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Persuasive Language

Techniques > Use of Language > Persuasive Language

All use of language can act to persuade, and there are many other pages in the language section of this site that include persuasive elements. This page adds more focused and specific techniques to change the minds of other people.

• Assumptive Adverb Opener: Obviously, it works.
• Connection Language: Attaching and pushing away.
• Experiential Language: Talk about real experience.
• Final Impact: Put the impact at the end of the sentence.
• Future Language: Using the future in persuasion.
• Hidden Commands: Burying commands in sentences.
• The Hook: Grabbing them.
• Intensifiers: increasing the emotional impact of a statement.
• Money Words: Appeal to greed.
• Object Focus: Focus on the object and let the subject slip by.
• Perceptual language: What you perceive, not what is.
• Possibility Language: Talking about what could be.
• Power Words: Words that have special meaning.
• The Power of Abbreviation: Short but powerful.
• Pre-apology: Sorry, but...
• Pre-thanking: Thank you for...
• Pronoun Language: I, you and so on add power.
• Punch Words: Words with impact.
• Sensory Language: Language that evokes senses.
• Short Sentences: Like this. That work. Of course.
• Superiority Words: That grab status.
• Temporal Language: Changing time and hence meaning.
• Trivializing Words: Deflating what others say.
• Using Pauses: Adding power with very largely nothing.

See also

Modifying meaning

King Richard walked and talked. Ten minutes after, he was dead.

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