Mr. Cosby can personally persuade NBC to carry a special prime-time tribute to the late modern-dance choreographer Alvin Ailey.

In one case, Mr. Kumar flew to Paris so he could personally persuade a customer to sign a backdated contract, the indictment says.

Gen. Colin L. Powell, a man deeply respected by the Haitian military, personally persuaded them that it would be more honorable to give up power than to die.

Semevsky personally persuaded numerous old nobles and bureaucrats to put their reminiscences into writing.

O'Neal assisted in the recruitment efforts and personally persuaded both men to join the squad.

In "God's Universe," Dr. Gingerich, an emeritus professor of astronomy at Harvard, tells how he is "personally persuaded that a superintelligent Creator exists beyond and within the cosmos."

She personally persuaded Mr. Jackson to do the interview with her and pressed for it to be broadcast live, an element that many industry executives said added to the special-event status of the program.

The common assumption is that he would, so long as the President personally persuades him he is needed.

Conant personally persuaded the explosives expert George Kistiakowsky to join the project.

Xu Zhigao had to send his son Xu Jingtong to Mount Jiuhua to personally persuade Song, for Song to return to the imperial government.