by Routine Letters
“A business letter is a letter written in formal language, usually used when writing from one business organization to another, or for correspondence between such organizations and their customers, clients and other external parties. Types of Routine Business Letters”: Persuasive Letters
Persuasive Letter is a letter written to persuade an organisation/s or individual/s towards accepting the writer’s (sender’s) issue, interest or perspective. It can be written to any type of organisation i.e. school, bank, college, NGO, municipality etc. The individuals can be a director, CEO, government official etc. The motive of the persuasion letter is to ‘Get your work done’ in layman terms.
The persuasion can be related to any matter, it can be:
- A Complaint
- A Sale
- A Petition
- A request or any other matter which requires convincing.
Taking that into note, persuasion letter is a broad term inclusive of Cover Letter, Complaint Letter, Petition Letter, Request Letter, and Sales Letter. This is because in all of the above mentioned there is moderate to maximum amount of persuasion on part of the sender.
Depending upon the region where you live a Complaint Letter or a Sales Letter may be an interchangeable name for a Persuasive letter. Persuasion letter comes under formal letter type and follows certain formats like Full Block Style, Semi-Block Style, Modified Block Style and Modified Semi-Block Style. As mentioned earlier about the formal nature of letters of persuasion, you can include certain informal elements depending upon the need. While a persuasive letter may or may not be successful in its objective, it does raise awareness about the matter addressed. And it can act as a source of inspiration for others when you are addressing certain important social issues.
Persuasive Letters
The persuasive letters are a letter written to convince an organization or person, to accept the issue of the author (sender), interest or perspective. It can be written for any kind of organization i.e. school, bank, college, NGO, municipality, etc. A person can be a director, CEO, government official, etc. Purpose of the Persuasive letter of persuasion is to ‘complete’ your work for the common man.
Strategies:
Planning
Planning is the first aspect that needs to be addressed before the writing begins. The planning will be very different depending on what the goal of the persuasion actually is. Some persuasive letters will require research of both sides of an argument, while other planning might just need to consider the person’s potential objections. Planning involves a few key considerations that should be thoroughly thought through.
- Tone: The tone of the letter is critical to whether the argument will be effective. The tone is the attitude of the piece and should be logical and mature. The specific tone that is set will depend on the argument and the recipient. Setting the wrong tone could be very ineffective. For example, if a child is trying to persuade their parents to get a family pet, setting a tone of annoyance or defiance could be a deal breaker.
- Support: Supporting an argument is essential to the success of the persuasion. Every point that is argued has to have support to back it up. Sometimes the support is data and other times it’s anecdotal evidence. The child asking for a dog might support the argument that they will be responsible by citing evidence of how they took care of a class pet over the weekend. Another part of support is counter-arguments. Identifying what arguments the recipient might have and having counter-support to those arguments will help bolster the persuasion.
- Purpose: If a persuasive letter doesn’t have a purpose, which is the intended outcome, then the letter will fall flat.
- The Hook: Making a compelling statement that attracts the recipient’s attention is crucial and hooking the recipient will help them to keep an open mind. The hook should take into consideration that the person receiving the letter is going to initially be opposed to the argument. The hook can work to soften the potentially barriers the recipient might have to the letter in general.
- The Close: Closing the letter is like closing the deal. It should be a repetition of the central argument and a reiteration of what the purpose of the letter is.
Formatting
Formatting is the second aspect that needs to be considered. Just like the planning, formatting will take different forms with different arguments. Sometimes formatting might include a section that explains how a certain action will be beneficial for the recipient and not just the sender.
The first step to formatting is to make sure that the letter follows the physical formatting of a formal letter. Whether the letter is asking for a raise or trying to convince a parent, it’s always good to write a persuasive letter in formal format.
