Flattery is insincere praise used to persuade people by appealing to their ego. It works because people want to believe compliments and agree with those who flatter them. Flattery can be used to trick people into doing things or believing things they otherwise wouldn't by making them feel good about themselves. Examples show how flattery makes requests seem less like chores or makes products seem more appealing to buy. Flattery also appeals to national pride to encourage helping those less fortunate.

1. Persuasive technique: Flattery
By Michelle and Victoria

2. What is flattery
Flattery is when excessive and insincere praise is given to person
or audience, especially to further one's own interests. Flattery, can
be used to persuade people into believing your contention. People
can be persuaded not by the Strength of the argument but they can
be tricked by flattery into believing the contention.
When you use flattery, people wouldn't want to disagree with you
because they want to believe the compliments you give them and
so they are tricked into wanting to agree with your contention.
When you use flattery, it makes people like you and they want to be
nice back by agreeing with you.

3. critique
Flattery can be used to persuade or trick people into believing or
doing things they wouldn't have before.
"You should wash the dishes because you're so good at it"
This shows flattery because the person is complimenting somebody
on how good they are at washing dishes as if its like a skill and the
person will take the compliment and would see washing the dishes
not as a chore and would want to do it.

4. critique
For example, the Sentence below is without flattery.
"You should buy that shirt, it's so cheap."
Without flattery, it won't really convince the person to buy it, even
though the shirt is cheap.

5. critique
Now the Sentence with flattery.
"You have great fashion sense, you should buy that shirt, it's so
cheap and you look nice in it."
With flattery, it will be more convincing and its more likely for the
person to buy the shirt because of the compliments. The
compliments will make the person feel confident and want to buy the
shirt.

6. Power of three
"Australia as a nation is very famous for generosity, our society has
mateship value in helping other people, we need to maintain our
value as a generous nation by helping other countries who are less
fortunate."
The writer uses flattery to make the reader feel encouraged and
wanting to maintain their country as one of the generous nations.
The reader will feel proud of their country for being generous and so
they would want to help by doing whatever they can to contribute to
the generosity. This makes the reader agree with the contention
and want to donate and do something good for the less fortunate
people because they want maintain the good reputation for
themselves and their nation.

7. By Michelle and Victoria