To Convince Your Audience

Convincing your audience is similar to convincing yourself and takes the same kinds of sources—as long as your audience is made up of people like you and your professor, which is often true in academic writing. That means using many of those sources you used to answer your research question.

When your audience isn’t very much like you and your professor, you can adjust your choice of sources to meet this need. Perhaps you will include more that are secondary sources rather than primary, some that are popular or professional rather than scholarly, and some where the authors’ intent may not be to educate and inform.

Resources to Convince Your Audience

  • Quantitative or Qualitative Data: Same as what you used to answer your research question if your audience is like you and your professor. (If you have a different audience, use what is convincing to them.)
  • Fact or Opinion: Those with the purpose(s) you used to answer your research question if your audience is like you and your professor.
  • Scholarly, Professional, or Popular: Those with the same expertise level as you used to answer the question if your audience is like you and your professor. (If you have a different audience, you may be better off including some popular.)
  • Primary, Secondary, or Tertiary: Primary and secondary if your audience is like you and your professor. If you have a different audience, you may be better off including more secondary sources than primary.
  • Publication Format: Those acceptable in your discipline, if your audience is like you and your professor.