A persuasive word when making appeals to the heart of men (6)

I believe the answer is:

please

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'a persuasive word when' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'appeals to the heart of men' is the wordplay.
'appeals' becomes 'pleas' (plea is a kind of appeal).
'to the heart of' means to look at the middle letters.
The centre of 'men' is 'e'.
'pleas'+'e'='PLEASE'

'making' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for please that I've seen before include "Make cheerful" , "Satisfy aesthetically" , "It's said to help" , "Asleep (anag)" , "Like" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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