8 Powerful Patterns to Persuade Your Reviewers
Many scientific and medical authors are eluded by the art of persuasion. They believe that persuasive writing requires hyperboles and adjectives like “pioneering” and “novel.” But these words only inflate writing and, worse yet, can erode credibility.
To persuade your readers, you need to focus less on using embellished words and more on building compelling cases that influence and motivate your readers.
To build compelling cases, you can use persuasive patterns in your writing. These patterns can help you organize your arguments to build on what readers know and help them easily understand your findings and interpretations.
Persuasive Patterns
Topical
Topical is the most common pattern. In this format, you frame information according to subtopics within a larger topic. This format works well when you want to start broadly and narrow down to something specific. For example, you might start with discussing neurogenerative disease, then move to the part of the brain that is affected by the disease, and then narrow down to the specific cell, protein, or gene that contributes to that disease.
This pattern also works well when discussing categories or classes of things. For example, you might open your argument with a statement about how several new drugs reduce the severity of migraines. And then you would name and describe each of those drugs within the larger category of drugs that reduce the severity of migraines.
You can also use this pattern in the opposite direction, starting narrow and then broadening out. For example, you might describe a gene mutation and then widen out to how it affects protein function, cell function, organ function, and then disease pathogenesis.
Chronological
In the chronological pattern, you arrange information according to time, either forward or backward. A common format for this arrangement would be a historical description in which you discuss the timeline of something, such as the history of developing a new drug.
You would also use this pattern when discussing topics based on past-present-future or before-during-after. For example, you could use this arrangement when talking about what data was previously known (past), what data you found in your experiments (present), and what experiments could be done to uncover new data (future). Or you might discuss cell function at baseline (before), during treatment with a compound (during), and then after the treatment period ended (after).
Sequential
In the sequential pattern, you organize information according to a step-by-step sequence. You could use this arrangement to describe study procedures in a protocol or a methods section of a manuscript. You might also use this format in the results section of a manuscript, when you describe your rationale for the approach (step 1), then the experiments that you did (step 2), and then the results of those experiments (step 3). Similarly, you could use this arrangement in the approach section of a grant proposal, where you would describe your expected results as the last step.
Spatial
Spatial is a great pattern for organizing information according to how things fit together in physical space. This pattern works well when you want to create a mental picture of something that distinguishes parts by physical location. For example, if you discuss different parts of the brain, you might introduce them based on where they sit in the brain. Or if you're describing a transmembrane protein, you might describe the structure and function of the extracellular portion, then the transmembrane portion, and then the intracellular portion of the protein.
Compare-Contrast
Compare-contrast is a common pattern in research. In this pattern, you arrange information according to how things are similar to or different from one another. This format helps your reader better understand a subject as it relates to something else. For example, you could use this pattern to discuss how your results are similar to results in another study. Or you might compare how your findings differed based on certain variables that you measured, such as differences in how cells respond to control and treatment compounds.
Advantages-Disadvantages
In the advantages-disadvantages pattern, you arrange information according to the pros and cons, or good and bad parts, of something. This approach is helpful when you want to objectively discuss both sides of an issue. For example, you might discuss the strengths and limitations of your study or research approach. Or you might discuss the benefits and risks of a new drug being tested in clinical trials.
Cause-Effect
In the cause-effect pattern, you show important relationships between two things or conditions. Although this pattern may seem similar to the compare-contrast pattern, cause-effect focuses more on how one thing influences another thing. For example, you could use this pattern when describing how a compound causes changes in cell function, or how a specific gene mutation can cause a certain disease.
Problem-Solution
The problem-solution pattern divides information into a problem and a solution to solve that problem. This format works well when you want to compel the reader to support a certain action or make a change. For example, a problem would be a gap in knowledge and the solution would be to fill that gap in knowledge. Or the problem might be that we need better treatments for a disease, and the solution might be a candidate drug or a preventative practice.
The problem-solution pattern is used often in research. And this pattern is really helpful for highlighting the significance and relevance of your study.
The Power of Persuasion
Persuasive writing is a powerful approach to communicating information and motivating readers. With these persuasive patterns in your toolbox, you’ll have better tools to help you craft persuasive arguments that compel your readers to take action—funding your proposal, accepting your manuscript for publication, and citing your work.
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