Three Greek Musketeers, Power of Three, Storytelling

1. Persuasion techniques
English for Marketing Professionals
Fall 2015
Anne-Mari Raivio

2. TASK 1
 Prepare a short presentation on something that
you care about
 Goal: to sell your idea to your audience
 Preparation time: 20 min
 Delivery time: 3 min
Anne-Mari Raivio / Kansainvälinen liiketoiminta 2

3. Feedback from your audience
 What was the speaker trying to convince you
about? Was the main message clear?
 Did he/she succeed? Why (not)?
 How did he/she try to convince you? What
techniques did he/she use?
 What are the speaker’s strengths / challenges in
giving presentations?
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4. Task 2.
 As a group, identify the techniques that you
used to convince each other.
 Select your Top 3 techniques
 Write your Top 3 on the board
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5. Persuasion = the act of
causing people to do or
believe something
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/persuasion?show=0&t=1411049078
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6. Content
1) The Greek Musketeers
2) The Power of Three
3) Storytelling
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7. The Greek Musketeers
Ethos, Pathos, Logos

8. Aristotle’s "ingredients for persuasion"
Appeal to your readers' / listeners‘
1) ethos - show them why they should trust you:
2) pathos - make them feel something, appeal to their
emotions:
3) logos - appeal to their reason
How is it done? Check here:
http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-ethos-
logos-and-pathos.html
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9. Ethos
You might have the best stories and the
best evidences, but if your listeners don’t
think you’re credible, you won’t persuade
them of anything…
HOW?
Personal branding (the way you speak,
the way you dress, the way you appear
online, etc)
Using experts and acknowledged
sources,
Highlighting your experience
Showing confidence
As a doctor, I am qualified to tell you
that…
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10. Pathos
appeals to emotions, the right part
of our brain.
is influenced by the speaker’s
delivery (face, voice, etc)
HOW?
use vivid and sensory words to
make the audience experience and
feel what you’re saying.
tell stories
"You’ll make the right decision
because you have something that not
many people do: you have heart."
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11. Logos
LOGOS
the argument in itself, the content,
and how you structure it…
appeals directly to the left side of the
brain: our logical senses.
HOW?
Build a strong argument, with logical
facts, statistics and evidence.
Make sure your message is clear
and makes sense to the audience
 Research compiled by analysts
from NASA suggests that…
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12. Techniques to use
Ethos:
• Personal branding
• Confidence in delivery
• Credible sources
Pathos:
• Stories
• Personal experience
• Vivid language
Logos:
• Structure of the presentation
• References to studies, statistics,
analyses, case studies
• Comparisons, analogies,
metaphors
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13. The Power of Three

14. The Rule of Three:
 Based on the way we humans process information:
 we like to form patterns
 three is the smallest number of elements required
to create a pattern.
 creating a pattern + keeping it brief = memorable
content
 Use one for power. Use two for comparison,
contrast. Use three for completeness, wholeness,
roundness. Use four or more to list, inventory,
compile, and expand.
-- Roy Peter Clark, author of Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer
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15. An example of the power of three: Russell
Brand vs Jeremy Paxman
Russel Brand, a stand-up
comedian and actor turned
political activist, is very
skilled in using the power of
three.
Have a look at this interview
with him:
http://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=3YR4CseY9pk
Can you identify when he
uses the technique?
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 Giving 3 different
examples
 Repeating the message in
other words 3 times
 Using 3 different
synonyms
 Repeating the structure 3
times (starting sentences
with the same structure;
using words with the
same initial sound...)

16. Storytelling
"The tribe who tells the best story, wins. The tribe who involves the whole
world in that story, rules the world" - Hopi tribe

17. Why tell stories?
Studies show that
 people's beliefs can be swayed more effectively through
storytelling than logical arguments
 transportation = absorption into the story -> affects also
'real-world' beliefs
 emotions reach hearts and minds
(Green & Brock (2000). The Role of Transportation in the Persuasiveness of Public Narratives. In Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, vol. 79, No. 5, pp. 701-721.)
 Interested? Learn more:
 Storytelling in marketing:
http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/08/why-marketers-want-to-
make-you-cry/
 Storytelling tips:
http://www.fastcompany.com/3015140/leadership-
now/once-upon-a-time-at-the-office-10-storytelling-tips-
to-help-you-be-more-persu
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18. THANK YOU!
 www.metropolia.fi/en/
 www.facebook.com/MetropoliaAMK
 anne-mari.raivio@metropolia.fi