Mid-term Exam Review
Types of Speeches

Informative and Persuasive (argumentative)
Informative Speaking

The purpose is to convey
knowledge and understanding, not
to advocate a cause or persuade
Informative speeches are noncontroversial
Persuasive Speaking

The purpose is to gain fair and
favorable consideration for your point
of view.
Persuasive speeches are usually done
on controversial topics
Without disagreement, there would be
no need for persuasion
Informative Speaking

The four types of informative
speeches are:
Speeches about objects
Speeches about processes
Speeches about events
Speeches about concepts
Persuasive Speech
A successful persuasive speech should:

• open with a clear statement of the issue and your opinion
• be geared to the audience you’re trying to persuade
• provide facts, examples, statistics, and reasons to support your
opinion
• answer opposing views
• show clear reasoning
• include strategies such as frequent summaries to help listeners
remember your message
• end with a strong restatement of your opinion or a call to action
Parts of an Introduction

1. Attention-getter (Hook)
2. Thesis statement
3. Preview of the major areas that will be
discussed
Types of
Attention-Getters

Attention-Getter #1

Asking Questions
Fires up the audience’s curiosity about your topic
Makes the audience active participants in your speech
Attention-Getter #1

Examples:
 For a speech on the power of vocabulary:
 “How many of you know the meaning of the word
verisimilitude? How about veracity? What about the
word verity? …..
 For a speech on shifting blame:
 Have you ever heard someone say, “The devil made me
do it”? Have you heard the expression, “Don’t blame
me; it’s not my fault”? ….
Attention-Getter #2

Making References
 Allows you to work well with your audience
 You might refer to people in the audience, your
physical surroundings, other speakers the group has
heard, or the significance of the occasion.
 Allows you to be comfortable, congenial, and
conversational with the audience
Attention-Getter #2

Examples:
 “I see that Bob and Ina are in the audience. When we first
started this class project over two months ago, they were the
ones who provided the leadership and enthusiasm that the
rest of us needed at that time. The word leadership is exactly
what I wish to talk about tonight….
 “for some reason, every time that we are in this classroom,
the air-conditioning is out. Maybe we should all bring our
own fans next time.. However, the temperature might not
be the only thing that is ‘sticky’ today. My topic, “Why
AIDS Needs to Be Talked about in Schools” could also make
people warm and uncomfortable….
Attention-Getter #3

Making a Startling Statement
Jolts the audience into paying attention
Research your topic looking for data or studies
that might surprise listeners and make them even
more interested in the topic.
Attention-Getter #3

Example:
 A student spoke to a high school about the problems
associated with violence in society. While she spoke, she
comfortably moved her right hand as if she were
“keeping the beat” to a song only she heard…
 I love music. I love dancing. I love how men and women,
young and old, rich or poor, can move and smile and laugh
and keep rhythm to their favorite songs. However, I’m not
here to talk about music—because, ironically, every time
that my hand comes down to “keep the beat,” a young
child is physically or sexually abused in this country.
Attention-Getter #4

Giving a Quotation
 Delivering the exact words that someone else has said can
add a degree of style and sophistication to your speech.
 Quotes are abundant and fairly easy to find.
 Select quotes that are clear and appropriate for your speech
topic and select authors who are reliable and trusted.
 Be sure to give your audience some idea of who the author is
and what he or she has done that his noteworthy.
 Keep in mind that your quote does not have to be serious or
from an author who lived centuries ago; quotes that are light
and written by people living can be effective too.
Attention-Getter #4

Examples:
 For a speech on “What Has Happened to Friendship?”
 “First in war—first in peace—and first in the hearts of his
countrymen.” These are the words that began the Revolutionary
War General Henry Lee’s famous funeral oration for George
Washington. The quotation shows us a man of conscience and a
man who cared for his fellow man. However, do we care for our
fellow man the same as Washington did in his day?....
 For a speech on why people are gullible:
 “You can fool all of the people some of the time and you can fool
some of the people all the time, but you can’t fool all of the people
all of the time.” Abraham Lincoln, the author of this quotation,
might have added the words “except in America,” because
Americans are often easy prey for those wishing to make a fast
buck….
Attention-Getter #5

Telling a Story
 Everyone loves a well told story.
 Illustrations and personal accounts quickly give you an
“in” with your audience because it allows you to show
your personality.
 Your story should be short and to the point; it should
hold the interest of the audience yet lead clearly into
your speech topic.
 Personal experiences that were special or a heartstopping ordeal can be effective, but your story does
not have to be personal. Interesting accounts about
other people, places, events, etc. can be effective too.
Attention-Getter #5

 Example:
 For a speech that will talk about what fear means…
 A few weeks ago, my mom and dad had gone out for the
evening and I was alone at home. At about 2 A.M. I heard a
noise by the downstairs window. Even though I hoped that
the sounds would go away, they didn’t. As a matter of fact,
they got louder. It sounded as if someone was struggling to
reach the latch of the window. I was petrified, but somehow
I managed to go downstairs. Slowly, I moved the curtain to
see what was outside. You can imagine my fear when I saw
two eyes looking right back at me. It was a raccoon! …
Delivery

 Have good posture
 Use hand gestures
 Use facial expressions to emphasize what you are
saying
 Make eye contact with the audience
 Pronounce the words correctly
 Speak loud enough to be clearly heard in the room
 Don’t speak too fast
 Personal appearance should not have distracting
clothes or jewelry etc.
Introverted vs. Extroverted
speakers

 Introvert: a shy person; a quiet person who does not find it
easy to talk to other people
 talk more softly and more slowly
 Extrovert: a person who likes being with and talking to
other people; an outgoing person
 talk more loudly and more quickly
Website Reliability

Top Level Domains

.com - commercial (most common)
.org - non-profit
.net - Net
.edu - higher education
.k-12 - elementary & secondary education
.gov - Governement
.mil - Military
WHICH IS MOST
RELIABLE?

 government Web sites have the most reliable info in the United States (All U.S.
federal government Web domain names end in .gov, along with some state sites;
all U.S. military sites end in .mil.
 university studies—especially peer-reviewed ones--are the next most reliable.
(University Web sites end in .edu. But be careful! Students post Web sites with
.edu endings, too, because universities give them free server space.)
 Special-interest groups, many which post pages ending in .org, often post good
information. But remember: The groups are biased. They have an agenda. And
remember that although .org URLs were intended for nonprofits, commercial
companies or individuals can buy sites ending in .org, too.
 Other types of pages should be eyed with a reporter's caution. This goes for
commercial sites ending in .com, .net and .biz, and any personal home pages
(such as those now ending in .name). However, most U.S. news sites end in .com,
and their Web information is generally as reliable as that published in their more
traditional print or broadcast sister publications.
What makes a Website
reliable?

Article has credible author
Organization is unbiased (meaning fair, balanced)
Page modification date and is updated
No flashy ads or graphics
No grammatical errors
Has references and resources
When should you use
Wikipedia?

Wikipedia is not
considered to be a
reliable source
because it can be
modified by anyone,
at any time.
Use as a starting point
to generate ideas.
Rhetoric:

The art of speaking and writing effectively
Aristotle (384-322 BCE)

 Aristotle was a famous Greek
philosopher who studied the art of
persuasion.
 He wrote a book entitled, “The Art
of Rhetoric.”
 In his book, Aristotle identified the
three methods of persuasion. He
called them ethos, pathos and
logos.
Ethos is appeal based on the character of the
-
speaker. An ethos-driven document relies on the
reputation of the author.
Logos is appeal based on logic or reason. Documents
-
distributed by companies or corporations are logos-driven.
Scholarly documents are also often logos-driven.
Pathos is appeal based on emotion.
-
Advertisements tend to be pathos-driven.
Appeals: How to
Persuade

Ethos: appeals to a sense of character, credibility,
authority.
 The speaker makes a good impression.
 The audience believes that the speaker knows what he or
she is talking about.
 The speaker’s ethos is their expertise, knowledge,
experience, training, sincerity, or a combination of all of
those.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ULR68LTmbw
Appeals: How to
Persuade

Logos: appeals to reason and sense of logic.





Solid facts
Surveys
Data
Examples
Statistics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEsKYV4
OwsI
Appeals: How to
Persuade

Pathos: appeals to emotion




Figurative language
Personal anecdote
First person point of view
All about feelings or emotions: make you feel happy,
sad, guilty, excited, etc.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baZsBxw3R7Y
Ethos, Logos, or Pathos?





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFUUybc_M40
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpOeHnotqDQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB3obIiKPHk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE1H31FmHV4
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfAxUpeVhCg&list=PLF2472A2F283EC9E1







http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kogKxTFDRyk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gspElv1yvc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL6acQ3NLUg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsAt7tS0vc4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PplMjgh_QlM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTIl3te91SI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xtk-xR0vwzg
Introduction to
Logical Fallacies

Logical Fallacies

Slippery slope
Circular reasoning
False analogy
False cause
Hasty generalization
Either/Or
Non sequitur
Ad Hominem
Appeal to Ignorance
Red herring
Definition

Logical fallacies are flaws in reasoning
that lead to faulty, illogical statements.
They are unreasonable argumentative
tactics named for what has gone wrong
during the reasoning process.

Most logical fallacies masquerade as reasonable
statements, but they are in fact attempts to
manipulate readers by reaching their emotions
instead of their intellects.
What is Fallacy?
 arguments.
 Fallacies are defects that weaken
 First, fallacious arguments are very, very common and can
be quite persuasive, at least to the causal reader or listener.
You can find dozens of examples of fallacious reasoning in
newspapers, advertisements, and other sources.
 Second, it is sometimes hard to evaluate whether an
argument is fallacious.
 An argument might be very weak, somewhat weak,
somewhat strong, or very strong. An argument that has
several stages or parts might have some strong sections and
some weak ones.
Hasty Generalization

A generalization based on insufficient
or unrepresented evidence
Deaths from drug overdoses in Metropolis
have doubled over the last three years.
Therefore, more Americans than ever are
dying from drug abuse.
Hasty Generalization

 Definition: Making assumptions about a whole group or
range of cases based on a sample that is inadequate
(usually because it is atypical or just too small).
 Stereotypes about people ("frat boys are drunkards," "grad
students are nerdy," etc.) are a common example of the
principle underlying hasty generalization.
 Example: "My roommate said her philosophy class was
hard, and the one I'm in is hard, too. All philosophy
classes must be hard!"
 Two people's experiences are, in this case, not enough on
which to base a conclusion.
Hasty Generalization

A hasty generalization is a conclusion based on
insufficient or unrepresentative evidence.
Stereotyping and Sexism are forms of this fallacy.
Take, for example common dumb blonde jokes:
Q: What do you call a blonde skeleton
in the closet?
A: Last year's hide-and-go-seek winner.
Example of a Generalization

The only redheads I know are rude.
Therefore, all redheads must have bad
manners.
If the speaker only knows two redheads, then he
has insufficient evidence to make the general claim
about all people with that hair color.
Ad Hominem

Latin for to the man
Directly attacks someone’s appearance, personal
habits, or character rather than focusing on the merit
of the issue at hand. The implication is that if
something is wrong with this person, whatever
he/she says must be wrong.
How can you say he’s a good musician when he’s
been in and out of rehab for three years?
Argument to the Person (Ad
Hominem)

An attack on the person proposing an
argument rather than on the argument
itself.
Senator Jones was a conscientious objector
during the Vietnam War, so his proposal
to limit military spending has no merit.
Circular Reasoning

This is a kind of circular argument where the
support only restates the claim.
Wrestling is dangerous because it is unsafe.
Jogging is fun because it is enjoyable.
Unsafe means the same thing as dangerous and fun
means the same thing as enjoyable. This makes the
reasoning circular.
Circular Reasoning

 Definition: A complicated fallacy, an argument that begs the question asks the reader to
simply accept the conclusion without providing real evidence


the argument either relies on a premise that says the same thing as the conclusion (which you
might hear referred to as "being circular" or "circular reasoning"), or simply ignores an important
(but questionable) assumption that the argument rests on.
Sometimes people use the phrase "beg the question" as a sort of general criticism of arguments, to
mean that an arguer hasn't given very good reasons for a conclusion, but that's not the meaning
we're going to discuss here.
 Examples: "Active euthanasia is morally acceptable. It is a decent, ethical thing to help
another human being escape suffering through death." Let's lay this out in premiseconclusion form:


Premise: It is a decent, ethical thing to help another human being escape suffering through death.
Conclusion: Active euthanasia is morally acceptable.
 If we "translate" the premise, we'll see that the arguer has really just said the same thing
twice: "decent, ethical" means pretty much the same thing as "morally acceptable," and
"help another human being escape suffering through death" means "active euthanasia." So
the premise basically says, "active euthanasia is morally acceptable," just like the conclusion
does! The arguer hasn't yet given us any real reasons why euthanasia is acceptable; instead,
she has left us asking "well, really, why do you think active euthanasia is acceptable?" Her
argument "begs" (that is, evades) the real question (think of "beg off").
Circular Reasoning

 An argument in which the writer, instead of
applying evidence simply restates the point in other
language.
 Students should not be allowed to park in lots now
reserved for faculty because those lots should be for
faculty only.
False Analogy
An analogy points out
similarities in things that
are otherwise different. A
false analogy claims
comparison when
differences outweigh
similarities. Essentially,
it’s comparing apples and
oranges!
False Analogy Example

If we can put a man on the moon, why can’t we find the cure for
the common cold?
While both things being compared here are related to
science, there are more differences than similarities
between space and biological advancements.
False Cause

This fallacy gets its name from the Latin phrase "post hoc, ergo propter
hoc," which translates as "after this, therefore because of this."
 Definition: Assuming that because B comes after A, A caused B.
 Of course, sometimes one event really does cause another one that
comes later--for example, if I register for a class, and my name later
appears on the roll, it's true that the first event caused the one that
came later. But sometimes two events that seem related in time aren't
really related as cause and event. That is, correlation isn't the same
thing as causation.
 Examples: "President Jones raised taxes, and then the rate of
violent crime went up. Jones is responsible for the rise in crime.“
 The increase in taxes might or might not be one factor in the rising
crime rates, but the argument hasn't shown us that one caused the
other.
False Cause

 The assumption that because one event follows
another, the first is the cause of the second.
 Since Governor Smith took office, unemployment for
minorities in the state has decreased by seven percent.
Governor Smith should be applauded for reducing
unemployment among minorities.
False Cause Example

Since the governor took office, unemployment of
minorities in the state has decreased by seven percent.
The governor should be applauded for reducing
unemployment among minorities.
Before we pat the governor on the back, the speaker
must show that his policies are responsible for the
decrease in unemployment. It is not enough to show
the decrease came after his election.
Non Sequitur (Does Not
Follow)

 A conclusion that does not follow logically from
preceding statements or that is based on irrelevant
data.
 Mary loves children, so will make an excellent school
teacher.
Either – Or


The suggestion that only two alternatives exist when in fact
there are more.
 Either learn how to program a computer, or you won’t be able to get a decent job
after college.
 Either go to college or forget about making money.
This falsely implies that a college education is a prerequisite for financial success.
Was it her college education that made Beyoncé tons of
money?
Slippery Slope

 Definition: The arguer claims that a sort of chain reaction, usually
ending in some dire consequence, will take place, but there's really not
enough evidence for that assumption.
 The arguer asserts that if we take even one step onto the "slippery slope," we
will end up sliding all the way to the bottom; he or she assumes we can't stop
halfway down the hill.
 Example: "Animal experimentation reduces our respect for life. If we
don't respect life, we are likely to be more and more tolerant of violent
acts like war and murder. Soon our society will become a battlefield in
which everyone constantly fears for their lives. It will be the end of
civilization. To prevent this terrible consequence, we should make animal
experimentation illegal right now."
 Since animal experimentation has been legal for some time and civilization
has not yet ended, it seems particularly clear that this chain of events won't
necessarily take place.
Red Herring

 Definition: Partway through an argument, the arguer goes off on a tangent,
raising a side issue that distracts the audience from what's really at stake. Often,
the arguer never returns to the original issue.
 Example: "Grading this exam on a curve would be the most fair thing to do. After
all, classes go more smoothly when the students and the professor are getting
along well." Let's try our premise-conclusion outlining to see what's wrong with
this argument:
 Premise: Classes go more smoothly when the students and the professor are getting
along well.
 Conclusion: Grading this exam on a curve would be the most fair thing to do.
 When we lay it out this way, it's pretty obvious that the arguer went off on a
tangent--the fact that something helps people get along doesn't necessarily make
it more fair; fairness and justice sometimes require us to do things that cause
conflict. But the audience may feel like the issue of teachers and students
agreeing is important and be distracted from the fact that the arguer has not
given any evidence as to why a curve would be fair.
Appeal to Ignorance

 Definition: In the appeal to ignorance, the arguer basically says, "Look,
there's no conclusive evidence on the issue at hand. Therefore, you should
accept my conclusion on this issue."
 Example: "People have been trying for centuries to prove that God exists. But
no one has yet been able to prove it. Therefore, God does not exist."
Here's an opposing argument that commits the same fallacy:
 "People have been trying for years to prove that God does not exist. But no
one has yet been able to prove it. Therefore, God exists."
 In each case, the arguer tries to use the lack of evidence as support for a positive
claim about the truth of a conclusion. There is one situation in which doing this is
not fallacious: If qualified researchers have used well-thought-out methods to
search for something for a long time, they haven't found it, and it's the kind of
thing people ought to be able to find, then the fact that they haven't found it
constitutes some evidence that it doesn't exist.
Logical Fallacies Covered:

•
Hasty Generalization
•
False Cause
•
Non Sequitur (Does Not Follow)
•
Appeal to Ignorance
•
False Analogy
•
Circular Reasoning
•
“Either… or” Fallacy
•
Ad Hominem
•
Red Herring
•
Slippery Slope