A persuasion dilemma is one of the three fundamental dilemmas of DramaTheory.
If I don't doubt that my position will be flouted, then I have a Persuasion Dilemma.
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A party faces a persuasion dilemma when it cannot persuade another to accept its position because the other prefers the threatened future.
More precisely, A faces a persuasion dilemma with respect to B if it is incompatible with B, yet B prefers the threatened future (t) to every future in A’s position. A’s dilemma is whether to adapt to this by making itself compatible with B, or whether to try to change it by making B prefer some future in its (A’s) position to t. To eliminate this dilemma without compromising its position it must be inspired by positive feelings toward B in order to improve its offer and/or be inspired by negative feelings to worsen its threat.
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Party A has a persuasion dilemma with Party B when there is no doubt of B's intention to flout A's position.
A implicitly "gives in" to this dilemma if it communicates no new reasons why B should not flout its position; it "fights" the dilemma by trying to communicate new reasons of this kind.
Examples
An example of a persuasion dilemma occurs in the Story of the Nuns and the Vikings.