The art of persuasion

4 comments September 19th, 2008

Apparently there are many Americans who still haven’t decided how they will vote in November, and millions of dollars are being spent to help them make up their minds. So it seems like a good time to consider the difference between “convince” and “persuade.”

To “convince” is “to overcome the doubts of” or “make feel sure,” using argument or evidence. “Convince” is followed at some point by “that” or “of”:

“A prosecutor tries to convince a jury that the accused is guilty. A defense attorney tries to convince a jury of his client’s innocence.”

To “persuade” is “to cause to do something.” It is usually followed by “to”:

“He persuaded the jury to find his client not guilty.”

So “convince” produces a point of view, “persuade” produces an action.

In the presidential race, the goal of each campaign is to convince people that its candidate is the better one and then persuade them to vote for him.

It’s a fine point, but one considered worth preserving by most usage experts. Of course, not all of them are convinced.