The Persuasive Power Of Supporting Evidence
People become convinced when they see that somebody gives solid scientific evidence, and that evidence is really relevant to the topic.
In this article, we are going to talk about the persuasive power of supporting evidence. Supporting evidence is just what it sounds like: supporting facts for a point you're making or an argument you're presenting. And there's plenty of research out there showing how important these underlying facts are in persuading people that your argument is sound and your point well made.
In this article, we will be talking about all sorts of different types of supporting evidence, from anecdotal to statistical data to anecdotal data to media coverage. We'll be exploring the reasons why you should use supportive evidence in the first place and why it's so much more effective than presenting an argument with only the logical or factual basis upon which it is based. We'll also be diving into exactly how to produce and present your supporting evidence as well as some things you should consider when doing so.
Let's get started.
What Is Supporting Evidence?
Supportive evidence is just what it sounds like: a body of research or facts that supports the conclusion of an article, a report, a news story, or some other form of communication that needs to persuade its audience to believe something or make some kind of decision.
Supportive evidence is critical not just in the sciences, like when a political scientist depends on poll data to back up a policy recommendation. It's important for everyone involved. If a retail store is trying to sell you clothes, they can support their pitch by showing you the materials and features of the clothing they want you to buy. If a lawyer is presenting evidence in court, she'll be using research and facts that support her argument.
Why Is Supporting Evidence So Important?
The role of supportive evidence isn't just to help your audience feel like they're being treated fairly or logically – it's also critical because it helps your audience overcome their two most common objections: that they're skeptical or that they don't believe you. By providing a body of research and facts that supports your conclusion, you can make people feel like what you're saying is true, and you can make them more likely to believe that you are being honest when you present your conclusions.
Supportive evidence also helps people overcome their natural skepticism. That's because research and facts allow people to judge for themselves how sound your argument is. When people are presented with supportive evidence, they feel not only more comfortable believing your conclusions but also better-equipped to validate the reasonableness of those conclusions themselves.
Why Are People So Skeptical?
It's not just that people are skeptical; it's that everyone is. We all have our reasons for being skeptical. But the point is, your audience will be even more skeptical than you are. This means that the best way to overcome this skepticism is to use supporting evidence.
How Does Supporting Evidence Help People Feel More Comfortable?
Supportive evidence helps people feel more comfortable believing your conclusion, because it gives them something solid and real to hold onto and something they can assess on their own terms as a way of validating what you're saying – even if they don't agree with it or believe it to be true. If you present an argument and offer only your own point of view or logic without backing it up with any credible evidence, you're more likely to get people upset or confused. But if you give them some evidence that supports your position, they are far more likely to trust your conclusion and accept it as true.
People will be more skeptical of something if they're not sure that something is true, regardless of the reason why they think it's not true. It doesn't matter what your audience's personal opinion of the truthfulness of a statement is; if you present them with supporting evidence for one side but not for the other, they're going to have a hard time believing you on the basis of one side alone.
To understand why this happens, we need to look at the way people assess arguments and facts.
How Do We Assess Arguments and Facts?
There are two main ways in which we assess facts and arguments: rational, analytical thinking; and emotional or intuitive thinking. People tend to use both of these types of thinking when they assess facts, but they tend to rely on one more than the other in any given situation. Some people are more inclined toward using rational analysis when evaluating the validity of a statement, some are more inclined toward relying on their emotions for judgments like these, and others fall somewhere in between.
What this means is that when you present a fact or argument, people can respond emotionally rather than analytically. Either they feel like your conclusion is valid or they don't, regardless of whether it actually is. And if they don't feel like your conclusion is valid, this will influence their ultimate belief in it as well. Ultimately, people are going to be more swayed by emotional responses than by facts alone.
How Does This Affect Your Presentation?
This means that if you want to make the best impression possible, you need to make sure that the arguments you present support your conclusions and back up your case with a solid body of research and evidence. If you want to persuade someone of something, you need to back it up with facts.
This doesn't mean that you should throw in a bunch of information and statistics at the end just for the sake of feeling like you've got "support." It means that your audience will be more likely to believe you if they get to see this information for themselves.
What Should You Do About This?
If your audience is going to believe what you have to say because of your points or because of supporting evidence, then it's essential that it's clear from the start exactly what kind of support you're using. This means that if your presentation is all about how you know something because of statistical research, they need to see the study itself. If your presentation is all about the fact that you've been in a certain job for so long, they need to see rather than hear how long the job has been there.
Additionally, it's important not to leave out supporting evidence that you know isn't going to be popular with your audience while also leaving out supportive evidence that might be. You can make up a bunch of support and leave one person out if you want, but ultimately you won't get them convinced by this style of presentation either way.
Final Thoughts: Why Is This So Important?
The reason that supporting evidence is so important is that it matters to people. At the end of the day, people will respond more to facts and more to evidence than they will to a good argument or an appealing presentation. If your audience isn't convinced of your argument from the outset, you won't get anywhere with them no matter how engaging you are as a speaker or how brilliant your presentation is. Ultimately, if your audience doesn't accept all of the information you present as support, they're going to be skeptical of everything else you say as well.
Conclusion
Getting your audience to trust you and believe what you have to say is one of the most important goals of a presentation. While it's difficult to accomplish this goal if you're trying to get people to agree with you, it can be more easily accomplished if you create a presentation that supports your ideas through information, evidence, facts, and statistics. And without any supportive evidence for one side or the other, it doesn't matter which side is right; people simply aren't going to accept your argument as true or compelling.
If you want to get people on board with your ideas or conclusions, then try out this strategy and see how well it works for improving your presentations.