Chapter Fourteen Outline
Persuading
What is the difference between informative and persuasive
communication? Can you do both at the same time?
I. Comparing Informative and Persuasive Strategies
A. Asking for commitment.
1. Ask listeners to make a choice about belief or action.
2. Speakers have an ethical responsibility.
B. Changing degree of commitment. Remember our lecture on
attitudes, values and beliefs. Which of these things were the easiest
to change? Why? So in your persuasive speeches, which of these
things should you be focusing on?
1. Strengthen commitment.
2. Weaken commitment- hostel audience- committed to the
opposing view.
3. Conversion- accept or reject something they had already
had an opinion on.
4. Move audience to a specific action. (votes, change eating
habits, write a senator, etc.)
II. Plan your Strategy.
A. Determine your target audience
B. Asses your audience’s motivation. WIIFM
1. Seek pleasure/ avoid pain
2. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. 1st needs are the biological/
safety needs then 2nd are the identity, relational, self-actualizing
needs. According to Maslow you must appeal to these needs. Since
911 it has become easier to appeal to safety needs.
III. Persuasion is a psychological process. It occurs in situations where
two or more views exist. Persuasive speaking is the most complex and
challenging. No matter how much you know, how big of an expert you are
and how well you are at persuading people, not everyone is going to adapt
the view you have. But that does not mean it is impossible.
Ethos, Pathos, & Logos
Aristotle was a student and a teacher of persuasion. He identified and
name three effective types of persuasion, ethos, logos and pathos.
I. Ethos- ethos is the credibility of the speaker
A. the audience’s perception of the how credible the speaker is
depends on two influences
1. competence- speaker’s intelligence, experience, and
knowledge of the subject
2. character- audience regards to speakers sincerity,
trustworthiness, & concern for well being of the audience.
B. Types of credibility
1. initial- before the speaker gets up to speak *** What do you
think this initials?
2. Derived- everything the speaker says and does in the
speech *** How do you think this is shown
3. terminal- end of speech. *** How is this seen in the speech?
C. How to enhance credibility
1. Explain your competence- Say that you investigated the
subject completely and say so, explain your background,
personal experiences
2. Establish common ground with audience- connect yourself
with values, attitudes or experiences of audience
3. Deliver your speech with fluency, expressively, and with
conviction- delivery is so important when establishing
credibility.
II. Logos -logical appeal to the speaker. Looks at two major elements
evidence and reasoning.
A. Evidence- supporting material to prove or disprove somethingImportant in the classroom speeches because most of your
classmates are not seen as experts
1. How evidence works- builds on what was last said,
anticipate or imagine what they may be thinking next and
answer the next question. ex. S=
According to the
American Medical Association, 2000 Loud music effects
hearing, A= so what does that have to do with me, S=
According to Health magazine 1999, Hearing loss can start as
young as 10 when people listen to loud music, A= Well that is
not affecting me now, S= Sirea Magazine 1997 reports that
many people do not know they have a hearing problem till it is
to late.
2. Tips for using evidence
a. use specific evidence- ex. lots of people have
experienced hearing loss vs. 28 million people have
experienced hearing loss.
b. Use novel evidence- makes them think about it
c. Use evidence from a credible source- more believable
from a credible source ex. “ Technology is growing so
fast that in the next 10 years the personal computer will
look nothing like today’s” more believable from Bill
Gates or Sandra Day O’Conner?
d. Make clear points in your evidence- you can not count
on your listeners to draw the conclusions you want
them to make, you need to tell them.
B. Reasoning- drawing conclusions based on evidence; must first
make sure your reasoning is sound, then second make sure your
audience follows your reasoning- make it concise and obvious.
1. Specific reasoning- moves from a specific fact to a
generalization ex. my p.e. course was easy, my brother’s p.e.
course was easy, my roommates p.e. course was easy so p.e.
courses are easy; be careful because no mater how many
instance you give, generalizations are never full proof.
a. guidelines- avoid generalization and jumping to
conclusions
b be careful with your wording
c. reinforces your statement with evidence (stats,
testimony, etc.)
d. specific examples may help
2. Reasoning from principle- moves from a general principle to
a specific conclusion ex. all people are mortal, Joe is a person,
Joe is moral.
a. listeners must accept your general principle without
evidence for this to work
3. Causal reasoning- reasoning that seeks to establish the
relationship between cause and effect. ex. Because there was
ice on the sidewalk, I feel and broke my arm.
a. can be tricky because relationship is not always clearbecause something happened does not mean the first
thing caused it.
b. events often have more then one cause.
4. Analogical reasoning- when a speaker compares two similar
cases and says what is true for one is true for the other. ex.
because bob is good at racket ball he should also be good at
ping pong.
a. how alike are they? Are they really alike or just
similar?
b. usually used in regards to policy
5. Fallacies - an error in the reasoning
a. hasty generalizations
b. false cause
c. invalid analogy
d. red herring- present an irrelevant issue to divert
attention from the real issue
e. ad hominem- attacking a person rather then dealing
with the issue
f. either- or - forces listener to chose between two
choices when more then two choices exist
g. bandwagon- because it is popular it must be good,
desirable or correct
h. slippery slope- first step leads to other steps that can
not be prevented.
III. Pathos- emotional appeals - make listeners feel a certain way
A. Popular emotions evoked in appeals
1. fear-illness, disaster, sexual assault, personal rejection,
economic hardship
2. compassion- for physically disabled, battered women,
neglected animals, etc.
3. pride- in country, family, school, race, personal
accomplishments
4. anger- terrorists, congress exploiting trust, bad landlords,
unsafe products
5. shame- not helping less fortunate, not doing ones best, not
concerned with others rights
6. reverence- admired person, tradition of institutions
B. Generating emotional appeals
1. Using emotional language- ex. sparkles in the eyes of a
child; dreams are dashed
2. Vivid examples- Trapping of wild animals is illegal but also
dangerous. Many domesticated animals such as dogs and
cats have be trapped an injured in these traps
3. Speaking with sincerity and conviction- being emotional
yourself
C. Ethics and emotional appeals1. Can be abused or done well- ex. MLK jr. or mother Teresa
2. use best judgment, make sure appropriate for speech topic
IV. Other Goals for Persuasive Speeches.
A. Strengthening conviction.
1. Consciousness raising.-becoming more aware of existing
beliefs and values
2. Moving from education to commitment.-informing to
persuading
3. Increasing the sense of urgency. ex. people who don’t believe
their vote counts- need to prove that it does.
B. Weakening commitment
1. Finding a critical distinction ex. stating that it is freedom of
religion, not freedom from religion
2. refutation- challenges or trys to disprove their beliefs
directly
3. Rebuilding arguments- responding to criticism against an
argument
C. Conversion.
1. Chip away at the edges of beliefs.
2. Identify a pattern of anomalies.- puzzling situation, old ideas
that do not fit any longer.
3. Employ consciousness rising.
4. Seek incremental changes.- keep goals modest
5. Reluctancy testomony- saying things you do not believe, it
is hard to believe someone when they have something to gain.
avoid biases
C. Refutation.
1. Grounds for refutation.
a. Object to the claim
b. Object to the inferences.
2. Developing the message.
a. Identify the position to be attacked.- be clear and fair
b. Explain the significance of the position you are attaching.
c. Present and develop the attack.
d. Explain the impact of the refutation.
3. Rebuild arguments.
V. The problem-solution speech.
A. Describe the situation.
B. Evaluate the situation as a problem.
C. Propose a solution
D. Argue for the solution
VI. Organizing for Persuasion.
A. The Motivated Sequence.
1. Introduction (attention step).
2. Body (need step, satisfaction step, visualization step).
a. Need Step- something is wrong
b. Satisfaction step- means to take care of what is talked
about
c. Visualization step- gives mental picture of the solution
3. Conclusion (action step). - asks audience to do something
specific, make the steps specific and as easy to do as possible
B. Using the motivated sequence. some cons.- sometimes steps
combine & not always go in order.
VII. AIDA The aida formula for persuasion
A. Attention
B. Interest
C. Desire
D. Action
Group Discussion:
Look at the sample persuasive speeches I gave you.
1. Do they use strengthen commitment, weaken commitment, conversion, or call
to action?
2. What types of organizational patterns were used?