Speaking to Persuade
The goal is to influence the attitudes,
beliefs, or behavior of the listeners
 More difficult than speaking to inform

Types of Persuasive Speeches

Three types of questions give rise to
persuasive speech situations:
Questions of fact
 Questions of value
 Questions of policy

Questions of fact


Deal with occurrences and the reasons that they
have happened, are happening, or will happen in
the future
Examples:


My purpose is to persuade my audience that a major
earthquake will hit California within the next fifteen
years
My purpose is to persuade my audience that automobile
airbags can save thousands of lives over a ten-year
period
Questions of value
A discussion question revolving around the
worth of an object, person, or situation
 Involve facts but go further. They also call
for judgments about right and wrong,
ethical and unethical.
 Example:


My purpose is to persuade my audience that
stem cell research is not morally justifiable
Questions of policy


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Questions that deal with whether certain courses
of action should be taken
Include matters of both fact and value within
themselves, but go beyond them to consider what
should or should not be done.
Example: “What steps should be taken to control
the problem of car theft?”

Demands both that the audience know certain facts
about car theft, and that they consider it wrong. Once
this is established, the speaker can go further to
advocate that one or more solutions be carried out.
Questions of policy

Examples:
My purpose is to show my audience that a
permanent site should be established for the
Olympic Games.
 My purpose is to persuade my listeners that
stricter controls should be placed on genetic
research.

Three sources of persuasion
Persuasion: a means by which one person
can cause another to want to believe, to
think, or to do.
 Aristotle stated that there are three primary
sources by which people can be persuaded:

Pathos
 Ethos
 Logos

Pathos
A listener’s personal needs, drives, and
desires
 Need to analyze the needs of the listeners
 Appeal to their emotions
 Example in advertising:


Making us feel insecure about our
attractiveness or social acceptability and then
offering a solution in the form of a product
Pathos
Sample website using Pathos:
 http://www.rpi.edu/dept/llc/webclass/web/p
roject1/group4/env.html

**From Renesslaer Polytechnic Institute
Pathos
The audience’s attitude towards you and
your topic will fall somewhere on a scale
between “very positive” and “very
negative.”
 Each audience has a different set of needs

Audience Analysis


Learning everything you can about the background, attitudes, and
interests of the people who will listen to you
Questions to ask about the audience:



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Do my audience members already know much about this topic?
What can I tell them about this topic that they do not already know?
Will this topic interest some audience members more than others?
If I take a stand on this issue, will my audience agree with me?
If they do not agree, what interests or needs do they have through which I
might change their minds?
Audience attitudes
Positive audience
 Neutral audience
 Disinterested audience
 Opposed audience


Need to gain their trust and then convince them
of your viewpoint
Positive audience
Need to deepen their feelings
 Like a coach giving a pep talk

Neutral audience
Needs information to make it possible for
them to form an opinion
 A significant amount of factual information
can be convincing
 Use specific examples and experiences
common to most of her listeners

Disinterested audience
Need to light a fire under the listeners
 Show the audience how the topic will affect
them directly


Need to be shown the seriousness of the
problem, the closeness of danger, or the way in
which they will be affected
Opposed audience
Listeners need to be “softened up” to the
point where they will really listen to your
arguments and consider them fairly
 Must present sound arguments to back up
your position

Opposed audience


Sample topic: “Lack of integrity in student
government elections”
Example of a bad opening:

Student politics and student government in this school
are riddled with graft and corruption. The recent
election showed me quite clearly that we cannot trust
either the winners or the losers. In an election where
vote buying occurred and campaign workers tampered
with ballot boxes..
Opposed audience

Example of a better opening:

This school has always had good student leadership. I
think you will agree that since our first year here we
have been fortunate in the people we have elected as
our class officers. I know many of you are dedicated to
good student government here, as I am. I was very
surprised and shocked, therefore, to discover some
irregularities in our recent election process. Please
listen as I recount some facts that have come to my
attention…
Evidence to suit your audience
Type of Audience
Kinds of Evidence
Positive
Narrative, Examples,
Comparisons
Facts, Statistics,
Testimony, Examples
Facts, Statistics
Neutral
Disinterested
Opposed
Narrative, Facts, Statistics,
Examples, Comparisons
Reaching Your Audience Activity
Topic: Driving Age should be raised to 18

List how you would approach this topic for:
Positive audience
 Neutral audience
 Disinterested audience
 Opposed audience
*Use the chart as a guide, and provide specific
examples for each audience.

Ethos


The speaker’s character in the minds of the
audience (including competence, sincerity, and
good will)
Ethos is established by:


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Showing that you are well prepared and competent
By being sincere in what you say
By appearing genuinely interested in your audience
Ethos-Preparation
Frequent use of evidence and supporting
materials
 Referring to your own experience with the
topic

Ethos-Sincerity

Sincerity: the speaker’s motives for
advocating a particular attitude, belief, or
behavior must originate from a genuine
concern for the best interests of the
audience rather than self-interest
Ethos-Genuine Interest in Audience
Show interest and good will toward your
audience
 Complimenting them on their sound judgment,
or reasoning ability
 Common ground technique-identifying
commonalities with listeners
 Humor

Ethos
Sample website using ethos:
 http://www.rpi.edu/dept/llc/webclass/web/p
roject1/group4/commercial.html

**From Renesslaer Polytechnic Institute
Logos
Thinking process that allows the listener to
arrive at logical conclusions
 Need valid evidence and correct reasoning
 Evidence: raw material with which you
prove or support statements
 Reasoning: the process of putting this raw
material into a logical argument

Logos

Building an argument is similar to how a
river is formed
Rivers begin in the mountains and hills in tiny
rivulets and creeks (evidence)
 These creeks and rivulets flow together (the
reasoning process) to form larger streams
 These larger streams then run together to form
a mighty river (the conclusion)

Logos
Sample website using logos:
 http://www.rpi.edu/dept/llc/webclass/web/p
roject1/group4/research.html

**From Renesslaer Polytechnic Institute
Listening for Faulty Reasoning

Logical fallacies: false or faulty methods of
reasoning

Name calling: when a speaker gives a person
or idea a bad label without providing any
evidence to prove what is said. If a speaker
calls someone a liar or a criminal, make sure
they give good reasons for using such labels.
Logical fallacies

Card stacking: the speaker, instead of
presenting all of the important evidence,
tells the audience only those facts that
support the point he or she is trying to
make. Leaves out the bad aspects of the
idea and neglects to point out the benefits
any alternatives might have.
Logical fallacies

Bandwagon technique: The speaker tries
to convince you that because everyone else
is doing something—using a certain
shampoo or voting for a particular
candidate, for example—you should do it
too or you will regret being left out.
Logical fallacies

Glittering generality: a word or phrase that
is so vague that everyone can agree on its
value but no one is really sure exactly what
it means.

Example: “freedom of speech” or “equal
rights”

Interpretation of these phrases depends on the
individual
Logical fallacies

Begging the question: Speakers never
prove the points they are trying to make.
They take it for granted that their ideas are
true without providing proof.

Example: “Brittany is the best president of
student council we ever had. We should reelect
her.”
Logical fallacies

Non sequitur: A Latin phrase meaning “it
does not follow.” May provide evidence to
back up a statement, but if you examine the
evidence you will find that it does not really
prove the point.

Example: Saying you will be a good class
president because of your tennis playing and
cooking skills.
Logical fallacies

Hasty generalization: when the speaker
does not have enough evidence to support
the broad conclusion drawn.

Often uses the words “everyone,” “always,”
“never,” “all the time,” and “nobody.”
Example: Everyone in Philadelphia loves
cheesesteaks.
Ethos, Pathos, and Logos
Activity

In groups, look through your ads. Decide
whether each ad uses pathos, ethos, logos,
or all three. On a separate piece of paper,
list the appeal each ad uses, explain how it
is used, and evaluate if it is effective.
Attach your ads to your paper. Make sure
you put the names of your group on your
paper.
Culminating Activity-Applying
Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

Topic: Driving Age should be raised to
18
Give 2 appeals to ethos-explain
 Give 2 appeals to pathos-explain
 Give 2 appeals to logos-explain
