Humankind has been perfecting the art of persuasion for millennia. Some of the thinking goes back to the ancient Greeks. The term rhetoric describes the act of making persuasive arguments.
Aristotle 
A
Aristotle
‘s
Rhetoric
describes the main methods:
- Logos: an appeal to logic by reasoning with facts and statistics that support your argument.
- Pathos: an appeal to the emotions of the audience, using for example charisma and passionate delivery.
- Ethos: an appeal to authority or credibility of the presenter.
- Kairos: highlights the importance of timing and acting in the now, taking advantage of a particular context.
The Romans Cicero 
C
Cicero
and Quintilian 
Q
Quintilian
developed the
Five Canons of Rhetoric
which describe the main challenges to designing persuasive arguments:
- Invention: developing the arguments
- Arrangement: organizing the arguments for maximum impact
- Style: determining the appropriate language and grammar for presenting the arguments
- Memory: committing the arguments to memory (when delivering verbally)
- Delivery: the act of presenting your arguments (which needs to be perfected)
