This is the view from my new writing desk in my new home in Raleigh, North Carolina.
My family and I are loving Raleigh. The house we’re renting is surrounded by woods that are so beautiful and peaceful. I’m torn over whether to go out exploring or stay here in my new writing space typing away.
After several weeks of not having a permanent address, I’m happy to finally have a place to call home. And to once again have a desk to write at!
As I wrote in my last post, I had to get rid of many belongings and pieces of furniture during my move from New York. My desk was one of the things that I ended up giving away, and I never could have imagined how difficult it would be to replace it.
If you’ve ever hunted for furniture before, you know that there are hundreds of decisions to make.
What’s your budget? How big of a desk can fit in your space? What type of a desk? A traditional design of solid wood or a contemporary design of metal and glass? One with a computer drawer? Or maybe you’d like to try a standing desk?
I visited several furniture stores but didn’t see anything that I liked. So my hunt for a desk ended up involving many hours of searching online. I read countless product descriptions, which are really advertisements in disguise. Each one tried to convince me that this was the perfect desk for me.
Of course, my eyes started to glaze over as I read so many product descriptions, but some stood out from all of the others. Those were the ones that had my cursor hovering over the “add to cart” button.
What made those descriptions different from all of the rest?
In a nutshell, they expertly employed four powerful rhetorical strategies known as the modes of persuasion.
These four persuasive techniques are essential for making any argument compelling.
You can use them in a blog post, in a speech, in an essay, or even on your website’s homepage – anytime you’re trying to persuade your reader to take action, form a new opinion, or take a big step that will change their life.
Read on to discover the four modes of persuasion and how you can use them to make your writing more effective. [Read more…]
