141 Putting it in Writing
Identifying the key persuasive factors
The key persuasive factors are the most important elements
in your reader’s decision to believe you. They may arise from the
reader’s:
• background;
• priorities;
• needs or concerns;
• place in the corporate culture;
• relationship to the external environment.
Put yourself in the primary reader’s position and ask: ‘What
would most convince me about this idea?’
Creating a message
Your document must deliver a single message.
The message is the most important element of the document.
Everything else in it – the material, how it is ordered, how you
present it – depends on the message.
The message is the single most
important point you want to
make to the reader to express your objective. It is not a heading or
title. Neither is it a description of what you are doing in the
document.
The message
expresses
your purpose. Your document’s
message should be:
• a sentence;
• expressing a single idea;
• no longer than 15 words long; that is
• self-explanatory to the reader;
• action-centred.
It is critically important to check that your document’s message
is appropriate: to you, to the reader, and to your material. In a
conversation, interview or presentation,
we can check that we are
addressing the other person’s needs, or the audience’s
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