an analysis of persuasive language used by american

AN ANALYSIS OF PERSUASIVE LANGUAGE USED BY

AMERICAN COACHES IN THE VOICE US

BY

MISS ATTAPINYA MONTREE

AN INDEPENDENT STUDY PAPER SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL

FULFILLMENT OF

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF ARTS IN CAREER ENGLISH FOR

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION

LANGUAGE INSTITUTE

THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY

ACADEMIC YEAR 2017

COPYRIGHT OF THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY

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Independent Study Paper Title AN ANALYSIS OF PERSUASIVE

LANGUAGE USED BY AMERICAN

COACHES IN THE VOICE US

Author Miss Attapinya Montree

Degree Master of Arts

Major Field/Faculty/University Career English for International Communication

Language Institute

Thammasat University

Independent Study Paper Advisor

Academic Years

Associate Professor Sucharat Rimkeeratikul, Ph.D.

2017

ABSTRACT

The purposes of this study were to investigate the persuasive language

and the frequency of each technique used by two American coaches in The Voice US.

The two selected coaches, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton, were found to be using

persuasive techniques to convince the targeted singer in the singing competition

program. The data for the study was the transcribed videos from the official channel

on Youtube. The study employed six persuasive techniques from the New Mexico

Media Literacy Project (2017) to be the framework in the analysis process. The results

of the study showed that all six persuasive techniques were used in the program.

Association was the most used techniques (34.17%) in the program followed by

flattery (27.84%), ad hominem (20.25%), bribery (12.65%), rhetorical question

(3.79%) and fear (1.26%). Shelton employed all of the six techniques while Levine

employed only five techniques excluding fear. Other than this, the findings reveal that

there was not much difference in terms of techniques of persuasion that the two

famous coaches, Shelton and Levine, used.

Keywords: Persuasion, persuasive language, persuasive technique, The Voice US

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation to my

advisor, Associate Professor Dr. Sucharat Rimkeeratikul. This study would have

never been accomplished without her devotion, her valuable advice and her support.

Also, I would like to express my sincere thanks to all lecturers of the

CEIC program for their teaching throughout my two years in the MA program.

Special thanks also go to the staff at the Language Institute. My gratitude is also

extended to all my classmates in every class I attended. Thank you for the two

memorable years.

Finally, I am grateful for the greatest encouragement from my family and

my close friends, without them I would not have made it through these two years

Miss Attapinya Montree

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ABSTRACT i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

LIST OF TABLES v

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background of the study 1

1.2 Research questions 3

1.3 Research objectives 3

1.4 Significance of the study 3

1.5 Definition of terms 3

CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 4

2.1 Related theories 4

2.1.1 Definitions of persuasion 4

2.1.2 Aristotle’s rhetorical proofs 5

2.2 The Voice US 7

2.2.1 The coaches 9

2.2.1.1 Blake Shelton 9

2.2.1.2 Adam Levine 10

2.3 Previous studies 10

2.3.1 Persuasion in politics 10

2.3.2 Persuasion in advertisement 12

2.3.3 Persuasion in court 12

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CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 13

3.1 Data collection 13

3.2 Data analysis 15

3.3 Limitation of the study 17

CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 18

4.1 Results 18

4.1.1 The persuasive language used by two American coaches 18

4.1.2 The frequency of persuasive techniques used in The Voice 26

4.2 Discussion 29

4.2.1 The persuasive techniques used in The Voice 29

4.2.2 The frequency of persuasive techniques used in The Voice 31

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 32

5.1 Summary of the study 32

5.1.1 Objectives of the study 32

5.1.2 Data and procedures 32

5.2 Summary of the findings 33

5.3 Conclusion 33

5.4 Recommendations for further research 34

REFERENCES 36

APPENDIX 38

BIOGRAPHY 67

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LIST OF TABLES

Tables Page

1. The list of videos 14

2. The persuasion techniques framework 15

3. Persuasive technique: Fear 18

4. Persuasive technique: Ad hominem 19

5. Persuasive technique: Association 20

6. Persuasive technique: Rhetorical question 23

7. Persuasive technique: Flattery 24

8. Persuasive technique: Bribery 25

9. The frequency and percentage of persuasive techniques used by Levine 27

10. The frequency and percentage of persuasive techniques used by Shelton 27

11. The frequency and percentage of persuasive techniques used by Levine

and Shelton 28

12. The number of singers who decided to join the team 29

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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

Language is a tool human used in expressing thoughts, emotion and feeling.

Thus, language takes a very important role in communication for different objectives.

To communicate successfully, the sender or the speaker needs to use different

language strategies or techniques according to the objective of each transaction. This

causes language to be divided in many forms and patterns.

Persuasive language is considered a pattern of language that has been widely

used since ancient Greece (Miller, 1980). Referring to Miller, persuasion is any form of

message practiced for shaping, reinforcing, or changing the response of a person

towards an issue. Traced back to the ancient times, persuasive language was firstly

known as “ rhetoric” . According to Aristotle, there are three main rhetorical proofs:

ethos, pathos, and logos which can be described as ethical appeal, emotional appeal

and the appeal to logic ( Larson, 2001) . In the past, it was mostly used in court and

politics. Nowadays persuasive language has been used in varied contexts such as

politics, society, courts and advertisements (Budiani, 2014). Each section uses almost

similar techniques as a tool to achieve different goals.

In politics, the use of persuasive language are aimed to convince the voters to

vote or to make people accept the politics and also when politicians are answering the

journalists (Nourali, 2016). The language of advertising uses effective illustration and

contains special powers that are easily understood and change the buyer’s behavior to

draw attention to a product or service (Budiani, 2014) . In the courtroom, the lawyers

educate the jury about the situation through the opening statement. The persuasive

language will be used in this opening statement to make the jury understand that the

clients are right ( Supardi, 2016) . Many studies about persuasion were conducted by

using political speech and advertising as a source. Ilyas (2013) studied the persuasive

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strategies in political discourse by using the content in the political party’ s official

Facebook pages. Nourali (2016) focused on persuasive techniques by comparing the

speeches of Dr.Rouhani, a former Iranian president, and Mr.Obama, a former U.S.

president. Budiani (2014) examined the persuasive techniques used in Maybelline and

L’Oreal cosmetics advertisements.

Our daily lives are packed with the messages that change or influence our

thoughts (Perloff, 2010) . Apart from political speech and commercials, TV programs

such as The Voice also show the use of persuasion.

The Voice US is an American television singing competition broadcast on

NBC channel. The program is aimed to find currently unsigned singers. Four coaches

will be employed to review the performances, forming their own team and guide their

member to be the winner of the program. Each season begins with the “ Blind

Auditions” part, in which the coaches can only listen to the artist’s performance. If a

coach is interested in an artist, the coach will press the button to show the selection

and turn around to see the artist. At the end of the performance, if more than one

coach presses the button, an artist is authorized to choose to be in any team of coaches

who turned around. Blind audition is the part where the coaches persuade the artist to

choose them by using different persuasive language strategies.

Therefore, the current study aims to study the persuasive techniques used by

two selected coaches in the singing competition program, The Voice. The data will be

transcribed from 18 videos (season 11 – season 14) focusing on the “ Blind Audition”

part where the two coaches, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton, persuade the singer.

Firstly, the persuasive techniques will be analyzed according to the persuasive

techniques framework developed from the list of persuasion techniques created by the

New Mexico Media Literacy Project (2007). The next part will be the comparison

between the frequencies of persuasive strategies that are used by the two selected

coaches.

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1.2 Research Questions

1. What were the persuasive language techniques used by the two American

coaches in The Voice US during the Blind Audition part?

2. Among the persuasive techniques, which of them was most used by the

two coaches?

3.

1.3 Research Objectives

1. To study the persuasive language techniques used by the coaches in The

Voice US.

2. To compare the frequency of each of the techniques that are used by the

coaches.

1.4 Significance of the Study

The analysis of persuasive language used in The Voice may help expand the

knowledge about persuasion. The studies about persuasive techniques mostly employ

the data in advertisement and political fields, however, the study of persuasion in

entertainment is rarely found. The current paper can increase the literature for

references in English for specific purposes such as persuasion in communication.

1.5 Definition of Terms

1. Persuasive language = verbal language used by the coaches to persuade

and convince the singer to choose them as a personal coach.

2. Coach = a person who is responsible for choosing his or her own team

member and train them for the competition in each round.

3. Singer = the participant in the singing competition, The Voice US.

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CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This chapter consists of three main parts: ( 1) related theories; definition of

persuasion; and rhetorical proofs, ( 2) The Voice US and the judgments, and ( 3)

previous studies about persuasion.

2.1 Related Theories

3.1.1 Definitions of Persuasion

In the past decade, many researchers have conducted studies about persuasive

language with various types of sources. The definitions of persuasion are also varied.

Persuasive communication is the message that is employed to shape, reinforce, or

change the reaction of a person towards something (Roloff & Miller, 1980) . Larson

(2001) pointed out that persuasion does not attempt to force others to take an action

but rather to drive them to consider taking the action by giving them good logical,

emotional, and cultural reasons. Perloff (2010, p.12) defined persuasion as “a symbolic

process in which communicators try to convince other people to change their attitudes

of behaviors regarding an issue through the transmission of a message in an

atmosphere of free choice. ” Persuasion is also related to the successful intentional

effort at influencing other parties by communicating under the condition that the

persuadee still has freedom to decide ( O’ Keefe, 2002) . According to O’ Keefe

persuasion occurs when the following features of persuasion are observed: the

successful attempt to influence is embedded, the goal and the intent to reach that goal

exists, the persuadee has freedom to react, persuasion is achieved through one

communication with another and persuasion involves a change in decision making of

the persuadee. Bettinghaus and Cody ( 1987, p.3) also said that “persuasion is a

conscious attempt to change the attitudes, beliefs, or behavior of another individual

through the transmission of some message.” Pilantha-Owat ( as cited in Kringram,

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2012) described the main points of persuasion which can be summarized as the

following:

1. The persuader must have some influence on the receiver.

2. The one who is persuaded always has more than one option, but the

persuader tries to convince the persuadee to choose the persuader’s option.

3. The persuader wants to change or create the opinion, attitude, or belief of

the one who will be persuaded which also have an effect on the other

factors such as emotion and behavior.

The ability to persuade has been developed together with the language

learning process. Humans have a good capability in convincing others to internalize

and accept the new argument as a part of their belief (Budiani, 2014).

Although persuasion is defined in different ways by scholars, all share the

same components which are the attempt to change the opinion or attitude of

persuader, the message as an intermediary, and the freedom to make a decision by the

persuadee. In this paper, the focus will be placed solely on the message used by the

persuader.

3.1.2 Aristotle’s rhetorical proofs

The study of persuasion was firstly recognized in ancient Greece. The Greek

philosophers were considered the first to systemize the use of persuasion and call it

“ Rhetoric” ( Larson, 2001) . Among the ancient theorists, Aristotle is the one who

developed the basic system of rhetoric. Rhetoric was defined by Aristotle as “ the

faculty of observing in any given case, the available means of persuasion. ” (Larson,

2001) . Hart (1997) described rhetoric as the means by which people persuade others

about a point of view and narrow choices amongst alternatives. In Aristotle’s day, the

inhabitant need to represent their interests before the Greek courts and that caused

persuasion or rhetorical techniques to be necessary to be taught ( Larson, 2001) and

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that requires practicing in the art of public persuasion. “Rhetoric” was taught in school

and was applied for some legal proceedings. By observing many speakers, Aristotle

found that persuasion consists of artistic and inartistic proofs (Larson, 2001). Artistic

proofs are those controlled by the persuader, such as the way to deliver the message,

the organization of the message, or the evidence for supporting the idea. While

inartistic proofs are something that could not be controlled by the speaker, such as

time and occasion. The successful use of persuasive language is based on the three

basic types of artistic proof.

Firstly, persuasion depends on ethos or a source’s credibility. H ig g in s and

Walker (2012) wrote that Ethos emphasises the persuasiveness of the speaker ’s

character, including the credibility and trustworthiness. The speaker develops ethos by

making himself a credible source and worth listening to. Before doing the speech, all

speakers, known or unknown, are perceived in some way. The audience will draw

certain conclusions about the speaker based on appearance, other nonverbal messages

or the additional characteristics such as vocal quality, word choice, eye contact, and

so on will become apparent as the speech is delivered (Larson, 2001).

Secondly, pathos or the use of emotional appeals. The use of pathos arouses

the emotion and the feelings of the audiences (Higgins & Walker, 2012). The language

of the speaker can trigger the listener’ s feelings ( anger, fear, shame, pity, etc. )

(Poulakos & Poulakos, 1999) The aim of pathos is to reduce the audience’s ability to

judge.

Lastly, logos or the idea of using logical appeals is the last main technique that

can bring success in the use of persuasion (Larson, 1995). It refers to the clarity and

completeness of the argument (Higgins & Walker, 2012). Also, the means to convince

an audience by use of logic and reason . Larson (2001) stated that “The use of logos

relies on the ability to process statistical data, examples, or testimony in logical ways

and to arrive at some conclusion.”

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According to Archuleta (2016), both in speaking and writing, we tend to

persuade someone by using rhetoric which includes the three pillars of persuasion:

ethos, logos, pathos. As well, the two coaches do in The Voice US. The use of the

first element, Ethos, can be observed when a coach raises an issue about their winning

credibility. In The Voice season 11, Blake Shelton mentioned that “…I’ve been

coaching and doing this show for a long time … and interestingly enough, he hasn’t

won this as many times. I won this show with Southern rockers. I have won this show

with country artists...” (The Voice, 2016)

The use of pathos or an appeal to emotion also appears in the same season

when Shelton talked to the singer “… you got a wide-open lane in front of you, dude,

and the only problem you have is you’re about to pick the wrong coach.” (The Voice,

2016). Shelton attempted to evoke the negative emotion. In this case, he uses the fear

or failure to persuade the singer to choose him.

The use of logos in The Voice is mostly seen by the mentioning about facts. In

The Voice season 14, Adam Levine talked to Drew Cole about the fact that he used to

cover the same song to get the attention and show that both of them have something in

common. “I don’t know if you know I did a cover of that song that was very similar to

that. And I like to think that maybe it had something to do with the cover that I did.”

(The Voice, 2018)

As Larson (2011, p.54) has stated, although Aristotle’s modes of persuasion

were developed in ancient Greece but “the ideas still apply in today’s complex world

of persuasion, so it is useful to explore them more closely”

2.2 The Voice US

The Voice is an American singing competition originated from The Voice of

Holland. In 2010, NBC announced it under the name of The Voice of America, then it

was changed into the shortened form as The Voice. The first season of the program

began airing on April 2011. So far there are 13 completed seasons and the fourteenth

season was premiered on February 2018. The purpose of the series is to find an

unsigned singing talent contested by aspiring singers, either solo or duets,

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professional and amateur. The winner is determined by viewers voting. The judges are

the famous singers who also work as a coach who train their team members through

the final round. The coaches also compete to be the winning coach of the season. The

series employs a panel of four different coaches in each season. At present, there are

12 members of the coaching panel, however, the two coaches, Adam Levine and

Blake Shelton have been with the show since the start in season 1.

The show’s format features five rounds of competition: blind audition, battle

rounds, knockout rounds, playoff rounds, and the final live performance.

Each season begins with the “ Blind Auditions,” in which coaches form their

team of 8-12 singers. In this round, the coaches make decisions based solely on a

singer’s voice by facing towards the audience during the performance. If the coaches

are interested in an artist, then they can swivel the chair to see the singer. In case there

is more than one coach turn around, the singer will have the power to choose the

coach. If no coach turns, the artist will be eliminated from the competition. It is in the

Blind Auditions rounds that the researcher observed the use of persuasion by coaches

to convince the singer to choose them.

Once the teams are set, the next round will be the “ Battle Rounds.” After

guiding the members and helping them develop their singing skills, each coach pairs

two of his or her to sing the same song together. After the performance, the coach

must choose only one singer to perform in the next round.

In the “Knockout Rounds”, a pair of singers will be selected to sing against the

teammate once more, but they will not know their partner until a few minutes prior to

the performance and in this round, the singers will be able to select their own songs to

perform individually. At the conclusion, the coaches will decide which one of each

pair gets to move on to the playoff rounds.

In the next round, “ Playoff Rounds” , the remaining singers must compete to

keep a place in the live shows. The coaches will be able to select the singers to

perform in the final round of competition.

In the final round of competition, the audiences can vote for their favorite

singers. The singers with the lowest votes will be eliminated. The audiences and the

coaches have the equal right to vote for a singer to move on to the final four phases.

In the finale, the only one remaining in each team has to compete against each other

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and the score is counted solely by the vote from the audience. In the end, only one

singer will be named “The winner of The Voice” and the coach will be named the

winning coach as well.

2.2.1 The coaches

In each season, four singers are engaged to be the judges of The Voice. Since

season 1 in 2011 until season 14 in 2018, the program has hired 12 singers to be the

coaches, namely Adam Levine, CeeLo Green, Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton,

Shakira, Usher, Gwen Stefani, Pharrell Williams, Miley Cyrus, Alicia Keys, Jennifer

Hudson, and Kelly Clarkson. However, in this paper, the researcher focuses solely on

the persuasive language used by the two male coaches, Adam Levine and Blake

Shelton as they have been with the program since the first airing in 2011 and they are

considered the only coaches to compete in every season (Davidson, 2017).

2.2.1.1 Blake Shelton

Blake Tollison Shelton is an American country singer, songwriter and

television personality. He was born in Ada, Oklahoma, on June 18, 1976. Shelton is

also known as a judge for other singing competition programs, such as Nashville Star,

Clash of the Choirs. He was a star and become well known from his song “Austin”

which, in 2001, rose to number one on the Country Billboard for five weeks. Many of

his songs topped the country music charts since he released his first album in 2001.

He was proved to be a famous singer by the list of his awards such as the 2017's Top

Country Artist at the Billboard Music Awards and the Billboard's most played country

artist of 2017. He's also the People's Choice Award winner for Favorite Male Country

Artist in 2017, and the first country artist ever to win the all-genre Favorite Album

category. He's also a five-time CMA Male Vocalist of the Year winner (in 2010 -

2014). (Erlewine, 2017)

In early 2007, Shelton was the commentator on Nashville Star and

Clash of the Choirs singing competitions. Four years after, in 2011, when The Voice

first broadcasted, Shelton became a judge on the competition and has been with the

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program since then. In six of thirteen seasons (season 2, 3, 4, 7, 11, and 13), the

members of his team have won making Shelton the most winning coach of the show.

2.2.1.2 Adam Levine

Adam Noah Levine is an American singer, songwriter, actor, and

record producer. He was born on March 18, 1979. He became well known as the lead

singer of a band named Maroon 5. Maroon 5 earned their first Grammy Award (Best

New Artist) in 2004. The band would go on to win Grammys for Best Pop

Performance in 2005 and 2007. His success includes several chart-topping hits and

gold and platinum albums. He was chosen to be the judge for the reality singing show,

“The Voice”, in the first season in 2011. Up to the present, three out of fourteen

winners of the program are all on his team. Maroon 5 won the Grammy Award for

best new artist in 2004, and the song “This Love” took the 2005 Grammy for best pop

performance by a duo or group with vocals. Two years after, in 2007, a single “Makes

Me Wonder,” won the Grammy Award for best pop performance. (Bauer, 2018)

2.3 Previous Studies

The previous studies about persuasion can be divided into three major groups

which differ from the source of data; persuasive language in politics, persuasive

language in advertisement and persuasive language in court.

2.3.1 Persuasion in Politics

Alkhirbash (2010) conducted a study about persuasive language in the speeches

of the fourth prime minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad. He

analyzed the speeches to identify the rhetorical devices and speech acts Dr Mahathir

used to convince the audiences. Alkhirbash found that the logical, emotional and

ethical devices are used by the Prime Minister during his speech. Moreover, Dr.

Mahathir also used assertives and directives devices to support the facts and stimulate

the response from his audiences.

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Kringram ( 2012) analyzed the persuasive strategies used by Miss Yingluck

Shinawatra and Mister Abhisit Vejjajiva in their general election campaign speeches

and studied the similarities and differences in the use of persuasive strategies in the

election campaign speeches of the two people. The result found that Miss Shinawatra

used the presenting gender equality strategy to present herself as the first female

candidate for Prime Minister of Thailand. She also used her feminine gender through

speech acts of promising and requesting strategies to assure actions she would do if

elected. Miss Shinawatra also gave proof of reference to Pol. Lt. Col. Thaksin

Shinawatra in oreder to win acceptance, which is different from Mister Vejjajiva who

gave proof of past success and well-known people to support his party’ s policies.

Moreover, Mister Vejjajiva used rhetorical questions which are found less in Miss

Shinawatra’ s speeches. Mister Vejjajiva used speech acts of assertion rather than

speech acts of requesting. In conclusion, the study revealed the factors; gender,

political experience, social status, places where they made speeches, and the length of

those speeches, which influenced the use of persuasive strategies.

Ilyas (2013) studied the persuasive strategies in political discourse by using the

content in the political party’s official Facebook pages. Ilyas selected 10 persuasive

techniques created by the Media Literacy Project as a framework. The findings

revealed that all 10 persuasive techniques were found in the Facebook pages and the

result shows that the Pakistan political parties become aware of the importance of the

social media in promoting their policy. Thus, Facebook pages are another alternative

channel in conveying their messages and getting the people’s interest as well as other

ways of communication.

Nourali (2016) focused on persuasive techniques by comparing the speeches of

Dr. Rouhani, a former Iranian president, and Mr. Obama, the former U.S. president.

The results show that they use similar techniques when they are giving a speech, but

the persuasive strategies appeared more in Dr. Rouhani’s speeches. While Dr. Rouhani

mainly employed alliteration technique, Mr. Obama uses metaphor most often.

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2.3.2 Persuasion in Advertisement

Budiani ( 2014) examined the persuasive techniques used in Maybelline and

L’ Oreal cosmetics advertisements. The data was collected from English language

presented by the presenters. The findings show the use of persuasive techniques as

follows; suggestion, rationalization, identification and conformity. The results also

show the modes of persuasion of Aristotle’s theory; personal characteristics, put the

audience into a certain frame of mind, and use of evidence.

2.3.3 Persuasion in Court

Supardi (2016) analyzed the text of the opening Statement by O.J. Simpson’s

defense lawyer to examine how language can become persuasive in the courtroom.

Supardi adopted the model of Miles and Huberman ( 1994) for the data analysis

process. The findings and discussion revealed that the power of language in the

courtroom can be reflected through the use of persuasive features such as metaphor,

repetition, and rhetorical question.

A speech is like an effective weapon if it is effectively given and the persuader

is prepared to present arguments. Many researches on persuasive techniques in

politician’s speeches have been carried out (e.g., Alkhirbash, 2010; Kringram, 2012;

Ilyas, 2013; Nourali, 2016) as well as the studies about persuasive techniques in

advertisement (e.g., Budiani, 2014). However, almost all of the studies focused on the

persuasive language employed in politics and advertisement. There is little research

about persuasion in TV programs like The Voice in which the use of persuasive

language is observed. Due to the limitation of time the coaches need to use various

language strategies of persuasion to convince the singer to select them. The researcher

is interested in these techniques used by each coach because it shows the power of

persuasive language that can change people’s minds and thoughts.

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CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter describes the methodology used in the study. The details are

divided into three parts: (1) data collection, (2) data analysis and (3) limitation of the

study.

The study is based on the qualitative research paradigm. According to Mason

(2002), by using qualitative approach the researcher can explore the wider dimensions

of the social world, including people’s daily life, the understandings, experiences and

imaginings of the research participants, the ways that social processes, institutions,

relationships work, and the significance of the meanings that were generated.

3.1 Data Collection

The current study aims to examine the verbal persuasive techniques used by

two selected coaches in a singing competition program named The Voice US. The

data will be collected from the ‘ blind audition’ part which shows the verbal

persuasion used by the coaches of the competition. The researcher focuses solely on

the speech of t h e two American coaches, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton. The

reasons for choosing these two coaches are that both have been judges for the

competition since the beginning in season 1 in 2011 until the current season (season

14) in 2018. The two chairs between Levine and Shelton have been changing since

Season 4, but both of them have refused to give up their seats. “Considering they are

the only coaches to compete in every season.” (Davidson, 2017). Out of 14 seasons,

both are 100% appearing on the TV program and that is convenient for data

collection. Also, both of them have coached several of the winners and it increases

their credibility for being the judges. Adam Levine has coached 3 of the 13 winners

while Blake Shelton has coached 6 of the 13 winners. Many of the contestants would

like to be their team member. (Davidson, 2017)

The raw data are the videos uploaded by the official Youtube channel of The

Voice US. As the ability to access the older video is limited, the researcher can

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d o w n lo a d the Blind Audition video from season 11 – season 14. The criteria for

selecting the video is that there must be only Levine and Shelton (out of 4 coaches)

who show interest by hitting the button and turn the chair to the singer. In total, there

are 18 videos that are used for the current study as shown in the table below.

Table 1. The List of Videos

Video

No. Broadcast Date Artist Song

1 September 19, 2016 Sundance Head I’ve Been Loving You Too

Long

2 September 19, 2016 Riley Elmore The Way You Look Tonight

3 September 20, 2016 Ethan Tucker Roxanne

4 September 20, 2016 Andrew DeMuro Vienna

5 September 26, 2016 Bindi Liebowitz Bust Your Windows

6 October 3, 2016 Johnny Rez Iris

7 March 2, 2017 Julien Martinez Pride and Joy

8 March 6, 2017 Gaby Borromeo Happy

9 March 13, 2017 TSoul Take Me to the River

10 October 9, 2017 Dennis

Drummond She Talks to Angels

11 February 26, 2018 Drew Cole Sex and Candy

12 February 27, 2018 Davison To Love Somebody

13 March 6, 2018 WILKES One Headlight

14 March 12, 2018 Stephanie Skipper Piece by Piece

15 March 12, 2018 Bransen Ireland Tulsa Time

(Continue)

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Table 1. The List of Videos (Continued)

Video

No.

Broadcast Date Artist Song

16 March 12, 2018 Jordan

Kirkdorffer In Case You Didn’t Know

17 March 12, 2018 Gary Edwards What’s Going On

18 March 13, 2018 Genesis Diaz Praying

3.2 Data Analysis

Once the video is downloaded, the verbal persuasion between the coaches and

the singer will be transcribed in dialog pattern precisely. The researcher will start

collecting data from the period when the coaches start talking to the singer after the

performance until the end of the blind audition round, when the singer selects the

coach. The researcher is considered the primary instrument of data collection and

data analysis: the transcribed data will be analyzed focusing on the language strategies

that aim to convince the singer. The six persuasive techniques developed from the list

of persuasion techniques created by the New Mexico Media Literacy Project (2017), a

media literacy organization found in 1993 in the United States, will be employed as a

framework in this process. The result of the study was verified by the advisor before

presentation in Chapter 4.

Table 2. The Techniques of Persuasive Framework

1. Association

This technique tries to link an idea with something already

liked or desired by the target audience, such as fun, pleasure,

security, intimacy, success, wealth, etc. This process is

known as emotional transfer: Several of the persuasion

techniques below, like Beautiful people, Warm & fuzzy,

Symbols and Nostalgia, are specific types of association.

(Continue)

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Table 2. The Techniques of Persuasive Framework (Continued)

2. Fear

This is the opposite of the Association technique. It uses

something disliked or feared by the intended audience

(failure, lose) to promote a “solution.” The speaker uses fear

to offer a choice that claim to prevent or fix the problem.

3. Flattery

Persuaders love to flatter us. Sometimes a speaker speaks

directly to us: “You know a good deal when you see one.”

“You expect quality.” “You work hard for a living.” “You

deserve it.” Sometimes they flatter us by showing people

doing stupid things, so that we’ll feel smarter or superior.

4. Bribery

This technique tries to persuade us by promising to give us

something else, like a discount, a rebate, a coupon, or a “free

gift.” Sales, special offers, contests, and sweepstakes are all

forms of bribery.

5. Rhetorical

questions

These are questions designed to get us to agree with the

speaker. They are set up so that the “correct” answer is

obvious. (“Do you want to be a winner?” “Do you want to

have your own concert?” are all rhetorical questions.)

Rhetorical questions are used to build trust and alignment

before the main idea of message pitch.

6. Ad hominem

Latin for “against the man,” the ad hominem technique

responds to an argument by attacking the opponent instead of

addressing the argument itself. It’s also called “attacking the

messenger.” It works on the belief that if there’s something

wrong or objectionable about the messenger, the message

must also be wrong.

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The six persuasive techniques above can be divided into three aspects: fear

and ad hominem are considered negative aspects, association and rhetorical questions

are neutral, and flattery and bribery are the positive techniques.

Apart from the framework created by New Mexico Media Literacy Project

(2017), Supardi (2016) found the use of repetition and rhetorical question as

persuasive techniques in the opening statement of the lawyer in courtroom. Ilyas

(2013) studied the political discourse in a political party’s official Facebook pages and

the result shows that the politician uses bribery and ad-hominem techniques to

persuade the public.

Once the data was analyzed according to the provided framework, the

frequency of the six persuasion techniques appearing in the speech will be compared

to answer the second objective of the study, to discover the highest frequency

techniques used by the two coaches in The Voice US.

3.3 Limitation of the study

This current paper is conducted using only 18 videos of The Voice US from

season 11 (2016) – season 14 (2018) due to the restriction in accessing the video from

the official channel of The Voice in www.youtube.com. The results of the study may

solely be able to represent the use of persuasive language among the entertainment

context, however, the finding may lead to the expansion in studying persuasive

language in some other context that share the same characteristics as The Voice.

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CHAPTER 4

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

The previous chapter explained the data collection and data analysis process

that lead to the result presented in this chapter. In chapter 4, the results will be

presented in two parts according to the objective of the study: (1) The persuasive

language used by two American coaches, (2) The percentage of each techniques that

are employed. Then the discussion based on the result of the current study will be

presented at the end of the chapter.

4.1 Results

4.1.1 The persuasive language used by the two male coaches.

By using the persuasive techniques framework of the New Mexico Media

Literacy Project (2017). The researcher found that all six techniques, namely fear, ad

hominem, association, rhetorical question, flattery, and bribery are used by the two

male coaches as shown in the tables below.

Table 3. Persuasive Technique: Fear

Levine

- - -

Total 0

Shelton And the only problem you have is you’re

about to pick the wrong coach. Video 2 1

Total 1

Table 3 shows the use of fear techniques by the coaches. Levine does not use

this technique while Shelton uses fear technique one time in Video 2.

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Table 4. Persuasive Technique: Ad hominem

Levine

I am so sick of this genre thing that he

does. Video 1 1

He’s gonna talk a lot about his

friendship with Michael Buble. And it

shouldn’t mean much because—

because that’s the only thing he can do.

But he doesn’t understand there’s about

a million singers that I’m sure you love.

Video 2 1

Oh, good. That’s nowhere near where

Blake lives. Video 3 1

That song’s called “Vienna,” Blake, and

you did not know that. Video 4 1

Like, don’t be fooled by the dimples

and the passion and – it’s all a lie. Video 7 1

He’s gonna be, like, “What do you want

to do?” and all this kind of crap. Video 10 1

Ladies and gentlemen, Court Jester

Blake Shelton. Video 11 1

He has won many, many times with

people who are not country singers, so

what does that mean? What that means

is, Jordan, is that you can win being on

my team, is what that means.

Video 16 1

No, you don’t get it. That’s why you’re

not gonna be his coach. Video 17 1

Oh, no! No. He’s disqualified.

I was the spark, and Blake came

smoldering after.

Video 18 2

Total 11

(Continue)

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Table 4. Persuasive Technique: Ad hominem (Continued)

Shelton

‘Cause his track record sucks compared

to my track record. Video 4 1

And interestingly enough, he hasn’t

won this as many times. Video 5 1

You probable can win this thing, and it

would be a shame to see somebody

screw that up for you like Adam.

Video 8 1

You probably won’t have much

competition on Adam’s team when it

comes to country artists.

Video 15 1

You should know that, at least that

much about country music. Video 16 1

Total 5

Table 4 reveals the use of Ad hominem techniques. Levine uses this technique

11 times. In Videos 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 10, 11, 16, and 17 he uses Ad hominem technique

once in each video and in Video 18 he uses it twice. While Shelton uses this technique

only 5 times in total in Videos 4, 5, 8, 15, and 16.

Table 5. Persuasive Technique: Association

Levine

There’s a soft spot in my heart for that

song. I sing that song like once a week.

But he doesn’t understand there’s about a

million singers that I’m sure you love.

Tony Benett, Frank Sinatra.

Video 2 2

I think that musically, we get along. Video 3 1

I love Billy Joel.

I actually got to sing with him at the

Hollywood Bowl last summer.

Video 4 2

(Continue)

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Table 5. Persuasive Technique: Association (Continued)

Levine

Listen, I think there was one falsetto

thing that you need a little bit of

refinement on. I’m, like, Captain

Falsetto.

Video 6 1

California. I’m from California.

These California boys, like, belong

together, man.

Video 7 2

I understand it. I’ve been through it, and I

would love nothing more than to help

you get to the top of that mountain,

because it’s exactly what I went thought

in my life and in my career

Video 8 1

The song, “She Talks to Angels,” is one

of those songs – From the album “Shake

Your Money Maker.” Their big hit was a

cover of Otis

You didn’t play that song in the way he

tuned it to open-E, did you? I do it all the

time. It’s really fun to, like, tune it to

that.

Video 10 2

I don’t know if you know I did a cover of

that song that was very similar to that. Video 11 1

Total 12

Shelton

Hey. There was a little bit of, like some

Travis Tritt, some Chris Stapleton, some

Ronnie Milsap, and a little bit of

Southern rock in there, too, man.

Video 1 1

(Continue)

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Shelton

Riley, if I could come back as somebody,

I want to come back as Dean Martin.

He’s my hero. His talent, his personality,

his drinking – all of that. It’s like, man, I

want to be that guy!

Anyway, yeah, I love Michael Buble, and

he is about the only one left doing it

anymore and look at the guy. He’s selling

out arenas. He sells 8 or 9 million albums

a year.

Video 2 2

I do have some serious connections in the

reggae/ska world these days. Video 3 1

And I work in California a lot. Video 7 1

But I know you’re a Nashville guy. It’s

an interesting community. Video 10 1

I do see a cowboy hat on your head. Video 11 1

First of all, I love that song. It’s an old

Bee Gees record.

And then find out that you’re from Little

Rock, Arkansas, man. I have eaten at

many –…many a Taco Bell in Little

Rock, Arkansas.

Video 12 2

And I just feel like there’s a lot of – lot of

connections that we have here that seems

like this is a no-brainer to me.

Video 14 1

By the way, Brett Young is a country

artist. He’s from down here in Orange

Country, California.

Anyway, you were putting in that little

George Strait break in your voice.

Video 16 2

(Continue)

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Shelton

That’s my neck of the woods right there.

Okay. I live on Lake Texoma, just north

of Dallas.

And I would love to have the opportunity

to work with you, because we got to keep

our Texoma crowd together.

Video 17 3

Total 15

Table 5 shows the use of the third technique, association. Levine uses

association technique in Videos 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, and 11 which equals to 12 times in

total. Shelton uses association technique 15 times in total, which can be found in

Videos 1, 2, 3, 7, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, and 17.

Table 6. Persuasive Technique: Rhetorical question

Levine

You really want to be with a guy like that

who has nothing to prove? Video 5 1

Diaz, well, you want to be with a leader

or a follower? Video 18 1

Total 2

Shelton You want to be with the champ? I mean,

why would you want to do that? Video 5 1

Total 1

Table 6 indicates the rhetorical question used by the two male coaches. In

Video 5 and Video 18, Levine uses this technique only once in each video. The total

result is equal to 2 times. While Shelton uses rhetorical question only once in Video 5.

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Table 7. Persuasive Technique: Flattery

Levine

You made a raggae-infused rock-’n’-roll

tune more reggae. That was cool. Video 3 1

You have that joy in singing that I really

love to hear and feel, so awesome job,

dude.

Video 4 1

You have a really rich, emotional tone,

and you stayed really, really strong and

consistent, and so that showed me that

you can really be a competitor.

Video 6 1

I think that you can win “The Voice” like

no problem. Video 8 1

Yo, you are a special man.

Because the way you do it is extremely

unique to you, and that’s the kind of

person that can win this thing.

Video 9 2

You were singing it your way, and it was

really cool. Video 10 1

You sing the lights out without even

really trying. Video 11 1

You held out that “One headlight” – That

was perfect. Video 13 1

Your performance was beautiful. Video 16 1

You have no idea how good that was. Video 17 1

You are amazing. Video 18 1

Total 12

Shelton

And finally, by the end of the song, I was

like, “This is – This is incredible.”

I don’t know who you’re gonna pick. I

hope that it’s me ‘cause you’re gonna

bring an element that I think we need.

Video 3 2

I love I.T. guys that are very creative and

musical. Video 6 1

(Continue)

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Table 7. Persuasive Technique: Flattery (Continued)

Shelton

You have the greatest scream in the

music industry. Video 7 1

It started out good, and it got even better.

And by the end of it, that was an

incredible performance.

Video 8 1

Thank you for bringing that here for us,

man… ‘cause it’s so good, dude. So

good.

Video 9 1

Anyway, man, I love the fact that you

play guitar, I love the fact that you’re a

Nashville guy. You got a good, solid,

deep, growly, rock-’n’-roll voice.

Video 10 1

And the way you navigate your vocals

through that song was unbelievable. Video 11 1

There’s something so vintage about your

voice, man, that I just think it’s magical Video 12 1

Diaz, I have one spot left on my team,

and wouldn’t be possible for me to be

happier for you to be the person who

completes Team Blake this season.

Video 18 1

Total 10

Table 7 shows the uses of flattery technique. Levine uses this technique 12

times in total in Videos 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 16, 17, and 18. Shelton uses flattery

technique 10 times in total. He uses this technique twice in Video 3 and uses it once in

Videos 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 18.

Table 8. Persuasive Technique: Bribery

Levine

And if you’re on my team, we’re gonna

do a whole lot of different, and I think

that’s what’s gonna make you really

succeed on this show.

Video 1 1

(Continue)

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Table 8. Persuasive Technique: Bribery (Continued)

Levine

I can do an amazing job for you. I really

can. Video 7 1

All of things and dreams and aspirations

that you want, I want to help bring those

things to life.

Video 12 1

You’ll have an advantage on my team. Video 15 1

Total 4

Shelton

So, man, you got a wide-open lane in

front of you, dude. Video 2 1

I do have some serious connections in

the reggae/ska world these days. …that I

might be able to help you with.

Video 3 1

All I can do is just shine a spotlight on

you. That’s why I want to be your coach. Video 4 1

If I got you on my team, I would love to

protect you and keep anybody else like

you from being on my team.

Video 5 1

I’m telling you right now, you will be the

centerpiece of Team Blake. That is my

word to you.

Video 12 1

There’s a wide-open lane for somebody

that sounds like you on my team. Video 13 1

Total 6

Table 8 reveals the use of bribery technique. Levine used this technique once

in Videos 1, 7, 12, and 15, which equals 4 in total. Shelton uses bribery technique 6

times in total, which appear in Videos 2, 3, 4, 5, 12 and 13. 4.1.2 The frequency of persuasive techniques used in The Voice

In order to convince the singer, all six persuasive techniques are used by the

coaches. However, the frequency of each technique applied in the singing competition

is different. The result in the table below demonstrates the frequency and percentage

of each technique that is used by each coach.

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Table 9. The Frequency and Percentage of Persuasive Techniques used by Levine

Persuasive Technique Levine

Frequency Percentage

Association 12 29.27%

Flattery 12 29.27%

Ad hominem 11 26.83%

Bribery 4 9.75%

Rhetorical question 2 4.88%

Fear 0 0%

Total 41 100%

Table 9 reveals the result of frequency and percentage of persuasive used by

Levine in The Voice US. The most frequency techniques are association and flatter,

which scored up to 29.27%, equivalent to 12 times out of 41. The second and third

frequently used technique ad hominem and bribery, which scored up to 26.83% and

9.75% respectively.

Table 10. The Frequency and Percentage of Persuasive Techniques used by

Shelton

Persuasive Technique Shelton



Flattery 10 26.32%

(Continue)

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Table 10. The Frequency and Percentage of Persuasive Techniques used by

Shelton (Continued)

Persuasive Technique Shelton


Bribery 6 15.79%

Ad hominem 5 13.16%

Fear 1 2.63%


Total 38 100%

According to Table 10, the most frequently used techniques are association,

which added up to 39.47%, equivalent to 15 times out of 38. The second and third

frequently used techniques are flattery and bribery, which scored up to 26.32% and

15.79% respectively.

Table 11. The Frequency and Percentage of Persuasive Techniques used by Levine

and Shelton

Persuasive Technique Levine and Shelton



Flattery 22 27.84%

Ad hominem 16 20.25%

Bribery 10 12.65%


Fear 1 1.26%

Total 79 100%

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Table 11 reveals the overall frequency and percentage of persuasive

techniques that are used by Levine and Shelton. The frequency of persuasive

techniques used by both of them equals 79. The percentage of persuasive techniques

used the most is association, which equals 34.17%, or equivalent to 27 times out of

79. The second and third frequently used techniques are flattery and ad hominem,

which is equal to 27.84% and 20.25% respectively, or equivalent to 22 and 16 times

out of 79.

Table 12. The number of singers who decided to join the team

Team Number of Singer Percentage

Adam Levine 10 55.56%

Blake Shelton 8 44.44%

Total 18 100%

Table 12 reveals the number of singers in each coach’s team. Out of 18 videos

which are the data for this current paper, there are 10 videos showing 10 singers who

decided to join Levine’s team. The percentage equal to 55.56%. On the other hand,

there are 8 videos showing 8 singers who chose to join Shelton’s team, which is equal

to 44.44%.

4.2 Discussions

This section discusses the implications of the results concerning the interesting

issues of the persuasive techniques that are used in The Voice and the different

frequency of each technique applied by the two male coaches.

4.2.1 The persuasive techniques used in The Voice

The results reveal that the six persuasive techniques namely fear, ad hominem,

association, rhetorical question, flattery, and bribery can also be used to convince the

audiences in an entertainment context like The Voice US. The framework developed

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from the persuasive techniques of the New Mexico Media Literacy Project (2017)

briefly illustrates the definition and the style of each technique. However, the

researcher found that each technique will be adapted by the speaker when it is used in

different context. The discussion below shows the in-depth aspect of each persuasive

technique when they were used by the coach to persuade the singer in the broadcast

singing competition.

To evoke fear, the coach will mention the failure or the wrong decision in

choosing the team.

Ad hominem is the technique for attacking the opponent. To convince the

singer, the coach talks about their success and credibility to show that he is better than

another coach. At the same time, he claims that the adverse party is disqualified for

being a coach for lack of musical knowledge. This is a type of ad hominem attack.

This technique is similar to the name calling technique that is often used by politicians

to show that their policies are better than their rivals (Ilyas, 2013).

For association technique, the coach will try to create the connection between

himself and the singer relating to the style of music, the place where the singer lives

or a similar preference. The coach mostly shares the information about the music or

genre of music the singer performs to demonstrate the relationship.

In The Voice, the used of rhetorical question is similar to the one used in other

context. Areni (as cited in Supardi, 2016) stated that rhetorical question is a form of

question in which the speaker expects no answer from the listener (Areni, 2003). The

focus of rhetorical question is to grab the audience’s attention and stimulate them to

consider the idea offered by the speaker (Supardi, 2016)

In persuasion, flattery works because we like to be praised and we tend to

believe people we like (New Mexico Media Literacy Project, 2017). In The Voice, the

coach will admire the singers to get their attention and present their support. The

compliment is related to the singer’s performance and singing skills. This technique is

also presented indirectly by saying that the singer is an important person for the coach

and his or her skills are needed for the team.

Bribery in the singing competition always links to the winning or the new

opportunity for a musical career. The coach always promises to make a singer the

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winner of the competition or sometimes shows what he or she will be offered if being

in his team. This technique has been used in the same way as seen in politics. Bribery

is considered a technique that a politician uses to present the idea on the basis of

promising the benefit the voter will have if they support the party (Ilyas, 2013).

4.2.2 The frequency of persuasive techniques used in The Voice

In terms of frequency and percentage of each persuasive technique that is

employed in The Voice, there is no significant difference between the two coaches.

The total frequency data shows that Levine used persuasive techniques 41 times while

Shelton used persuasive techniques three times less than Levine, which is 38 times in

total. Table 9 demonstrates that the two coaches use persuasive technique with rather

the same frequencies in total. The findings of the current paper can be supported by

Moore (2003 as cited in Nourali, 2016) that the culture has influences on a human’s

thoughts and points of view which lead to the outstanding language forms. Levine and

Shelton are both American artists who have been judges in The Voice the same

amount of times at 14 seasons of the show.

The rate of success of Levine equals to 55.56% as there are 10 out of 18

singers who chose to join his team. However, the rate of success in using persuasive

techniques of Shelton is only 44.44%, as there are 8 out of 18 singers who decided to

join his team. The result shown in Table 12 can be discussed as the percentage of

persuasive techniques used that might be able to guarantee successful use in

convincing the singer in The Voice US. Levine used persuasive techniques 41 times

and Shelton used persuasive techniques only 38 times, that caused Levine to have a

higher rate of success. However, the result shown in Table 12 is limited by the

limitation of this paper; the researcher studied only 18 videos of The Voice US.

In this chapter, the results are presented in table form to show that the coaches,

Levine and Shelton, use all six persuasive techniques according to the New Mexico

Media Literacy Project (2017) to convince the singer to choose them as a coach. In

the next chapter, the findings will be concluded for clearer understanding.

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CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter presents (1) a summary of the study, (2) a summary of the

findings, (3) conclusion of the study and (4) recommendations for further research.

5.1 Summary of the Study

5.1.1 Objectives of the Study

This study aimed to identify and analyze the persuasive language used in The

Voice US. The program consists of the “Blind Audition” part in which the coach can

only listen to the singer’s performance. After showing interest by pushing the button

and turning around, the coaches will have a chance to talk to the singer and convince

him or her to choose him or her as a training coach. Moreover, the research would like

to know the frequency of each technique used by the coaches.

5.1.2 Data and Procedures.

The research data used in this paper were 18 transcribed videos from the

official channel of The Voice on www.youtube.com. The researcher solely analyzes

the conversation between the two selected American coaches, Adam Levine and

Blake Shelton, and the singer. The conversations of other coaches are excluded. The

framework for analysis process is the persuasive techniques created by New Mexico

Media Literacy Project (2017). The six persuasive techniques used as the framework

are: fear, ad hominem, association, rhetorical question, flattery, and bribery. After

analyzing the conversations, the persuasive language used by two American coaches

will be categorized and presented in table form separately. The result for the

frequency of each technique will be compared to see the difference. The researcher is

the primary instrument analyzing the data in the first process then the result will be

verified again by the advisor for accuracy and reliability.

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5.2 Summary of the Findings

The results of the study can be summarized as follows:

5.2.1 All six persuasive techniques are found in The Voice. In convincing

the singer, Shelton employed all the six techniques. On the other hand, Levine

employed only five techniques which excluded the fear technique.

5.2.2 Considering the results obtained from both Levine and Shelton, the

most significant persuasive technique used in The Voice is association which is equal

to 34.17%, or equivalent to 27 times out of 79. The second and third most frequently

used techniques are flattery and ad hominem, which is equal to 27.84% and 20.25%

respectively, or equivalent to 22 and 16 times out of 79.

5.2.3 Focusing only on the persuasive techniques used by Levine, the most

frequent techniques are association and flatter, which equal to 29.26% or 12 times out

of 41. The lesser employed techniques are ad hominem, bribery, and rhetorical

question. The persuasive technique never found in the data collected from Levine is

fear.

5.2.4 The data collected from Shelton show that the most frequently used

technique is association, which added up to 39.47%, equivalent to 15 times out of 38

times in total. The lesser employed techniques are flattery, bribery, and ad hominem

respectively. Fear and rhetorical question are the least employed techniques that

added up to 2.63%, equivalent to 1 out of 38.

5.2.5 By investigating the rate of success in using persuasive techniques of

each coach, the results reveal that out of 18 singers, there are 10 singers who joined

Levine’s team. The percentage equals 55.56%. The rest of the singers, 8 people,

decided to join Shelton’s team, which equals 44.44%.

5.3 Conclusion

The study investigated the persuasive language used by two American coaches

in The Voice US. The results show that all six techniques developed from the

persuasion techniques list of New Mexico Media Literacy Project (2017)

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appear in the singing competition program when the coaches convince the singer.

Based on the result and discussion, association appear to be the most popular

technique among the two coaches, followed by flattery, ad hominem, bribery,

rhetorical question and fear. Shelton employed all the six techniques in persuading,

while Levine used only five techniques which excluded fear technique which was

found at 0%.

The frequency of the persuasive techniques used by Levine and Shelton does

not have much difference as both of them share the similar background. Levine and

Shelton are American singers and they have been the coach for The Voice for the

same amount of time; since the first season in 2011 until the latest season in 2018.

According to the result about rate of success, Levine has the higher rate of success as

he uses more frequency in persuasion while Shelton who used lesser persuasive

techniques in total has had lower success in convincing the singers.

5.4 Recommendations for further research

Based on the findings and conclusions of this study, the following

recommendations are made for further research.

5.4.1 Further studies on persuasion should be conducted with different

sources. There are other broadcast programs which have the same structure as The

Voice. Mostly they are the singing competition programs that hire several coaches to

be the individual trainer. At the first step when forming the team, a coach has to

convince the singer or the producer of the program by using persuasive techniques to

have their targeted singer in their team

5.4.2 Further studies can be done by collecting the data from other coaches

in The Voice and comparing the language used by each coach. The study can be more

specific if the researcher sets the criteria in choosing the coach. For example, compare

the persuasive techniques used by coaches regarding their genders or nationalities.

5.4.3 In order to get a better understanding, further research should

investigate a wider range of data from different context, namely persuasion in

political campaigns, persuasion in advertisement, etc.

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5.4.4 In persuasion, verbal and non-verbal language work together. For more

valid results, the researcher is recommended to study both verbal and non-verbal

language used in persuasion to support the reliability of the language used in real life.

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REFERENCES

Alkhirbash, A. (2010). Persuasive Language in Selected Speeches of Tun Dr.

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Shelton to step down?. Retrieved from http://www.goldderby.com/article/

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Mister Abhisit Vejjajiva in the 2011 General Election Campaign Speech

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APPENDIX

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APPENDIX

TRANSCRIPTION OF THE VIDEOS

Video No. 1

Sundance Head – “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long”

Shelton: Yeah. Whoa. Love that. Holy Moly! Son!

Head: …

Levine: Why do you have a hat and boots on? Why? Why?!

Shelton: Wow.

Levine: Why? What’s your name?

Head: …

Shelton: Head?

Head: …

Shelton: Okay, okay. Sundance Head. He’s like a mystery man come ridin’ in here

on his country music horse.

Head: …

Keys: ...

Levine: Soul, soul! All right, so it’s completely hopeless.

Shelton: Hey. There was a little bit of, like some Travis Tritt, some Chris

Stapleton, some Ronnie Milsap, and a little bit of Southern rock in there,

too, man. There’s something so different about you that—

Levine: I am so sick of this genre thing that he does.

Shelton: That’s not a genre thing. That’s just –

Levine: No. You’re always quick to put them in a box. I-I think that what makes

you great is the fact that, like—What the hell are you? That’s the best part

about you. And if you’ re on my team, we’ re gonna do a whole lot of

different, and I think that’s what’s gonna make you really succeed on this

show.

Head: …

Levine: If that’s nervous, I want to be a part of next time, please.

Shelton: You’ll be a part of it just like all the audience, man. You’ll get to enjoy all

his performances.

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BIOGRAPHY

Name Miss Attapinya Montree

Date of Birth January 2, 1994

Educational Attainment

2012 - 2015: Bachelor of Arts at Silpakorn

University, Sanamchandra Campus

Work Position Hostel Host

Vivit Hostel Bangkok

Work Experiences 2017 – present: Hostel Host at Vivit Hostel

Bangkok

Keys: …

Head: …

Levine: Wow. I’d also like to point out that he was singing Otis.

Keys: …

Levine: So that is about the furthest thing from country music I’ve ever heard.

Shelton: Wait. Why are you trying to box him in like that, man? Why are always

talking Otis and what genre—

Head: …

Levine: Levi!

Head: …

Cyrus: …

Shelton: Yeah. All right! That’s good. That’s good.

Levine: Hey, guys. It was really nice to meet you. Uh, you can go backstage. I’m

just kidding. I’m joking, I’m joking. I’m joking. I’m joking. I’m joking. I

was kidding!

Keys: …

Head: …

Video No. 2

Riley Elmore – “The Way You Look Tonight”

Shelton: Yeah!

Elmore: …

Levine: Yo, um, what’s your name?

Elmore: …

Levine: Wow.

Keys: …

Miley: …

Levine: Wow, dude.

Keys: …

Levine: There’s a soft spot in my heart for that song. I sing that song like once a

week.

Elmore: …

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Levine: This music is important to you. I-I-I felt that. I also heard your youth and

inexperience which made me even more excited because then I thought to

myself, “ Oh, man, I can teach this guy a lot of stuff. ” And there were

moments where it was brilliant, and I want to make every moment

brilliant. And then Blake—Here’s what he’s gonna do. Because he thinks

that Michael Buble is the only other person that sings this kind of music.

He’ s gonna talk a lot about his friendship with Michael Buble. And it

shouldn’t mean much because—

Shelton: Of course, I’m going to. Also-damn-lutely, I am.

Levine: Because that’s the only thing he can do. But he doesn’t understand there’s

about a million singers that I’ m sure you love. Tony Benett, Frank

Sinatra.

Shelton: Oh, I’ve never heard of any of those guys. Who are they again, Levine?

Cyrus: …

Elmore: …

Shelton: Riley, if I could come back as somebody, I want to come back as Dean

Martin. He’ s my hero. His talent, his personality, his drinking – all of

that. It’s like, man, I want to be that guy!

Levine: Well, you got the drinking part down!

Shelton: Anyway, yeah, I love Michael Buble, and he is about the only one left

doing it anymore and look at the guy. He’s selling out arenas. He sells 8

or 9 million albums a year. So, man, you got a wide-open lane in front of

you, dude, and the only problem you have is you’ re about to pick the

wrong coach.

Levine: If you wouldn’ t mind, I would like to begin the coaching process now.

There was one thing that I noticed, and I would just – If you wanted – Let

me just do this with you.

Levine: Man, you got to loosen up. Pretend like you had a few drinks, even

though we know you haven’ t ‘cause you’re not 21 and that wouldn’ t be

cool. Like, you know, like, loosen up. Just like a conversation, like, “Hey,

how you doing?” You all right? How’ s this lovely crowd doing? You

guys good?

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Cyrus: …

Keys: …

Shelton: Let me just say my piece. I know what just happened. I know Michael

Buble. Does anybody else want to say anything now?

Cyrus: …

Elmore: …

Video No. 3

Ethan Tucker – “Roxanne”

Levine: First of all, what’s your name?

Tucker: …

Levine: Oh, good. That’s nowhere near where Blake lives.

Shelton: What?!

Levine: It’s a whole other coast away from you.

Shelton: I thought he was from the islands somewhere, listening to him sing. Wow.

Keys: …

Tucker: …

Levine: You made a raggae-infused rock-‘ n’ -roll tune more reggae. That was

cool. And I was like, “ I got to press for this guy. ” And that last note

showed me that it wasn’t just a gimmick. You have chops, as well.

Shelton: This guy’ s voice sounds so raspy, like he gargled with broken glass or

something. The thing that was throwing me a little bit was when you were

singing the word “Roxanne,” you were hitting, like, a jazz-sounding note.

And finally, by the end of the song, I was like, “ This is – This is

incredible. ” I don’ t know who you’ re gonna pick. I hope that it’ s me

‘cause you’re gonna bring an element that I think we need.

Levine: Who would you say your biggest influences are, musically?

Tucker: …

Levine: Yes.

Tucker: …

Levine: I think that musically, we get along.

Shelton: You may be wondering how I can help you, but I do have some –

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Levine: I’m wondering how you can help him, too.

Shelton: I do have some serious connections in the reggae/ska world these days…

Cyrus: …

Levine: Oh, my God. Really?

Shelton: … that I might be able to help you with.

Levine: Really? Really?

Shelton: I’m just saying. Yeah. Yes, really. Yes, really.

Levine: You’re gonna do that?

Keys: …

Tucker: …

Video No. 4

DeMuro DeMuro – “Vienna”

Levine: What’s your name, man?

DeMuro: …

Levine: So, you love Billy Joel.

DeMuro: …

DeMuro: …

Levine: Wow. I actually got to sing with him at the Hollywood Bowl last summer.

DeMuro: …

Levine: That song’s called “Vienna,” Blake, and you did not know that.

Shelton: I have those sausages. I’ve had those since I was kid.

Levine: It’s a different thing.

Shelton: Now who looks stupid?

Levine: You’re right. You got me. But listen man. You have a lot of character in

your voice. You have that joy in singing that I really love to hear and feel,

so awesome job, dude.

DeMuro: …

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Shelton: Well, you know what? I can’ t sit here and talk Billy Joel facts with you

all day. I know the hits. Just because I’ m a country artist, that doesn’ t

really play into what happens here on “ The Voice,” as far as coaching

goes. I mean, there’ s a million different ways that this relationship

happens. And winning this show is very important to me because it’s how

we get you to where you want to be. All I can do is just shine a spotlight

on you. That’s why I want to be your coach.

Levine: Hey, old buddy that was good.

Shelton: Thank you.

Cyrus: …

Levine: Yeah. He’s a charming, sexy M.F., you know, but…

Shelton: Sexy?

Cyrus: ….

Shelton: I have a girlfriend, Adam.

Levine: We know. The whole world knows.

Cyrus: …

Levine: I just want you to be on the team where you got someone who’s gonna be

in your corner and that kind of understands what you’ re about and what

you want to do.

DeMuro: …

Shelton: Adam likes to lean on his track record on this show.

Levine: Haven’t done that on this one, but..

Shelton: ‘Cause his track record sucks compared to my track record.

Levine: My track record’s awesome.

Shelton: No, actually, it literally, factually does. You’ re teacher. You should

research these things.

Levine: Wait.

DeMuro: …

Levine: Yes! I like to deal in truths. And – And it seems to me like saying my

track record sucks – it’s like, I have one less championship that he does.

He’s good at this. But – But I am, too.

DeMuro: …

Levine: Thank you, Andrew.

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Keys: …

Levine: Come home!

Shelton: Come on, Andrew.

DeMuro: …

Video No. 5

Bindi Liebowitz – “Bust your windows”

Levine: No! No!

Liebowitz: …

Levine: All right, all right. [stammering]

Shelton: I can already tell, I like her. I like her a lot.

Levine: No! No, no!

Shelton: I like her a lot! I love her.

Levine: [stammers] What’s your name?

Liebowitz: …

Levine: Bindi. All right, listen.

Shelton: Why are we standing up?

Levine: I’m standing up ‘cause I – I’m feeling something.

Shelton: Did you pee in your pants or something, or what do you mean, feeling

something?

Levine: Bindi, stay with me. I’m not letting this go there. It’s too important.

Liebowitz: …

Levine: So, when I started listening to you, I was, like, “Wow, just stop being so

great just for a second so that I can just have you to myself.” I was two

seconds out, and that happened! What I loved about you was your

choices. You made – You made some amazing choi – I can’t believe you.

Levine: You know you regret this.

Shelton: She screwed the pooch.

Levine: That’s – Stop it.

Shelton: It has been an hour since she sang. Can I say something now?

Levine: Bindi.

Shelton: Please, can I talk to Bindi?

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Levine: Bindi, Bindi.

Liebowitz: …

Levine: I – Literally, I – I love you.

Liebowitz: …

Levine: I need you.

Cyrus: …

Shelton: Hi, Bindi.

Liebowitz: …

Shelton: I am clearly the odd man out here. I’m manly enough to handle it.

Levine: I’m manly enough to handle it. [mockingly]

Shelton: When you sing, you have all of these different influences, these things

that are ear candy to somebody like me. And by the way, I don’ t have

anybody else like you on my team, and if I got you on my team, I would

love to protect you and keep anybody else like you from being on my

team. Please, I’ ve been coaching and doing this show for a long time,

Bindi.

Levine: Same amount of time.

Shelton: And interestingly enough, he hasn’t won this as many times.

Levine: Do you know how bad I want to –

Shelton: I won this show with Southern rockers.

Levine: Oh, my God.

Shelton: I have won this show with country artists. I have won this show with pop

singers and with an R&B guy. It has nothing to do with the fact that I’m a

country artist. That’s what I do when I walk onstage. I’m a coach when

I’m on this show. I want to work with you, Liebowitz. I love you.

Levine: There’s nothing I want more than to even the score. You really want to be

with a guy like that who has nothing to prove?

Shelton: You want to be with the champ? I mean, why would you want to do that?

Liebowitz: …

Keys: …

Shelton: Let’s do this! Come on, Bindi! Come on!

Liebowitz: …

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Video No. 6

Johnny Rez – “Iris”

Shelton: Yeah!

Cyrus: …

Levine: It’s called the sneak attack.

Cyrus: …

Levine: What’s your name?

Rez: …

Shelton: Johnny!

Levine: Dude, I saw him wanting to do something. I wouldn’ t look at him and

then I thought, “I’m just gonna wait till the very last second.”

Rez: …

Shelton: That’s my move. That’s my move, buddy.

Levine: It’s deceptive, and it’s sneaky.

Shelton: Nobody likes someone that’s premature.

Levine: Listen, I think there was one falsetto thing that you need a little bit of

refinement on.

Cyrus: …

Levine: I’m, like, Captain Falsetto.

Cyrus …

Levine: You have a really rich, emotional tone, and you stayed really, really

strong and consistent, and so that showed me that you can really be a

competitor. I love you, man. I – I think you’d be great on my team.

Cyrus: …

Shelton: Well, Johnny, I don’t know how often you get out and perform at coffee

shops or whatever. I don’ t know if you started doing this just to pick up

chicks at parties or whatever, but I love I.T. guys that are very creative

and musical.

Cyrus: …

Shelton: It’s like Internet Technical. Isn’t that right?

Levine: First of all, man, what kind of music do you like?

Rez: …

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Shelton: So, you’re telling me there’s a chance.

Cyrus: …

Shelton: Johny! Come home!

Rez: …

Video No. 7

Julien Martinez – “Pride and Joy”

Shelton: Yeah!

Levine: Yeah!

Shelton: It was the scream! The scream!

Levine: Well, looks like a… classic old-school match-up over here.

Keys: …

Levine: First of all, congratulations on not being like, a giant, like, biker.

I swear to God, I thought I was gonna turn around and he was gonna be

on his Harley still. I know. Like… [Imitates revving engine]

Keys: …

Martinez: …

Levine: California. I’m from California.

Shelton: And I work in California a lot.

Levine: You do. You do.

Stefani: …

Martinez: …

Stefani: …

Shelton: Parachutes. He teaches people how to parachute. It’s cool. It’s great.

Martinez: …

Shelton: Yeah, that’s what – that’s what I mean.

Stefani: …

Keys: …

Martinez: …

Levine: That last note sounded like the birth of Satan or something.

Shelton: I was afraid. I was like, “He’s gonna kill me.”

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Levine: I want to learn how to scream that way at Blake. Can you help me with

that?

Shelton: I need you to be on my team, man, because I don’t have that manly man

rockin’ singer on my team. You have the greatest scream in the music

industry. It used to be David Lee Roth – now it’s you. Let’s close this

deal, man.

Levine: It’s true – he has, like, a hundred girls on his team, and he doesn’t have

any guys. But I’ve been extraordinarily picky this whole time. And I’ve

really just pushed my button for the people that I believe have that

intangible thing. These California boys, like, belong together, man. Like,

don’t be fooled by the dimples and the passion and – it’s all a lie. I can do

an amazing job for you. I really can.

Stefani: …

Levine: She loves Blake more.

Stefani: …

Levine: I think it might be time for you to pick a coach, Julien.

Shelton: Come on, Julien! Let’s finish it.

Martinez: …

Shelton: Come on!

Video No. 8

Gaby Borromeo – “Happy”

Shelton: Yes! Wow!


Borromeo: …

Levine: Gaby, I’m very surprised that this was not a four-chair turn, and I think

that you can win “The Voice” like no problem. And, correct me if I’m

wrong, but when you started singing, it seemed like you were nervous.

Borromeo: …

Levine: And then as the song progressed, you came through in a way that just

blew my mind. You are unbelievable, and you belong on my team.

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Keys: …

Borromeo: …

Keys: …

Levine: Me, too. Me, too. Me, too.

Keys: …

Borromeo: …

Keys: …

Levine: I know.

Borromeo: …

Stefani: …

Shelton: You came out here, and you ramped it up. It started out good, and it got

even better. And by the end of it, that was an incredible performance.

Borromeo: …

Shelton: I don’t know how you did it. Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to talk to you

about it so you can teach me, but you – Actually, it sounds like you’re

smiling when you sing. No matter what it is, I just feel like your

personality is gonna come through. And I feel like you need to have

somebody who doesn’t have anybody else like you on their team. And I

have a bunch of country singers. I don’t have nobody with purple hair.

There’s one of you on Earth. I feel like that.

Levine: Absolutely.

Shelton: And so, either one of us would be lucky to get you.

Levine: Yes.

Shelton: He’s right. You – You probable can win this thing, and it would be a

shame to see somebody screw that up for you like Adam.

Levine: Thank you, Blake. It’s what I’m used to. It’s what I‘ve come to expect.

You got signed to a production deal, which production deals are the

worst.

Borromeo: …

Levine: Because they basically don’t have to commit to you, and they “develop

you,” and then, like, leave you high and dry.

Borromeo: …

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Levine: Exactly. I understand it. I’ve been through it, and I would love nothing

more than to help you get to the top of that mountain, because it’s exactly

what I went thought in my life and in my career. So… I think it makes a

lot of sense. I really do.

Shelton: Come on, Gaby! Gaby!

Borromeo: …

Levine: Yeah.

Video No. 9

TSoul – “Take me to the river”


TSoul: …

Shelton: TSoul!

Levine: Listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen. First of all – Whoo – we’ll talk

about your voice in a second, but I want to talk about this. We have now

turned around, Blake and I, yet the only chair that he’s looking at is

Alicia’s chair. You know, man, ‘cause you’d be like… It was so great

‘cause I’m like, “If she turns, it’s over. But if she doesn’t, he’s mine.”

Shelton: No, no, no, no, no.

Levine: Yo, you are a special man.

TSoul: …

Levine: Because the way you do it is extremely unique to you, and that’s the kind

of person that can win this thing. Man, I am so excited to definitely have

you on my team.

Shelton: Why do you keep saying – Why would you say that?

Levine: TSoul, come home! Come home!

Shelton: Hi, TSoul.

TSoul: …

Shelton: Man, I love your speaking voice, even. Man, it’s manly.

TSoul: …

Shelton: Let me tell you something – Did you say you’re 29?

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TSoul: …

Shelton: But your voice is like a 50-year-old voice, man. It’s got all the herbs and

spices and… You’re one of a kind, man. Thank you for bringing that here

for us, man… ‘cause it’s so good, dude. So good.

Levine: That’s a smart woman.

Shelton: Yeah. Please, don’t doubt…

Levine: Stay with me, dude. Stay with me.

Shelton: … the fact that I would be a great coach for you, dude.

Keys: …

Shelton: Come on, TSoul! TSoul! Let do this!

TSoul: …

Shelton: Come on!

Levine: Please. Please.

TSoul: …

Video No. 10

Dennis Drummond – “She talks to angels”

Shelton: Wow. That guy’s tall.

Drummond: …

Hudson: …

Shelton: Yeah, what’s your name, man?

Drummond: …

Shelton: Whoo-haw!

Levine: Okay, do you know what band that song is by?

Shelton: That’s The Black Crowes.

Levine: Damn it!

Shelton: Do you know what state Nashville is in?

Cyrus: …

Drummond: …

Hudson: …

Drummond: …

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Levine: The song, “She Talks to Angels,” is one of those songs –

Shelton: By The Black Crowes.

Levine: From the album “Shake Your Money Maker.” Their big hit was a cover

of Otis Redding’s “Hard to Handle.”

Shelton: But they also had “Twice as Hard.”

Levine: “Jealous Again.”

Shelton: Yep.

Levine: Your mama.

Shelton: What’d you say about my mama?

Levine: Nothing. You were singing it your way, and it was really cool. So, I just

felt connected to you right away and so I turned around, and then I was

mad because this nitwit turned around, but it’ s an old-school battle and

we’ re gonna fight over you and hopefully, you will realize, I clearly am

the one for you to-to-to work with. He’ s gonna be, like, “ What do you

want to do?” and all this kind of crap.

Cyrus: …

Hudson: …

Drummond: …

Shelton: I’ve heard of him. I’ve heard of Adam Wakefield.

Levine: Oh, yeah, but you didn’t win with him, did you?

Shelton: I got second.

Drummond: …

Shelton: I’ m clearly in the lane of more traditional country music, but I know

you’re a Nashville guy. It’s an interesting community, and I love the fact

that there’s different genres that are coming there and coming out. I mean,

Miley was born in Nashville. She ends up becoming the world’ s

biggest…

Cyrus: …

Shelton: Actually, I don’t know what the hell you are.

Levine: She’s beyond definition.

Shelton: She’ s a little bit of everything, but that’ s because, you know, she’ s a

Nashville girl.

Cyrus: …

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Shelton: Anyway, man, I love the fact that you play guitar, I love the fact that

you’re a Nashville guy. You got a good, solid, deep, growly, rock-‘n’-roll

voice. Let’ s find the right songs, man. Let’ s win this thing. Come on,

Dennis. Let’s do this!

Levine: We’re all kind of shapeshifters on the show, and we all can kind of do it

all. I mean, I really believe that we’ re all dynamic enough to work with

anybody, but at the end of the day, I’m a guitar player, I’m a drummer,

I’m a songwriter, I’m a musician. Like, that’s who I really am – like, tried

and true, always, through all of it. So, you know, don’ t forget that when

you’re making your choice.

Drummond: …

Cyrus: …

Drummond: …

Shelton: All right! Come on, Mom.

Drummond: …

Levine: Yeah, yeah, yeah. The existence of a groove.

Drummond: …

Levine: You didn’t play that song in the way he tuned it to open-E, did you?

Drummond: …

Levine: I do it all the time. It’s really fun to, like, tune it to that.

Cyrus: …

Drummond: …

Video No. 11

Drew Cole – “Sex and candy”

Levine: It’s all me. This is all me. Wow.

Keys: …

Levine: Thank God for you. Not only is that a voice to me, that’s the voice,

because – because…

Cole: …

Levine: When I turned around and I saw this…

Shelton: His necklace?

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Levine: Ladies and gentlemen, Court Jester Blake Shelton. I really hope that

whatever happens over here doesn’t deter you from keeping your eye on

the prize because I don’t know if you know I did a cover of that song that

was very similar to that.

Cole: …

Levine: And I like to think that maybe it had something to do with the cover that I

did.

Cole: …

Clarkson: …

Levine: I-I-I only said –

Shelton: Yes!

Clarkson: …

Levine: I know, I know, I know.

Shelton: Yes.

Levine: Your hands are so big, Blake, that when you clap, it’s like two pieces of

meat slapping together.


Cole: …

Shelton: Hey, Drew. I know I’m a country artist, but I’ve won this show with all

kinds of different artists because I try to take the focus off of me. And I

try to make it about the person that’s standing up there.

Cole: …

Shelton: And the way you navigate your vocals through that song was

unbelievable.

Cole: ....

Shelton: I do see a cowboy hat on your head.

Cole: …

Shelton: I like that.

Keys: …

Shelton: I used to have hair like that. Look – Ace Ventura is sitting down here, and

I understand that’s probably gonna be the way this ends up working out,

but I’m just saying, I would love to be your coach, dude.

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Cole: …

Levine: You sing the lights out without even really trying.

Cole: …

Levine: Immediately, you connect. So, I see you as not potentially just the winner,

but way far beyond this competition.

Keys: …

Cole: …

Keys: …

Cole: …

Shelton: Come on, Drew! Drew, come on! Let’s do this! Let’s blaze a new path.

Come on!

Cole: …

Video No. 12

Davison – “To love somebody”

Shelton: Yeah!

Levine: Wow. I’m going to kill you.

Keys: …


Davison: …

Shelton: Yeah.

Keys: …

Clarkson: …

Keys: …

Shelton: First of all, I love that song. It’s an old Bee Gees record.

Levine: No, it’s not.

Clarkson: …

Levine: Hey, hey, hey.

Clarkson: …

Levine: Look, it shocks me to say this. The first time he’s known something about

music that I haven’t.

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Shelton: There’s something so vintage about your voice, man, that I just think it’s

magical.

Clarkson: …

Davison: …

Shelton: And then find out that you’re from Little Rock, Arkansas, man. I have

eaten at many –

Keys: ..

Shelton: …many a Taco Bell in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Levine: Oh, well, obviously he should be your coach ‘cause he’s been to a Taco

Bell.

Shelton: I would be honored – “honor” is the word I’m using – to be your coach,

man. I’m not kidding.

Davison: …

Levine: As would I. This is shocking. I’m still letting that sink in. Like, I still

can’t believe that you know about any music outside of your sphere.

Shelton: Well, you clearly know about Jimmy Buffett because you’re wearing his

shirt in here today.

Levine: You’re so funny. You got so many funny jokes, don’t you? You kind of

embody the whole point of what this show is because I believe that your

voice speaks to all of us. It just instantly makes you feel. And I want you

to know something about me. Right before we made our first album, I

was listening to “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” to soul records and

R&B records. If that’s the record you want to make, I know who you are.

And I think you could win “The Voice.” All of things and dreams and

aspirations that you want, I want to help bring those things to life.

Davison: …

Shelton: I’m telling you right now, you will be the centerpiece of Team Blake.

That is my word to you.

Levine: Come on, man.

Shelton: Come on!

Levine: You know you got to go with me, man.

Davison: …

Levine: Come home.

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Video No. 13

WILKES – “One Headlight”

Levine: Yeah! What’s your name, man?

Wilkes: …

Levine: You held out that “One headlight” – That was perfect. I think that you are

a singular singer i-in this competition, carrying the torch for a-a very

long-lost thing, which is rock-‘n’-roll music. And I really think I’m the

one for you. He’s gonna lean heavy on all his woodsiness and stuff.

Shelton: Woodsy?

Clarkson: …

Wilkes: …

Levine: Rock ‘n’ roll, country – T-There’s always a connection between the two.

Clarkson: …

Levine: Like, you know, you can’t – No, I’m serious.

Clarkson: …

Levine: That wasn’t a joke!

Clarkson: …

Levine: He’s like, “It’d be a lot cooler if you did.”

Clarkson: …

Wilkes: Thank you.

Shelton: Your voice is so sneaky. The longer the song went on, the more you kept

turning the dial, getting it closer and closer to 10. And that was the

difference maker, I think. There’s a wide-open lane for somebody that

sounds like you on my team. I’m a fan.

Wilkes: …

Shelton: I appreciate it.

Keys: …

Wilkes: …

Shelton: Wilkes! Come on, Wilkes!

Wilkes: …

Levine: No.

Wilkes: …

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Video No. 14

Stephanie Skipper – “Piece By Piece”

Levine: No. No!

Skipper: …

Levine: Why-y-y?

Shelton: Whoo.

Clarkson: …

Keys: …

Skipper: …

Shelton: Oh, come on. Come on. Yes!

Levine: Damn it. Blake Shelton just totally peed all over my parade.

Shelton: Well, his shirt does look like it needs watering, so…

Skipper: …

Clarkson: …

Skipper: …

Clarkson: …

Levine: One of my favorite things about you is, like, you brought my attention to

the really important thing, which is the song and the story and what’s

actually happening up there. The heart and the soul was there, and I think

that is the only place, at least on my team here, that is the only place I’d

ever want to start.

Skipper: …

Levine: Oh, man, that’s awesome.

Skipper: …

Keys: …

Shelton: I think every song that Clarkson writes is – is very personal. That one has

a little extra dose of it, and – and, uh, so much so that I-I know a lot about

her story, being her friend, and I applaud you for doing something scary

and just coming out here, laying out this passionate performance that

connected to all of us, especially Kelly. She – I-I think she’s still crying. I

don’t even want to look at her, yeah.

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Clarkson: …

Shelton: And I just feel like there’s a lot of – lot of connections that we have here

that seems like this is a no-brainer to me.

Levine: Uh, I think it’s a brainer, and – and that there’s thought involved.

Shelton: I would love to be your coach. Please pick me.

Levine: I’m excited to work with you, potentially, because if, typically, you do

lean on the technical, there’s no one better to help you with letting go and

with getting on that other creative side than me.

Keys: …

Clarkson: …

Shelton: Come on.

Skipper: …

Video No. 15

Bransen Ireland – “Tulsa Time”

Shelton: Adam, that’s country.

Levine: W-What’s your name, man?

Ireland: …

Keys: …

Ireland: …in Franklin, Tennessee.

Levine: If you’re a genius, then you’re – you have a big brain.

Ireland: …

Levine: You’re singing a song that clearly states that you will not be on my team,

but if by some wild stretch of the imagination, you had this awesome kind

of larger-scheme plan…

Shelton: God.

Levine: …where you wanted to, like, shock the world and become instantly the

most popular person on “The Voice,” basically based on your decision

then you’d go with me.

Shelton: That was good. That was good.

Keys: …

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Shelton: What are you doing?

Keys: …

Shelton: What are you doing right now?

Keys: …

Shelton: No, he didn’t say anything even near what you’re saying right now.

Keys: …

Levine: Well, I did.

Shelton: You’re saying, “This is what Adam tried to say.” And he didn’t say jack

crap.

Keys: …

Shelton: Oh, I’m sure it’s not.

Keys: …

Levine: You’re a genius from the Genius Bar, so don’t be a PC about this, all

right? Just like…

Clarkson: …

Levine: Do what you feel, not what you think you’re supposed to do in life.

Shelton: That’s how you go to jail.

Ireland: …

Clarkson: …

Shelton: Can I say something? You probably won’t have much competition on

Adam’s team when it comes to country artists. If you step in this ring over

here, it’s gonna be hard, Ireland. It’s gonna work your butt off, and

hopefully, it’s gonna make you a better singer at the end of the day.

Levine: Ireland, no. You’ll have an advantage on my team, because I have that

much more to prove not just to Blake, but to you and to everybody in that

community. I-I am not taking this lightly.

Shelton: Come on, Bransen!

Ireland: …

Video No. 16

Jordan Kirkdorffer – “In Case You Didn’t Know”

Shelton: Yeah! Yeah!

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Kirkdorffer: …

Levine: All right. Just tell me, do I have a chance?

Kirkdorffer: …

Levine: Ohh, it sounds like a small one.

Clarkson: …

Levine: Saying there’s a chance.

Clarkson: …

Levine: All right, look, Jordan, your performance was multi-faceted. It was

country, but there was a soul singer in there. There was a popular-music

voice in there. There’s very little to poke holes in. Your performance was

beautiful.

Kirkdorffer: …

Levine: It touched me, and I thought to myself, “You know what? If this voice

really gets to me and really makes me feel, I’m ready to fight,” just

because I love you that much.

Kirkdorffer: …

Shelton: In your performance, I definitely hear the Brett Young influence. You

sang his song. By the way, Brett Young is a country artist. He’s from

down here in Orange Country, California. You should know that, at least

that much about country music.

Levine: Thank you.

Shelton: Anyway, you were putting in that little George Strait break in your voice,

but it was hanging up on you just a little bit, nothing to keep me from

hitting my button, because I could hear that you’re different and you’re

special. And so probably need to take a drink of something before you get

on stage and -- we–your throat a little bit. It got dry on you and…

Keys: …

Shelton: Maybe not this. Actually, maybe this. I don’t know.

Kirkdorffer: …

Shelton: That’s something we probably need to figure out.

Levine: Another thing that’s important is the fact that I did turn my chair before

he did.

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Keys: …

Levine: So I was moved to push my button. I didn’t need any sort of certification

from the board of country music over there.

Clarkson: …

Levine: He has won many, many times with people who are not country singers,

so what does that mean? What that means is, Jordan, is that you can win

being on my team, is what that means.

Levine: All right?

Shelton: Come on, Jordan!

Levine: They’re all saying my name, man. Come on.

Video No. 17

Gary Edwards – “What’s going on”

Levine: What?

Shelton: What the hell was that?

Levine: Whoo!

Clarkson: …

Shelton: That is foul. You’re out of bounds. Going up there like a cabana boy.

What are you doing? You serving him a drink or what?

Levine: You have no idea how good that was. What’s your name?

Edwards: …

Shelton: That’s my neck of the woods right there. Yes.

Levine: I, first, would like to thank you for singing a song that I needed to hear

right now. And I think the rest of the world does, too. It was like you were

singing us to sleep.

Shelton: So, you’re saying it was boring and it makes you sleepy?

Levine: No, you don’t get it. That’s why you’re not gonna be his coach. You must

sing professionally, right?

Edwards: …

Levine: Yes.

Shelton: Where is she? Let’s bring her out here.

Edwards: …

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Levine: Hi, Grandma. How you doing?

Grandma: …

Levine: This is crazy, what he does. And that’s the smartest advice.

Grandma: …

Levine: Now, hopefully, you’ll advise him to do another smart thing, which is

choose me as his coach.

Shelton: Well, hopefully, if you do choose Adam as your coach, you’ll advise him

to put on a different shirt.

Levine: That just isn’t nice.

Shelton: You guys both live in Dalls?

Edwards: …

Shelton: Okay. I live on Lake Texoma, just north of Dallas.

Levine: Do you just come from the states that the people are from?

Shelton: What?

Levine: I feel like you’re from like all 50 states, somehow.

Shelton: I’m all-American, Adam. I’m all – American.

Shelton: Man, your voice, it is soft, and it does float. And then there’s moments

where it absolutely punches you in the face. And I would love to have the

opportunity to work with you, because we got to keep our Texoma crowd

together.

Keys: ...

Edwards: …

Keys: …

Edwards: …

Clarkson: …

Levine: Oh, I don’t believe that Gary will be available. There is just something

intrinsically about you and what you do that really, really does transcend

everything. You get that glimpse that maybe everything’s gonna be all

right when you’re singing. I think this is home for you, and I think that we

can go all the way with this. I really do.

Clarkson: …

Shelton: Come on, Gary!

Edwards: …

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Video No. 18

Genesis Diaz – “Praying”

Levine: Oh, no! No. He’s disqualified.

Diaz: …

Levine: What is your name?

Diaz: …

Keys: …

Diaz: …

Keys: …

Levine: Genesis, well, you want to be with a leader or a follower? I was the spark,

and Blake came smoldering after. So, you should remember that when

you’re picking your coach. I think you’re tremendous. What are your

biggest influences?

Diaz: …

Keys: …

Diaz: …

Keys: …

Shelton: Did you say you’re from Miami?

Diaz: …

Shelton: The only thing that make me a little bit nervous is, Adam looks like he

works at a resort in Miami right now. So, I’m afraid there might be some

sort of a connection. Genesis, I have one spot left on my team, and

wouldn’t be possible for me to be happier for you to be the person who

completes Team Blake this season. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, guys, too.

Levine: Yes. You may be seated.

Shelton: Go ahead, Adam. I’m sorry. Go ahead.

Levine: You weren’t just cranked up to 11 the whole time. When you were soft,

you were soft. When you were in your false, you were in your false. I

really started thinking about all these ideas and all of these ways in which

you can thrive on this show. You are amazing.

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Clarkson: …

Diaz: …

Clarkson: …

Shelton: Come on, Genesis.

Diaz: …

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BIOGRAPHY

Name Miss Attapinya Montree

Date of Birth January 2, 1994

Educational Attainment

2012 - 2015: Bachelor of Arts at Silpakorn

University, Sanamchandra Campus

Work Position Hostel Host

Vivit Hostel Bangkok

Work Experiences 2017 – present: Hostel Host at Vivit Hostel

Bangkok

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