Emotion vs Facts: What’s More Persuasive?

Does this sound familiar? Back up your position with facts; the more reasons you can offer, the more persuasive your argument. Right? Not quite.

Sometimes, trying to convince someone with a series of facts can feel like hitting your head against a brick wall. That’s because being right is not enough.

While few of us will admit it, most people are persuaded by emotion. We then rationalize our position with facts. This means when behavior change is our goal, facts and stats are important—but not as important as an emotionally-persuasive narrative.

Facts and stats ARE important. But not as important as an emotionally persuasive narrative.

The subject matter most of us are working with affords us emotionally-charged content in spades. So, unless you’re writing a factsheet, focus on emotionally-charged content and be discerning with the facts and stats you choose to back up your case.

There are simple ways to turn ‘fact-heavy’ issues into emotionally-persuasive arguments. Try these five ways to heighten the emotional impact of your writing.

From: Engage your reader’s emotional brain