Newsletter and Grammar Coach

From infancy, humans begin developing a skill that they continually refine and use throughout their lifetimes: persuasive communication. Our powers of persuasion are tested daily in a wide variety of experiences. Asking someone out on a date, filling out a job application or sitting for an interview, selling merchandise or services, requesting a raise in salary, corresponding with a public official about a policy, and running for elective office all require strategic use of communication techniques. We experience varying degrees of success, depending upon how well we fit our approaches to the character of the person or people we are trying to persuade.

 

First with gestures, squirms, grunts and cries during early childhood, then with spoken words and eventually in writing, humans try to persuade others to agree to take or avoid certain actions. Toddlers initially present their wishes as demands. A child may shout “mine!” to a playmate who has a stuffed animal. A youngster watching a commercial for a toy may point to the television set and declare, “I want that.”

 

Children intuitively learn that their rudimentary pleas can become more effective if they offer justification. “Mommy said I could have a new toy if I cleaned up my room. She promised!” For a parent who is unconvinced, the kid may lob one more argument: “Janey got a new toy, but I didn’t, and that’s not fair.” Perceptive children quickly learn how to weaken resistance by molding their arguments to appeal to the emotions of their parents.

 

As adolescents mature into adulthood, they continually refine their persuasive abilities, applying strategies that capitalize on understanding the perspectives and emotions of people they are trying to persuade.

 

Regardless of who you’re trying to influence, consider this 10-point checklist we compiled to improve effectiveness in making a persuasive case.

 

1. Identify the result you want to achieve. Determine a specific purpose on which to focus your discussion. Do not lose sight of that, while presenting your discussion points and even when acknowledging contrasting views.

 

2. Empathize with your audience. Try to understand who your readers, viewers or listeners are, how they may perceive your topic, and what may have shaped their views about it. Use second person (the personal pronoun “you”) to directly connect with readers, and explain to them how your concept can serve their interests and alleviate the apprehension, anxiety or other discomfort they may be feeling.

 

3. Accurately gauge audience understanding. Don’t assume that all of your readers are equally familiar with the subject matter you are presenting. Inclusion of sufficient background information on your topic is advisable.

 

4. Present irrefutable evidence. Evidence from a carefully conducted investigation is important in validating a proposition. Explanation of research methodology — how a research study was conducted — can reinforce the foundation of an argument.

 

5. Use anecdotes to humanize research. Stories about people who are harmed or otherwise affected by conditions you are describing can help breathe life into statistical evidence. Testimonial quotations from other people can enhance credibility.

 

6. Explain the benefits. Even though you may understand the benefits of certain product features, services or policy recommendations you are promoting, your readers may not realize their significance. Explain how the ideas you are presenting will help readers.

 

7. Consider possible objections. Imagine why certain members of your audience may dispute your position or idea, and think about logical points you might offer to dispel apprehension and overcome objections.

 

8. Give readers reasons to believe. Strengthen your argument by explaining how and why you or your organization arrived at your conclusion. Demonstrate that you share the concerns of your readers, and offer sound reasoning why your viewpoint, suggestion or request is applicable to them and their circumstances. Use the powerful conjunction “because” to guide readers to your conclusion.

 

9. Create a sense of urgency. Drive home the importance of taking action, and alert readers about the detrimental consequences of delay. Present a time line and a deadline for responses.

 

10. Put a bow on the package. Reiterate your key points succinctly in a concluding statement. Reassure readers that you are sympathetic to their concerns, and remind them how your proposition will bring about improvements in their lives. Most importantly, tell them what steps to take — vote, click, donate, buy, boycott, lobby, volunteer — in order to participate in bringing about the change that you advocate.

 

In framing your discussion, you may explain your objective at the outset and then offer supporting evidence, or you may delay identification of your objective until you describe the problem. In any case, your arguments should consider what might motivate your readers, and should lead convincingly toward your intended goal.

Our friend, physicist and author Thomas A. Cahill, Ph.D., died on May 1 at age 82 due to myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a bone marrow failure disorder that interferes with the ability of the marrow to produce healthy blood cells. Tom had been diagnosed late last autumn and took part in a clinical trial that helped slow but was unable to halt the progression of the disease.

 

Tom was a professor of physics and atmospheric sciences at the University of California, Davis, where he had been director of the Crocker Nuclear Laboratory and the Institute of Ecology. He also was founder and director of the UC Davis DELTA Group (for the Detection and Evaluation of the Long-range Transport of Aerosols). During his 50-year career, Tom left his imprint on an astonishingly broad array of projects, including components of the Pioneer 10 and Voyager spacecraft, evidence instrumental in enacting catalytic converter regulations, protection of the Dead Sea Scrolls, conservation of Mono Lake, and reduction of atmospheric haze in the Grand Canyon and other national parks. He was pivotal in numerous environmental victories, capped by his work to secure $750 million in health care funding for first responders at the collapsed World Trade Center.

 

Born in Paterson, New Jersey, on March 4, 1937, and raised in rural Sudbury, Massachusetts, Tom became fascinated as a young man not only with science but also with science fiction. “By high school, I was into Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, A.E. van Vogt, and other writers less well known but seminal in my becoming a scientist. In my career as a scientist, I had to strictly adhere to ‘What is.’ But often I would wonder, ‘What if?’” That sense of wonder inspired him to begin writing fiction for personal enjoyment upon his retirement in 1994.

 

Although Tom had more than 250 published scientific journal articles and book chapters in the academic press to his credit, he lacked a publishing outlet for his creative fiction, manuscripts of which he had been photocopying to give to friends for enjoyment. Tom approached EditPros LLC, which published his first novel, a fast-paced thriller titled Annals of the Omega Project — A Trilogy, in June 2012.

 

EditPros eventually published six more of Tom’s books — his “Ark Asteroid” series (about the aftermath of an immense asteroid’s cataclysmic collision with Earth) consisting of three books: Ark: Asteroid Impact (December 2012), Ark: Diaspora (September 2013) and Ark: Post-Asteroid Eden (March 2015); Greenhouse Redemption of the Planet Kraal (January 2014), a foreboding story about ecological disaster; I Can Breathe Clearly Now: Protecting Yourself From Air Pollution (January 2017), a nonfiction work that consolidates five decades of Tom’s original research findings and groundbreaking scientific analyses; and his autobiography, Critical Masses: Exposes of a Catholic Nuclear Physicist (January 2018) in which he reconciled the Big Bang Theory and other scientific postulates with his theological beliefs.

 

Tom emphasized that his fiction was grounded in scientific principles, evidence and feasibility. His research studies and findings emanated from his abiding inquisitiveness, sense of adventure, seemingly unlimited energy and earnest desire to benefit humanity and all life and ecological systems on Earth. Tom also was tough; he repeatedly subjected himself to physical danger in the pursuit of scientific evidence, and in later life he survived a fall from the roof of his home and recovered from open-heart surgery. Tom typically spoke in rapid-fire sentences, spraying out bursts of words as his fertile mind percolated ideas and observations. Despite his eminence as a scientist, he was endearing and congenial, continually smiling and sharing anecdotes that tickled him. We will miss him.

 

Tom is survived by his wife Virginia “Ginny” Cahill, J.D., a former professor of environmental law at UC Davis and legal consultant for the California Department of Fish and Game; his daughter Cathy, a professor of atmospheric chemistry at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks; and his son Tom, an associate professor of chemistry at Arizona State University. Tom and Ginny made significant philanthropic donations to UC Davis in support of preserving the environment and advancing science. Tom’s family welcomes donations in his name to the UC Davis Foundation for support of the Cahill Riparian Preserve; Catholic Relief Services; the Jesuit Volunteer Corps; or the Loaves and Fishes Maryhouse hospitality shelter in Sacramento for homeless women and children..

 

LEARN MORE about Tom's books.

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