeal to logic). Advertisers, salespeople, and other business
professionals use some combination of these in every persuasive message they construct.
Knowing how to employ them well can go a long way in convincing an audience to buy what
you’re selling. Some methods work better than others in various scenarios. If you know your
audience well, you can predict which kind of appeal will work better. If your audience is a room
full of scientists, you might get better results using an appeal to logic. If you’re talking to a room
full of small children, you might go with an emotional appeal. Whatever the case, be aware of all
the tools of persuasion at your disposal and use them wisely, ethically, and tactfully.