compelling, gerund (14th century): 

1. Forcing, driving, or constraining.
2. Obtaining or bringing about by force: exacting.
3. Forcing to yield or submit; subduing.
4. Gathering or uniting by force; herding.
compelling, adjective (17th century):
1. Forceful.
2. Demanding attention.
3. Convincing.
4. Persuasive.

Nam et ipsa, scienta potestas est.
In and of itself, knowledge is power. 

-- Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626), Of Heresies

• Compelling what, though?  Much like impressive, this word doesn't really say anything. As support for education, one might reasonably be compelled to infer that knowledge -- whether information-in-the-brain or data-in-the-base -- assures power over people and policies, enterprises and institutions.

• If, as expressed throughout this memoir, 'volition' is the most beautiful word in any language, then it will come as no surprise to the reader that the inflected verb-form 'compelling' would be unwelcome in my vocabulary. Forcing and driving, constraining and exacting, subduing and herding -- give me a break.  However,...

• ...it is the adjectival application of 'compelling' that really bums me out.  Here's why.  In one year during the '80s, I received 73 rejection letters.  My first literary agent explained that publishers "do not find [such-and-such] to be compelling."  Ouch.  Same for my second literary agent ("[such-and-such] lacks a compelling motif").  Commercial success in literature, I am compelled to concede, requires compelling content -- a weapon for convincing and persuading, thus overpowering the reader's volition.