Designed to help students become more successful persuaders, Persuasive Messages offers practical advice on refining purpose, understanding audience, and designing a persuasive message. The text is well balanced between theory and practice, and it adopts a cognitive approach to understanding persuasion; placing special emphasis on helping students identify audience reactions to persuasive messages.Key variables in the persuasion process are reviewed and ethical concerns are explored. Significant concepts are illuminated with real-world examples chosen specifically with students in mind. The authors offer a novel approach to dealing with hostile or multiple audiences, while reviewing both the content and the stylistic features of persuasive messages. Discussions on key theories of persuasion are coupled with more practical applications, such as its usage in advertising and political campaigns.