MPS Chap. 16
The Strategy of Persuasion
The focus of persuasion is not on the source, the message, or the receiver, but on
all of them equally. They all cooperate to make a persuasive process. The idea of
co-creation means that what is inside the receiver is just as important as the
source’s intent or the content of messages. In one sense, all persuasion is selfpersuasion—we are rarely persuaded unless we participate in the process.
The importance of persuasion
It is impossible to isolate yourself from persuasive messages
Politics, education, religion, business—you name it!
Persuasion enables good judgment
As a student of public speaking, delivering a persuasive message can benefit you
in a number of ways
It requires you to select an issue you think is important and to
communicate your concern to your audience
Voicing your beliefs will demand that you confront their logic and
support—you must test your ideas for their validity
You must gather supporting materials and draw valid inferences
from them as you develop your arguments
As a listener you can benefit by participating in the persuasive process
A speaker can make you aware of problems around you and show you
how you can help solve them
You hear other points of view and, consequently may better
understand why others have beliefs different from yours
A speech that challenges your beliefs often forces you to reevaluate your
position
Participating as a listener heightens your critical thinking and improves
your ability to explain and defend your beliefs
A definition of persuasion
Persuasion: the process of influencing another person’s values, beliefs, attitudes, or
behaviors
Persuasion is often equated with power, but persuasion does not necessarily
require power
Power implies authority or control over another
e.g. Employers who want you to be on time will state that policy
and issue reprimands, withhold promotions, and even terminate
your employment to ensure you obey the policy
They do not need to persuade you
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Persuasion is more accurately equated with influence than with power
As a speaker you try to influence your audience to adopt your position
You probably have little power over your listeners
Types of influence:
Change: the most dramatic—request your listeners to change a value, belief,
attitude or behavior. The response is dramatic because you attempt to change
opposition to support, or support to opposition
Instill: you can attempt to instill an attitude, belief or behavior. You instill when
you address a particular problem about which your audience is unaware or
undecided. If you persuade an audience that a problem exists, you have instilled a
belief.
Intensify: You can attempt to intensify values, beliefs, attitudes, or a behavior. In
this case you must know before your speech that audience members agree with
your position or behave as you will advocate. Your goal is to strengthen your
listeners’ positions and actions.
Types of persuasive speeches
Speeches to convince: a speech to convince aims to affect your listeners’ beliefs
or attitudes. Each of the following purpose statements expresses a belief the
speaker wants the audience to accept:
To convince the audience that “hate speech” is constitutionally protected
To convince the audience that hybrid cars are commercially feasible
To convince the audience that there is a constitutional right to privacy
To convince the audience that sealed adoption is preferable to open
adoption
The speaker’s purpose in each of these speeches is to establish belief. While the
speech does not call upon audience members to act, action may be the natural
outgrowth of their belief
Speeches to actuate: may establish beliefs, but they always call for the audience to
act. The specific purpose statements below illustrate calls for action:
To move, or actuate the audience to donate nonperishable food to a local
food bank
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To move the audience to spay or neuter pet cats and dogs
To move the audience to begin a low-impact aerobic workout program
To move the audience to sign a petition banning smoking in all public
places on campus
Speeches to inspire: the speech to inspire attempts to change how listeners feel.
Examples include commencement addresses, commemorative speeches, eulogies,
and pep talks. Some purpose statements:
To inspire the audience to honor the service of fallen fire fighters
To inspire the audience to appreciate those who made their education
possible
To inspire audience members to give their best efforts to all college
courses they take
The purpose of inspiration is usually noble and uplifting. These speeches
typically have neither the detailed supporting material nor the complex arguments
characteristic of speeches to convince or actuate
Persuasive speaking strategies
Sources of persuasion:
Ethos: character appeal (audience perception of speaker credibility)
Logos: logical appeal (audience perception of rationality)
Pathos: emotional appeal (audience feelings affecting its judgment)
So—you’ve got the speaker (credibility), the speech (logos), the listener (pathos) as
sources of persuasion
Establish your credibility: credibility is your reputation—it is fluid and varying according
to your listeners—you possess only the credibility your listeners grant you
Credibility varies according to time
Initial credibility: your image or reputation prior to speaking
Derived credibility: the image the audience develops of you as you
speak
Terminal credibility: the image the audience has of you after the
speech and for a period afterwards
Convey competence:
Know your subject (use clear, vivid and credible supporting materials)
Document your ideas
Cite your sources
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Acknowledge your personal involvement or experience with the subject
Convey trustworthiness:
Establish common ground with your audience
If the audience knows that you understand its values, experiences
and aspirations, they will be more receptive to your arguments.
When you let them know you identify with those values,
experiences, and aspirations, you increase your persuasiveness.
Demonstrate your objectivity in approaching the topic
The information sources you include in your speech should
demonstrate thorough, unbiased research.
Convey dynamism:
Associated with delivery—do you care about what you’re talking about?
Are you energetic, exciting, inspiring, spirited and stimulating?
Dynamic delivery communicates confidence and concern
If you don’t APPEAR to be confident and concerned, for all
practical purposes, you’re not.
Focus your goals:
Limit your goals: a common mistake made by beginning speakers is to seek
dramatic changes in the values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors of their listeners.
Persuasion is more likely if your goals as a speaker are limited, rather
than global
Argue incrementally: persuasion is more permanent if you achieve it
incrementally—one step at a time
In a fixed period of time, the greater number of points you have to prove,
the less time you have to support and explain each
Because you must move through several steps in a limited period
of time, you may be forced to abbreviate some of your
arguments—your support
When your listeners hear another speaker attack your
position, they may lack sufficient evidence to counter those
attacks
Your goal should be to inoculate your listeners to possible
counterarguments
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The stronger your arguments, the greater the likelihood that
you will bring about enduring change in the opinions of
your audience
If you know your audience has been introduced to
counterarguments, you may need to address those
arguments before introducing your own
Connect with your listeners:
Persuasion is more likely if a speaker establishes common ground with the
audience
Assess listeners’ knowledge of your topic
Assess how important your audience considers your topic
The more important, the more likely your audience will listen
The more important, the more the likely it will be hard to change
existing beliefs, etc.
Motivate your listeners
Persuasion is more likely if the audience is self-motivated in the
direction of the message
You must discover what motivates your listeners
Requires an understanding of their needs and desires
Identify as many of the needs and desires of your
listeners as possible
Review your list and select those that your speech
satisfies
As you prepare your speech explain how the action
you advocate fulfills the audience’s needs
Relate your message to listeners’ values
Persuasion is more likely if the speaker’s message is consistent
with listeners’ beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviors
People want to establish consistency in their lives
Your ability to persuade is enhanced if you request
an action that is consistent with your audience’s
values
Organize your arguments:
Persuasion is more likely if arguments are placed appropriately
Primacy theory: recommends that you put your strongest arguments first
in the body of your speech to establish a strong first impression
This theory suggests that you should win your listeners to your
side as early as possible
Move your strongest argument to the position of point A
Recency theory: maintains that you should present your strongest
argument last, thus leaving your listeners with your best argument
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Move your strongest argument to point C
 If your audience opposes what you advocate, you may want to present
your strongest argument first so as to make them ore receptive to the rest
of your ideas
 If your audience already shares your beliefs and attitudes and your goal is
to motivate them to action, you may want to end your speech with your
most compelling argument
In any event—do not place your strongest argument in the middle
When you sandwich it between two weaker arguments, you recue its
impact
Support your ideas:
Well supported ideas benefit your speech in two ways
They provide an ethical underpinning for your position
Well-supported ideas enhance your ethos—credibility
Enhance your emotional appeals:
Anger, fear, jealousy, hate, joy, love, pride
All emotions affect judgment (for better or worse)
When properly constructed, emotional appeals make your listeners active
participants in the development of your message
Tap audience values: conduct careful analysis before you speak
The more attached a listener is to the values a speaker promotes, the more
emotional is the appeal
Use vivid emotionally-toned examples
Visual images are powerful here
Use emotive language
Use effective delivery—feel what you say, say what you feel (if it serves your
aim)
Again—three sources of persuasion:
Ethos: character
Pathos: emotion
Logos: reason
No bogos please!