Example
A serious rental problem has emerged, with rental vacancies dropping from 5.2% last year to just 1.8% in March.
Facts and figures
Suggests that people should pay the least amount possible, either individually or as a society, and that public funds should be used appropriately.
Appeal to financial self-interest
Suggests that traditional customs are valuable and should be preserved.
Appeal to tradition and custom
Appeals to a desire for a sense of belonging, and positions audience members to want to share the same ideas as as others within the group.
Inclusive language
Gives the issue a more human angle, making it seem more relevant or real.
Anecdote
It is right to make a stand, it is right to take action, and it is right to do it now.
Repetition
Suggests that audience members should be loyal to their group and/or love their country.
Appeal to loyalty and/or patriotism
Draws on the assumption that families, especially traditional nuclear families, are inherently good.
Appeal to family values
Encourages the audience to (mentally) supply the answer and see things from the writer's perspective.
Rhetorical question
Makes the writer's viewpoint seem objective rather than subjective/personal.
Facts and figures
If Easter eggs and bunnies were in the shops any earlier, they would be keeping Santa Claus company.
Exaggeration, overstatement and hyperbole
A common and overused phrase quickly understood by a wide audience.
Cliche
A story about someone or something that the writer has experienced or heard about.
Anecdote
Can help to convey the writer's expertise in a field.
Jargon
Encourages the audience to want to adopt new technologies and practices, or to reject existing ones.
Appeal to being up-to-date
Checking in is quick and easy - everyone now knows what a QR code is and how to scan it with a smartphone.
Language that has a strong emotional impact, and uses the positive and negative connotations of words to influence the audience's response.
Emotive language
Words with multiple meanings, used to imply multiple ideas with the one phrase, can play on a words with the same or a similar sound but different spelling.
Puns and plays on words
Can help to make the contention look simple and obvious by linking it to something that the audience knows well or can grasp easily.
Analogy
Reason and logic
More countries are now experiencing unprecedented climatic conditions - wildfires, floods, collapsing coastlines, thawing permafrost. The scary thing is that this is only the beginning.
Appeal to fear and insecurity
A description of an issue in terms of two opposing sides, one 'good' and the other 'bad'.
Creating a dichotomy
The use of words and phrases in a non-literal way.
Undermines the opposition's credibility, positioning the audience to dismiss their ideas or viewpoint.
Ad hominem attack
Draws attention to key words that can have a positive or negative impact.
Alliteration