My master's thesis was on persuasion, and everything you say is correct, Teri. However, the most critical lesson of the scientific research into persuasion is that you must connect your proposal to the motives of those whom you hope to persuade. I teach people to carefully identify the people whose minds they are most likely to change (it won't be "everyone"), and then list the motives (company and personal) those people are most likely to share. If persuading one person, choose the part of their personality most open to your solution. Then it is a matter of tying the facts of your proposal to their motives to create the list of benefits <em>to them</em>. That should be the core content of your message.