Emotion v. Logic v. Both

I received a very nice email this week from a gentleman who stopped by The Speechwriter. He said that he appreciated my commentary about persuasion and emotion. He went on to say that he typically rejects his emotional responses to most things, and he tends to be more logical in his decision-making process.

The email brought up a point that is important to those who engage in persuasive activities (salesmen, marketing personnel, politicians, etc.). There are two types of people in this world: those who react to emotion-based arguments and those who have to think things through while looking for a logical conclusion. To be effective at speech and writing, you have to take both personalities into consideration.

Gorgias taught that most people respond to emotions. His use of poetics and his penchant for drama was based upon that premise. However, he also included logic-based argumentation for those who needed that approach. His speeches were organized in logical form, and he used a Socratic-method of reasoning to present his case. Both, he thought, were necessary.

Today's audiences are no different. The key, however, is to know your audience. For example, if you are a salesperson, you should take time to talk to your customer before you start making a pitch. This conversation is more than just casual talk. During this time, you are assessing that person and figuring out how to present your product to him. Seven out of ten times, you'll discover that the customer is emotion-based, and you will get more opportunity to sell by being creative, using descriptive language, telling stories, and visualizing the product more. However, you will find that about three out of ten people will require a technical, logical approach. They want to hear the statistics, test the product, and talk about numbers. The emotional methods will not work on them.

So, if you are making a presentation to anyone, your first objective should be to find out who your audience is so that you can make your presentation fit their needs. If you don't do this, you will rarely be successful at persuading people to follow your lead. As a speechwriter, the very first question I ask a client is, "who is the audience?" In fact, I need to know more about the audience, many times, than I do about the person delivering the speech.

The same is true for the writer. In fact, the first lecture I give my composition students specifically regards audience. You cannot put pen to paper before knowing your reader. I am surprised, however, at how many "professional" writers do not take audience into consideration. Many have the opinion that they are going to write however they want to write no matter who the readers are. I think this is ludicrous. Certainly, there are elements of your style that will remain constant -- those things that define you as a writer. However, there are many more elements that you can change to meet your audience's needs. Many times, that is the difference between being a good writer and a great writer.

Test this principle out for yourself. If you are in a position where you have to persuade someone to a course of action, think about that person's personality before you start to make your case. Fitting your argument to their personality gives you an advantage and greatly increases your chance to succeed.