In order to determine what word choice would appeal to your audience, you must first

Know your audience

Explanation:

It may look pretty simple, but it is really helpful. Before start writing, or even looking for the right word choice, you must know who is going to read that, culture background, age and social context. Once you have a specific audience, you are on the road to look for proper word choices. Feelings and emotions are always useful to appeal or persuade your audience, like talking about friendship to teenagers or talking about love to young people.

the words "slavery," "devils," and "murderer" evoke a sense of disgust.