Persuasive Communication: What Makes Messages Persuasive? (FutureLearn)

Understand what makes message persuasive and how to develop persuasive messaging
What makes one message more convincing than another? In a noisy world, knowing the answer to this question is crucial. In this course you will discover the processes strategic communication professionals in fields such as public relations, marketing and advertising use to develop persuasive communication. More importantly you will learn strategies for evaluating your own organization’s efforts at developing more persuasive messaging strategies.

What topics will you cover?
What is strategic communication
What are “persuasive campaigns” and “persuasive messages.”
Tailoring messages to specific audiences
Message factors that impact message persuasiveness
How media choice impacts persuasiveness
Assessing and evaluating message effectiveness.
The Brian Lamb School of Communication is one of the world’s leading communication programs. The lead instructor, Dr. Bart Collins, directs the Lamb School’s Master of Science program in Communication, and the graduate certificate program in strategic communication management. He also teaches coursework in principles of persuasion and social influence.

What topics will you cover?
What is strategic communication
What are “persuasive campaigns” and “persuasive messages.”
Tailoring messages to specific audiences
Message factors that impact message persuasiveness
How media choice impacts persuasiveness
Assessing and evaluating message effectiveness.

What will you achieve?

• Describe the key elements of a persuasive message
• Identify audience characteristics that need to be taken into account in persuasive message design
• Evaluate message strategies that are most likely to be persuasive in a given situation
• Identify media that will maximize message effectiveness
• Develop strategies for measuring campaign and messaging success