Day Nine: Speaking Persuasively

by Yana Cornish

Hamilton Business College

Agenda:

Short speeches Review Homework: Quiz Chapters 16 & 17:

Persuasive Speech Individual discussions

about speeches

Homework for Next Class

Complete outline & bibliography for persuasive speech

Prepare Entertainment Survey

Persuasive Speaking

Goals of Persuasive Speaking

Encourage audience members to change their opinions

Ask for something from the audience- their agreement or change of behavior- instead of giving them information.

Persuasive strategies:

Establish credibility Use logic Support your view with evidence Use emotion State problem and your solution

clearly Resources: p. 375 & pp. 408-409 in

the book

Adapting to Audience Attitudes

Three different types of audiences for persuasive speeches:

-audiences that agree with you-audiences that disagree with you-neutral audiences

The speaker has to understand why the audience disagrees in order to adapt their message.

Example: An audience of homeowners may agree that their property taxes are too high, whereas a group of college students may support more taxes for higher education.

Strategies for Agreeing Audiences:

Aim to strengthen existing attitudes and behaviors.

Present new information to remind audience members why they agree with you.

Strengthen resistance to opposing arguments. Excite the audience’s emotions by using and

examples and stories. Provide a personal role model and course of

action by telling them what you have done, and how they can do the same.

Strategies for Disagreeing Audiences:

Set reasonable goals and don’t expect radical changes in opinions and behavior.

Find common ground with a belief, value, or opinion that you and your audience share.

Example: Even smokers and nonsmokers may agree that smoking should be prohibited on school grounds.

Accept and adapt to differences of opinion by acknowledging the legitimacy of their opinions.

Use fair and respected evidence Build your personal credibility to help achieve your

purpose.

Strategies for Neutral Audiences:

Persuade the uninformed by:-gaining their attention and interest-providing information

Persuade the unconcerned by:-gaining their attention and interest-giving them a reason to care-presenting relevant information and evidence

Persuade the adamantly undecided by:-acknowledging both sides of the argument-providing new information-emphasizing the strength of arguments on one side

of the issue

Characteristics of credibility:

Trustworthiness – being believable and honest

Dynamism – being perceived as energetic

Charisma – characteristic of a talented, charming, and attractive speaker

How to establish credibility:

Appearance Eye contact with the audience Describe your credentials (briefly) Establish common ground with the

public Support your argument with evidence Be well organized in your speaking Present well-delivered (prepared)

speech

Use logic and evidence: Inductive reasoning –

use specific examples to reach general, probable conclusions

Reasoning by analogy using comparison to predict how something will turn out

Use logic and evidence:

Deductive reasoning – reasoning from a general statement to reach specific conclusion.

Casual reasoning – presentation of two or more events that are somehow connected, focusing on the fact that one event may have caused the other one(s).

Forms of Persuasive Proof

Logical- Are your arguments reasonable? Does your presentation make sense?

Emotional- Did you use the audience’s joy, fear, anger, etc. to strengthen your argument?

Personal- Can you establish and rely on your credibility? Does the audience see your character as charismatic and competent?

Narrative- Are there stories, sayings, and symbols that address the values and beliefs of the audience?

How to support your reasoning:

Facts Inferences – conclusions

based on available evidence, or partial information

Examples – to support facts

Opinions Statistics

Direct or Indirect Persuasion

Use direct persuasion if audience members are highly interested and able to think critically. Research and logic are more effective with this approach.

Use indirect persuasion when the audience is less involved. Rely on interest factors such as stories, humor, and good examples.

Tips for Persuasive Speeches Use persuasive evidence that is novel,

believable, and dramatic:-Novel - new and interesting evidence to

persuade those who disagree.

-Believable - explain why your evidence is true and why your sources are worth believing.

-Dramatic - make your evidence memorable with attention-getting comparisons and stories.

Create memorable slogans- many products and famous speeches are associated with their slogans, like when Martin Luther King, Jr. proclaimed, “I have a dream…”

Tips for Persuasive Speeches

Address audience needs and benefits- satisfy the audience’s needs of safety and belonging by using pronouns such as we, our, and us.

Enlist celebrities- especially good for the indirect route of persuasion, can help your own credibility.

Persuasive Organizational Patterns:

Problem/Cause/Solution

Describes a serious problem and why it continues to exist, and offers a solution.

Works best when you are proposing a specific course of action.

Persuasive Organizational Patterns: Better Plan

Best when used for a difficult problem This pattern lets you present a plan that will

improve a situation and help solve a problem while acknowledging that a total solution may not be possible.

The plan should be good and workable, and better than the current plans

Example: increased deer hunting is a better plan for decreasing the deer population

Persuasive Organizational Patterns:

Overcoming Objections Select appropriate forms of proof and

persuasive evidence to overcome objections. Use when people disagree with your topic or

when faced with a difficult solution. Tell the audience what they should do and give

them reasons why they should do it.

Example: can be used when trying to persuade listeners to donate blood.

Persuasive Organizational Patterns: Monroe’s Motivated Sequence

1. The Attention Step- capture the audience

2. The Need Step- Show the audience there is a problem related to the individual needs and interests that should be solved.

3. The Satisfaction Step- Propose a plan of action that will solve the problem and satisfy audience needs.

4. The Visualization Step- Describe what life will be like after the plan is implemented.

5. The Action Step- Ask audience members to act in a way that benefits the plan.

Persuasive Organizational Patterns: Persuasive Stories

Rely on narrative and emotional proof to show how people, events, and objects could be affected by the change you’re seeking.

Can be very effective for a neutral audience.

Avoid:

Causal fallacy – making false cause-and-effect connections between two things

Bandwagon fallacy – reasoning that is based on common beliefs and ‘majority’ opinions

Either-or fallacy – oversimplifying an issue as having only one of two outcomes/choices

Avoid:

Hasty generalizations – reaching conclusion without adequate evidence to support it

Attacking the person – rather than attacking idea itself

Red herring – use irrelevant facts of information to distract someone from the issue that needs to be discussed

Avoid:

Appeal to misplaced authority – use of credibility of someone to endorse an idea or product without the person having appropriate credentials or expertise to provide such endorsement

Non sequitur – idea or conclusion does not logically follow the previous idea or conclusion (does not follow).

How to use emotion to persuade:

Use concrete examples that help listeners visualize

Use emotion-stimulating words: MotherlandChildrenFreedom

Use nonverbal behavior to communicate your response

How to use emotion to persuade:

Use visual images Use appropriate fear appeals Appeal to emotions:

HopePrideCourageReverence

Tap listeners’ beliefs in shared myths

Homework for next week

Complete outline & bibliography for persuasive speech

Prepare Entertainment Survey