How To Make A Significant Change To Policy

The ability to persuade is an important skill you will need in the business world. While persuasion is particularly important for any business or organization that sells goods or services, any professional across industries needs  the ability to create persuasive content to succeed. You will rely on persuasive writing skills to convince people to hire you to do a project and to reassure them that the project is going well. The effectiveness of a persuasive argument depends largely on the reasonableness of the request, the credibility of the sources used to show the need for the request, and the ability to make the request attractive to the receiver.  An effective piece of percussive writing typically uses the following format: 

1. An effective lead-in (opening hook)
2. A Clear Purpose/Clearly Stated Bottom Line/Direct Ask
3. Key benefits/details supported with evidence. This section also makes use of refutation: recognize constraints (organizational, legal, ethical, financial, etc), predict audience reaction, and addresses counterarguments
4. Closing

In Preparation:

• Read/Watch: Persuasive Prose

Task:

Choose one of the two following scenarios, then prepare at lest 3 points you could make to convince your supervisors  to accept your argument to make a significant change to policy. Each point should make use of a different rhetorical appeal  explained in the reading(logos, ethos, kairos, or pathos). Label each point accordingly. 

 For your chosen scenario, consider especially cultural factors (company culture) as you make your argument.

1. The office dress code at your company is strictly business professional attire, which includes strict guidelines on hairstyles, facial hair, minimal jewelry, etc. The employees feel that business casual is more appropriate for your company culture; some might even say the current guidelines are discriminatory toward women and people of color. You’ve been designated as the spokesperson to approach the executive leadership team about this proposed change. How will you persuade them to buy into your recommendation?
2. Your boss discourages remote working although it is allowed in other departments and it has proven effective and efficient at the start of the Covid-19 Pandemic. This is starting to impact the morale of your team. How will you persuade him that increased flexibility will be beneficial to the productivity and work-life balance of the team?

https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/technicalwriting/chapter/writingpersuade/