Persuasive Presentations
1. Definition of Persuasive Presentations
A persuasive presentation refers to the kind of presentations in which you try to
convince the listeners to agree with you or to inspire them to action.
2.Types of Persuasive Presentations
(1) Persuasive Presentations on Questions of Fact
Many questions of fact can’t be answered absolutely or have no conclusive answer
at present. In such a presentation, you try to persuade the audience to accept your
view of the facts.
Eg. Will food prices continue to rise next year?
(2) Persuasive Presentations on Questions of Value
Dealing with such questions demands judgments based on a person’s beliefs about
what is right or wrong, good or bad, moral or immoral, proper or improper, fair or
unfair.
Eg. Capital punishment is legally and ethically wrong.
(3) Persuasive Presentations on Questions of Policy
Questions of policy deal with specific action. In such presentations, you argue that
something should or should not be done.
In policy presentations, you will consider three basic issues:
 Need or Problem. Your first step is to point out what is wrong with the present
situation.
 Plan. Your second step is to show your plan to solve the problem.
 Practicality. The Practicality issue refers to the practicality of your plan. You need
to show that your plan will work and whether it has some advantages and
disadvantages.
3. Organizational Patterns for Persuasive Presentations
(1)Topical order is usually used to organize persuasive presentations on questions of
fact.
(2) Topical order is also used to organize persuasive speeches on questions of values.
For instance, in the first main point, you will establish the standards by which you
support something. In the second main point, you prove that the subject of your
speech meets the standard. Or you can justify your viewpoint against some recognized
standard.
(3)The following patterns are especially useful for organizing policy speeches.
Problem-Solution Order
You prove that there is a need to change by explaining the problem in the first main
point. Then you present your plan to solve the problem and show its practicality in the
second main point.
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Example:
Specific purpose: To persuade my audience that action is needed to deal with the
health problems caused by spending too much time at the
computer.
Thesis Statement: You should take actions to solve the health problems caused
by using the computer too much.
Main points: I. Long-time using computers brings harm to our health.
A. Harmful to your eyes.
B. Harmful to your wrists and fingers.
C. Harmful to your back and neck.
II. The problem can be solved by the following methods.
A. Adjust the light in your room to make it not too strong or
too dim.
B. Have a right table and chair.
C. Take a rest from the computer every hour.
D. Place some plants near the computer, for example,
cactuses.
Problem-Cause-Solution Order
It is more detailed than problem-solution order. There are three main points in such a
speech. In the first main point, you explain the problem. In the second main point, you
analyze the causes of the problem. In the third main point, you present a solution to
the problem. For example:
Specific Purpose:
To persuade my audience that action is needed to end the
discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS.
Thesis Statement: We can work jointly to end the discrimination against people
with HIV/AIDS.
Main Points: I. Discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS is very
dangerous to the people with HIV/AIDS, to the patients’
family and to society.
II. Ignorance of AIDS and routes of HIV transmission has led
to discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS.
III. Discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS can be put
to an end by our joint efforts.
Comparative Advantage Order
When your audience has already realized that a problem exists, you can devote much
of your speech to convincing them of your solutions by comparing them with
competing solutions.
Monroe’s Motivated Sequence
It is said to be the best pattern for policy speeches to gain immediate action. It has five
steps. They are as follows:
Step 1: Attention
First, you try to gain the attention of your audience
Step 2: Need
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Then make the audience feel a need for change by stating the problem clearly and
supporting it.
Step 3: Satisfaction
The third step is to satisfy the need by providing a solution to the problem.
Step 4: Visualization
The fourth step is to visualize the benefits of your plan.
Step 5: Action
The final step is to call for action. You should say exactly what you want them to do
and how to do it.
4.Methods of Persuasion
It is generally agreed that four factors contribute to success in persuasion:
 The speaker is perceived as having high credibility.
 The speaker has used strong evidence.
 The speaker’s reasoning is logical.
 The audience’s emotions are touched by the speaker’s ideas or language.
(1) Credibility/Ethos
Credibility refers to the audience’s perception of the qualifications of a speaker on a
given topic. Above all, competence and character affect a speaker’s credibility.
In this context, competence indicates how an audience regards a speaker’s intelligence,
expertise, and knowledge of and experience with the subject.
Character indicates how an audience regards a speaker’s honesty, trustworthiness and
interest in and concern for the welfare of the audience.
Tips for Increasing Credibility
 Explain Your Competence
 Establish Common Ground with Your Audience
 Deliver Your Presentations in an Impressive Way
(2) Using Evidence and Reasoning/Logos
To use evidence effectively, you need to use evidence from credible sources. Your
evidence should be specific and up-to-date. You also need to note that the purpose
of using evidence is to justify your point. So remember to give your point first,
then followed with evidence.
Reasoning is a process of forming conclusions, inferences or judgments on the basis
of evidence. You should make sure that your reasoning is sound and try to get your
audience to agree with your reasoning. There are four basic methods of reasoning.
You need to know how to use them in your persuasive presentations.
 Reasoning from Specific Instances
Reasoning from specific instances means that you progress from some concrete
instances to a general conclusion.
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 Reasoning from Principle
You move from a general principle to a specific conclusion.
General Principle:
All people are mortal.
Minor Premise:
Socrates is a person.
Specific Conclusion: Therefore, Socrates is mortal.
Usually you need to use evidence to support your general principle and your minor
premise when they are open to question.
The example below shows reasioning from principle is used to prove the point that
using computers well makes us exhausted.
General Principle: Much learning is exhausting.
Minor Premise:
Using computers well means much learning of computer
knowledge.
Specific Conclusion: Therefore, using computers well makes us exhausted.
 Causal Reasoning
Causal reasoning refers to reasoning in which you seek to establish the
relationship between causes and effects.
 Analogical Reasoning
When you infer that what is true of one thing must be true of the other by comparing
two similar things, you reason analogically.
(3)Emotional Appeals/Pathos
Emotional appeals are intended to arouse feelings such as sympathy, pride, admiration,
happiness, sadness, anger, fear, guilt, or the like in the audience.
 Compassion/Sympathy: for/with the intellectually retarded, for/with the
physically disabled, for/with the unemployed, for/with the victims of accidents,
and for/with the poor.
 Pride: in one’s country, in one’s family, in one’s job, in one’s personal
achievements.
 Admiration: of a great person, of Chinese culture, of Chinese history.
 Fear: of serious illness, of natural disasters, of financial hardship, of energy
shortage, of global warming.
 Guilt: about a serious mistake, about not helping the less fortunate people, about
not trying one’s best, about not getting along with friends.
 Anger: at corruption, at crimes, at unethical actions, at disloyalty.
Three means of invoking these emotions in a speech include vivid description, the use
of emotionally charged words and speaking with sincerity and conviction.
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