Write a 300-350 word letter reflecting on how you will apply what you learned in the attachments.

Due Sun Feb 24th by 11:00 PM Eastern Time (6 hours from now)

Task: You are to write a
300 – 350 word letter (Letter format!) to your instructor reflecting your learning experience on how to make your message persuasive. Your work should reflect how the new learning has influenced your thinking when creating your message persuasive. Save as a Word Document.
Be sure you have a minimum of three paragraphs. Introduction, Body, and Conclusion.

Read the attachments below. Write a 300-350 word letter reflecting on how you will use what you learned to change yourself and/or apply it to your career. I currently work in a retail store. You can pick as many topics from the attachments below. You can simply write about 1 thing if you can fill the letter, or you can write about multiple things.

Please note this is a REFLECTION on how you will use this information in the future. Do not just rephrase what the information is about.

How to Write a Reflection

Writing a reflection is multifaceted. The writer needs to do so much before writing, and in the moment of the writing (and editing), the author must stay on track to his/her focus while giving plenty of detail for the reader to FEEL the message. It’s as much about thinking and thinking about thinking as it is to feeling. Reflection is a combination of cognition, emotion, and body sensations. Here is an approach to help you reflect well. Not only will you learn the information, but the process of reflection actually boosts the brain’s ability to make decisions. 1. Using a quiet mind and a quiet environment, be quiet and listen to your houghts. Reflection is quiet. 2. Step One is Critical Thinking: Ask questions like… What did I learn that I expected? What did I learn that I didn’t expect?How am I changed?What will I do with this information?How will I influence others with this information? 3. Step Two: Examine your own thinking. How was I thinking that? What was I thinking? Why? What were my biases, assumptions, etc? 4. Step Four (We skip gathering information.): After confidence to your learning based on the content covered, decide a writing core – a focus. 5. Write in first person. Write with depth – no surface only comments. Write with specificity. What exactly did you learn and what will you do with that new you?

Academic-Writing to Business-Writing

Writing that Works (2010). Oliu, Brusaw, & Alred

This presentation is on ‘Academic Writing to Business Writing.’ The two styles are very different and your business writing success is dependent on your understanding the differences.
You have spent your entire academic career writing in academic style, and I am here to teach you a new style. For most students, they find this new writing style a challenge in changing their thinking. Good news is I do see considerable student success, in learning this new style, in those that push forward through their brain’s natural resistance to change. If you feel this negative resistance, contact me so I can help not let it interfere with your learning. I want your success.
So, let’s talk about the differences.

Academic-Writing to Business-Writing
Academic Organization Business Organization
Research to expand knowledge
Research to create new knowledge

Indirect approach To cause action
To

Direct approach
Abstract

Introduction/Background

Analysis/Critical

Conclusion/Recommendations Recommendation/Actions

Evidence/Support/Further Analysis/Details

Take a look at this chart. It demonstrates the basic differences in the two styles. Basically, academic focus is for exploration of new ideas and business is about action. Notice that Academic ends with the conclusion/recommendations and that’s where business starts.
2

Business Writing Differs
Purpose
Academic writing is to demonstrate learning.
Business writing is to meet an organizational need.

Purpose
The purpose of academic writing is for the professor to access your learning. The professor knows the material; this is not new information to him/her.
In business writing, you are the one that knows, not the reader. You are writing to meet an organizational need, perhaps it’s to all a meeting, maybe launch a product or project.

Business Writing Differs
Audience
Academic writing is for the instructor,
who already knows the information.

Business writing is for internal & external constituencies, who most often, do not know the information you need to share.

Audience
In academic writing, you are writing to one person with a singular assessment goal. In business, you have many different audiences: internal and external. You may communicate to peers & colleagues, bosses and executives, customers or clients, vendors and prospective business partners.
4

Business Writing Differs
Organization
Academic writing is essay format
Business writing is organized to the reader’s needs.

Organization
Most academic writing is in essay formal report form. I expect you have produced many reports/research papers over your years of academic study. You learned that the normal academic paragraphing format is generally 5 to 6 sentences.
In business writing, you organize your information to meet the reader’s needs. Some information is presented direct; some information is presented indirect. The key is to present the information in the way that best connects/relates to your reader. We like to use a varying number of sentences in the paragraphs to keep the reader’s interest.
And, surprising is, a one sentence paragraph is absolutely fine.
5

Business Writing Differs
Style
Academic writing is most often formal.
Business writing is conversational.
Review HBR article on “What do you mean – Style?”

Style
Academic writing is most often formal. You, the writer, work to use the new vocabulary that your instructor has introduced you to. Business writing language is conversational – not formal with ‘big’ words nor casual with slang and jargon. Go for the middle comfortable area.
6

Good Business Writing…
Is clear & concise
Is complete
Is correct
Saves the reader’s time
Builds goodwill

Effective business writing is clear and concise. The language is easily understood by the reader. Use as many words as you need to convey your message – no more and no less.
Be complete. This means include everything the reader needs to know and no more. Too little information is upsetting to the reader and causes a need for him/her to follow up with you. Too much information causes the reader to get bored and stop reading. This is a critical business writing factor to employ.
Correct. It should go without saying, your document is to be error free. If you have errors in your work, you loose credibility. If you loose credibility in business, you have harmed your ability to get ‘things’ done.
Saves the reader’s time. You are to create documents that are quick and easy to read. Don’t make the reader work hard to understand…because they won’t. They’ll stop reading and feel dis-engaged from you – which is what you dont’t want.
Goodwill. Business is relationships. We get work done through each other and with each other. So, when you communicate both in writing and orally, you need to work to build goodwill.

http://www.canadaone.com/ezine/jan08/persuasive_communication2.html
7

Business Writing Differs
Visuals
Academic writing is mostly narrative.
Business writing employs multiple strategies to convey a message – tables, charts, Powerpoints, and more.

Visuals
Academic writing is mostly narrative.
Business writing uses the best medium to convey the message. Business writing is meant to be attractive and persuasive. It’s written to get the reader’s attention. So, go ahead, use lots of visuals to convey your message. But, don’t get cutesy – stay with professional polish.

Business Writing Checklist/Rubric

In Blackboard usually in the Course Information link/Bcomm Toolkit link, you’ll find the Business Writing Checklist/Rubric which details items in business writing. Review this list, compare the items to the mentions in your text and in all the content in Blackboard. Contact me for any expansion of information that you need. Use this document as a reminder of the requirements for this new way of writing and thinking.
9

Controlling Sentence Length
Sentence Length
8 words
15 words
19 words
28 words
Comprehension Rate
100%
90%
80%
50%

In the beginning of moving from academic to business style writing, I often find sentences made of 50 or more words. Yikes. As you can see from the table on the slide, this is not helpful to the reader.
According to Guffey, The American Press Institute data, states that sentences that are 8 words in length are understood by the reader at 100% comprehension. The more words in the sentence the more we don’t comprehend. Notice that at 28 words our comprehension has dropped to 50%.
10

Conventional Formatting
Use 11 font size
Standard margins
Single-spaced
Times News Roman, Veranda, Arial
Follow cultural conventions

Typical business writing is in 11 (Times News Roman, Veranda or Arial), using Microsoft’s standard margins and is single-spaced. Be careful not to choose font’s that cause the reader to feel the message is too formal or too casual.
Follow cultural conventions in your place of employment. That is to say, whatever that particular organization uses as protocol is the format of appropriate choice.
11

Harnessing the Science
of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini

A LUCKY FEW HAVE IT; most of US d o not. A handful
/ \ of gifted “naturals” simply know how to cap-

/ \ ture an audience, sway the undecided, and
convert the opposition. Watching these masters of
persuasion work their magic is at once impressive
and frustrating. What’s impressive is not just the easy
way they use charisma and eloquence to convince
others to do as they ask. It’s also how eager those
others are to do what’s requested of them, as if the
persuasion itself were a favor they couldn’t wait
to repay.

The frustrating part of the experience is that
these bom persuaders are often unahle to ac-
count for their remarkable skill or pass it on to
others. Their way with people is an art, and
artists as a rule are far hetter at doing than at
explaining. Most of them can’t offer much
help to those of us who possess no more
than the ordinary quotient of charisma
and eloquence but who still have to wres-
tle with leadership’s fundamental chal-
lenge: getting things done through oth-
ers. That challenge is painfully familiar
to corporate executives, who every day
have to figure out how to motivate
and direct a highly individualistic
workforce. Playing the “Because I’m
the boss” card is out. Even if it
weren’t demeaning and demoraliz-
ing for all concerned, it would be
out of place in a world where
cross-functional teams, joint ven-
tures, and intercompany part-
nerships have blurred the lines
of authority. In such an en-
vironment, persuasion skills
exert far greater influence
over others’ behavior than
formal power structures do.

72 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW

Jo leader can succeed without mastering the art of persuasion.

But there’s hard science in that skill, too, and a large body

3f psychological research suggests there are six basic laws of

rinning friends and influencing people.

OCTOBFR 2001

H a r n e s s i n g t h e S c i e n c e o f P e r s u a s i o n

Which brings us back to where we started. Persuasion
skills may be more necessary than ever, but how can ex-
ecutives acquire them if the most talented practitioners
can’t pass them along? By looking to science. For the past
five decades, behavioral scientists have conducted exper-
iments that shed considerable light on the way certain
interactions lead people to concede, comply, or change.
This research shows that persuasion works by appealing
to a limited set of deeply rooted human drives and needs,
and it does so in predictable ways. Persuasion, in other
words, is governed by basic principles that can be taught,
learned, and applied. By mastering these principles, exec-
utives can bring scientific rigor to the business of securing
consensus, cutting deals, and winning concessions. In the
pages that follow, 1 describe six fundamental principles of
persuasion and suggest a few ways that executives can
apply them in their own organizations.

THE PRINCIPLE OF

Liking:
People like those who like them.

THE APPLICATION:

Uncover real similarities and offer
genuine praise.

The retailing phenomenon known as the Tupperware
party is a vivid illustration of this principle in action.
The demonstration party for Tupperware products is
hosted by an individual, almost always a woman, who in-
vites to her home an array of friends, neighbors, and rel-
atives. The guests’ affection for their hostess predisposes
them to buy from her, a dynamic that was confirmed by
a 1990 study of purchase decisions made at demonstra-
tion parties. The researchers, Jonathan Frenzen and
Harry Davis, writing in the Journal of Consumer Research,
found that the guests’ fondness for their hostess weighed
twice as heavily in their purchase decisions as their re-
gard for the products they bought. So when guests at a
Tupperware party buy something, they aren’t just buy-
ing to please themselves. They’re buying to please their
hostess as well.

What’s true at Tupperware parties is true for business
in general: If you want to influence people, win friends.
How? Controlled research has identified several factors
that reliably increase liking, but two stand out as espe-

Robert B. Cialdini is the Regents’ Professor of Psychology
at Arizona State University and the author of Influence:
Science and Practice (Allyn & Bacon, 2001), now in its fourth
edition. Further regularly updated information about the in-
fluence process can be found at www.influenceatwork.com.

cially compelling-similarity and praise. Similarity liter-
ally draws people together. In one experiment, reported
in a 1968 article in the Journal of Personality, participants
stood physically closer to one another after learning that
they shared political beliefs and social values. And in a
1963 article in American Behavioral Scientists, researcher
F. B. Evans used demographic data from insurance com-
pany records to demonstrate that prospects were more
willing to purchase a policy from a salesperson who was
akin to them in age, religion, politics, or even cigarette-
smoking habits.

Managers can use similarities to create bonds with a re-
cent hire, the head of another department, or even a new
boss. Informal conversations during the workday create
an ideal opportunity to discover at least one common
area of enjoyment, be it a hobby, a college basketball
team, or reruns of Seinfeld. The important thing is to es-
tablish the bond early because it creates a presumption
of goodwill and trustworthiness in every subsequent
encounter. It’s much easier to build support for a new
project when the people you’re trying to persuade are al-
ready inclined in your favor.

Praise, tbe other reliable generator of affection, both
charms and disarms. Sometimes the praise doesn’t even
have to be merited. Researchers at the University of
North Carolina writing in the Journal of Experimental So-
cial Psychology found that men felt the greatest regard for
an individual who flattered them unstintingly even if the
comments were untrue. And in their book Interpersonal
Attraction (Addison-Wesley, 1978), Ellen Berscheid and
Elaine Hatfieid Walster presented experimental data
showing that positive remarks about another person’s
traits, attitude, or performance reliably generates liking in
retum, as well as willing compliance with the wishes of
the person offering the praise.

Along with cultivating a fruitful relationship, adroit
managers can also use praise to repair one that’s damaged
or unproductive. Imagine you’re the manager of a good-
sized unit within your organization. Your work frequently
brings you into contact with another manager-call him
Dan – whom you have come to dislike. No matter bow
much you do for him, it’s not enough. Worse, he never
seems to believe that you’re doing the best you can for
him. Resenting his attitude and his obvious lack of trust
in your abilities and in your good faith, you don’t spend
as much time with him as you know you should; in con-
sequence, the performance of both his unit and yours is
deteriorating.

The research on praise points toward a strategy for fix-
ing the relationship. It may be hard to find, but there has
to be something about Dan you can sincerely admire,
whether it’s his concern for the people in his department,
his devotion to his family, or simply his work ethic. In
your next encounter with him, make an appreciative
comment about that trait. Make it clear that in this case

74 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW

Harnessing the Science of Persuasion

at least, you value what tie values. I predict that Dan will
relax his relentless negativity and give you an opening to
convince him of your competence and good intentions.

THE PRINCIPLE OF

Reciprocity:
People repay in kind.

THE APPLICATION:

Give what you want to receive.

Praise is likely to have a wanning and softening effect on
Dan because, ornery as he is, he is still human and subject
to the universal human tendency to treat people the way
they treat him. If you have ever caught yourself smiling at
a coworker just because he or she smiled first, you know
how this principle works.

Charities rely on reciprocity to help them raise funds.
For years, for instance, the Disabled American Veterans
organization, using only a well-crafted fund-raising letter,
garnered a very respectable 18% rate of response to its ap-
peals. But when the group started enclosing a small gift in
the envelope, the response rate nearly doubled to 35%.
The gift – personalized address labels – was extremely
modest, but it wasn’t what prospective donors received
that made the difference. It was that they had gotten any-
thing at all.

What works in that letter works at the office, too. It’s
more than an effusion of seasonal spirit, of course, that
impels suppliers to shower gifts on purchasing depart-
ments at holiday time. In 1996, purchasing managers ad-
mitted to an interviewer from Inc. magazine that after
having accepted a gift from a supplier, they were willing
to purchase products and services they would have oth-
erwise declined. Gifts also have a startling effect on re-
tention. I have encouraged readers of my book to send me
examples of the principles of influence at work in their
own lives. One reader, an employee of the State of Ore-
gon, sent a letter in which she oftered these reasons for
her commitment to her supervisor:

He gives me and my son gifts for Christmas and gives
me presents on my birthday. There is no promotion for
the type of job I have, and my only choice for one is to
move to another department. But I find myself resist-
ing trying to move. My boss is reaching retirement age,
and I am thinking 1 will be able to move out after he re-
tires….[F]or now, I feel obligated to stay since he has
been so nice to me.
Ultimately, though, gift giving is one of the cruder

applications of the rule of reciprocity. In its more sophis-
ticated uses, it confers a genuine first-mover advantage
on any manager who is trying to foster positive attitudes

and productive persona! relationships in the office:
Managers can elicit the desired behavior from cowork-
ers and employees by displaying it first Whether it’s a
sense of trust, a spirit of ctwperation, or a pleasant de-
meanor, leaders should model the behavior they want to
see from others.

The same holds true for managers faced with issues of
information delivery and resource allocation. If you lend
a member of your staff to a colleague who is shorthanded
and staring at a fast-approaching deadline, you will sig-
nificantly increase your chances of gefting help when you
need it. Your odds wil! improve even more if you say,
when your colleague thanks you for the assistance, some-
thing like, “Sure, glad to help. I know how important it is
for me to count on your help when I need it.”

THE PRINCIPLE OF I

Social Proof:
People follow the lead of similar others. ,

THE APPLICATION:

Use peer power whenever it’s available.

Social creatures that they are, human beings rely heav-
ily on the people around them for cues on how to think,
feel, and act. We know this intuitively, but intuition has
also been confirmed by experiments, such as the one first
described in 1982 in the Journal of Applied Psychology. A
group of researchers went door-to-door in Columbia,
South Carolina, soliciting donations for a charity cam-
paign and displaying a list of neighborhood residents who
had already donated to the cause. The researchers found
that the longer the donor list was, the more likely those
solicited would be to donate as well.

To the people being solicited, the friends’ and neigh-
bors’ names on the list were a form of socia! evidence
about how they should respond. But the evidence would
not have been nearly as compelling had the names been
those of random strangers. In an experiment from the
1960s, first described in the Journal of Personality and 50-
ciat Psychology, residents of New York City were asked to
retum a lost wallet to its owner. They were highly likely
to aftempt to return the waUet when they !earned that an-
other New Yorker had previous!y aftempted to do so. But
!eaming that someone from a foreign country had tried
to retum the wallet didn’t sway their decision one way or
the other.

The lesson for executives ftom these two experiments
is that persuasion can be extremely effective when it
comes from peers. The science supports what most sales
professionals already know: Testimonials from satis-
fied customers work best when the satisfied customer

OCTOBER 2001 75

Harnessing the Science of Persuasion

and the prospective customer share similar circum-
stances. That lesson can help a manager faced with the
task of selling a new corporate initiative. Imagine that
you’re trying to streamline your department’s work
processes. A group of veteran employees is resisting.
Rather than try to convince the employees of the move’s
merits yourself, ask an old-timer who supports the initia-
tive to speak up for it at a team meeting. The compatriot’s
testimony stands a much better chance of convincing the
group than yet another speech from the boss. Stated sim-
ply, influence is often best exerted horizontally rather
than vertically.

THE PRINCIPLE OF

Consistency:
People align with their clear commitments.

THE APPLICATION:

Make their commitments active,
public, and voluntary.

Liking is a powerful force, but the work of persuasion in-
volves more than simply making people feel warmly to-
ward you, your idea, or your product. People need not
only to like you but to feel committed to what you want
them to do. Good turns are one reliable way to make peo-
ple feel obligated to you. Another is to win a public com-
mitment from them.

My own research has demonstrated that most people,
once they take a stand or go on record in favor of a posi-
tion, prefer to stick to it. Other studies reinforce that find-
ing and go on to show how even a small, seemingly triv-
ial commitment can have a powerful effect on future
actions. Israeli researchers writing in 1983 in the Person-
ality and Social Psychology Bulletin recounted how they
asked half the residents of a large apartment complex to
sign a petition favoring the establishment of a recreation
center for the handicapped. The cause was good and the
request was small, so almost everyone who was asked
agreed to sign. T\vo weeks later, on National Collection
Day for the Handicapped, all residents of the complex
were approached at home and asked to give to the cause.
A little more than half of those who were not asked to
sign the petition made a contribution. But an astounding
92% of those who did sign donated money. The residents
of the apartment complex felt obligated to live up to their
commitments because those commitments were active,
public, and voluntary. These three features are worth con-
sidering separately.

There’s strong empirical evidence to show that a choice
made actively – one that’s spoken out loud or written
down or otherwise made explicit – is considerably more

likely to direct someone’s future conduct than the same
choice left unspoken. Writing in 1996 in the Personality
and Social Psychology Bulletin, Delia Cioffi and Randy Gar-
ner described an experiment in which college students in
one group were asked to fill out a printed form saying
they wished to volunteer for an AIDS education project
in the public schools. Students in another group volun-
teered for the same project by leaving blank a form stat-
ing that they didn’t want to participate. A few days later,
when the volunteers reported for duty, 74% of those who
showed up were students from the group that signaled
their commitment by filling out the form.

The implications are clear for a manager who wants to
persuade a subordinate to follow some particular course
of action: Get it in writing. Let’s suppose you want your
employee to submit reports in a more timely fashion.
Once you believe you’ve won agreement, ask him to sum-
marize the decision in a memo and send it to you. By
doing so, you’ll have greatly increased the odds that he’ll
fulfill the commitment because, as a rule, people live up
to what they have written down.

Research into the social dimensions of commitment
suggests that written statements become even more pow-
erful when they’re made public. In a classic experiment,
described in 1955 in the Journal of Abnormal and Social
Psychology, college students were asked to estimate the
length of lines projected on a screen. Some students were
asked to write down their choices on a piece of paper, sign
it, and hand the paper to the experimenter. Others wrote
their choices on an erasable slate, then erased the slate im-
mediately. Still others were instructed to keep their deci-
sions to themselves.

The experimenters then presented all three groups
with evidence that their initial choices may have been
wrong. Those who had merely kept their decisions in their
heads were the most likely to reconsider their original es-
timates. More loyal to their first guesses were the students
in the group that had written them down and immedi-
ately erased them. But by a wide margin, the ones most re-
luctant to shift from their original choices were those who
had signed and handed them to the researcher.

This experiment highlights how much most people
wish to appear consistent to others. Consider again the
matter of the employee who has been submitting late re-
ports. Recognizing the power of this desire, you should,
once you’ve successfully convinced him of the need to be
more timely, reinforce the commitment by making sure it
gets a public airing. One way to do that would be to send
the employee an e-mail that reads, “1 think your plan is
just what we need. I showed it to Diane in manufacturing
and Phil in shipping, and they thought it was right on tar-
get, too.” Whatever way such commitments are formal-
ized, they should never be like the New Year’s resolutions
people privately make and then abandon with no one the
wiser. They should be publicly made and visibly posted.

76 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW

Harnessing the Science of Persuasion

More than 300 years ago, Samuel Butler wrote a cou-
plet that explains succinctly why commitments must be
voluntary to be lasting and effective: “He that complies
against his will/Is of his own opinion still.” If an undertak-
ing is forced, coerced, or imposed from the outside, it’s not
a commitment; it’s an unwelcome burden. Think how you
would react if your boss pressured you to donate to the
campaign of a political candidate. Would that make you
more apt to opt for that candidate in the privacy of a vot-
ing booth? Not likely. In fact, in their 1981 book Psycho-
logical Reactance (Academic Press), Sharon S. Brehm and
Jack W. Brehm present data that suggest you’d vote the
opposite way just to express your resentment of the boss’s
coercion.

This kind of backlash can occur in the office, too. Let’s
return again to that tardy employee. If you want to pro-
duce an enduring change in his behavior, you should
avoid using threats or pressure tactics to gain his compli-
ance. He’d likely view any change in his behavior as the
result of intimidation rather than a personal commitment
to change. A better approach would be to identify some-
thing that the employee genuinely values in the work-
place – high-quality workmanship, perhaps, or team
spirit-and then describe how timely reports are consis-
tent with those values. That gives the employee reasons
for improvement that he can own. And because he owns
them, they’ll continue to guide his behavior even when
you’re not watching.

THE PRINCIPLE OF

Authority:
People defer to experts.

THE APPLICATION:

Expose your expertise; don’t assume
it’s self-evident

T\vo thousand years ago, the Roman poet Virgil offered
this simple counsel to those seeking to choose correctly:
“Believe an expert.” That may or may not be good advice,
but as a description of what people actually do, it can’t be
beaten. For instance, when the news media present an ac-
knowledged expert’s views on a topic, the effect on pub-
lic opinion is dramatic. A single expert-opinion news story
in the New York Times is associated with a 2% shift in pub-
lic opinion nationwide, according to a 1993 study de-
scribed in the Public Opinion Quarterly. And researchers
writing in the American Political Science Review in 1987
found that when the expert’s view was aired on national
television, public opinion shifted as much as 4%. A cynic
might argue that these findings only illustrate the docile
submissiveness of the public. But a fairer explanation is

that, amid the teeming complexity of contemporary life,
a well-selected expert offers a valuable and efficient short-
cut to good decisions. Indeed, some questions, be they
legal, financial, medical, or technological, require so much
specialized knowledge to answer, we have no choice but
to rely on experts.

Since there’s good reason to defer to experts, execu-
tives should take pains to ensure that they establish their

Surprisingly often, people mistakenly

assume that others recognize and

appreciate their experience.

own expertise before they attempt to exert influence. Sur-
prisingly often, people mistakenly assume that others rec-
ognize and appreciate their experience. That’s what hap-
pened at a hospital where some colleagues and I were
consulting. The physical therapy staffers were frustrated
because so many of their stroke patients abandoned their
exercise routines as soon as they left the hospital. No mat-
ter how often the staff emphasized the importance of
regular home exercise-it is, in fact, crucial to the process
of regaining independent function – the message just
didn’t sink in.

Interviews with some of the patients helped us pin-
point the problem. They were familiar with the back-
ground and training of their physicians, but the patients
knew little about the credentials of the physical therapists
wbo were urging them to exercise. It was a simple matter
to remedy that lack of information: We merely asked the
therapy director to display all the awards, diplomas, and
certifications of her staff on the walls of the therapy
rooms. The result was startling: Exercise compliance
jumped 34% and has never dropped since.

What we found immensely gratifying was not just how
much we increased compliance, but how. We didn’t fool
or browbeat any of the patients. We informed them into
compliance. Nothing had to be invented; no time or re-
sources had to be spent in the process. The staff’s exper-
tise was real -all we had to do was make it more visible.

The task for managers who want to establish their
claims to expertise is somewhat more difficult. They can’t
simply nail their diplomas to the wall and wait for every-
one to notice. A little subtlety is called for. Outside the
United States, it is customary for people to spend time in-
teracting socially before getting down to business for the
first time. Frequently they gather for dinner the night be-
fore their meeting or negotiation. These get-togethers can

OCTOBER 2001 77

Harnessing the Science of Persuasion

Persuasion Experts, Safe at Last

Thanks to several decades of rigorous empirical
research by behavioral scientists, our understand-
ing of the how and why of persuasion has never
been broader, deeper, or more detailed. But these
scientists aren’t the first students of the subject.
The history of persuasion studies is an ancient
and honorable one, and it has generated a long
rosterof heroes and martyrs.

A renowned student of social influence,
William McCui re, contends in a chapter of the
Handbook of Social Psychology, 3rd ed. (Oxford
University Press, 1985) that scattered among the
more than four millennia of recorded Western
history are four centuries in which the study of
persuasion flourished as a craft. The first was the
Periclean Age of ancient Athens, the second oc-
curred during the years of the Roman Republic,
the next appeared in the time of the European
Renaissance, and the last extended over the hun-
dred years that have just ended, which witnessed
the advent of large-scale advertising, mformation,
and mass media campaigns. Each of the three
previous centuries of systematic persuasion study
was marked by a flowering of human achieve-
ment that was suddenly cut short when political
authorities had the masters of persuasion killed.
The philosopher Socrates is probably the best
known of the persuasion experts to run afoul of
the powers that be.

Information about the persuasion process is a
threat because it creates a base of power entirely
separate from the one controlled by political au-
thorities. Faced with a rival source of influence,
rulers in previous centuries had few qualms
about eliminating those rare individuals who
truly understood how to marshal forces that
heads of state have never been able to monopo-
lize, such as cleverly crafted language, strategi-
cally placed information, and, most important,
psychological insight.

It would perhaps be expressing too much faith
in human nature to claim that persuasion experts
no longer face a threat from those who wield politi-
cal power. But because the truth about persuasion
is no longer the sole possession of a few brilliant,
inspired individuals, experts in the field can pre-
sumably breathe a littie easier Indeed, since most
people in power are interested in remaining in
power, they’re likely to be more interested in ac-
quiring persuasion skills than abolishing them.

make discussions easier and help blunt disagreements-
remember the findings about liking and similarity – and
they can also provide an opportunity to establish exp)er-
tise. Perhaps it’s a matter of telling an anecdote about
successfully solving a problem similar to the one that’s on
the agenda at the next day’s meeting. Or perhaps dinner
is the time to describe years spent mastering a complex
discipline-not in a boastful way but as part of the ordi-
nary give-and-take of conversation.

Granted, there’s not always time for lengthy introduc-
tory sessions. But even in the course of the preliminary
conversation that precedes most meetings, there is almost
always an opportunity to touch lightly on your relevant
background and experience as a natural part of a sociable
exchange. This initial disclosure of personal information
gives you a chance to establish expertise early in the
game, so that when the discussion turns to the business at
hand, what you have to say will be accorded the respect it
deserves.

THE PRINCIPLE OF

Scarcity:
People want more ofwhat they can have less of.

THE APPLICATION:

Highlight unique benefits and
exclusive information.

Study after study shows that items and opportunities are
seen to be more valuable as they become less available.
That’s a tremendously useful piece of information for
managers. They can harness the scarcity principle with
the organizational equivalents of limited-time, limited-
supply, and one-of-a-kind offers. Honestly informing a
coworker of a closing window of opportunity-the chance
to get the boss’s ear before she leaves for an extended va-
cation, perhaps-can mobilize action dramatically.

Managers can learn from retailers how to frame their
offers not in terms of what people stand to gain but in
terms ofwhat they stand to lose if they don’t act on the in-
formation. The power of “loss language” was demon-
strated in a 1988 study of California home owners written
up in the Journal of Applied Psychology. Half were told
that if they fully insulated their homes, they would save
a certain amount of money each day. The other half were
told that if they failed to insulate, they would lose that
amount each day. Significantly more people insulated
their homes when exposed to the loss language. The same
phenomenon occurs in business. According t o a 1994
study in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human
Decision Processes, potential losses figure far more heavily
in managers’ decision making than potential gains.

78 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW

Harnessing the Science of Persuasion

In framing their offers, executives should also remem-
ber that exclusive information is more persuasive than
widely available data. A doctoral student of mine, Amram
Knishinsky, wrote his 1982 dissertation on the purchase
decisions of wholesale beef buyers. He observed that they
more than doubled their orders when they were told that,
because of certain weather conditions overseas, there was
likely to be a scarcity of foreign beef in the near future.
But their orders increased 600% when they were in-
formed that no one else had that information yet.

The persuasive power of exclusivity can be harnessed
by any manager who comes into possession of informa-
tion that’s not broadly available and that supports an idea
or initiative he or she would like the organization to
adopt. The next time that kind of information crosses
your desk, round up your organization’s key players. The
information itself may seem dull, but exclusivity will give
it a special sheen. Push it across your desk and say, “I just
got this report today. It won’t be distributed until next
week, but I want to give you an early look at what it
shows.” Then watch your listeners lean forward.

Allow me to stress here a point that should be obvious.
No offer of exclusive information, no exhortation to act
now or miss this opportunity forever should be made un-
less it is genuine. Deceiving colleagues into compliance is
not only ethically objectionable, it’s foolhardy. If the de-
ception is detected-and it certainly will b e – i t will snuff
out any enthusiasm the offer originally kindled. It will
also invite dishonesty toward the deceiver. Remember the
rule of reciprocity.

Putting It All Together
There’s nothing abstruse or obscure about these six prin-
ciples of persuasion. Indeed, they neatly codify our intu-
itive understanding of the ways people evaluate informa-
tion and form decisions. As a result, the principles are
easy for most people to grasp, even those with no formal
education in psychology. But in the seminars and work-
shops I conduct, I have learned that two points bear re-
peated emphasis.

First, although the six principles and their applications
can be discussed separately for the sake of clarity, they
should be applied in combination to compound their im-
pact. For instance, in discussing the importance of ex-
pertise, I suggested that managers use informal, social
conversations to establish their credentials. But that con-
versation affords an opportunity to gain information as
well as convey it. While you’re showing your dinner com-
panion that you have the skills and experience your busi-
ness problem demands, you can also learn about your
companion’s background, likes, and dislikes – informa-
tion that will help you locate genuine similarities and
give sincere compliments. By letting your expertise sur-
face and also establishing rapport, you double your per-

suasive power. And if you succeed in bringing your din-
ner partner on board, you may encourage other peopie
to sign on as well, thanks to the persuasive power of so-
cial evidence.

The other point I wish to emphasize is that the rules
of ethics apply to the science of social influence just as
they do to any other technology. Not only is it ethically
wrong to trick or trap others into assent, it’s ill-advised in
practical terms. Dishonest or high-pressure tactics work
only in the short run, if at all. Their long-term effects are
malignant, especially within an organization, which can’t
function properly without a bedrock level of trust and
cooperation.

That point is made vividly in the following account,
which a department head for a large textile manufacturer
related at a training workshop I conducted. She described
a vice president in her company who wrung public com-
mitments from department heads in a highly manipu-
lative manner. Instead of giving his subordinates time
to talk or think through his proposals carefully, he would
approach them individually at the busiest moment of
their workday and describe the benefits of his plan in
exhaustive, patience-straining detail. Then he would
move in for the kill. “It’s very important for me to see
you as being on my team on this,” he would say. “Can I
count on your support?” Intimidated, frazzled, eager to
chase the man from their offices so they could get back
to work, the department heads would invariably go along
with his request. But because the commitments never
felt voluntary, the department heads never followed
through, and as a result the vice president’s initiatives all
blew up or petered out.

Tliis story had a deep impact on the other participants
in the workshop. Some gulped in shock as they recog-
nized their own manipulative behavior. But what stopped
everyone cold was the expression on the department
head’s face as she recounted the damaging collapse of her
superior’s proposals. She was smiling.

Nothing I could say would more effectively make the
point that the deceptive or coercive use of the principles
of social infiuence is ethically wrong and pragmatically
wrongheaded. Yet the same principles, if applied appro-
priately, can steer decisions correctly. Legitimate exper-
tise, genuine obligations, authentic similarities, real so-
cial proof, exclusive news, and freely made commitments
can produce choices that are likely to benefit both parties.
And any approach that works to everyone’s mutual ben-
efit is good business, don’t you think? Of course, I don’t
want to press you into it, but, if you agree, 1 would love it
if you could just jot me a memo to that effect. ^

Reprint R0109D
To order reprints, see the last page of Executive Summaries.

To further explore the topic of this article, go to
www.hbr.org/explore.

OCTOBER 2001 79

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Three Communication Skills That Can Change Everything

An Essay by Steve Scott www.stevenkscott.com

Three Communication Skills that can Change Everything.

“As I came to understand and then use these three techniques they
have made all the difference for me while becoming an effective and
persuasive communicator. I know they can serve you as well.”

Steve Scott

No single skill is more important to our success and happiness than the ability to communicate.

Communication is your key to personal contentment and continuing professional growth. The inter-
personal skills required to convey information, clearly reveal intentions and illuminate feelings are a
mystery to most of us. But those of us able to understand and use three simple techniques become
capable of creating masterful and persuasive communication. You can be one of them.

Effective communicators know it is their responsibility to grab a listener’s undivided attention, hold
that attention, impart a clear understanding of what’s being said, and implant what is felt into the
emotions of the listener. Great communicators do that by using three techniques.

Three Techniques to Become a Masterful and Persuasive Communicator.

1. Hook
2. Salting
3. Emotional Word Pictures

Hook Simply stated, the first thing you need to do when effectively communicating is to
grab your listener’s undivided attention. We accomplish this with a “hook.” A hook is a strong
statement, a personal reference, or a specific question that grabs a person’s attention at the beginning
of the communication. A “hook” instantly brings the listener “into” the conversation.

“Have you ever looked at your hair in the mirror and wanted to cry?”

Cher was my celebrity spokesperson for a great line of hair care products and the preceding state-
ment was the “hook” that I wrote for her to use as she began her conversation with hair care buyers.

Hooking a Person’s Undivided Attention

An effective “hook” is built around three qualities; a strong and captivating statement, a personal ref-
erence, or a specific question. The best hooks contain more than one of these qualities. The line that
I wrote for Cher used two; a strong and captivating statement and a specific question. Remember the
components of great “hooks.”

1. A strong, captivating statement
2. A personal reference
3. A specific question

Three Communication Skills That Can Change Everything
An Essay by Steve Scott www.stevenkscott.com

During your conversations today look for opportunities to grab your listener’s attention using
one or all of these qualities. Writing a good hook is a learned skill that you develop. Like any
other skill, you become better by doing. Constantly think, write and try using hooks.

Salting Once you gain a person’s undivided attention you need to keep that atte n-
tion at a high level. Personal interest in any particular matter ebbs and flows during a conversa-
tion. Interest levels begin to decline as soon as ten or twenty seconds after the start of your con-
versation or presentation. You keep a person’s attention level high throughout a conversation or
presentation with a technique called “salting.”

You’ve heard the adage, “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.” Well,
that’s simply n ot true. I can make him drink every single time I take him to the water. All I
need to do is salt his oats before I get him to the water. The salt makes him thirsty for the water
before he ever gets there. We achieve similar results in our personal and professional commu-
nications.

Communication “salt” is a statement, a group of statements or a question that creates curiosity
about what we are going to say before we say it.

For example, in his video seminar on relationships, Gary Smalley tells women that there are
two things they do that make a man want to get away from them faster than a speeding bullet.
Gary points out that these two things are so devastating to a man’s ego, it not only makes him
want to get away from his wife, it can make him want to find another woman to heal his
wounds. Needless to say, every woman ends up wanting to know what those “two things” are
before Gary reveals them. His salting not only makes women curious about what he is going to
say but his communication effectively draws in their complete undivided attention.

Emotional Word Pictures The final key to becoming a powerful and effective com-
municator is your ability to create Emotional Word Pictures. Mark Twain, Abraham Lincoln,
Ben Franklin and even the Biblical writers and prophets used this technique to move their lis-
teners and readers to the heights of human understanding and emotion. It is literally the master
key that opens the door to a person’s mind and heart at the same time.

Emotional Word Pictures have not only been the most powerful communication technique I
have ever used, it is the single most powerful technique used by the world’s greatest commun i-
cators throughout the ages; Ronald Reagan, Teddy Roosevelt, Winston Churchill.

An emotional word picture is a word, a statement or a story that creates an instant picture in the
listener or reader’s mind. It effectively clarifies what you are trying to say and communicates a
feeling that you want your audience to feel. It can be as simple as a word or statement; or as
complex as a short story or analogy. Creating emotional word pictures is a learned technique.
With practice they will become your greatest ally in persuading others to listen to what you
have to say and do what you believe to be in their best interest.

Three Communication Skills That Can Change Everything
An Essay by Steve Scott www.stevenkscott.com

Why Emotional Word Pictures work;

1. Like a hook, they can instantly grab and direct a person’s attention.
2. They have the power to change a person’s thinking and beliefs.
3. They breathe life into any communication.
4. They actually lock understanding and feeling into a person’s memory, som e-

times for life.
5. They provide a gateway to deeper relationships because they enable the listener

to actually feel what you are feeling.
6. They can enable you to correct or reprove someone’s behavior or attitude in a

way that can be more easily received without negative consequences.
7. They provide the only communication method that can bridge the chasm be-

tween right-brain dominant individuals and left-brain dominant individuals.

Create Emotional Word Pictures;

Six steps to creating effective Emotional Word Pictures

1. Set a specific time to create the word picture.
2. Think about the other person’s int erests.
3. Create your word picture from one of the following inexhaustible sources; the

passions, hobbies, or interests of the person you are communicating with, memo-
rable events from their past, present events that he or she is currently involved
in, everyday objects that the person is familiar with, images from nature or
imaginary stories that picture the points you want to make.

4. Practice using a word picture before you actually share it with the person.
5. Pick a convenient time with minimal distractions to communicate your word pic-

ture.
6. Without overusing them, be persistent and soft in using emotional word pictures.

Practice Using These Skills

Now look for opportunity to use these three techniques; hooks, salting, and emotional word pic-
tures. Be confident in knowing that you can become skilled in using these strategies.

I am so confident that you will understand and effectively use these techniques with such suc-
cess that I want to give you something more. Here’s another FREE technique.

Bonus Skills and Strategies—Humanities Greatest Motivating Factors

Once the person with whom you are communicating truly understands what you are saying and
feels what you are feeling, which happens as you become more and more skilled with these
strategies, the final step to moving them to a particular course of action becomes fairly easy.
Because you are effectively communicating understanding and feeling your conversation has
moved a great distance. Your communication skills have traveled from New York streets to a
Los Angeles beach. The short distance remaining is from the sand to the water. The difference
between good communication and powerfully persuasive communication must include an ap-
peal to humanity’s greatest motivating factors.

Three Communication Skills That Can Change Everything
An Essay by Steve Scott www.stevenkscott.com

The Three Greatest Internal Motivating Factors in Anyone’s Life.

1. Desire for gain
2. Fear of Loss
3. The need to love and to be loved

Our desire for gain, fear of loss or desire to love others are internal factors deeply embed-
ded in the personality of each of us. The more you appeal to any or all of these factors, the
more persuasive your communication will be. You move from informing to connecting with
your audience in a deeply personal and moving way. People will respond to your message be-
cause it answers a question, solves a problem or validates their most intimate emotions.

Persuasive communication is like a magnificent building with a solid foundation, the finest
building materials and an attractive and sound structural design. The foundation of communi-
cation is “honoring and respecting” the person with whom you are communicating; honoring
and respecting them with your attitude, the words you choose and the manor in which you pre-
sent those words. The building materials are effective “hooks,” “salt,” “emotional word pi c-
tures” and appeal to their greatest internal motivating factors of desire for gain, fear of loss, or
the need to love or be loved. The structure itself is a logical presentation that respects the lis-
tener’s time and satisfies their need for information, service or products.

Important Definitions

Hook: A strong captivating statement, per-
sonal reference, or specific question that instantly
grabs a listener’s undivided attention.

Salt: A statement, question, or story that
creates curiosity about what you are going to say
before you say it.

Emotional word picture: A word, statement, or
story that creates an instant picture in listeners’
minds that clarifies what you are trying to say and
implants a feeling into their emotions.

You begin using these three keys to effective communication as you design effective presenta-
tions. By thinking through your presentation, knowing when you will use each of these tech-
niques and actually rehearsing your “salt,” “hooks,” and “emotional word pictures” you will b e-
come expert in implementing the skills. Like every other good habit they are acquired over
time and perfected through practice.

The final secret to becoming a great communicator is to use these skills in a structured way.
Here is how you put all of these skills together.

Three Communication Skills That Can Change Everything
An Essay by Steve Scott www.stevenkscott.com

The Secret Keys to an Effective Presentation

1. Make sure everything you write or say in your presentation treats your listener with

honor and respect and avoids condescension.

2. When appropriate, appeal to at least one or more of the person’s three gre atest internal

motivating factors (desire for gain and fear of loss that your idea or product affects.)

3. Write a presentation that follows this structure:

a. Create an opening that will immediately grab the listener’s attention with as strong
a hook as you can create. (Use emotional word pictures when appropriate.)

b. Describe the problems your idea or product will solve.

c. Salt the presentation with curiosity building statements or questions as often as you

need to keep the individual’s undivided attention.

d. Use emotional word pictures to make your most important points crystal clear and

unforgettable. Use your idea or product benefit list and your answers to objections
and excuses to form the body of your presentation.

e. Use testimonials of others who have benefited from similar ideas or from your

product. If this is a sales presentation, use the testimonials of satisfied customers,
industry experts, or other credible sources to increase the credibility of your product
and your claims.

f. Use comparisons to other ideas, products, or prices to build a perceived value of the

idea or product that far exceeds what you are proposing or the selling price of your
product.

g. Close the presentation with a quick summary (when time allows) of the benefits of

your idea or product. Give a risk-reward comparison, a clear-cut reason for action,
and finally, a call to action.

Persuasive communication can open more doors to people’s minds an d hearts than any other
key. It is a learnable art that you can master. In the beginning it will take time and effort. But
like any art, the more you practice, the more it becomes second nature and the more you will
discover your ability to effectively and persuasively communicate.

Good Luck

If I can be of any help please don’t hesitate to contact me at www.stevenkscott.com

Steve Scott

Faculty: Bryan School of Business and Economics

What Decisions to Create a “Get the Job” Persuasive Resume

Thirty to forty-five seconds that’s all the time you have to impress your potential employer. When the resume-reader sits down to review the application letters and resumes, the leader’s first task is to sort the applicants into three interview choice piles – yes, no, and maybe. And of course, we want our resume to land in the ‘yes’ pile to get the call for the interview. So, now let’s review your document-creation decision-points, so that you get the leader’s attention.

Before we start talking about the resume, we need to first talk about you. Do you know where you are going? You need to choose your life’s direction. Where do you want to be in 1 year, in 5 years and in 20 years from now. When you know where you’re going, you can create the steps to achievement. It’s focused attention that yields success. So, your preparation step is to study you – your strengths, your gifts and talents, your likes and dislikes, your limitations.

After you know more about you, then you’re ready to make your resume document-creation decisions. Let’s explore them now.

Decision One: What are the company values?

For instance, let’s say you value ‘customer wow’ – you just love to go out of your way to impress the customer, and let’s say you are researching a company and learn that they value timeliness. It’s likely that you, at some point, will be in a dilemma situation when these two values conflict – Do you spend lots of time with a particular customer to impress them or not? If you spend too much time with them, your employer will not be happy with you. This is a base-line decision. In order to be happy and in order for your employer to be happy, you and the organization need to care about the same thing.

Decision Two: Who is the reader?

What are the person’s values? You must know who will read your resume. Does this person think hierarchically or collaboratively? Does this person prefer details or big-picture thinking? Maybe this leader values details to a heightened level. You need to know your reader in order to craft your language to better connect that person. If you are unable to learn information about the decision-maker, then write toward the company values. Study the advertisement or job description to know what they want. You decision is to understand your audience and match your language to his/her perspective within the bounds of honesty and integrity.

Decision Three: List an objective or don’t list an objective?

Employers can tell how much interest you have in the company and the open position by the way you write your objective. Here’s the hint – be sure you write a very short direct objective, like Systems Analysis for ABC Corporation. Don’t write something like ‘to obtain a position with a local company where I can utilize my education and experience.’ That last statement tells the reader that you do not know what you want. And if you tell the prospective employer that you do not have clear direction, you are sending your resume directly to the ‘no’ pile. Leaders want confident employees.

Decision Five: What is the best language for the reader?

The words, the language, that you use will engage or repel the reader. You need to make a number of decisions.

· How formal or not formal

· Just a few powerful words and concise elaboration

· Number of bullet points for the categories (The more bullet points a category gets, the more important you are saying that information is.)

· The way you word the bullet point as it links to your objective

Decision Six: What is the best organization for the reader?

Organization is key. Since the reader is only giving you seconds of initial attention, you document needs to be easy to read. And what makes the document easy to read is…it’s organization and beauty on the page. Your resume needs to be readable in a glance. Be sure to ask yourself what information needs to be the power positions on the page. The power positions are the top 2/10ths – 3/10th’s of the page and the last position on the page. Be smart about what you locate in these positions and how much weight you give that information. This decision tells the leader what you deem valuable.

Decision Seven: How much personality do I show and how do I do that?

Your employer is going to choose someone that positively connects. All of us want be with people we like. So, in your resume document, notice what sets you apart from others, review your words thinking about you – what picture are your painting about yourself.

The important question that the leader is answering is ‘Are you a perfect fit?”

Frequent
Grammar & Writing Errors

Business Communication, MGT309

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Writing that Works (2010). Oliu, Brusaw, & Alred

You wear you language like you wear your clothes.
1

Grammar
List of Common Errors:
Letter and space omission
Punctuation errors
Spelling errors
Subject and verb agreement
Word missing
Capitalization errors
Reversed numbers in figures
Incorrect details: dates, telephone numbers, email addresses

Punctuation
Missing comma after introductory
Incorrect: After I read Ms. Smith’s email I retrieved the document from the file cabinet.

Correct: After I read Ms. Smith’s email, I retrieved the document from the file cabinet.

Punctuation
Misplaced punctuation with quotes
Incorrect: The speaker said, “That every leader is to walk their talk”.
Correct: The speaker said, “Every leader is to walk their talk.”

Punctuation
Missing comma in a series
Incorrect: I need to bring my lunch my book bag and my cell phone to school tomorrow.

Correct: I need to bring my lunch, my book bag, and my cell phone to school tomorrow.

Punctuation
Comma splice
Incorrect: Yesterday Jim turned in his 10 page paper to his professor and his professor said the paper was well organized.
Correct: Yesterday Jim turned in his 10 page paper to his professor, and his professor said the paper was well organized.

Punctuation
Possessive apostrophe error
Incorrect: Dr. Patricia Sullivan, the schools seventh Chancellor, retired in 2008.

Correct: Dr. Patricia Sullivan, the school’s seventh Chancellor, retired in 2008.

Punctuation
Misuse of semi-colon, colon or period.
Incorrect: John invited Tim to the meeting: however, he was not able to attend.

Correct: John invited Tim to the meeting; however, he was not able to attend.

Word Choice
Misuse of
it’s, its
you’re, your
there, their, they’re
to, two, too

Word Choice
Correct use of who, that and which
Remember that who refers to people and that and which can refer to people or objects.

Use commas around which.
Do not use commas around that.
Salvatore Lacone, Write to the Point.

Word Choice
which (nonrestrictive) vs. that (restrictive)
The blue car, which has been driven 120,000 miles, is for sale.
This sentence focuses on the blue car for sale.

The blue car that has 120,000 miles on the odometer is for sale.
This sentence points more directly to a particular car.

Word Choice
who (direct) vs. whom (indirect)
“Who needs a soda to drink?
“To whom does this soda belong?”

Overused Words
there
it
because
lot
very
and
while
this

13
Some are Fillers.

Pronouns
Singular versus plural

Incorrect: If one is tense, they should try to relax.
Correct: If one is tense, he or she needs to relax.

Pronouns
Pronoun agreement error
Incorrect: The young man and his father knew that he was in trouble.
Who is in trouble…the boy…the father…some other person?
Correct: The young man and his father knew Jason was in trouble.

Word Choice
“this” without its modifier
Incorrect: This is very comfortable.
Correct: This desk is very comfortable.

Passive to Active
Overuse of passive voice
Passive: The project was discussed by the supervisors.
Active: The supervisors discussed the project.

Subject/Verb
Tense shift
Incorrect: When we went to the store; I buy some office supplies.
Correct: When we went to the store, I bought some office supplies.

Subject/Verb
Subject-verb agreement
Incorrect: Eight people is in the meeting.
Correct: Eight people are in the meeting.

Sentence Structure
Dangling or misplaced modifier
Incorrect: If your car is parked here while not during office hours, it will be towed away.
Correct: Your car will be towed away if parked here during office hours.

Sentence Structure
Sentence fragment

Incorrect: Susie having to go work early.
Correct: Susie had to go work early.

Sentence Structure
Run-on sentence
Sentences that run on forever, they are sentences that ought to have been two or even three sentences but the writer didn’t stop to sort them out, leaving the reader feeling exhausted by the sentence’s end which is too long in coming.

www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/grammar.shtml

Sentence Structure
Poor parallelism
Incorrect: Everyone on the team was asked to bring their suggestions, plenty of paper to write on, and plans.
Correct: Everyone on the team was asked to bring suggestions, paper, and plans.

Control Paragraph Length

“Although no rule regulates the length of paragraphs, business writers typically use paragraphs of 8 or fewer lines. Long, solid chunks of print appear formidable.”

Avoid Zig-Zag Writing
I appreciate the time you spent with me in our interview last week, and I have enrolled in a Photoshop course.
I appreciate the time you spent with me in our interview last week. As a result of your advice, I enrolled in a Photoshop course.

Developing Unity
Our insurance plan is available in all the states and provinces, and you may name anyone as a beneficiary for your coverage.
Our insurance plan is available in all the states and provinces. What’s more, you may name anyone as a beneficiary for your coverage.

Writing Mistakes
Vague or weak thesis
Poor organization/flow
Not varying sentence starts
Intro missing setup or thesis or hook
Body weak in details (completeness)

Writing Mistakes
Fails to stay on focus/topic
Conclusion stating a new idea
Conclusion not restating differently the thesis/main idea
Poor transitioning

Correction Strategies
Proofread!
Seek Writing Center support
Peer review
Read it out loud. State the punctuation.
Always spell check.
Check your sentence starts.

Writing
“If I went back to college again, I’d concentrate on two areas: learning to write and to speak before an audience. Nothing in life is more important that the ability to communicate effectively.”
Gerald Ford

Business Communication, MGT309

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

How to Create a Persuasive Resume

Writing that Works (2010). Oliu, Brusaw, & Alred

I have an important question for you…How much money is your resume worth? It’s worth what your potential employer will pay for your services. What is your target salary…say it out loud now.  For the sake of our virtual environment, let’s say your resume is worth 45K. Think about that….that means your resume, that document is worth 45 thousand dollars. Whew…we have some very important work to do.
Take a moment now, and write down the first job you want to have after you graduate and then write down the job title at the pinnacle of your career.
Register with your school’s placement office. Work to keep your resume to one full page. Emphasize information that is relevant to the job you want, is recent (last
three years), and shows your superiority to other applicants. Organize to the power positions on the page. Use strong active verbs to start your bullet points. To create a scannable résumé, create a “plain vanilla” text; use keywords. Respond to the employer in the way they ask for the application package. You are being judged on your ability to follow directions. Remove any unprofessional material from your personal Web page, blog, and social networking sites. Always be honest in your résumé.
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Persuasive Resume
Be audience-centered!

As you know, at this point, it is all about the audience. It’s about who is reading the document and how they understand you. You need to language to that brain – that filter – that perspective.
Once again, we talk about audience-centeredness; I want to remind you to ponder these things: demographics, psychographics, culture, needs, drives & desires, fears, desire to connect, and receptiveness to my message. Also remember to reference the questions to ask yourself in the process of audience-analysis.
You can get a job with a bad resume…why? Because beauty and appropriateness is in the eye of the reader. The higher the performance standard of the reader, the higher performance is expected of your document and of you too, of course.
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What Makes a Resume Persuasive?
Non-verbals (How they appear on a page)
Organization
Neatness
Preparation
How well you know yourself – self awareness
Shows confidence
Attention to detail

You have about 15 to 30 seconds to impress them.
What is a persuasive resume? It is an audience-centered resume that is engineered to influence the reader, not manipulate, but persuade. And to influence them, you have only seconds. Research differs on the number of seconds, but you have maybe 15 to 30 seconds.
Here’s what I use to do. First thing one morning, I’d get my coffee and sit down with the stack of application packages, and start reading. I’d pick up the first one, read it in a moment, and place it in the yes pile, the no pile or the maybe pile. The ‘no’s’ never get looked at again. The ‘maybe’s I review and pull out depending on how many are in the ‘yes’ pile. Then I review the ‘yes’s confirming I want to call them. Then I make the invitation phone calls. (Do not wait until Monday to do this)
You are persuasive by…
Your organization choices.
The non-verbals of neatness & error-free.
Where you locate information – We’ll talk about that next slide
How aligned you are to the objective. In my opinion, objectives are not optional. Again, I’ll explain next slide.
How specific your bulleted information is to the objective.
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Here are three keys:
You need an objective. The objective answers the question ‘why.” It tells the reader WHY you are applying for THIS job. EVERYTHING below is to be in alignment with your intention. This is persuasive. (Now you see why it’s so important to understand your personal goal.) – Keep this short, brief single sentence and not a paragraph.
Second, notice the drawn block. This is the most persuasive area on the page. Our eyes go here first, so you are to strategically locate your most impactful persuasive influential information here. Therefore, I tell students to put their education here. It’s new, it’s fresh and it sets you apart in the marketplace.
Strategically decide the size of a section. The more weight you give it, the more power it has. So, that means, you are not the create lots and lots of sections that are all similar in size. You don’t want your education section the same size as your Community Service section, etc.
You need to spend lots of time reviewing resume’s…lots and lots. And you need to get to know yourself.
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Prepare

You need to get to know yourself, the more you know yourself the more you can craft a beautiful persuasive resume. The better you can craft a smart application letter and the more you can WOW them in an interview.
5

Prepare – What sets me apart?
Strengths
Talents
Passions/Interests
Values
Personality
Limitations
On the job
How did you make the company better?
On volunteer experiences
How did you make society better?

Prepare – Ask yourself
Do you enjoy working with people, data or things?
Would you like to work for someone else or yourself?
How important is salary, benefits, technology or stability?
Would you rather work for a corporation or a company?
How would you describe the perfect job?

More Questions to Ask Yourself
What do I want them to do?
What objections do they have?
What is my credibility?
What cultural influences are there?
What is the best approach – emotional, logical or both?

Before you enter a persuasive engagement you need to ask yourself these questions as each answer impacts your persuasive strategy.
What do I want them to do? – Business is about action.
What objections do they have? – People come to an experience with preconceived opinions and bias. The more you know the better the connection and influence.
What is my credibility? People follow those they trust.
What cultural influences are there? We are shaped by our experiences. Do your best to understand what might influence others.
What is the best approach, emotional, logical or both? In deciding your approach, consider the balance of emotion. The common phrase is persuade with emotion and justify with logic.
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First – Prepare

Business Communication, MGT309
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Writing that Works (2010). Oliu, Brusaw, & Alred

Prepare :
What sets me apart?
Strengths
Talents
Passions/Interests
Values
Personality
Limitations
Accomplishments:
How did you make the company better?
How did you make society better?

Here a question that you need to be able to answer – What sets you apart?
My suggestion is for you to write the answers to the following. If you want you can even do that now, just pause the video while you write.
What are your strengths? In other words, what you are you good at…write down the big things and the little things too. Make a long list. Don’t cull them –just write. Ask your friends and your parents too, they’ll bring you wonderful insights.
What are your talents? This is easier for some over others. I have a friend who has a beautiful singing voice – her talent is obvious. One of my talents is not-so-obvious – I am good at arranging things. Don’t hesitate to list things that your brain tells you is odd. Think over the negative thoughts.
What do you care about? Your passion. Your interests. For example, maybe, you care about sustainability so you take care to recycle. This often connects to your values.
What is your personality? That too affects your choices…are you an extravert or an introvert.
What are you limitations? We all have them. Know what they are…don’t hide from them.
Importantly,
Think about to previous job or group experiences, how did you make that organization better. Remember, the resume and application letter is about your contributions.
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Prepare:
Ask yourself
Do you enjoy working with people, data or things?
Would you like to work for someone else or yourself?
How important is salary, benefits, technology or stability?
Would you rather work for a corporation or a company?
How would you describe the perfect job?

Here are an additional 5 questions to answer to get to know yourself.
Do you enjoy working with people, data or things?
Would you like to work for someone else or yourself?
How important is salary, benefits, technology or stability?
Would you rather work for a corporation or a company?
How would you describe the perfect job?
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Second – Execute.
Create the document

Now we are turning our attention to getting the job done. We want educated ourselves on some new information and we now know ourselves better, so let’s craft this document.
12

Step 1:
Decide what job or job area you want.
What are the characteristics of this industry? Job?
What are the skills needed?
What are the strengths needed?

13
Think on these questions. Stop now and write down your answers to them.
Efficiency
Management
Customer service
Fast-pace environment
Analytical skills
Training
Attention to detail
Communications skills
Organization
Leadership
Work ethic
Timeliness
Teamwork
Interpersonal Skills

Step 2:
Decide which format is attractive to you.
Think-
Look at other resumes. What presentation is attractive to you?
Don’t use a Microsoft Word Template.
How do you want to express yourself?

14
In order to live in your authenticity, you need to study other resumes. You need to KNOW what is attractive to you. What is the best way to represent you.
Do you want a chronological format illustrating a from here to here experience.
Or, do you want to create a skills format resume – one that focuses on transferable skills?
Or, you could create a combined picture.
Review formats – what do you like? Additionally, don’t use a Microsoft Word Template. You are welcome to review them; however, they nonverbally communicate ‘no’ creativity. Don’t say that. And, for our experience, they make crafting your personal picture hard to do. Don’t use them.
Chronological
Timeline, current to oldest
Skills
Unconventional path
Changing fields
Combine experience
Hides gaps

Step 3:
What do I want located in the power position?
Think-
What is the most persuasive qualifier that I have?

Step 4:
Type your document.
Do –
Use an organized, easy to read approach. Remember, you only have seconds to impress.
Make it beautiful on the page.

Don’t –
Use ‘crazy’ fonts
Use I
Use a template
Use a summary section
List every single job you ever had
Use complete sentences
Miss the power play in positioning & bolding
“References Available Upon Request”

Required
Objective
Education
Experience

Options
Leadership
Honors/Awards
Languages/Study Abroad
Computer Skills
Associations
Volunteerism/Community Service
Internships
Academic Projects
Related Coursework

Use Smart Sectioning

Do not do a summary section
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Use concise, strong, active language
Think –
Action. Business is performance.
Use emotional word pictures
Be specific.
Increased production capability by 10% resulting in 50K in revenue.
…and AVOID saying “Responsible for the success of the production team”
Start with an action verb.
Analyzed
Chaired
Coordinated
Developed
Improved
Increased
Strengthen
Negotiated

Step 5:
Bold & Proofread to perfection!
Bold your transferrable information, like job titles and the names of your degrees
Tell your story at 100%.

Business Communication, MGT309

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

How to Create a Persuasive Resume

Writing that Works (2010). Oliu, Brusaw, & Alred

Hook, Salting &
Emotional Word Pictures

One of my favorite books is Mentored by a Millionaire by Steven Scott. And according to Stephen Scott, there are three components of a persuasive message. The hook, salting and emotional word pictures. Let’s talk about these three items.
2

Hook
A great hook successfully takes your mind out of the past or future and hooks you right into the moment and into the conversation. Now I’ve got your attention.

Steven Scott tell this story in his book to help us understand a hook.
Two neighbors were outside in their backyards. One was moving the grass and his wife was in the kitchen fixing lunch. He could smell the hamburgers cooking over the smell of fresh grass. The other was preparing for a fishing trip; he was testing his fishing gear and practicing his casting. In one particular cast, the line and hook went over the fence and hooked the other neighbor, the one moving his grass, in the nose….OUCH. Now, where is his lawnmower…who knows, right, at this moment all he cares about is the hook in his nose. ………….That’s a HOOK. Bring them present…to the moment…to you.
3

Salting
Ever heard, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink?” Scott says, that you can make him drink.
Just feed him a few oats beforehand and put lots of salt on the oats. Why? Because salt makes you thirsty!

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The purpose of salting is to keep an audience-member’s attention as our attention naturally waxes and wanes. Keep attention by creating curiosity or a creating a feeling of anticipation in the listener.

Emotional Word Pictures
An emotional word picture is a word, a statement, or a story that creates an instant picture in listener’s minds that clarifies what you are trying to say and implants a feeling into their emotions.

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We connect with one another using words. So use words the others best understand (which means you need to understand them aka audience-centeredness). Use words to create pictures and stories. Here’s a list to help you in selecting effective languaging.
Passions, hobbies, interests of the other person
Memorable events or current events
Everyday objects of familiarity to them
Nature images
Imaginary stories

6 Principles of Persuasion

Robert Cialdini wrote Harnessing the Power of Persuasion, for Harvard Business Review, and in the article he detailed 6 principles of persuasion. Let’s talk about these principles so you can apply them to your writing.
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Liking –
People like those who like them.
Action: Uncover the real similarities and offer genuine praise.
Win friends
People stand physically closer to one another after learning they shared political beliefs & social values.
Establish the bond early and it will carry you forward.

We are social animals. We want to be liked and we want to like others. Steven Scott calls says the same thing differently – he says we want to love and be loved. This desire of life impacts our decision-making.
Think of how you can language using liking.

Reciprocity –
People repay in kind.
Action: Give what you want to receive.
Smile at someone, watch them smile back.
Managers can elicit the desired behavior from coworkers & employees by displaying it first. Whether it’s a sense of trust, a spirit of cooperation, or a pleasant demeanor, leaders model the behavior they want to see in others.

Another principle is reciprocity. Have you ever been given a Christmas gift and not had a gift to give that person in return. Ugh. That feels bad doesn’t it. That’s reciprocity.
Again, think about how you can employ this component of persuasion.
8

Social Proof –
People follow the lead of similar others.
Action: Use peer power whenever it’s available.
Social creatures that we are, human beings rely heavily on the people around them for cues on how to think, feel & act.
Persuasion can be extremely effective when it comes from peers.
Again, influence is often best exerted horizontally rather than vertically.

We are social animals. We learn by viewing others and mimic those that we trust and believe to be worthy. Think about the ways in which persuasion is in how we influence those within our in group – those who have credibility with us.
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Consistency –
People align with their clear commitments.
Action: Make their commitments active, public & voluntary.
Take a stand and stick to it.
Once spoken out loud or written (made explicit), it’s more powerful.
So be verbal and publicly visible.

We make decisions from our values which are our commitments. Look at others intentions to understand what they care about. What they care about is what they think about.
10

Authority –
People refer to the experts.
Action: Expose your expertise; don’t assume it’s self-evident.
“Believe an expert.” That may or may not be a good advise, but it’s what we do.
Leaders are to ensure they establish their own expertise before they work to influence.
Display your awards & credentials.
In a social engagement, lightly touch on your experience in a natural way.

People give power to authority, sometimes without question.
Sometimes I show a video in class of a professional-looking boss and a underperforming employee. The video shows two meetings of the two company representatives. The boss is calm cool and collected. The subordinate looses her emotional control and is rude, loud and hostile. She even pulls a no show for a scheduled time with the boss. Ouch. Interesting is when I show this video all the students in class, immediately say ‘fire her, she’s awful.’ I smile and acknowledge her poor behavior. Then, I reshow the video and point out all the communication mistakes buried within the boss’s seemingly professional manner. The audience sees how quickly they gave power to the ‘boss’ without questioning and without even knowing the reasons for communication mistakes.
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How to Write a Persuasive Application Letter

Business Communication, MGT309

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Writing that Works (2010). Oliu, Brusaw, & Alred

Hello Class: Welcome to the presentation on ‘How to write a persuasive application letter.’ The purpose (direct) of an application letter is to get the reader to read your resume. The purpose of the resume is to get them to invite you to an interview.
Let’s talk about the dos and don’ts of an application letter – also called a cover letter.
1

Application Letter

Be audience-centered!

As you know, at this point, it’s all about the audience – about who is reading the document and how they understand you. You need to language to that brain – that filter – that perspective.
A frequent mistake in crafting an application letter is in talking too much about self…no I did this and I did that. Well, this letter is really not about you, it’s about your contribution. Its about how you can contribute to the organization to help the organization be better. Its quite an important distinction to make when you write.
2

Application letter

Do’s
Address the letter to a person
Know the values (corporate culture) of the organization
Show your personality – carefully
Be straightforward and fact-based, positive and upbeat
Be specific

Here’s a list of Do’s.
One – address the letter to a person. Show the organization that you have the fortitude to ‘figure out’ to who address the documents to. Look at the company’s website directory. You can call the company and ask. If you cannot find out who to address the document, be more sophisticated than ‘to whom it may concern.’
Two – connect to the organization on their values. Study the advertisement to discover what is really important…Identify the top three and then talk about those 3 times as the 3 body points in your letter.
Three – The reader wants to know who you are; they are anticipating working with you. Let them know you, but carefully. Remember, create your personal brand.
Four – In your describing yourself, be honest and straightforward. Stay positive.
Five – Be specific. Vague or blanket sentences don’t tell you story. Remember to tell your persuasive story. Be specific.
3

Do’s
Write shorter email cover letters
Use a friendly, conversational tone
Good word choices
Fill most of the page – not too short or too long
Follow protocol in delivery
Be error free
Application letter

Do’s
Write shorter email cover letters. Keep the reader from having to scroll to read your message.
Write in conversational style – not formal or informal. Write to the middle. Sometimes, you want to research. If it’s a very formal organization, as in the case of a lawyer’s office, political office, you might want to use formal language.
Be smart about your word choices. Use words that connect to the reader. Use words that their brain can see or feel (the way you want them to see and feel). They are called emotional word pictures.
In a letter (not email), fill most of the page. A letter too short communicates that you don’t have enough to say (even though that may not be true).
Demonstrate that you can follow directions from the beginning by following protocol in delivery – if they say email – email, if they say mail it, mail it.
And of course, proofread till it’s error free.
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Application Letter
Don’ts
Restate your resume
Write too much
Write too friendly or cutesy or with passive voice

Don’ts
Restate your resume. You insult your reader by reading to them. Tell them additional information.
Don’t write too much. Too much self-disclosure is uncomfortable to them. And, by the way, too little causes distrust.
Stay in business tone – not too friendly or cutesy or passive. Show your confidence.
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Basic Application Letter Construct
5 Paragraph Letter Format

*I want the job. Thesis statement & set up points 1, 2, 3.

Topic sentence. Supporting evidence.

Topic sentence. Supporting evidence.
Topic sentence. Supporting evidence.

*I request an interview. You may reach me at….

While there are multiple ways to approach writing an application letter, we focus on the 5 paragraph Letter construction and I expect your work to be in the 5 paragraph construct.
You need an introduction that states you want the job. You need a body that describes how you have the ‘things’ they require and conclude with asking for an interview and offering your contact information. The next three slides offer more details on the sections.

Application Letter Construct
Introduction –
State you’re apply for the job
If possible state some-kind-of connection to the organization
State a summary sentence (thesis)
Spark interest. Create curiosity.
Audience-centered attitude

The introduction of an application letter is as important as all other first impressions. Remember, they are feeling you as they read, so create the experience through your words that you want them to have.
In the intro,
Be direct (remember that means telling upfront what you want – your purpose). State the job and your interest. Saying what you want in an assertive manner demonstrates confidence.
If you have a connection with that organization, talk about that, but be every-so-brief.
State a summary sentence – All communications need a thesis statement. And in that thesis statement inform the reader regarding specific focus – preview the 3 items you will detail in the body.
Create curiosity. Build their interest in you the way you language.
Remember, once again, I tell you – be audience-centered. It’s about your contribution, not you.
Oh, and, this paragraph is NOT to be the longest one on the page. Typically it the second smallest with the conclusion being the smallest.

Application Letter Construct
Body
Choose your points by studying the advertisement and selecting the top three requirements. Write to how you have these three.
Be thinking:
How do I set myself apart?

The key to getting called for an interview is in the connection you make in your letter. The winning strategy is to understand your employer’s top 3 qualification requirements and write to those items. Here’s how.
Study their advertisement. What requirement did they list first? That is a powerful indicator of what they see as most important. Second, look for the patterns…what did they say over and over in differing way. Study the solicitation till you pick the top three requirements. These are the three you will write to in your application letter. That is audience-centeredness.
I want to tell you about two successes this past fall. One of my business communication students asked me to help him apply for an internship. We’ll he, at this point, has been with me two terms so he knew a lot already. But we sat down twice and worked on his documents. Turns out he had 4 opportunities to apply to. He told me two weeks later, that all four asked him for an interview and all four offered him a job. How great is that. He had his pick and choose the internship that offered him an international experience. Awesome. We’ll the good news, does not stop here.
At the same time, another student asked me to work more on his resume and application letter as he too had an internship to apply to. When I sat down with him, I saw it was the same initial internship as my other student. I worked with him too create his best documents as well. I did not tell him I knew one of his competitors. Turns out they offered him the internship too, and he accepted.
I am here to tell you, know what they are looking for and demonstrate how you can deliver this requirement.
3

Application Letter Construct
Conclusion
Ask for an interview. Give your contact information.
End on a positive, forward-looking note.

The Conclusion
It’s simple – ask for the interview and give your contact information with a goodwill statement. You want to make it easy for them to find you.
4

How to Write a Persuasive Application Letter
Business Communication, MGT309
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Writing that Works (2010). Oliu, Brusaw, & Alred

Thank you.
5

Howto Write

ccomplishment Statements

Your résumé is to highlight your accomplishments that relate to your career objective. (Notice that an objective is the premise in this strategy –it’s not optional.)

I. An accomplishment is something that you made happen that demonstrates a benefit because of what you did (What did you do and what was the outcome of your action?). Good accomplishment statements use strong action verbs and have the following characteristics:

· State what action you took to improve a situation

· Express how your action benefited the organization

· State the results of your action in numerical or percentage terms

· Begin with an action verb

II. Action statements are powerful to show what you did on the job and how your contributions were effective. Ask yourself the following questions:

· What am I proud of?

· What problem did I solve and what was the result?

· Whom did I help to accomplish what?

· How did I make a difference in an organization?

· How did you help making someone else’s life easier or more successful?

Examples:

oordinated fundraiser and raised $ 5,000 for Habitat for Humanity

· Provided excellent customer service by assessing clients’ needs, suggesting appropriate services, and responding to questions

· Initiated cost reduction plan in my division, resulting in 27% ($135,000) cost reduction with no negative impact on production capability.

· Taught reading skills to 20 inner city kids resulting in all students passing the basic skills exam.

· Supervised a team of six service employees. Led team to win the annual team of the year award in our division.

· Initiated, organized, and successfully lead PTA.

· Scheduled travel arrangement for nine sales professional to ensure efficient use of their time.

· Designed and authored a training manual for sales force.

· Fostered an engaging and challenging learning environment for a diverse group of children to support their successful high school graduation.

III. Complete the following template in order to help develop powerful persuasive statements.

A. Describe a problem, situation, or opportunity you faced

B. The action you took (check action verb list)

C. The result/outcome of your action, quantify if possible

Then, summarize A, B, and C in one statement.

Into one Statement

Making Your Resume Persuasive

Hook, Salting &
Emotional Word Pictures

One of my favorite books is “Mentored by a Millionaire” by Steven Scott. And according to Stephen Scott, there are three components of a persuasive message. The hook, salting and emotional word pictures. Let’s talk about these three items.
2

Hook
A great hook successfully takes your mind out of the past or future and hooks you right into the moment and into the conversation. Now I’ve got your attention.

Steven Scott tells this story in his book to help us understand a hook.
Two neighbors were outside in their backyards. One was moving the grass and his wife was in the kitchen fixing lunch. He could smell the hamburgers cooking over the smell of fresh grass. The other was preparing for a fishing trip; he was testing his fishing gear and practicing his casting. In one particular cast, the line and hook went over the fence and hooked the other neighbor, the one moving his grass, in the nose….OUCH. Now, where is his lawnmower…who knows, right, at this moment all he cares about is the hook in his nose. ………….That’s a HOOK. Bring them present…to the moment…to you.
3

4
We are aware that our attention naturally waxes and wanes. The purpose of salting is to keep our audience-members’ attention by creating curiosity or by creating a feeling or sense of anticipation in the listener.

5
We connect with one another using words, so use words the other best understand (which means you need to understand them aka audience-centeredness). Use words to create pictures and stories. Here’s a list to help you in selecting effective languaging.
Passions, hobbies, interests of the other person
Memorable events or current events
Everyday objects of familiarity to them
Nature images
Imaginary stories

6 Principles

We are social animals. We want to be liked and we want to like others. Steven Scott says the same thing differently – he says we want to love and be loved. This desire of life impacts our decision-making.
Think of how you can language using the principle of liking.

Another principle is reciprocity. Have you ever been given a Christmas gift and not had a gift to give that person in return? Ugh. That feels bad, doesn’t it? That’s reciprocity.
Again, think about how you can employ this component of persuasion.
8

We make decisions from our values which are our commitments. Look at others intentions to understand what they care about. What they care about is what they think about.
10

Authority –
People refer to the experts.
Action: Expose your expertise; don’t assume it’s self-evident.
“Believe an expert.” That may or may not be good advise, but it’s what we do.
Leaders are to ensure they establish their own expertise before they work to influence.
Display your awards & credentials.
In a social engagement, lightly touch on your experience in a natural way.

People give power to authority, sometimes without question.
Sometimes I show a video in class of a professional-looking boss and a underperforming employee. The video shows two meetings of the two company representatives. The boss is calm cool and collected. The subordinate looses her emotional controls and is rude, loud and hostile. She even pulls a no show for a scheduled time with the boss. Ouch. Interesting is when I show this video all the students in class, immediately say ‘fire her, she’s awful.’ I smile and acknowledge her poor behavior. Then, I reshow the video and point out all the communication mistakes buried within his seemingly professional manner. The audience sees how quickly they gave power to the ‘boss.’
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Template: Persuasive Application Letter

(You are required to use this format. And too, be sure you read the page on Persuasive Job Search Organization. )

___________________________________________________________________________

Your Name
Your Street Address
Your City, State & Zip

Date

Contact’s Name
Contact’s Job Title
Contact’s Company Name
Contact’s Street Address, Suite #
Company City, State, Zip

Dear Mr./Ms. Contact,

The first paragraph connects to purpose – tell the reader why you’re contacting him/her and how you came to know of the position. This statement is to be quick & simple and catchy. A last line is to give a brief synopsis of who you are and why you want the position framed towards the audience – not you, maybe name 3 body point items.

Item one – topic sentence – use the same word that you spoke as the intention (that’s being in integrity). And a couple of sentences that tell the story of evidence. Use Emotional Word Pictures for persuasion.
Item one – topic sentence – use the same word that you spoke as the intention (that’s being in integrity). And a couple of sentences that tell the story of evidence. Use Emotional Word Pictures for persuasion.

The final paragraph (of usually two-three sentences) is a cordial exit, a request for an interview, and your contact information. (Write nearly a full-page.)

Sincerely,

Full Name

Student A. Resume
1000 Spring Garden Drive

Greensboro, NC 27215
336.XXX.XXXX abcdefg@uncg.edu

Objective Job title at Company X

Education

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration

December 2011

Related Courses: Management, Communications, Economics, Mathematics,
Accounting, Finance, Marketing, English, Information Systems Management

Customer Service Experience

Southbound Sandwich Works, Burlington NC
Cook/Cashier/Manager February 2004 – October 2007

 Learned basic co-worker relations, as well as basic fundamentals for strong work ethic.

 Developed basic public relation skills.

 Responsible for reports, inventory, currency, employee hours, employee schedules, and
employee conflict.

 Learned how to run a business at a young age, and manage conflict efficiently.

TastyServing Grill, Greensboro NC
Server October 2007 – January 2009

 Developed public speaking skills.
 Received countless hours of public relations.
 Expanded communication skills.
 Increased co-worker relation skills.
 Advanced responsibility and accountability.
 Growth of accuracy.
 Multiple “employee of month” awards.

Server, Outback Steakhouse, Greensboro NC , January 2009 – Present

 Fine tuned public relations skills.

 Extensive people skills.

 Extensive public speaking abilities.

 Matured accuracy of communication.

 Cordial and extremely polite.

 Increased patience, reliability, initiative.

 Multiple performance awards.

Skills

Comment [h1]: Be sure your name has the
‘right’ balance – not too big or small. Too big =
arrogance, too little = under-confident

Comment [h2]: Made smaller – info not
persuasive

Comment [h3]: Pursuing an occupation in
marketing.

Comment [h4]: Delete (UNCG)
Greensboro, NC

Comment [h5]: Bold your degree not where you
got it from

Comment [h6]: No value to reader – instead…
Concentration: Business Studies

Comment [h7]: Don’t underline – it’s clutter
Indent under Ed

Comment [h8]: redo

Comment [h9]: Feb – use three letters for all
dates

Comment [h10]: Bullets are about your
contribution not what you received!

Comment [h11]: Bullets to one line
Why are the bullets so different from here and then
below?

Comment [h12]: Bold the job titles

Comment [h13]: Takes up too much valuation
space like this

Comment [h14]: Again, bullets are to be about
what you contribute NOT what you received.

Comment [h15]: What does this mean?

Comment [h16]: Detail when and what the
achievement was – no blanket statements

Comment [h17]: Redo like this for persuasion

Comment [h18]: These are about what you’ve
received (mostly). The bullets are to be about
your contribution

Comment [h19]: No claim – tell the specifics.

Comment [h20]: Again, a claim. Vague and
abstract

Communication
Computer: Microsoft Office 2007 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
Public Relations
Language: Spanish (read and speak partially)
Reliability
Professionalism

References: Available upon Request

Comment [h21]: Resume is facts not opinion

Comment [h22]: Not attractive
Conversational?

Comment [h23]: NO
** References available upon request**

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