Want to Write a Perfect Persuasive Essay? Use These Easy Tips

Persuasive writing is like being a lawyer since you have to take one side of an argument, then build a strong argument. The primary purpose of writing a persuasive essay is convincing the reader that a particular decision is the best. You can also use persuasive writing to make the reader agree with a point of view. There are many ways that you can write a persuasive essay. However, not all methods provide excellent results. Professionals from Custom writing bee have come up with this guide to help you write a persuasive essay effectively. So, keep reading to find out.

What Is a Persuasive Essay?

A persuasive paper is an essay that needs you to choose a position and back it up with some evidence. Therefore, a persuasive essay must be about a topic that you’re sure you can strongly argue either for or against it.

In persuasive writing, the topic must also be polemical. What this means is it should not be arguable. A good example is Humans need air to breathe.

Since it’s your job to convince the reader when writing a persuasive paper, you must conduct in-depth research and understand both sides of the argument. That way, you have lots of information hence enabling you to pick the most suitable side.

Crucial Steps to Follow When Writing a Persuasive Essay

A persuasive essay needs you to be well prepared and be sure of what you are doing. However, if it is your first time writing this kind of paper, then do not worry. We have got your back. Below, are the most crucial steps that you should follow carefully to help you write an excellent persuasive essay.

1) Lay Your Groundwork

a) Go Through the Instructions

The first step to take is reading the persuasive essay prompt. Read all the instructions carefully and check whether the professor wants you to write an argumentative or purely persuasive essay. If the instructions use vocabulary like personal observations and personal experience, then you know that you are to write a purely persuasive essay. If there is a point that is not clear to you, then make sure you confirm with your lecturer. Doing this allows you to fully understand the persuasive essay prompts hence reducing the chances of you deviating from the main topic.

b) Give Yourself Some Time

It is always vital that you have more than enough time when writing such an essay. Writing a persuasive essay in a hurry will only lead to mistakes and a paper that won’t be adequately persuasive. So, make sure you have time to relax, brainstorm then come up with unique ideas that will help strengthen your argument. 

If possible, then write early. That way, you can have some time to take a break and even find another option in case your computer starts issues.

c) Examine the Situation Properly

Most essays usually have a rhetorical situation which you can divide into five elements: The text, the author, audience, purpose and the setting. Using the statis theory can help you to examine the situation excellently. So, take time and look at the facts, meaning, the seriousness of the issues and the best solution. 

To look at the facts, try asking yourself, what happened, how did the problem start, and how can people solve the issues? To examine the meaning, ask what the problem’s nature is? And where can you group the issues?

You can look at the seriousness by asking questions like who does the problem affect most? And what will happen if people do not get a solution? To help examine the policy, ask: who should take some action to help solve the issue?

d) Consider the Audience

What you might find persuasive might not be to another person, which makes considering the entire audience vital. Your professor is the primary audience. However, you should also consider who else might want to read the essay.

For instance, if you are writing a persuasive essay about unhealthy food in school, then you can take different approaches. You can target the school administrators if you want to convince them that having healthy food in school can help even boost student’s productivity.

You can also make parents your primary audience. That way, you try to convince them of how harmful eating unhealthy foods is. So, you can write your essay in different ways as long as you consider your audience.

e) Pick A Topic You Like

You should look for persuasive essay topics that you have a strong opinion on since a persuasive paper mostly relies on emotional appeal. Therefore, you need to research and find persuasive essay topics that you feel you can argue about convincingly. However, you must also make sure the topic has lots of depth. Writing on such a topic gives you many ideas and points to write about hence making the paper more convincing.

f) Consider Opposing Points When Thinking About the Topic

When thinking about new points, also try and come up with some of the conflicting ideas that someone can have against your stand. If there are many opposing points, then it might be hard to write an essay that will persuade the reader. So, look for a topic that you can easily convince someone.

g) Have Manageable Focus

The topic you choose can hugely affect your focus hence making it hard to be persuasive enough. For example, if you write about how war is terrible, then the professor might not even read the essay to the end since that topic is broad. 

If you write about something like how drone strikes are wrong, then you’ll have more points to write about and be convincing since most people can support that.

h) Create Your Thesis

The thesis statement usually helps to present your argument or opinion in the paper in a more precise language. Mostly, the thesis statement should be in the introduction. In persuasive writing, you must ensure your argument is evident in the thesis to let readers know what to expect.

Your thesis statement should also show how you will organize the essay. What this means is that if you list some points in the thesis, then make sure you discuss them in the same order when writing.

i) Brainstorm the Evidence

After choosing the most suitable topic, you must prepare enough evidence before writing. Therefore, you must examine why you’ve chosen your opinion and which pieces of evidence are more compelling. That way, you can even think of other ideas that can help make the paper more persuasive.

You should also take some time to go through your evidence. Some points might need more evidence to help convince the reader. So, research and look for other points to back up your points. That way, you can sound confident when writing and also have something to prove that your stand is the best.

If you’re using books for research, then consult with the librarian. Librarians are usually very resourceful as they are sure of where you can find the best books that can back up your topic excellently.

2) Make a Persuasive Essay Outline

A great persuasive essay format will help your paper to appear presentable and professional even before reading. Generally, persuasive essays have a specific format, making it easier to present the points compellingly. 

Here, are the typical parts of a persuasive essay outline

a) The introduction

Your introduction should always start with a sentence that grabs the audience’s attention (hook), not forgetting the thesis statement. The hook can be anything from a fact to a quotation as long as it serves the purpose. If you can’t think of a good hook immediately, then write the essay first, then work on it later.

b) Body Paragraph

If the instructions say the essay should have five paragraphs, then three of them should make the body. Every paragraph should focus on one major point and also provide some evidence to back it up. That way, you can easily maintain a good persuasive essay format.

c) Conclusion

The conclusion is one of the most vital parts of a persuasive essay. This section is where you tie all your points together. As such, you should summarize everything you’ve talked about and add a call to action if necessary.

3) Write Your Persuasive Essay

This is now the biggest stage since you have now gone through the instructions, understood the topic, and even researched to get persuasive essay ideas. 

When writing, use the following techniques to help you ensure your essay is perfect.

a) Use Different Persuasion Tricks

Many people have been studying the art of persuasion for a long time, and it’s quite hard to master. However, with some skills, you can write the most persuasive paper. 

One skill that you can use is repetition. What this means is that you keep revolving around your thesis throughout the entire persuasive essay. Doing this helps to ensure the readers get the point perfectly hence convincing them.

You can also use social validation. This mostly involves using quotes in the essay. That way, you show the professor that you’re not the only person who thinks the same and that other authoritative people in the subject support the claim.

Showing agitation of the exact issue is also another great technique you can use. For this one, you need to show your reader the seriousness of the problem before giving the solution. Doing this helps to provide readers with a good reason to care about your opinion. 

For instance, if you are talking about a certain dictator, indicate how he has terrorized his citizens and even increased corruption, then show them that the best solution is a coup. That way, they already see the president was a real dictator, and thus there is no other solution, but a coup.

You can google and look at some persuasive writing examples that have used this technique. Great persuasive essay examples will help you see how others have used it and how you can also incorporate it in your paper.

b) Be Authoritative

You need to make sure you sound confident when writing a persuasive essay. Your paper will not be convincing if the reader sees that you’re not even sure of what you are supporting. Therefore, it’s vital that you avoid using words like maybe, and probably since they show uncertainty.

c) Challenge the Readers

In persuasive writing, you need to challenge the reader to re-evaluate what they think about a certain topic. 

Check out this example,

Every member of society wants a safer environment that is free from drug abuse and crime. However, we need to ask ourselves if we are ready to do everything it takes to ensure that happens.

You can see from this example that the statements challenge readers to ask themselves whether they’re willing to involve themselves fully to ensure change. That way, you get them reading through the entire article and agreeing with you.

d) Acknowledge Other Opinions

As much as you should mostly focus and support your argument, acknowledge views that are against yours too. You should, however, save that for the last paragraph. For instance, if you’re writing a persuasive essay about how guns should be legal, you can insist that although guns can cause harm even at home, it should still be someone’s right to own one and their responsibility of they hurt themselves.

Insisting that your persuasive essay ideas are the only ones that matter is a bad idea.  Acknowledging another opinion might be hard, especially if you are not sure how to place it. However, you can get an example of a persuasive essay online and see how professionals have done it to get an idea.

4) Polish the Essay

Now that you are done with the hard parts, you can now edit the article. You should, however, not start editing immediately. It is always advisable that you take about a day or two without even looking at the paper. Doing this allows your mind to be fresh, hence enabling you to identify errors faster.

After taking some time to relax, now go through the entire paper. As you do that, consider the following points.

• Does the essay show your stand clearly?
• Is there enough evidence supporting your points?
• Are your paragraphs focusing on the main idea and are they short and easy to read?
• Is there a smooth flow of ideas?
• Does your conclusion show the importance of the opinion and even challenge them to think of something?
• Does your essay follow what professional persuasive writing examples are doing?

5) Revise your Persuasive Essay Draft

Look for any paragraphs that you might need to move around to enhance flow or add more evidence. When revising, be ready to make significant changes to help make the essay persuasive. You can also check if you have a good persuasive essay structure that will win you points. If you don’t, then make the necessary changes.

Asking a friend to read the paper on your behalf is also another great idea. If your friend finds it tricky understanding some phrases or words, then change them since that shows they might be unclear. You can also use your computer’s spell checker to ensure there are no spelling mistakes and improve the persuasive essay structure.

You can also read the essay aloud as that will allow you to catch some errors that you did not notice when writing. It is always best that you proofread your paper about two or even three times. That way, you can be sure that the essay is flowing smoothly, and has a great persuasive argument, thus enabling you to score a good grade.

Persuasive Essay Writing Tips

The next time you’re writing a persuasive essay, you can refer to this quick checklist.

• You should not show any doubts in your position, especially in the thesis statement
• Having strong evidence will allow you to make your argument stronger 
• Avoid combining different points in one paragraph
• Use strong emotional language to help convince the readers more
• Write your persuasive texts in the present tense
• Ensure you have a unique persuasive argument
• Always have an example of a persuasive essay to help you borrow some tips

Need Assignment Help Writing a Persuasive Essay?

A persuasive essay assignment is quite common. As such, you should stay prepared for the day when your instructor assigns it. It’s not a matter of if, but when. Or is that day here with us already?

If it is, don’t worry. We’ve got your back. The first step is to practice what you’ve learnt from this article. Secondly, you can visit our resource center and check out various persuasive essay examples. Thirdly, you can order a custom essay from our essay writing service. Spoilt for choice, huh? We like to keep your options open.

Ultimately, if you want a persuasive essay that’s for your eyes only, order your custom essay from a professional today.