Archive: persuasion
Know What You Want to Say
A major flaw in writing is that the message is not focused on one idea. A writer has an abundance of information but does not consider what he or she wants to accomplish and does not ask important questions about the audience. High-quality writing takes time. When...Influencing Your Audience: Making Your Persuasive Message Stick
Capturing interest at the start of a message is important, but in persuasive writing, you also need to sustain the audience’s attention throughout the message. That’s how you influence people’s thinking and motivate them to accept your ideas. Here...Persuasive Positioning: Where to Put Your Best Idea
When you are trying to persuade someone to accept your point of view, where you position certain information in a message sometimes can make a difference. Let’s say you have two ideas for solving a problem, A and B, and you want the reader will choose B. Should...By Ken O’Quinn
Focus on Them
Perfect Phrases for Business Letters (McGraw-Hill)
TD at Work — Business Writing for Managers
As a contributing author in this book on leadership, Ken offers insights and tips for managing difficult conversations, providing effective feedback, and being authentic. Order here.
Perfect Phrases for Business Letters (McGraw-Hill)
Provides the right words and phrases for any situation - quickly. The book was reprinted in Japanese because of high-volume sales there.
TD at Work — Business Writing for Managers
The Association for Talent Development invited Ken to write this 22-page booklet for the TD at Work series.
Current Blog Post
Writing to Persuade: Where You Should Position Your Best Option
Positioning information can be an important factor when you are trying to persuade