Artful Persuasion: why we should be mindful of typographies

    This week, our class read a chapter from 'HBR's 10 Must Reads: On Communication' called Change The Way You Persuade. It highlighted the strategies used to persuade different groups of people when they are organised by personality type. The types of personalities outlined in the chapter are the charismatics, thinkers, skeptics, followers and controllers. Armed with the wisdom of this chapter, you can essentially 'tailor' your speech to persuade anyone, as long as you can find out which type of personality they belong to. While I agree that this strategy could be a useful tool in persuasion, I think that we have to be wary of generally categorising people. When we organise people into types, we could deny their agency. 

    I am not discrediting this chapter- however, I think it is good to consider how typography has affected people in the past. Human beings can be flexible thinkers, and categories tend to be very scientific and linear. Socially constructed categories like gender, sexuality, class, and race create barriers and stereotypes. I believe that our individual experiences are most accurately considered through a spectrum. In regards to the personality types discussed in Change the Way You Persuade, I may be closer to being a follower than a controller, but I am also a charismatic and a thinker. Everyone has a thinker, a charismatic, a skeptic, a follower, and a controller inside of them- how ever small or big some parts may be. 

    In conclusion, I believe that its valuable to consider people as whole and unpredictable, while also being mindful of the possible persuasive tactics that can be employed to win your argument.

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