Persuasive essay writing is, perhaps, one of the most exciting forms of essay writing. We all have opinions, right?

Now's the time to take that opinion, bolster it, and convince others to "come on your side." Let's explore some tips for persuasive essay writing made easy, including a persuasive essay outline.

What Is a Persuasive Essay?

Unlike an argumentative essay, a persuasive essay has one main goal - to persuade the audience of a certain viewpoint. It can be compared to a sales pitch, except your essay isn't selling a product - it's selling a point of view.

You can quickly recognize persuasive essays in the many advertisements you're bombarded with online. Have you ever visited a website only to find a white paper (which looks like a long, drawn out blog post) that begins with the heading "Dear Friend"? These are persuasive essays, trying to convince you to buy a product or buy into an idea.

Steps to Writing a Persuasive Essay

With five strong paragraphs, you can formulate a strong persuasive essay. Consider this persuasive essay structure:

1. Choose Your Side

Before you begin, it's important to know where you stand on the issue. Choose your side and hold firmly to it. With a focused lens, you'll be able to research your topic more thoroughly.

2. Research Thoroughly

A good persuasive essay is going to present fascinating facts and staggering statistics. The goal is to move the pendulum so others choose your side too. You can also research and present moving narratives that will make readers stop, think, and consider the opposing viewpoint.

3. Organize Five Strong Paragraphs

A well organized essay will present your argument much more effectively. The structure is simple.

The Introduction - Your introductory paragraph needs to be your strongest paragraph. This is where you'll present your argument or recommendation, including your thesis statement. Support your position and throw in a staggering statistic if one exists. The last sentence should conclude the thought while transitioning into the next paragraph. Here's a list of transition words to help you get started.
The Body - The next three paragraphs should reinforce your initial viewpoint, thereby persuading the reader that your position is the best position possible. Include additional facts, statistics, and testimonials in these three paragraphs. Each paragraph can present one key point.
The Conclusion - Your concluding paragraph should reiterate your thesis statement. Then, sum everything up and conclude the overall essay to drive the point home. Perhaps you could end with a rhetorical question or a call to action. Here's more on how to write a conclusion.

If you begin with a clear and precise thesis statement, and fuse it with solid facts, you'll be well on your way to delivering a pitch-perfect persuasive essay.

Persuasive Essays Are Convincing

You can find a lot of persuasive essays in the realm of politics. Among political figures -- whether senators, congressional personnel, lobbyists or presidential staff -- developing and using persuasive essays is quite common.

In order to write a concrete, persuasive essay, you'll need to do your homework on the topic. Familiarize yourself with both sides of the coin: your side and the opposing argument. Preemptively respond to possible counter-arguments from the other side. This will make for a much stronger essay. Don't shy away from a quick acknowledgment of the main point of contention.

Persuasive essays include substantial facts in support of the topic. Still, the main purpose is to convince the reader to agree with your position. Being aware of Aristotle's modes of persuasion will also help you craft an appropriate appeal to emotion, logic or credibility.

Change the World

You can change the world, or at least the perspective of a group of people, with a powerful persuasive essay. And, in truth, persuasive essays possess an element of informative essays. You'll certainly be educating the audience on an important topic.

Just remember, the main goal of a persuasive essay is to seduce the reader into agreeing with you. Encourage them to take a stand. If the time comes when you must take your cause from paper to the podium, here are the steps for writing a persuasive speech.

illustration of one person showing persuasive writing to two others

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