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Previously published as: Hart, G. 2023. Book review: Persuasive Communication for Science and Technology Leaders: Writing and Speaking with Confidence. Technical Communication 70(2):97

Persuasive Communication for Science and Technology Leaders: Writing and Speaking with Confidence
Stephen Wilbers. 2023. Wiley/The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. [ISBN 978-1-119-57322-7. 251 pages, including index. US$95.00 (hardcover).]

Persuasive Communication for Science and Technology Leaders: Writing and Speaking with Confidence is packed with excellent advice on both written and spoken communication, with clear explanations of their differences. Throughout, Stephen Wilbers emphasizes what I’ve always described as the editor’s goal: to translate between the communicator’s mind and their audience, thereby transmitting the essential message—in short, he reminds us to write with the reader, not exclusively the writer or their message, in mind. Refreshingly, he also reminds us of the growing modern audience who don’t speak our language as natives or who speak it differently (e.g., U.K. versus U.S. usage).

The book’s structure is simple but effective, with a page layout and format that facilitate skimming. Chapters begin with a summary preview and end with highlights, questions to stimulate thought, and exercises to test our mastery of the principles, plus linguistic wordplay as a palate cleanser before moving on. The writing’s friendly and informal, and is prescriptive without being dogmatic. The chatty, relaxed style demonstrates Wilbers’ belief that technical writing needn’t be dry and lifeless. He’s humorous and writes with tongue firmly in cheek (e.g., “The best way to impress your reader is to show off your knowledge.”, followed by a description of why this is wrong; p. 58), though the humor’s sometimes overdone and leads him astray (“Rhythm… is also for… birth control”, p. 75).

Scientific communicators have long known that any audience contains people who won’t be persuaded by facts, clear writing, or an engaging style alone. Wilbers suggests we can resolve this problem through passionate, credible engagement that establishes our trustworthiness and acknowledges our audience’s concerns and fears, but says little about what arguments might persuade those who find facts alone unconvincing. He notes (p. xxvi), “Technological leaders need to do more than inform: they need to persuade and inspire.” But he provides no chapter on what makes an effective argument that can overcome resistance; there are hints implicit in his description of persuasion, but a chapter with a more explicit treatment would have improved the book. Although Wilbers reminds us of the importance of personalizing an argument, and the subjectivity of all writing, his suggestion to aim for rigor and objectivity to mitigate that subjectivity is insufficient.

You can read this slim volume quickly, but you’ll benefit more if you take time to think through what Wilbers says and complete his proposed exercises. Persuasive Communication is a great starting point for beginners, a great refresher course for experienced communicators, and a solid addition to any writer’s or editor’s library. But it isn’t the only style guide you’ll need, particularly given the inadequate index. You’ll still want larger references such as The Chicago Manual to provide details of style.

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