This document provides information on different persuasive techniques including persuading, complaining, demanding, apologizing, and interrupting. It defines each term and gives tips and strategies for how to effectively employ each technique. For persuading, it discusses the elements of ethos, logos, and pathos. For complaining, it offers advice on how to complain in person or over the phone. For demanding, it provides sample language constructions. For apologizing, it presents a formula for crafting apologies. And for interrupting, it lists different ways to interrupt someone respectfully. The document aims to teach readers how to skillfully navigate interpersonal interactions involving these common communication acts.

1. PERSUADING, COMPLAI Step Up
American
NING, DEMANDING, APO Pragmatics
and Culture
LOGIZING, AND Spring 201 2
Ms. Candice
Quinones
INTERRUPTING

2. Helping
them to
PERSUADING see it your
way

3. DEFINITION: PERSUADE
 1 : to cause (someone) to do something by
asking, arguing, or giving reasons
 2 : to cause (someone) to believe something :
convince
Source: Merriam Webster’s Learners Dictionary
(Online)

4. EFFECTIVE PERSUASION
 For persuasion to be truly effective, according to
Aristotle, three elements must be present:
 Trust (Ethos) –Reputation, Character, Credibility
 Logic (Logos) –Evidence, Reason
 Emotions (Pathos) –Values, Goals, Interests, Beliefs

5. PREREQUISITES OF PERSUASION
Trust (Ethos).
 Trust is the expectancy of people that they can rely
on your word.
 It can be granted automatically based on your job
title, your credentials, or your reputation, or built through
integrity and consistency in relationships.
Logic (Logos).
Your point must make perfect sense.
Emotion (Pathos).
 Your argument must appeal to the emotional man –
to his or her imagination, and thus to the emotions.

6. ELEMENTS OF PERSUASION
 Source: the quality and credibility of source
 Message: what, when and how you say; repeat your
key points
 Medium: use the right channel to reach your
audience
 Public: you must know your audience
 Effect: Did the persuaded audience do what you
wanted it to do?

7. MONROE’S MOTIVATED SEQUENCE
 Attention: Get their attention
 Need: Trigger a need that the listener has.
 A stimulated need = the person seeking a solution.
 Satisfaction: Propose a way to meet and satisfy the
need that you have just stimulated.
 Visualization: Help them visualize the solution in
place.
 Action: Prompt the person into implementing the
solution that you proposed.

9. PERSUASION S.P.I.C.E
S – Simplicity
P – Perceived Self-Interest
I – Incongruity
C – Confidence
E – Empathy

10. SIMPLICIT Y
 If you want somebody to remember
something, make it simple.
 If you want to reinforce a point, say things in
threes.
 Use repetition.

11. PERCEIVED SELF-INTEREST
 People do things that they think are in their own
interest.
 If you can convince other people that an idea is good for
them, then they will likely go along with it.
 Always remember WIIFM and WAMI.
 WIIFM: 'What's In It For Me'.
 WAMI : 'What's Against My Interests'.

12. INCONGRUIT Y
 Incongruous things do not fit together.
 When things are not as they 'should' be, we become confused.
 We seek any solution, including self-deception, to resolve our
discomfort.
 We will see what we want to see rather than what is actually
there.
 We may pay a lot of attention to the incongruity, and miss all
kinds of other things going on, or ignore the incongruity
completely as we are unable to process it.
 In persuasion, this means the confused person may
pay attention to incongruity and miss things you
want them to miss.

13. CONFIDENCE
 Be assertive.
 Act big and people will assume you are big.
 If you speak like you know what you are saying, then
it is amazing what you can get away with.

14. EMPATHY
 Definition: ’Feeling what others feel'
 Showing empathy gains trust which increases your
chance of persuading.
Things to do:
 Know what the other person is feeling.
 Show that you care.

15. THE 16 MOST PERSUASIVE WORDS
1. Discover 9. New
2. Easy 10.Results
3. Good 11.Own
4. Save 12.Free
5. Guaranteed 13.Freedom
6. Proven 14.Health
7. Money 15.Best
8. Safe 16.Investment

16. When
COMPLAINING something
is wrong

17. DEFINITION: COMPLAIN
 1: to say or write that you are
unhappy, sick, uncomfortable, etc., or that you do
not like something
 2: to say (something that expresses annoyance or
unhappiness)
Source: Merriam Webster Learner’s Dictionary (Online)

18. COMPLAINING
 Complaining and Grammar
 Complaining in person
 State your case – tell them what was wrong
 Be clear about what you would like them to do and when you want it
done.
 Stay calm.
 Be assertive but not aggressive.
 Complaining over the phone
 Record what was said and who you spoke to in writing.
 Keep records of when you called.
 How To Complain in a Restaurant

19. Getting
DEMANDING what you
want

20. DEFINITION: DEMAND
 1 : to say in a forceful way that something must be
done or given to you : to say that you have a right to
(something)
 2 : to say or ask (something) in a very forceful way
 3 : to require (something)
Source: Merriam Webster Learner’s Dictionary (Online)

21. DEMANDING EXPLANATIONS
 Use 'Can you tell me why' a full clause in the positive
statement form (S V O).
 Notice that this is an indirect question and requires a question mark (?).
 Use 'I don't understand why' a full clause in the
positive statement form (S V O).
 Notice that this is a statement and does NOT require a question mark (? )
 Use 'Can you explain why' a full clause in the positive
statement form (S V O).
 Notice that this is an indirect question and requires a question mark (?) .
 Use 'Why is it that' a full clause in the positive
statement form (S V O).
 Notice that this is an indirect question and requires a question mark (?) .

22. DEMANDING EXPLANATIONS
 Use 'How come' a full clause in the positive
statement form (S V O).
 Notice that this is an indirect question and requires a question mark
(?).
 Use 'Does this mean (that)' a full clause in the
positive statement form (S V O).
 Notice that this is an indirect question and requires a question mark
(?).
 Use 'Do you (really) expect me to believe (that)' a
full clause in the positive statement form (S V O).
 Notice that this is an indirect question and requires a question mark
(?).

23. APOLOGIZING “I’m sorry”

24. DEFINITION: APOLOGIZE
 To express regret for doing or saying something
wrong : to give or make an apology
 Source: Merriam Webster’s Learners Dictionary (Online)

25. EXPRESSIONS
 I'm very sorry for / that ...
 I apologize if I ...
 I apologize for (+ ing form of verb)
 Please forgive me for …
 I didn’t mean to …

26. FORMULA FOR APOLOGIES
 Apology
 Take responsibility and say you are sorry.
 Ex. I am sorry that I ate your apple.
 Reason
 Tell them why you did what you did (if appropriate).
 Ex. It was on my desk, and I didn’t know it belonged to
you.
 Promise
 Promise you will try not to do it again.
 Ex. Next time, I will ask before eating something.

27. Butting
INTERRUPTING in…

28. DEFINITION: INTERRUPT
 1 : to ask questions or say things while another
person is speaking : to do or say something that
causes someone to stop speaking [+ obj]
 2 [+ obj] : to cause (something) to stop happening for
a time
 3 [+ obj] : to cause (something) to not be even or
continuous : to change or stop the sameness or
smoothness of (something)

29. WHEN TO INTERRUPT
 When the person has finished saying what they have
to say
 When the person speaking slows down
 When the speaker pauses
 When they send non-verbal signals that they are
finishing or are ready for interruption.
 When the speaker has had a fair amount of time to
speak.

30. WAYS TO INTERRUPT
 Agreement Interrupt: Enthusiastically agree.
 Body Language Interrupt: Non-verbal signal intent to
butt in.
 Clarification Interrupt: Ask for clarification. Check
you understand.
 Continuation Interrupt: Pick up where they might
leave off.
 Disagreement Interrupt: Disagree with what is said.
 Disinterest Interrupt: Appear disinterested in what
they say .

31. WAYS TO INTERRUPT
 Distraction Interrupt: Become distracted by
something else.
 Encouragement Interrupt: Keep them talking.
 External Interrupt: Use a third party to interrupt.
 Identity Interrupt: Prod the identity of the person.
 Loudmouth Interrupt: Talk more loudly than the other
person.
 Motormouth Interrupt: Jump in and talk quickly.

32. WAYS TO INTERRUPT
 Question Interrupt: Just ask them a question.
 Power Interrupt: Use your power to grab control.
 Permission Interrupt: Ask if you can interrupt.
 Touch Interrupt: Touch them gently as you interrupt.
 'Yes, and' Interrupt: Say 'Yes, and,...'
 'Yes, but' Interrupt: Say 'Yes, but...’

33. Time to
QUESTIONS? Practice