Assignment $1($b$)$ Preparing and Writing a Persuasive Letter

Purpose of the Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to produce a persuasive message in the form of a

letter, that demonstrate your understanding and use of the $3$x$3$ Writing Process.

What is a Persuasive Message?

Persuasion is the process in which the sender of a message attempts to convince

another person to change their attitude or makes them take a desired action in an

atmosphere of free choice. In business, persuasion is a valuable skill that helps

advance ideas and get things done particularly from a leadership perspective.

What is the difference between a letter and an e$-$mail?

The letter in this assignment will be $($somewhat$)$ more formally written than the first email assignment. It will include an address and proper formatting.

Context for the Assignment

The persuasive message for this assignment may be sent by you to a colleague, a

manager or to an employee that reports to you. You, as the writer of the message can

choose the role you wish to play. $($Consider the flow of information chart presented in

class$)$

The message may address: $($a$)$ a current situation in your workplace; $($b$)$ a situation in a

previous workplace or $($c$)$ a hypothetical work$-$place situation where you are persuading

another person.

Note: The submission must provide responses to each of the following questions

Some questions may be more relevant to some situations than others

Step $1$ Prewriting

$-$ Identify the overall purpose of the message first and then create a $$message

statement$$ that concisely states the purpose of the proposed message in a single

sentence.

$-$ Will there be both a primary and secondary audience?

$-$ What do you want the readers to think, feel or do$?$

$-$ What is the probable reception of the readers? Based on the predicted reader

reception will you use a direct or indirect approach?

$--2-$

$-$

$-$ How can you elicit feedback to determine the effectiveness of the message?

$-$ Identify the techniques you will be using to persuade. Consider both the AIDA

strategy $($gaining Attention, Interest, Desire and Action$)$ and the role of Pathos

$($emotions and values$),$ Ethos $($credibility and trust$)$ or Logos $($logic and proof$)$

$-$ Will your approach be primarily in a management mode or a leadership mode?

$-$ Will you use an additional channel of communication?

Step $2$ Drafting

Gather any necessary background information and structure the message. Identify wha