Writing is important. Wouldn’t you agree? Students and academics need to write well to express their thoughts and new ideas clearly. People involved in business and personnel management need to effectively communicate the company goals and directions to subordinates. Representatives of philanthropic foundations need to persuade their audience and prospective contributors to donate money to their organization. Communication specialists need to convey information to the interested parties in an understandable manner.

You can give your writing a certain tone, structure, style, and form. Different situations will require you to apply a specific approach. In this article we will discuss how to write a persuasive essay and give you essential tips on how to write more persuasively. This guideline may also be helpful not only for students but for anyone interested in improving their persuasive writing skills.

What Is a Persuasive Essay?

A persuasive essay is a piece of writing aimed to present a point of view supported with compelling arguments. The writer of the piece wishes the reader to accept his or her point of view. Typically, a persuasive essay is frequently accompanied by statistics, facts, and quotations from reliable and credible resources.

Excellent persuasive writing can’t start with your own position. You need to understand and listen to the beliefs of others. Such an approach serves several purposes.
Firstly, it connects the text with the reader, especially if they adhere to their own point of view. Secondly, it gives the sense that you have elaborated enough information on the topic and it builds more trust in the book.

So, what mistakes should be avoided? What tools should you use to present your point of view in the best possible light? Let’s explore these and other tips in our guide.

How to Write a Persuasive Essay Step by Step

There are several common steps that you need to pass to write a persuasive essay. It’s a general guideline, not something written in stone. The plan can be adjusted to your individual needs and preferences. Also, you need to consider the instructions first.

1. Pick a topic. The more interesting and controversial the topic you choose, the more interesting the essay you will create. Try to choose an issue in which you have a strong position. If the question will be interesting to you, it will be easier to find the right arguments to prove your point of view.
2. Clearly understand your aim. To be able to influence someone’s beliefs and thoughts, you need to realize your own intentions and sincerely believe that your views are correct. Your own confidence will help you take the right stance and choose appropriate justifications to form your position to the audience. Besides, you need to create a first impression of a particular topic or issue, or sway the reader to your point of view.
3. Examine informational resources. Look at the latest publications about issues connected to your topic. Mention the arguments that you can use for your paper. Point out statements on the issue from experts and reliable sources that support your point of view. You can use them to justify your arguments and add credibility to your thoughts.
4. Create an outline. When you have all the information at hand, it’s time to make a brief plan for your future writing. The outline can be in the form of the list of theses or arguments that will guide you during the writing process.
5. Write the first draft. It’s one of the most important points of a good persuasive essay. Follow the outline that you have already created, add statistical data and quotes, and write the text of your essay. The text should be well-organized, logically correct, and reasoned.
6. Edit and proofread. Any mistake in your writing may force the reader to think that you are incompetent. That’s why it’s important to correct all the mistakes and ask someone experienced enough to check your text.

Viola! Your persuasive essay is completed. To make your persuasive writing better, read the information below.

Persuasive Essay Outline

It’s very important to structure your thoughts in the right way. A well-structured text helps the reader more easily understand the information and to present your point of view in the right light. Typically, the outline of a persuasive essay is similar to other essays, but still has some peculiarities. Let’s see it below.

Introduction

With the help of a good introduction you can attract the reader’s attention and evoke interest in your text. Besides, it can help develop trust and create a friendly atmosphere. Don’t make your introduction too long. Stick to 3-4 sentences that will identify the topic you are going to discuss, and tell the reader why you have decided to write about this particular topic. Let the reader quickly understand what you are going to talk about.

If you don’t know how to start a persuasive essay, you can use one of the following methods:

• Tell an engaging story. As your topic is related to social issues, it is closely connected to real people’s lives. A story will give your essay a more personal touch and humanize it. Besides, it’s a great tool to highlight the significance of the issue and present to the reader that any person can be affected by the studied issue.
• Ask a thought-provoking or inspirational question. This is one of the best persuasive essay hooks. Challenge the reader from the very beginning. Besides, the provocative question will inspire the reader with thoughts of alternative viewpoints on the issue.
• Describe an example that highlights the importance of the issue. You can tell the reader the case study of the problem or a common misunderstanding of the issue that has led to poor consequences.
• Add a bit of humor. You can tell a funny story or an anecdote. But be sure that it will be appropriate for your topic. As if you are talking about serious things, your essay may not be treated seriously.

Body paragraphs

The main part of the essay should be easy to understand and full of necessary information. Also, you will need to think about transitional phrases and sentences to connect the parts of your essay. You can use the following methods of presenting your arguments and information:

• Present viewpoints of professionals and experts in a certain field of science.
• Focus on rationalizations that can be easily checked.
• Cite a source that explains or adds additional meaning to your phrases.
• Share personal experience and theories.
• Present statistical data with a link to the primary source.
• Show your own prognosis on the situation or share your thoughts about the nearest future.
• Add interesting stories or anecdotes that will reinforce your arguments.
• Compare and contrast the situation to a similar one to demonstrate similarities and differences.

Typically, persuasive essay format consists of several body paragraphs. The structure usually looks like this:

1. Argument #1 supported by example or evidence.
2. Argument #2 supported by example or evidence.
3. Argument #3 supported by example or evidence.

Conclusion

This part may be even harder than the previous one. The conclusion of any persuasive speech aims to sum up the core points from the body paragraphs and multiply the effect of your arguments. Typically, people remember the end of a piece of writing better than other parts. Close your paper with a call to action.

Persuasive Essay Ideas

Don’t know what topic to choose? Here we share with you ideas that may lead you to the desired topic.

Social media. Many people use social media every day. Do you think it’s good or bad? What about adult content? Is it confidential to use social media? Does Facebook make people procrastinate? Does social media make a big contribution to the sharing of unreliable information? There are lots of things to discuss in the class.

Technologies. People are using technologies every day. Many of us have mobile phones and use the internet. Think about topics related to digital detox, or how modern technologies can save humanity. You can concentrate on any favorite topic, such as smartphones or online education.

Sports. This theme is rich in topics for persuasive writing. It includes women in sports, college athletes, doping, steroids, and more. Look through the recent sports news and find out the latest controversial topics. Most of them are consistently popular.

Education. As you are a recent student, you may be aware of various issues connected to your academia. For example, it may be a financial motivation at college, the cost of education, the need for standardized tests, bullying, and more.

Moral issues. Look through the recent publications on moral issues, and take a look at article headings in newspapers to find out more about the most discussed moral issues. The most popular issues are connected to animal testing, organ transplantation, homelessness, birth control, and more.

If you want to find some inspiration, look at our list of persuasive speech topics.

Persuasive Essay Examples

Besides, we have a great variety of persuasive essay samples on our website!

Sample Persuasive Essay on Airline Business
Why Does a Local Business Need SEO?
Persuasive Essay on Global Warming

We hope that our article will help you create a great persuasive essay with ease! Follow our guide and get inspired for your essay right away. If you still can’t write a paper by yourself, don’t hesitate to ask our writers for help. We will create a persuasive essay according to your individual requirements, using convincing arguments, and supporting it with evidence. Fill out the order form on our website and get qualified help from expert writers 24/7.