ABSTRACT
To be effective persuaders, we must consider our audience. Coactive persuasion recognizes the importance of the persuader to move toward their audience psychologically so the persuadees will accept the persuader’s position or proposal for action. On the surface, coactive persuasion may be viewed as "friendly" persuasion as inducements are preferred over coercion. This chapter deals with the various elements of coactive persuasion including taking a receiver-oriented approach, remaining situation sensitive, establishing credibility through similarities, designing acceptable premises for our audiences, creating common ground, and reasoning from the perspective of the other. The chapter ends with a discussion of persuasive dialogue where the persuader and persuadee are on equal footing in a persuasive situation.
