The Persuasive Speech
Make them believe!!
What is persuasion?
The process of
creating, reinforcing or
changing of people’s
beliefs or actions

The Art of Persuasion is
A psychological
process
A result of informing
Strategic process

Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art and study of
persuasive speech and techniques.
 Aristotle, a Greek philosopher,
wrote the book on rhetoric, and
thousands of years later, we still
follow it today.

Mental Dialogue

Persuasion occurs or does not
occur as a result of a mental
dialogue that takes place
consciously and subconsciously between the
speaker and the auditors
Target Audience
The portion of the
whole audience that
the speaker has to
persuade

Persuasive v. Informative
Informative
 Non-partisan
 Strives to be objective
 Gives equal time to all
sides of issue
Persuasive
 Inherently partisan
 Purposefully subjective
 May TRY to SOUND
objective
 Slanted towards one side
or perspective
Persuasive Speeches can focus on…
Questions of Fact
 Deals with whether
someone or something is
factually true or false
 Uses facts and figures to
prove a point
 EX: Did Bill Clinton have
sex with Monica
Lewinsky?
Questions of Value
 Deals with the worth,
rightness or morality of an
action or idea
 Speaker defines his/her
own terms
 Establishes standards for
terms
 EX: Was it wrong, or does
it matter if Clinton had sex
with Lewinsky.
Or questions of policy
Questions of policy

Questions whether a
specific course of
action should or
should not be taken
In his book Rhetoric,
Aristotle defined three
major types of appeals, or
proofs that speakers can
use to persuade their
audiences.

Logos
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Logos is the logical appeal or proof.
Logos uses facts and figures to logically
prove a point and persuade.
Logos is especially valuable for questions of
fact.
In Greek, logos literally means “word.”
Just because an argument is logical doesn’t
necessarily mean it is true.
Flawed Logic…
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Remember syllogism from math class?
If A=B and B=C then A= C….
This might always work with numbers, but
not always with facts and information
Try This…
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A= Bill and Bob are men.
B= Bill is tall and Bob is short.
C= Tall men die younger than short men.
Can you deduce that Bill will die younger
than Bob?
No!!! But speaker’s will try tricks like this
Pathos
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Pathos is the emotional appeal.
A Latin term for pathos is “ad hominem”
argument.
An emotional appeals plays upon the
listener’s emotions and sense of morality.
Pathos is an effective way to argue a
question of value.
“Pathos” means to feel.
How to build pathos?

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Use graphic imagery and image evoking
words.
Appealing to a person’s pity, anger, love or
prejudices.
Visual Aids can be very effective in creating
pathos… especially photographs
Quotations and personal anecdotes from
victims can also create pathos
Ethos
Ethos refers to the ethical appeal or
proof.
 You build your ethical appeal by
appearing credible and
knowledgeable.
 There are 3 levels of credibility

3 levels of credibility…
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Initial Credibility
Derived Credibility
Terminal Credibilty
4 Ways to Boost Credibility
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Explain your competence
Establish common ground w/audience
Deliver your speech fluently, expressively
and with conviction
Use excellent and compelling evidence
What is evidence?

Supporting materials

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Examples
Statistics
Testimony
Information used to prove or disprove a
position
Anticipating Argument
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In every point consider what an argument
against the point would be
Then, using a proof, either logos, pathos or
ethos… dismantle and disprove that
argument
Tips for using evidence
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Be specific… no glittering generalities and
vague statements
Use novel and unique evidence… you can
rarely bore an audience into submission
Contextualize the evidence… keep relating
it back to you position!!