Transcript Language of persuasion

Language of persuasion
Celia Fraiz Sainz
María López-Rúa Taboada
FORMAL WRITING (E.g. Discursive essay, business letter)
-Formal writing is not just dictated conversation
 It goes without saying that…
 It cannot be denied that…
 My opinion is borne out by research
-Make your thesis obvious throughout
-Introduce, expand/justify, conclude
-Stay on topic
FORMAL SPEECH
(E.g. At a business meeting)
The purposes of a formal speech:
 To inform
 To persuade
 To entertain
 To interest the audience
Some examples to use in a formal speech:
 Surely the most sensible thing would be to…
 How can I persuade you to…
 Are yoy quite sue you won’t reconsider?
Informal speech
Some expressions:
Come on!
 Go for it!
 Why don’t you…
 Can’t you just…
 Do it for my sake!
 Just this once!
 Please let me…

(e.g. to a friend)
Neutral speech







I really think you should…
Surely you could…
Think it over, at least.
How can I convince you?
You’d do well to…
Are you really sure you can’t…
Give it some thought, please.
Exercises

The following sentences are mixed formal and informal.
Write F (formal) or I (informal) in the brackets after each
sentence:
a. The project will be completed next year. [ ]

b. I showed that his arguments didn’t hold water. [ ]

c. I wonder why he put up with those terrible conditions for
so long. [ ]







d. Five more tests will be necessary before the experiment can be
concluded. [ ]
e. It is possible to consider the results from a different viewpoint.
[]
f. It has been proved that the arguments so far are without
foundation. [ ]
g. He’ll have to do another five tests before he can stop the
experiment. [ ]
h. It is not clear why such terrible conditions were tolerated for so
long. [ ]
i. There are a number of reasons why the questionnaire should be
revised. [ ]
j. We’ll finish the job next year. [ ]