On notebook paper:
• Title your paper Persuasive Technique
• Write about a time you convinced someone
to do something or buy something or
believe something? What was it? How did
you convince them? Do you think you are
good at convincing people?
What is persuasion?
Generally
an appeal
to emotion, not
intellect.
An
attempt to
change your behavior
It
attempts to
“guide your choice”
Persuasion
• A type of speech or writing,
usually nonfiction, that tries
to convince an audience to
think and act in a certain
way
Propaganda is …
… form of communication
… aimed at swaying or influencing your attitude
… toward or away from some cause or position.
Influence of Propaganda
 If you watch 30 hours of TV per week,
you will…
– View roughly 37,822 commercials per year
•That’s about 100 TV ads per day
 You will see another 100 to 300 ads per
day through other mass media
If companies did not think you
could be influenced, they would
not spend billions of $ on it!
Whose voice guides your
choice?
Propaganda techniques will twist facts to sell
readers on an idea—to convince them to agree
with the writer.
Who uses propaganda?
• Military
• Media
• Advertisers
• Politicians
• You and I!!!
Rhetorical Fallacies
Arguments that sound good, but are not sound!
Rhetorical fallacies
• Distract the audience with irrelevant appeals
instead of using sound reasoning.
• They can be divided into three categories:
– Emotional fallacies unfairly appeal to the
audience’s emotions.
– Ethical fallacies unreasonably advance the
writer’s own authority or character.
– Logical fallacies depend upon faulty logic.
Common propaganda techniques
•
•
•
•
Ad hominem
Exaggeration
Stereotyping
Categorical Claims
Ethical fallacies
• Ad Hominem arguments attack a person’s character
rather than that person’s reasoning.
– Why should we think a candidate who recently divorced
will keep her campaign promises?
– Buy a car from me, because the Ford dealer down the street
is an idiot and a liar.
Ad Hominem
• Latin for “against the
man”
• Name calling
• This type of argument
focuses on the opponent’s
personality, character, or
other qualities instead of
the opponent’s argument
Logical fallacies
• Exaggerations occur when we overstate or
overemphasize a point.
– The school test scores have improved dramatically
since the new principal came on board. Obviously her
leadership has been a real benefit for our school.
– There must have been a hundred million birds in that
tree!
• Stereotypes are general beliefs we use to
categorize people, objects, and events
erroneously.
– I got bit by a large dog when I was little, so I stay away
from all dogs now; they are vicious.
– Anyone who lives in that neighborhood is rich and stuck-up.
Stereotyping
• Definition- Making an unfair, too broad
statement about a person or a group of
people.
• To believe unfairly that all people or
things with a particular characteristic
are the same
• Example- “Teenagers are lazy” “Rap
and Hip- Hop Artists have low moral
standards”
Exaggeration
• A persuasive technique
where the facts, data,
results, etc. are, appear
better or greater than
they actually are
• Overstating something
• Stretching the truth
Logical fallacies
• Categorical Claim is based on the faulty
logic of relating two things solely
because they are in the same category.
– She writes a lot in her journal. A person who writes a
lot is certain to be a good writer. Therefore, she must
be a good writer.
– Chihuahuas are good inside dogs. Rottweilers are
dogs; therefore, Rottweilers would be good inside
dogs, too.
Categorical Claim
• Defining a group by a
set of common
characteristics, often
with malicious or
offensive intent,
ignoring that individuals
are different.
• Example- “Anyone who
watches professional
wrestling is obviously
uneducated and easily
duped.”
More Propaganda Techniques
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Bandwagon Technique
Testimonial
Loaded Word
Misuse of statistics
Name calling
Plain Folks
Snob Appeal
Transfer
Bandwagon
oEverybody is doing this. Join the crowd!
You must JOIN in to FIT in!
oIf you want to fit in, you need to “jump on
the bandwagon” and do it too.
Clipart-Microsoft Office XP
Bandwagon
Technique
Testimonial & Endorsements
•A famous person endorses an idea, a
product, a candidate and implies the
person uses it and so should we!
Testimonial
• Testimonials are
quotations or
endorsements which
connect a famous or
respectable person with
a product or item.
Name-calling
•A negative word or feeling is attached
to an idea, product, or person implying
that we should not be interested.
Name calling example:
In a campaign speech to
a logging company, the
Congressman referred to
his environmentally
conscious opponent as a
"tree hugger."
Plain-folks appeal
This idea, product, or person is
associated with normal,
everyday people and activities.
•
-
-
Plain Folks
Makes the leaders look like
Plain folks (mom and pop
style).
a convincing method to
show they are just
common people.
Opposite of snob appeal
 TOP 10 COMMERICAL JINGLES/SLOGANS
1. You Deserve a Break Today (McDonald’s)
2. Be All That You Can Be (U.S. Army)
3. Pepsi-Cola Hits The Spot (Pepsi-Cola)
4. Mmm Mmm Good! (Campbell Soup)
5. Just do it (Nike)
6. Good to the last drop (Maxwell House)
7. M&Ms melt in your mouth, not in your hand (M&M
candies)
8. I Wish I Were An Oscar Mayer Wiener (Oscar Mayer)
7. It’s The Real Thing (Coca-Cola)
What do all these pictures have in common?
Information that is spread for the
purpose of promoting some cause.
Which statement can be considered as propaganda?
A. Clowns are evil, scary creatures that enjoy making children
cry.
B. Many clowns wear silly costumes, bright make-up, and
wigs.
C. Circuses often hire clowns to perform in front of large
audiences.
D. Some people attend a clown college to learn how to be a
clown.
What type of propaganda technique is
used in the following ad?
A. Bandwagon
B. Loaded Words
C. Testimonial
D. Name-Calling
E. Plain Folks
F. Snob Appeal
G. Misuse of Statistics
H. Transfer
What type of propaganda technique
is used in the following ad?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
Bandwagon
Loaded Words
Testimonial
Name-Calling
Plain Folks
Snob Appeal
Misuse of Statistics
Transfer
D. Name Calling
What type of propaganda technique is used in
the following ad?
A. Bandwagon
B. Loaded Words
C. Testimonial
D. Name-Calling
E. Plain Folks
F. Snob Appeal
G. Misuse of Statistics
H. Transfer
What type of propaganda technique is used in
the following ad?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
Bandwagon
Loaded Words
Testimonial
Name-Calling
Plain Folks
Snob Appeal
Misuse of Statistics
Transfer
What type of propaganda is this?
A.
Bandwagon
B.
Loaded Words
C.
Testimonial
D.
Name-Calling
E.
Plain Folks
F.
Snob Appeal
G.
Misuse of Statistics
H.
Transfer
What type of propaganda is this?
A.
Bandwagon
B.
Loaded Words
C.
Testimonial
D.
Name-Calling
E.
Plain Folks
F.
Snob Appeal
G.
Misuse of Statistics
H.
Transfer
Choose the fallacy at work: “You can’t believe what Mr.
Smith says because he is a liberal.”
A.
B.
C.
D.
Categorical Claim
Ad Hominem
Exaggeration
Stereotyping
Select the name of the rhetorical device that attacks the
arguer instead of addressing the argument
A.
B.
C.
D.
Categorical Claim
Ad Hominem
Exaggeration
Stereotyping