PERSUASION OR COERCION?
TABLE PARTNER BRAINSTORMING
 In your notes, brainstorm a definition for persuasion together.
 Next, brainstorm a definition of coercion together.
 Now, explain how persuasion and coercion are different.
LETS SHARE OUR DEFINITIONS
WATCH MILTON FRIEDMAN PRESENT HIS DEFINITIONS.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5Ue1ivG6Qg
 As you listen, add to your notes
SO WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
 Coercion is subtle manipulation without necessarily having the ability to rebuttal
 Persuasion is argument between people with each allowed to voice opinions
 If you feel you don’t have an opportunity to engage in the discussion or provide rebuttal then its coercion
 If you are prevented by force from presenting your view then you are experiencing coercion
 It is possible that coercion and persuasion can intermingle
 There are ethical issues that must be addressed with each, particularly coercion
USING FRIEDMAN AND YOUR GROUP'S DEFINITIONS, ARE THESE CLIPS
EXAMPLES OF PERSUASION OR COERCION? BE READY TO DEFEND YOUR
OPINION.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FYFq9CGQx4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDZCyObMfkA
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2011/06/21/exp.am.cigarettes.cohen.cnn#/video/bestoftv/2011
/06/21/exp.am.cigarettes.cohen.cnn
IS IT PERSUASION OR COERCION?
 1. A thief points a gun at you and asks for your money, and you hand it over.
 2. You observe a man lighting a cigarette in a TV program; immediately you light one, too.
 3. A saleswoman wines and dines a customer; she engages in no sales talk during dinner, yet she
obtains an order anyway.
 4. You talk yourself into buying a new car.
 5. A juror changes his vote from not guilty to guilty when the first ballot reveals the majority of
jurors favor a verdict of guilty.
PERSUASION OR COERCION? YOU EXPERIENCE EACH ON A DAILY
BASIS THROUGH ADVERTISING.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gspElv1yvc
 Message?
 Purpose?
 Audience?
 Techniques?
INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY
In order to create an effective argument, you will need to be able to walk
the line between persuasion and coercion. Sometimes, you may find that
you have to use both techniques. Can you identify it in our world? You will
complete an activity by yourself to see if you can distinguish.
LETS TAKE A LOOK BACK AT YOUR OPENING PERSUASIVE
ACTIVITIES
 What techniques did you use? Were you persuasive or coercive?
INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY
In order to create an effective argument, you will need to be able to walk the line between
persuasion and coercion. Sometimes, you may find that you have to use both techniques.
Can you identify it in our world?
You completed an activity to see if you could distinguish. Now, let’s discuss your examples.
First, I will ask the class about coercion/persuasion, persuasive techniques, language, and
what they are truly “selling” to us the consumers.
Next, I will ask the person who selected the ad to weigh in on their choice and their
analysis.
CLASS EXAMPLES
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE – Sadie
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ-q-sLAWHI – Matt
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ-CDE_r_wg – Adam
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO0-VJbNOR8 - Mike
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iXdsvgpwc8 - Max
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO0qwl5k9R4 – Shannon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U
EFFECTIVE ARGUMENTATION: PERSUASION THROUGH
ETHOS/PATHOS/LOGOS
 http://prezi.com/7snss9sqhkoi/aristotles-rhetorical-triangle/
 We had briefly cover this in our communication theory discussion, but we’re going to
go over it again more thoroughly
SO, HOW DOES THE RHETORICAL TRIANGLE APPLY TO REAL LIFE?
 You change the way you address people/change the way you approach a topic/change
the way you convey a message depending on the person/people in your audience.
 Example:
 If I am addressing my superior and I want something I need to show them the benefits of letting
me have it.

If I approach a family member then I can be more joking/rely on the fact that family helps family
and don’t need to explain benefits.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
 If it is important to know the differences and similarities
between persuasion and coercion when creating a "sound"
argument, then what is the link between persuasion/coercion,
logic, evidence, and ethics?
 With your table partner, articulate the correlation between
these ideas – come up with a statement to share
WHAT’S THE BIG PICTURE?
 Sound argument combines logic, ethics, and evidence
 If you push an audience or address a topic too quickly or abrasively, you could lose
them.
 If your perceived message is offensive/too provocative – you could lose them.
 You want to get your audience to think about the topic, and you want your audience
to “buy into” your ideas, but you want to be ethical too
 In persuasion, the people who are going to agree/support you will support you, the people
against you will be against you, you want the people in the middle who haven’t made up their
minds just yet – on the fence means you could fall to either side
 Have to include opposing argument to be ethical.
 There are topics where this needs to be fully developed
HOW DO YOU GET THEM TO “BUY IN”? UNDERSTAND NEEDS!
When you feel you need
something there’s more
engagement/care more
TO PERSUADE, YOU MUST UNDERSTAND "NEED"...BUT WHY IS
THAT SO HARD?
 Gun Control = Against gun
control – orange zone –
considered a basic need
 Against guns – Human
potential – criminals,
societies potential
consequences
 The higher up you go
the more difficult it is
 Abortion –
Protection of
Life/Security vs.
Protection of
Choice/Human
Potential
 Not always stuff you
can quantify
DEFINING THE TYPES OF PERSUASION
 Question of Fact persuades an audience that one view of a set of facts is most
likely true.
 It doesn’t necessarily have to be true, you just have to try to prove that it’s true
 Literally questioning if what we have been told is true or not
 Conspiracy theory slant
 Examples:
 Left-handed people suffer much in this right-hand dominated world.
 After much study, we can conclude that there is a link between the increase of autism in children and the
growing number of childhood immunizations.
 Did the first moon landing ever really occur? Kennedy’s assassination.
 Question of Definition persuades an audience whether or not one known action or
object belongs in a second - usually larger and very controversial - category.
 have to define the larger context and how it meets criteria
 Example:
 If a human fetus is truly a human being, then it is logical to conclude that abortion is murder.
 You have to prove that abortion falls under this category
 Example – Cheerleading or dance as a sport
 If one examines the true nature of music, then one can classify rap as an art form.
 Show how it meets certain qualities of the category
 Question of Value persuades an audience to agree with a value judgment that something is
good/bad, right/ wrong, etc.
 Usually very loaded because based on emotion - be careful with word choice
 Will see questions of definition present – have to define fair and just before you can
evaluate right or wrong (death penalty example)
 Example:
 Abortion is morally wrong.
 The death penalty is a fair and just punishment.
 Question of Policy often starts as a Question of Fact or Value but then goes further by
suggesting a policy change to solve the problem.
 Problem that needs to be changed.
 For speeches, don’t argue that something is good or needs to stay the same.
 Example:
 Students who maintain an A average throughout the course of the term should not be required to take a final exam.

Changing the current school year calendar to let out before winter break but losing all of the days before hand
ETHICS IN PERSUASION - DEALING WITH THE OPPOSITION
 The natural reaction to change or challenge is to resist and dig in.

Do not threaten or challenge – do not act as a bully!
 Make sure you request change ethically.
 Recognize that issues are complicated and your solution might have consequences.

Understand that there are two sides to every argument and address the opposition

Use objective/factual evidence as your proof
 If handled correctly, you can win over a hostile audience.

Clearly define the problem (make sure it’s relevant to your audience)

Offer a realistic/reasonable solution
THE DISNEY PRINCESSES ARGUMENT: THE DISNEY RESPONSE
 Disney has been recently criticized about the role of the princesses in many of their
films and the ultimate influence on young girls who may be watching those films.
 The following commercial has been aired on national television recently. What do
you think of the Disney response?
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUGnu0gXtn4
USING TOULMIN'S MODEL TO ARGUE LOGICALLY
 Stephen Toulmin, a British philosopher,
developed a system for argumentation based
on sound reasoning and consideration of the
opposing point of view.
 What are the assumptions of the model?
 All arguments are contestable (as in court)
 Verdicts will come from a neutral (3rd) party (the
judge, the jury, or – in your case – your
audience)
 Get as close to the truth as you possibly can!
The Toulmin Model for Argumentation doesn't focus on
winning every argument; it focuses on getting as close to
the truth as possible.
Grounds - The motivation behind the argument (Why?)
Claim - The statement(the thesis)being argued (What?)
Warrants - The general, logical statements (main points)
that bridge between the claim and the backing (Because of
why?)
Backing - The data, evidence (statistics, quotations,
testimony, etc) that support the warrants (How proved?)
Qualifiers - The statements that limit the strength of the
arguments or propose the conditions under which the
argument is true (not all arguments are 100%)
Rebuttals - Counter-arguments indicating when the general
argument does not hold true (But...)
CLAIM
Statement (proposition, thesis) answers the questions:
 What point will your speech try to make?
 Don’t need to list your 3 reasons/don’t need to preview – save for the warrants!
 There are four basic types of claims:
 fact: claims which focus on empirically verifiable phenomena
 judgment/value: claims involving opinions, attitudes, and subjective evaluations of things
 policy: claims advocating courses of action that should be undertaken
 definition/classification: indicates what criteria are being used to to define a term or
what category something falls into
QUALIFIERS ARE USED
 Used to clarify author’s claims; restricts and limits
 Used to protect their credibility—saying that the claim may not be
absolute protects writer from proving claim is true in every case.
 Examples: typically, usually, for the most part, some, several, few,
sometimes
WARRANT
What is a warranty? If you buy a new washing machine, you may get a 5year warranty that ensures the machine will not fail in that time period.
A warrant, according to Toulmin, is like a guarantee that your argument will
stand up to critics; that is, it relies on the assumption that the underlying
values, beliefs, or principles are so strong that your audience will agree
with you. In other words, your claim is warranted.
WARRANT (INFERENTIAL LEAP)
 Establishes the logical connection between the grounds and the claim
 The reasoning process used by the speaker to arrive at the claim
 Kind of like a “topic sentence” for the speech/argument
EXAMPLES OF WARRANTS
 A writer claims we should exercise more if we want to live longer -
Warrant states experts believe exercise improves the body
 A writer claims handguns should be banned - Warrant states that experts
believe handguns cause needless death
 A writer claims raising global temperatures will change global weather
patterns - Warrant states that experts believe ocean water temperatures
control world weather patterns
DATA/BACKING
 Your data/backing should answer the question, “How do you know
that . . .?”
 Backing is support material that supports the Warrant in the argument
 Without backing, audience members may question the reasoning in the argument.
 Backing can include any type of support material. Most commonly, backing consists of
one or a combination of the following:
 Statistics
 Examples
 Testimony
REBUTTAL
 A rebuttal is an exception to the claim presented by the arguer.
 In your argument, acknowledge that there are limitations on your claim, that you are
aware of the opposing point of view, and that despite that point of view, yours is still the
better position.
 Don’t argue against yourself! Examine some of the opposing arguments, but don’t fully
develop or extend those arguments.
 Don’t take too much time discussing why the opposing side is right! You’ll weaken your own
argument!
REBUTTAL
 If an arguer claims that Titanic is an exceptional motion picture because it is
enormously popular, an exception to this claim would be the film The Lost World. The
Lost World was enormously popular and an embarrassingly bad motion picture
SO HOW DO YOU PUT IT ALL TOGETHER?
 Templates - Aristotle’s Problem/Effect/Solution, Aquinian, and Rogerian templates

Rogerian – Your warrants can be focused on the 2 major issues that are weakest in the
counterargument OR your first warrant can be the majority of the reasons why the
counterargument is wrong and the second warrant can be about a strong solution
-Questions of Value are often under this category
 Aquinian – Be careful with rebuttal! If you end with a rebuttal then that’s the last thing your
audience is hearing. Have to circle back!
 Aristotle’s Classical Model – can weave rebuttal within transitions, within the solution (rebuttal
then solution to avoid ending with rebuttal), or within the problem/effect
EXAMPLE
 The drinking age should be lowered because…
1. It’s my life, and I can do what I want.
2. At 18 I can go to war
3. The current laws don’t work
Does this work as a claim? Why or why not? Do these work as warrants? Why or why
not?
REFLECTION
 The drinking age should be lowered because…
1. It’s my life, and I can do what I want – This is the grounds of the argument not a
warrant!
2. At 18 I can go to war – Logical Fallacy – False Analogy- One thing doesn’t really
equal another
3. The current laws don’t work – Not really logical…it doesn’t work now so we lower
it further?
So, how could we fix this?
DRESS CODE EXAMPLE
 Grounds – Against dress code = students desire to be able to express individuality
 Claim = Dress codes should not be instituted at BHS (at BHS is qualifier)
 Warrants = There is no connection between dress code and student performance,
uniforms are expensive so they aren’t economical, and uniforms limit student ability
to express individuality
 Rebuttal = Student appearance is often a distraction, therefore a stronger dress code
needs to be in place, dress code increases security (gangs, etc.)
 Restricts individuality to have code
TOULMIN MODEL EXAMPLES
 Question regarding banning smoking
“NO SUGAR” EXAMPLE
PERSUASIVE SPEECH ASSIGNMENT DETAILS
 Select a topic (use the brainstorming list/look at the books/research
online at home)
 Select a model for the format
 Fill out the template – Grounds/Claim only
 Check it in with me – topics that are too similar will not be allowed – no
repeats