Propaganda Techniques and Terms

My twelve year old son came home with a terrific writing assignment for school last week. The title of the assignment was (I’m not making this up) — Persuasive Writing, Propaganda Techniques & Terms.

I found it amazingly relevant, instructional and alarmingly useful. As a marketing/design/branding guy, I couldn’t imagine a more useful junior high assignment. I’m talking Real World stuff here! Each student was instructed to utilize 5 of the 11 key-techniques of persuasion (See list below), and convince their teacher why they should receive a passing grade! How great is that! So here are the 11 propaganda techniques:

1. Assertion: Stating an opinion as a fact
2. Bandwagon: Making it seem like “everyone is doing it!”
3. Card Stacking (Selective Omission): Presenting the positive and omitting the rest
4. Glittering Generalities: Highly-valued concepts with positive connotations
5. Lesser of Two Evils: Your belief is less offensive than the other
6. Name Calling: Attaching positive or negative names to a person or idea
7. Pinpointing the Enemy: Identifying the negative and showing that it’s not you
8. Plain Folks: Appealing to the majority and making it seem like you represent the massess
9. Simplification (Stereotyping): Making a complicated issue seem simple and clear-cut
10. Testimonials: Using other people, who are often famous, to support you
11. Transfer: Attaching your self and your idea to someone or something positive

No matter what you do for a living, you’ll want to exploit these as best you can   And, if you’re in marketing or politics, you already do on a daily basis!

Advertisement