How to Effectively Write a Persuasive Essay

There are countless styles of writing out there, but one of the most prominent ones you may actually apply in your college academic assignments and outside of your education is the ever-so-impacting persuasive essay. Persuasive essays are useful in starting debates, convincing employers to hire you, getting bills passed, or even convincing the administrators to let you join your favorite school. But the only way you to let your persuasive essays do the talking for you is to adopt an effective writing method. Here are some helpful tips to help you get your point across and successfully get someone to side with you.

Know Your Main Points

You will need to know what the focus of your persuasive essay is and keep it in mind as you use it so you can drive your point home in your writing. If you don’t know what you’re talking about, neither will your audience. Set some time to do a little brainstorming with keys ideas you have any evidence for each point to back yourself up. Above all, highlight the most important point in your persuasive essay and keep them clean, simple, and clear for your audience to better understand your argument.

Outline Your Argument

Outlining in your persuasive essay isn’t always necessary, but it can be quite helpful when you aren’t used to writing essays. You want to organize your thoughts so they flow in your mind and in the mind of your audience.  If you feel like two things are unrelated but back to back, switch stuff around until you can see clear thought transitions. Whatever you do, avoid beating around the bush. Instead, you’re your argumentative point plain and simple to avoid confusing your audience and hence discouraging them to read your work.

Start with a Bang

All persuasive essays need to have a hook – a bait that draws the audience to want to know what happens next. In simple terms, I like to call this a “Bang”. You will have to get your audience’s attention right from the get-go. To do this, get a hook from the very beginning of your persuasive essay. It could be a compelling story, or some fun facts, or crazy (but accurate) statistics, or even a famous quote – just anything that will create an interest in your audience. Be keen to select an introduction statement that best suits the audience you have.

While creative stories ate effective in latching into people’s emotions, statistics and facts work best in structured environments. Use a persuasive tone as you introduce your essay and maintain a clear flow thereon.  At the end of your introduction, have a clear statement of the thesis (main topic) of your argument so people know where you’re going with your facts, stories, or data.

Address Your Points Clearly

Now that we have made a strong introduction to our persuasive essay, we need to build the meat. Here you want to address all your points clearly, backing up every statement with enough proof to establish credibility and reader trust. Rambling around your points is nothing shy of annoying, and it is also highly ineffective. You want to state your main point in the introductory sentence of every subsequent paragraph (or shortly after), and then follow it up with strong points or facts to support your claim. You can also rework your introductory “bang” within the body of the persuasive essay to re-grab your audience’s emotions and attention. Do this all the way until the conclusion.

End with a Bigger Bang

The conclusion of your persuasive essay is arguably the most important part of your essay. Why? It is ‘’arguable’’. By now, you already have a solid argument leading up to your conclusion for it to even remotely be effective. Your words will mean absolutely nothing if people don’t find anything to relate to in your persuasive essay. But if you have a sound persuasive essay going through, you want to make sure to summarize key points at the end and really highlight the overall purpose of the essay. Remind people of what you have said before, and then construct a concluding sentence that leaves them to ponder every word. The last sentence of your essay is the key to getting them to change their mind about something because it is what they remember most. Perhaps you can provide an effective solution to your problem or a call to action. You might even twist entirely and change your message right at the tail end. Get creative and drive your point home for good.