A persuasive speech you give to a group a people is an extension of a persuasive essay that you write on a piece of paper. Both begin at the same place – the collection of persuasive ideas about a view point as notes on a piece of paper. A speech develops into cards while the final form of the essay is blank ink on white crisp paper.
The following YouTube video is a very good example of how to deliver a good persuasive speech -
Q: What is the most imortant persuasive essay you will write after graduation?
A: Your resume and job application letter.
If you think learning how to write a persuasive essay is a waste of time, then stop and think of how well you have to sell yourself. In today’s article we are going to take a look at resume writing.
Resume Writing Pet Peeves
“If you’re using your company’s job description, you’re missing the point of your resume,” says Paul Schmitz of Hufford Associates. He adds that those skilled in resume writing know how to note their specific achievements and highlight accomplishments in a particular position. Far too often, people are misguided in what they think hiring managers are looking for and they miss the ball completely. Resumes can be too vague or inflated, or full of gaps. Other times, they’re too specific and filled with technical jargon that makes little sense to the outside world. To help job seekers, we’ve compiled some of the biggest mistakes people make on their resumes.
John Logan is a human resources manager for the ZS Associates management-consulting firm in Princeton, N.J. and he shares some resume writing tips to help job seekers stand out from the pack. “I find that most resumes do not provide enough details for me to understand the scope of the candidate’s work,” Logan complains. He says that a good resume will detail specifics, such as the number of people supervised, the size of a project budget, sales figures or the estimated cost savings. “Anytime you can quantify your accomplishments, you give them more credibility,” explains Brian Howell from The QWorks Group. Some estimates say that at least 40% of your bullet points should have measurable metrics in them. Think in terms of comparative sales volume, the number of people you hired or led, the amount of money you saved, your success in completing projects based on goals, revenue-generating initiatives, process improvement and cost containment.
With so many job applicants these days, many larger corporations are running resumes through keyword-searchable computer databases to weed out some individuals. “Job-seekers should know the key skills and software packages and list them as appropriate,” says John Logan. However, he carefully adds that using the right keywords “will get a candidate into the search pool” but will not necessarily get them the job. “There is still some art in the employment process,” he says, adding that employers will personally go over their final applicant pool in some detail. In your resume writing, you should list computer programs, action words and nouns that are important to your industry. Often, reading job descriptions in your field for some time will give you a clue as to what employers are looking for. Ultimately, the entry level jobs will be given to those who know what employers want.
Perhaps the biggest mistake people make in resume writing is failing to proofread properly. The best way to lose a job opportunity is to turn in a resume littered with spelling, typographical and grammatical errors. “Poor spelling and grammar … is particularly worrying,” notes Pete Follows, senior consultant for SaccoMann. “If a candidate is not giving due care and attention to a document to improve their own personal circumstances, what care would they take with documents with less personal significance?” It’s also irritating when job applicants fail to include proper contact information, such as a phone number where they can be reached and a professional-sounding email address. Whether you’re looking for a paid internship or a new job opportunity, you need to put your best foot forward by following these simple tips.
Thanks to Thomas Bronson for the article.
In this video we are gong to look at how to write more persuasively. This is an essential skill for everyday writing as well as students who want to pass an exam such as the IELTS.
How do you write a 5 paragraph essay? This writiing format is probably the most important you will use during your education. Asked to be write an essay in an exam and it will most likely be 4 or 5 paragraphs long. It is also worth noting that the ideal persuasive essay happens to also be 5 paragraphs long.
Learning how to write a persuasive essay is earier if you start with a set of rules. In this video, we have 25 rules. I happen to agree with 23 of them – I personally don’t care about indented parapgraphs. Nor is the use of transition words set in stone. English is fun – use rules to help you write, not paralyse your creativity.
Sitting down to write a persuasive essay can be a daunting process. The theory is simple –
1. Title
2. Thesis
3. Paragraph 1 with supporting facts.
4. Paragraph 2 with supporting facts.
5. Paragraph 3 with supporting facts.
6. Conclusion and summary with call to action.
But try to put this theory into practice and many people stare at a blank page (or computer screen). How do you get started? In this article I have a couple of killer tips to write that persuasive essay.
Free Writing
Photo by Umjanedoan
No one expects you to sit down and write perfectly crafted prose on your first attempt. Putting that expectation on yourself straight up is a sure fire way to bring on writer’s block. If you are staring at a blank page, try free writing.
Just relax and write. Write whatever comes into your mind about your chosen topic. Don’t stop to edit. Don’t even bother creating whole sentences or separate paragraphs if you don’t want to. Just keep writing.
You can set a time limit if you want, for example, 10 minutes. After your initial spurt of activity, read through what you have written for ideas to develop further. All of the articles I write for this website started out as free writing. The first few lines of free writing for this post looked like –
Starting to write … daunting process. Theory is simple. Title thesis supporting paragraphs conclusion. How do you get started … free writing … mind maps …
Your free writing might end up as points to develop further. It might even be complete paragraphs you can use in your final composition. If you sit down and free write for just 10 minutes, you will often end up with 300 words of good material.
Mind Maps
The second trip to getting started is a mind map. This has helped people chunk down their problems (no, that is not a reference to beer and pizza night gone bad) for decades. Put simply, a mind map is a diagram linking ideas on a piece of paper and is a fantastic brainstorming tool.
To start, grab a scrap piece of paper. In the centre, write down the idea you are trying to convince your audience about.
What is the main reason they should believe you? What benefit do you they get from siding with you? Draw this in a box off the right and link the two.
Now list 2 or 3 facts that support your first reason. Discuss them with a few bullet points. Link these back to your First Reason box. Now come up with your Second Reason and a Third Reason, each with their own supporting facts.
You know have a diagram that looks like a bit of a pyramid. One goal, three reasons, 2 or 3 facts per reason. Now stand back and look at what you have just created. It might not be art, but it is an outline. What you are trying to convince people of is your thesis statement. Each of the reasons are the subjects for your supporting paragraphs. And each supporting paragraph already has some facts you can use to create authority with your readers.
The essay as a whole can be a little daunting. But break it down into manageable chunks and you are quickly on your way to writing your persuasive essay.
Photo by Martin Kingsley
What is a persuasive essay? Put simply, a persuasive essay is a short commentary designed to persuade your audience. It is an article traditionally five paragraphs long that communicates your position in a persuasive manner.
At the college essay level, the persuasive essay is used to demonstrate your writing skills and how well you understand a topic. In the real world, a persuasive essay can be a sales letter, a job application or even a presentation to a group of people.
The persuasive essay is constructed using a title, thesis statement, supporting paragraphs and a conclusion. Let’s break these down a little further:
1. Title
The title is straightforward. What topic are you writing about? You can be a little descriptive here to give your reader a brief overview of what you are discussing. For example, your title heading might be “Modern Eco Friendly Housing”. You haven’t taken a position yet but you are letting your reader know what is to come.
2. Thesis Statement
This is a statement about what you are trying to convince your readers of. For example, your thesis statement might be “Housing made from renewable resources have a low carbon footprint compared to traditional construction methods”. Make your thesis statement a little controversial to emotionally involve your audience. But only be a little controversial. If you take the extremist point of view, you risk alienating your readers.
The thesis statement is a bait to hook your readers. If you need help with how to write your thesis statement, then walk through your local mall or turn on the TV. You are surrounded by them every day. Advertising headlines are great examples of thesis statements that capture attention.
3. Supporting Paragraphs
A persuasive essay will normally have a minimum of three supporting paragraphs. Start each supporting paragraph with a statement that supports your main thesis. Back up their statement with facts or testimonials from well known sources. Facts form the foundation of your argument and allow you to act as an authority on the subject.
The key to your supporting paragraph is to remember that a fact is not debatable. The statement you make in these paragraphs is an emotional interpretation of these facts to persuade readers. Marketers know the best way to sell something is to use the Feature-Benefit rule. First, identify a feature (or a fact) and then draw the reader in with the benefit they will receive by agreeing with you. Marketers sell the sizzle, not the sausage.
For example, “Good orientation increases the energy efficiency of a home, making it more comfortable to live in and cheaper to run”. Good orientation and energy efficiency is the feature. But what does it mean to the house owner? The benefit to the owner is a house that is comfortable to live in and cheaper to run.
4. Conclusion
The last part of the persuasive essay is the conclusion. If you are like most students, you are writing your essay just hours before it is due. Your writing skills are fading and you just want it done. Make a mistake here and all your effort is down the drain. The conclusion is the call to action. If you are selling something, then this is a real physical action such as clicking on the buy button. In your essay, the call to action is having your reader agree with you.
Use your conclusion to remind the reader of what your thesis statement is together with your supporting facts. Next, tell your reader what to. If you’re selling a product, tell them to buy. If it’s a job application, ask for the interview.
What happens if your reader does not take action? It does not mean you have failed, it just means you have not taken into account the objections your readers have. These are the “No’s” that you must overcome before you can get to a “Yes”. Persuasive essays use passive argument to overcome objection. When you first sit down to write, ask yourself what objections will your readers have to your ideas? Now, what features and benefits can you discuss to overcome these objections? For example –
Objection: Eco-friendly housing is expensive when compared to other designs.
Feature/Benefit: Savings in heating and cooling will quickly offset the price over just a few years.
In the paragraph above I stated that a persuasive essay uses passive argument. This is where you focus on the features and benefits of your point of view. You do not actively discuss the opposing view. If you are in a job interview, you don’t talk about how good the other candidates are for the job, you focus on how you can fill their needs. If you use an active argument discussing both sides of the topic, then you are writing an argumentative essay. Both essays are often confused and I will discuss the argumentative essay in my next article.