Persuasive Speaking –
Part I
Persuasive Speaking

4th Century BC
Student of Plato who was a student of
Socrates who was known for logic

Aristotle’s Rhetoric
Epideictic – Praise or Blame
Forensic – Guilt or Innocence
Deliberative – Policy Making
Persuasion
The process of creating, reinforcing, or
changing people's beliefs or actions.
Persuasion in Life

Persuasion and influences
When do you use persuasion?
Are others trying to persuade you?
 Top
10 Commercials
 Friends
 Who else tries to persuade you?
Speech to Gain
Immediate Action
The speaker’s goal is to convince the
audience to take action.
To change things from the status quo
OR
NOT to change things from the status
quo
When creating a
persuasive message
 Consider
context
Time limit (7 to 10 Minutes)
Environment
Attitudes and expectations of
audience members
Speaking to Persuade
Influencing of the attitudes, beliefs, or
behavior of the listeners.
Appropriate when two or more
points of view are in conflict
about a topic
Four keys to effective
persuasion
Credibility
 Well-reasoned argument
 Emotional Appeal
 Audience involvement

It is more difficult than
speaking to inform, because it
demands additional skills.
Examples: political figures, lawyers, legislators,
speaking to PTO, city council, etc.
When creating a
persuasive message

Small doses best over long periods

Can’t change world in 7 minutes

Aim for fair consideration from audience
How to Begin
Ask yourself: What do I want my
listeners to know, do, motivate,
inspire, change, or to agree with?
 What is my topic a question of?

Fact
Value
Policy
Questions of fact: occurrences and
the reasons that they have happened,
are happening, or will happen in the
future.
Fact claim: Persuade the public that global
warming is harming the environment.
Establishing Fact
If you state a fact claim then prove
that your claim is the best.
 Why do I think something is true or
false?
 Provide evidence, hard facts, statistics,
new figures, illustrations, quotations,
definitions.

Value Claims


Questions of value: call for judgments
about right and wrong, ethical and
unethical, etc.
Value claim: Persuade the public that
animals don't belong in zoos.
Value Claim

If you state a Value Claim then appeal to the
morality and values of your listeners.

Why do I like or dislike something?



Why do your listeners have to agree that
something is right or wrong, moral or immoral,
valuable or worthless?
Why do you want to convince them?
Offer examples the public will recognize, try to
find common ground on related subjects and
expert testimonies, and compare your idea with
oppositional ideas.
Policy Claim


Questions of policy: deal with
whether certain courses of action
should be taken.
Policy claim: Persuade the public that
motorcyclists should be required by
law to wear helmets.
Policy Claim
 If you state a Policy Claim then persuade
that there is a problem and get the
audience to agree with your solution.
 Appeal to human needs, to reason and to
emotion.
 Summarize the present situation, the causes
and the negative effects everybody will
recognize.
 Then present your solution to solve the
problem.
Language Strategies

Various Strategies
The Beatles will give us an overview
 Beatles
Video
Let’s Let Taylor Swift Explain
 Taylor
Video
Figurative Language
 Movies
Appealing Strategies
There are many methods employed by
speakers to divert audiences away
from the real issues or appeal to them.
 This speech is in response to
allegations of illegally funneling
campaign funds to cover personal
expenses. Can you pick out some of
the strategies? Nixon Checkers Speech

Persuasive Speaking –
Part II
Degrees of Persuasion
Strongly
Opposed
Moderately
Opposed
Slightly
Opposed
Neutral
Slightly
in Favor
Moderately
in Favor
Strongly
in Favor
Persuasion involves any movement by a listener from
left to right
Audience Analysis
Types of audience:
 Positive / favorable audience-already
agrees with your basic purpose.
Easiest type to persuade. Needs only
to have feelings deepened on your
topic.

Neutral / indifferent
audience-does not know
very much about your topic.
Need is for information that
will make it possible to
form an opinion.
Disinterested / indifferent
audience-knows about topic, but
couldn’t care less. Consider it a
dull issue or an unimportant one.
Need to be shown seriousness of
problem, or how they will be
affected. Consider arguments
Hostile audience - most
difficult to persuade. They
disagree with you. May be
distrusting of you. Need
open-mindedness then
conviction.
Establish your prestige. Show
that you are well prepared and
competent, sincere, and
genuinely interested in them.
Use frequent evidence and
supporting materials: facts,
surveys, statistics, quotations
Refer to your own experience with
topic, especially in intro.
Express appreciation for invitation
to speak. Compliment them.
Be logical and honest.
Three major sources by which
people can be persuaded:
Pathos: Emotions - listeners’
own personal drives, needs, or
desires
Use Maslow’s Heirarchy
of Needs:





biological drives (food, drink, air, sleep, etc.)
safety (security, stability, protection from
harm, structure, predictability)
love and belonging (affection, feeling part of
a social group, acceptance and approval,
etc.)
esteem (confidence, freedom, independence,
recognition by others, etc.)
self-actualization (self-fulfillment, realizing
individual potential, being true to self, etc.)
 Ethos: the way in which an audience
perceives the character and
personality of the speaker
Logos: Logic Appeal
Persuader must know listeners’ needs,
establish own prestige when
attempting to influence an audience,
and build logical arguments that their
listeners can follow.
 Using facts, examples, testimony and
statistics

Examples
Do not use alone to support a claim
Useful in reinforcing or clarifying
ideas
Consider source, age, and
representativeness of example
Statistics
Combine with examples
Don’t use too many at a time
Identify the source of the statistics
Translate and round off
Use visual aids
Testimony
Quote accurately
Paraphrase fairly
Use qualified sources
Identify source and source’s
credentials
Wrapping Up Rhetoric
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO
9d2PpP7tQ&list=PLCSX24yuW0Zlgy8E
hGsj-_BR2_JB5-RXa
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O
DwmSYb3Tw

Monroe’s Motivated
Sequence
Get attention of audience
 Establish a need
 Satisfy that need
 Visualize the future
 Ask for action

Monroe’s motivated
sequence

Introduction =
Attention

Main point 1 =
Need

Main point 2 =
Satisfaction

Main point 3 =
Visualization

Conclusion
Action
=
Monroe’s motivated
sequence --ATTENTION
 Attention:
Get audience’s attention,
arousing curiosity about what the
speaker is going to say.
Copyright © 1997 by Stephen E. Lucas
Attention
Functions
 To gain attention
 To secure good will and respect (your
credibility and why audience should
listen/care)
 To prepare the audience for discussion of
your topic

To help avoid the effects of psychological
reactance, the preview statement should
be omitted.
Methods








Reference to a subject, event, or occasion
Personal greeting
Rhetorical question
Startling statement/statistics
Quotation
Humorous anecdote
Illustration
Appeal to needs
Use Maslow’s Heirarchy
of Needs:





biological drives (food, drink, air, sleep, etc.)
safety (security, stability, protection from
harm, structure, predictability)
love and belonging (affection, feeling part of
a social group, acceptance and approval,
etc.)
esteem (confidence, freedom, independence,
recognition by others, etc.)
self-actualization (self-fulfillment, realizing
individual potential, being true to self, etc.)
Monroe’s motivated
sequence --NEED

Need: Create a need for change. The
speaker must establish a clear, urgent,
and unfulfilled need in the mind of the
audience. This is a critical step in the
sequence. No solutions should be
proposed during this stage.
Need
Functions
 To describe the problem
 To make your audience uncomfortable with
the status quo
Methods
 Statements (backed by evidence)
 Illustration
 Show ramifications
 Pointing (show audience why to care / how
it applies to their lives / how they will be or
are affected)
Monroe’s motivated
sequence --SATISFACTION

Satisfaction: Satisfy the need with a
solution. Present the solution to the
needs or problems described in step
two. During this stage, speakers must
also identify and eliminate possible
objections to the solution.
Satisfaction








Functions
To present a solution to the need described
above
Methods
Statements (backed by evidence)
Explanation
Theoretical demonstration
Practical experience
Meeting objections and potential
counterarguments
Monroe’s motivated
sequence --VISUALIZATION

Visualization: Intensify desire for
solution. Intensify audience
members' desire for the solution
by getting them to visualize what
their lives will be like once
they've adopted it. Use vivid
images and verbal illustrations to
support the benefits of the
proposed solution.
Visualization









The visualization step carries the audience from
accepting the feasibility of your proposal to seeing how
it will actually benefit them.
Functions
To intensify your audience’s desire to adopt the solution
and action you propose
To help the audience to “see” the results
Methods
Positive method
Negative method
Contrast method
Perhaps appeal to needs
Monroe’s motivated
sequence --ACTION

Action: Urge the audience to take
action. In the final step, the speaker
must turn the audience's agreement
and commitment into positive action.
Tell audience members what they
need to do to obtain the described
solution and its benefits.
Action











Functions
To focus the thoughts of your audience
To motivate your audience to ACT
To leave the audience in a mood appropriate to
your topic
To convey a sense of completion
Methods
Challenge
Summary
Quotation
Illustration
Personal Intention