Persuasive Thinking Style

Persuasive Thinking Style

Anyone can try to be persuasive, but only if that person knows his or her facts and stands firmly on what he or she believes in, then this person can be effective at persuading others. Persuasive thinking is something that most of us, at least, attempt to do with or without success.

There is an incredible amount of understanding that one has to consider before trying to persuade another person or group. To be persuasive is "to prevail on (a person) to do something, as by advising or urging" (Dictionary, n.d.). Another part of being a persuasive thinker is to understand people, to know the audience and what their beliefs and values are. Not only does persuasive thinking require an understanding of the audience, but it also requires that the persuasive thinker is believable, likeable, unbiased, convincing, and acknowledges the audience.

Persuasive thinking is described by Gary Kirby and Jeffrey Goodpaster, authors of Thinking: An interdisciplinary approach to critical and creative thinking as "a delicate art." Kirby and Goodpaster also explain that persuasive thinking is "simple to define, difficult to do." Although persuasive thinking is an art all in its own, it does have some similarities as the other thinking styles. Persuasive thinking can be used with creative thinking to form a persuasive argument. Logical thinking is often used with all the other thinking styles because of its deductive reasoning.

All of these thinking styles are intertwined with each other, they can be used separately or altogether during the thinking process.

References:

Kirby, G., & Goodpaster, J., (2007). Thinking: An interdisciplinary Approach to Critical and

Creative thought, (4th Ed) Pearson Prentice Hall.

persuade. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved April 30, 2011, from Dictionary.com

website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/persuade