Proposals: The Ultimate Persuasive Message

Author: Mike Cortez

In this on-line instruction we will focus on completing persuasive messages, more specifically business proposals.

The ability to capture your audience’s attention, engage them with an idea that initially may not be of interest, while emphasizing all the benefits, and finally inviting them to take action in an encouraging fashion will take you a long way in your career; as effective persuasion is essential when attempting to influence an individual, company, or organization of any size.

As with any other business communication, the three step writing process, which is planning, writing, and completing, will help you develop a more effective message.

First off, and most importantly, plan! Don’t overlook the significance of this step before starting to write, it will aid you in the long run. The planning step consists of analyzing and identifying your intended audience and main purpose for communicating.

Additionally, you want to limit your scope to your specific idea or proposal, requesting only enough information to get the reader to the next step of your request. Furthermore, decide on your approach, indirect if your proposal may be initially unwelcome or must stress the extent of a problem, and direct if you have credibility already established.

Foremost, when staring the writing process keep these important aspects in mind:

·  Support all claims with evidence

·  Stay credible throughout, reference all credible sources

·  Display good intentions; keep your audience’s best interest in mind

·  Avoid a hard sell, your audience will not be receptive to aggressiveness

For the final step, completing, analyze your information objectively, and verify there is an appropriate amount of details. (Please view my “Revising is Maximizing” post for additional finalizing information)

In addition, since this message that will attempt to persuade your audience into changing their attitudes, beliefs or actions, the best approach would be to use the AIDA model, which organizes your proposal into four stages.

Attention- Captivate your audience by establishing credibility and opening with an interesting, unexpected statement.

Interest- Build on the first paragraph with additional interesting, relevant information, while backing up your proposal with evidence, such as facts and figures.

Desire- At this point you want increase your audiences desire by explaining how your proposal will benefit them

Action- Finally, and most important, your concluding paragraph will suggest the action required, while stressing their benefits and making sure desired action is clear and fairly easy to accomplish.

And remember, the power of persuasion is more powerful than force itself!


Reference: Misty N. Yahoo! Contributor Network

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5043/effective_persuasive_messages_for_business.html