Design your message to take advantage of any helpful qualities your organization, your department, or you have.

Credibility is an important quality. Usually, the more credible a source, the more persuasive it is. The best way to be credible is to tell the truth, even when it hurts. Honesty and accuracy build credibility. What you write must also correspond to your organization's actions. Management can't represent one thing while you write something else.

Credibility has two major elements: expertise and objectivity. People are more likely to believe you if they think you know what you are talking about, but they must also believe you are telling the truth.

Being liked helps make persuasion more successful. So does being similar to audience members in some way. If you can find common ground between you and your audience, you are more likely to persuade them to your position.

Perceived power is another characteristic that leads to effective persuasion. If you have any power over your audience, then you are more apt to be successful in persuading them to see your point of view.

Finally, audiences tend to believe people who know more than they do—but not too much more!