Layout:
It depends on the genre. Advertisements pay close attention to layout and use a
wide variety of headings and font sizes for captions, slogans, statistics etc. A
persuasive speech will use a traditional essay-style layout. A competition entry or
proposal will have a clear structure – introduction; details (3 – 4 paragraphs);
what you expect to happen next.
Style:
Rather than purely factual (information) or logical (argument), persuasion
manipulates your emotions to make you feel strongly about an issue. The writer
draws on personal experiences to lure the reader or viewer into feeling certain
emotions – sympathy, distress, disgust, admiration, pride, anger, fear,
amusement. Once you are emotionally ‘hooked’ it becomes harder to analyse,
assess and accept or reject the writer’s message logically because the heart, not
the head, is now in the driving seat!
Asking rhetorical questions, making urgent references to time, using emphatic,
superlative and emotive words, repeating a key phrase, adopting collective
personal pronouns, creating vivid imagery, hyperbole, contrast and humour are
all effective ways of manipulating people’s feelings.
Argument & persuasion often overlap – logic and emotion is a great combination
if you want to win people over. You’ll also find significant overlap between the
language of persuasion and descriptive writing, which also draws people in
emotionally.
178