The Practice of Persuasion Theory - Case Study Example

“Persuasion is a matter of persuaders engineering actors decisions to produce the desired action” (Funkhouser & Parker, 1999, p.28). Jill presents raw data to her guests that require her to break down for them so that they may be emotionally appealed. She further makes the assumption that once they leave they will read the information in the folder that she presents to them. Jill completely fails to communicate to her guests effectively because of the lack of emphasis on the significance of her proposed research.

Effective communication requires an adequate appeal to the passion, logic, and character of an individual. Jill does not appeal to these aspects hence she is not able to convince her guests to donate to her research. As pointed out by Barker (2010), “the key to effective persuasion is having powerful ideas and delivering them well” (p.75). Though Jill presents herself and her work in a systematic and orderly way, she does not convince the guests to be passionate about her work. In addition, she does not appeal to their logic by demonstrating clearly in very basic language how the project would be helpful to society as well as the donors.

Instead, she assumes that the guests (donors) will understand what she is up to. Nothstine & Michael (1989) have mentioned that “most people have never been trained in formal logic and reasoning” (p. 47). On the other hand, the potential donors are people that are rich and their character may be based on the need for self-actualization. Jill fails to clearly communicate to the guests by appealing to their character. It is clear that there is an aspect that is lacking in communication, as well put by Mayo and Jarvis (1992), “Persuasive communication is more effective when salespeople create a sense of togetherness with those with whom they speak” (p.1). At the end of the day, she ends up not getting any correspondence from any of the guests that reported for the event.

Jill could have considered a number of issues that would contribute to her success. Jill should have known that “persuasion involves the persuader’s awareness that he or she is trying to influence someone else” (Perloff, 2010, p.11). Therefore, she could have considered going through the content of the research and placing so much emphasis on its benefits. In essence, “persuaders are seen as tough-talking salespeople, strongly stating their position, hitting people over the head with arguments, and pushing the deal to a close” (Perloff, 2010, p. 12). Alternatively, she could have sought the services of a consultant in fundraising to help her appeal to the guests. On the other hand, Jill was obliged to speak to the entire group as one team and at the end of the presentation give them a chance to ask questions. Effective persuasion requires good organization and the ability to give the guests (for the case of Jill) uniform information. Additionally, Jill had the responsibility of facilitating the guests to have a positive attitude towards the research by pointing out the key benefits of the research. It was also paramount for Jill to do a follow-up on the guests after the event. Finally, Jill was required to focus more on her project on not the attempt to please the guests with food and drinks; this could have diverted their attention.

            The best strategy that Jill would adopt and hence appeal to the guests would be through the presentation of her research work in an articulate manner. A PowerPoint presentation elucidating what the research is about, the steps made so far, the anticipated results, and the benefits of the research was the most appropriate for the research. In the words of Fitzgerald (2001), “how a position is presented is as important as the position itself” (p.323). Through this strategy, she would be in a position of persuading “through the evidence that we can bring to support our case” (Barker, 2010, p.75). Presentation using a PowerPoint would ensure that the audience is capable of visualizing and hearing what Jill was ended too. The response given to the bank manager was not adequate and beats the logic for the event. It could have been much better if she had sent them the research documents and hence waited for their response instead of making an appearance that does not provoke their need to learn about the research. According to Messaris & Metallinos (1998), “Any mode of communication can be considered with either semantic or syntactic properties” (p.278)  Therefore, a PowerPoint presentation would help the potential donors to understand the constraints that Jill was going through and the overall benefits that would be brought forth by if any case they opted to fund the project.

            The problem with Jill is that she fails to appeal to the character, logic, or passion of her guests. She fails to give the project that she is undertaking the emphasis that it requires. The most important thing could have to present a comprehensive and organized PowerPoint presentation of all the details concerning the project. Additionally, she was required to use her spoken and non-spoken language to demonstrate to the potential donors the reason why they should provide funding for her project.