Persuasive Message
In your Persuasive message, you were asked to analyze the AIDA approach used by
an entrepreneur in one of Shark Tanks most successful pitches.
For this assignment, you are required to take an item that you use most often- a
binder- and create a sales pitch based on the AIDA approach. You can get as
creative as you like with your binder. For example, your binder can have a solar
panel for charging your IPhone.
Remember that I will be the shark in this case, so your AIDA approach, numbers,
and pitch have to very appealing and strong.
Here is what I am looking for in your message:
1. 4 clear paragraphs (Attention, Interest, Desire, and call for Action)
2. Block format
3. One inch margin
4. 12 point font
5. Times New Roman font
6. Two spaces between paragraphs
7. Formal/ professional tone
venture and distrac-
s, etc.
iew your draft. Your design elements must complement,
an experienced colleague who
not detract from, your argument. In addition, meticulous proofreading will identify any
mechanical or spelling errors that would weaken your persuasive potential. Finally, make
sure your distribution methods fit your audience's expectations as well as your purpose.
fulfill some other need;
vertisers appeal to it
the gemstones in a piece
self-actualization as the
it as one of the higher-
of their other needs, they
le of appealing to this
2
ou can be."
you
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
Describe an effective strategy
for developing persuasive business
messages.
other appeals to charity.
Developing Persuasive
Business Messages
Your success as a businessperson is closely tied to your ability to encourage others to accept
new ideas, change old habits, or act on your recommendations. Unless your career takes
into marketing and sales, most of your persuasive messages will consist of persuasive
business messages, which are those designed to elicit a preferred response in a nonsales
situation.
Even if you have the power to compel others to do what you want them to do, per-
suading them is more effective than forcing them. People who are forced into accepting a
decision or plan are less motivated to support it and more likely to react negatively than
if they're persuaded. Within the context of the three-step process, effective persuasion
involves four essential strategies: framing your arguments, balancing emotional and logi-
cal appeals, reinforcing your position, and anticipating objections. (Note that all these
concepts in this section apply as well to marketing and sales messages, covered later in
the chapter.)
MOBILE APPS
Want to persuade your local govern-
ment to address a problem? The
City Sourced app aims to facilitate
civic engagement through mobile
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essages because you're
to inadvertently insult
and that you're here to
e, a message that seems
nd intrusive in a high-
FRAMING YOUR ARGUMENTS
so too does the culture
agreement and conflict
en encourage open dis-
The AIDA model is a useful
approach for many persuasive
messages:
• Attention
• Interest
• Desire
• Action
nce, you must convince
ig to mislead them. Use
Many persuasive messages follow some variation of the indirect approach. One of the most
commonly used variations is called the AIDA model, which organizes your message into
four phases (see Figure 9.2 on the next page):
• Attention. Your first objective is to encourage your audience to want to hear about
your problem, idea, or new product—whatever your main idea is. Be sure to find some
common ground on which to build your case.
• Interest. Provide additional details that prompt audience members to imagine how the
solution might benefit them.
• Desire. Help audience members embrace your idea by explaining how the change will
benefit them and answering potential objections.
• Action. Suggest the specific action you want your audience to take. Include a deadline,
when applicable.
motional manipulation.
ake.
ects those sources.
and background experi-
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Healthy!
Wealthy!
Happy!
STE
That makes it
even better; let's
do this!
Sounds great,
but can you really
deliver on that
promise?
Hey,
I want to be
healthy, wealthy,
and happy!
ОК, ,
prove that you
can help me.
Action
Desire
Interest
Attention
Motivate them to take action,
whether that is seeking more
information, making a decision
in your favor, or making a purchase
Catch the audience's eyes
and ears, then getting people
to pay attention to your message
amid all the other messages
clamoring for their attention
Move prospects from "I'm
interested” to “I want this" by
continuing to show how your
solution will benefit them and
by removing any doubts
Provide concise information
points that "pay off the promise
you made to get their attention
as you build a case that you can
meet their individual needs
Figure 9.2 The AIDA Model for Persuasive Messages
With the AIDA model, you craft one or more messages to move recipients through four stages of attention,
interest, desire, and action. The model works well for both persuasive business messages (such as persuad-
ing your manager to fund a new project) and marketing and sales messages.
REAL-TIME UPDATES
LEARN MORE BY READING THIS ARTICLE
your
Fi
The AIDA model is tailor-made for using the indirect
approach, allowing you to save your main idea for the action
phase. However, it can also work with the direct approach,
Using stories to persuade
in which case you use your main idea as an attention-getter
,
Learn why stories are usually more effective than
build interest with your argument, create desire with
plain data when it comes to changing minds. Go to http://real-
evidence, and emphasize your main idea in the action phase
timeupdates.com/bce7. Under "Students," click on “Learn More."
with the specific action you want your audience to take.
When your AIDA message uses the indirect approach
and is delivered by memo or email, keep in mind that your subject line usually catches your
The AIDA model is ideal for the
reader's eye first. Your challenge is to make it interesting and relevant enough to capture
indirect approach.
reader attention without revealing your main idea. If you put your request in the subject
line, you're likely to get a quick “no” before you've had a chance to present your arguments:
Instead of This
Write This
Request for development budget to add
automated IM response system
Reducing the cost of customer support
inquiries
The AIDA approach has
With either the direct or indirect approach, AIDA and similar models do have limita-
limitations:
tions. First, AIDA is a unidirectional method that essentially talks at audiences, not with
• It essentially talks at audiences,
not with them
. It focuses on one-time events,
sion, rather than on building a mutually beneficial, long-term relationship. AIDA is still a
valuable tool for the right purposes, but as you'll read later in the chapter, a conversational
not long-term relationships
W
to
h
them. Second, AIDA is built around a single event, such as asking
single event, such as asking an audience for a de
approach is more compatible with today's social media.
7
BALANCING EMOTIONAL AND LOGICAL APPEALS
Emotional appeals attempt to
connect with the reader's feelings
or sympathies.
Few persuasive appeals are purely logical or purely emotional, and a key skill is finding the
right balance for each message (see Figure 9.3). An emotional appeal calls on
audience sympathies. For instance, you can make up
feelings of
uns
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