Persuasive writing is a particularly useful skill utilized by writers to present their stance on an issue. By clearly sharing their opinions through structured writing, authors can convince their audiences to feel a certain way about the topic. The structure to this kind of writing has a sort of checklist that is required for success.

1. Introduction: This is a short overview of the topic and where the writer stands considering the matter.
2. Body: This section, is most of the article. This will contain the argument at hand, and the evidence supporting the chosen side.
3. Conclusion: This is the last word in the article that presents the cohesive summary of everything; the argument, the evidence, and the stance.

The obvious example here is a debate. The debate coaches during the presidential campaigns? Persuasive. The speeches given by the presidential candidates? Persuasive. These are clear examples, but I bet you didn’t know that you see examples of persuasive writing every day. While advertisements may be visual rather than writing, the text slides in videos, the script for the commercial, even the slogan is designed to be persuasive in nature.

How about the review of the online company you were thinking about trying? There are choices given by the platforms for you to decide where you stand on that company when you want to review it. The 5-star ratings are telling you to trust the company, and give them your business. The ones who leave a detailed review about their experience with the awesome customer representative and the quality of the product, are clearly supporting the matter. Any 1-star ratings will tell you about the rude rep they dealt with and how their protein powder showed up open and spilled. You never thought about it as a writing example. It’s a short example, but it is still that.

Remember to watch for persuasive terminology as you read. These are keywords in every style of writing that will trigger certain thoughts or feelings in the reader. While an expository piece of writing will contain very factual phrasing like “firstly”, “additionally”, “most importantly”, and “for these reasons”, a piece of entertainment writing will rely on the detail (article coming soon) to invoke certain emotions within you.

So next time you see an advertisement for the best diets and health crazes or the most beautiful places to travel to, remember, these are writers trying to sway you to their side.