the ethics of public speaking and persuasion brian rogers chemical engineering 4903
TRANSCRIPT
The Ethics of Public
Speaking and Persuasion
Brian Rogers
Chemical Engineering 4903
Overview
Ethics in Speaking
Persuasion
Arguing Effectively
Organization
Have ethical goals
Employ ethical means
The Ends and The Means
Ethical dilemmas
Professional obligations can createCircumstances can create
The Ends and The Means
A conflict of responsibilities
A choice between “the lesser of two evils”
Professional Obligation
Situations dictate a change
Does the end justify the means?
Circumstances
Are your purposes consistent w/ prevailing norms?
Would you violate your own ethics by speaking out?
Are you willing to stick to your ethical principles?
What are the ethical standards?
Your Ethical Guidelines
Your basic ethical obligation
Tell the truthTake responsibility
Honesty & Accountability
To avoid plagiarism
Give credit where it is due
Cite sources in the speech
Credit when you paraphrase
Honesty & Accountability
Tough penalties for “academic dishonesty”
In your career, you could lose your job and professional respect
The Costs of Plagiarism
Is not expected to be perfectly objective
Provides good arguments, sound reasoning and solid evidence
Remains open to new information
Is well informed and fully prepared
Contributes useful presentations
The Ethical Speaker
Deliberating in Good Faith
Tell the truth, as you see it
Back up your opinions
Accept your burden of proof
Questions of Fact, Value, and Policy
Involve existence, scope or causality
Questions about past / present
Predictions of the future
Require empirical proof: real examples, statistics, and expert testimony
Is That The Truth?
Issues of Fact
Involve what we consider good or bad, right or wrong
Focus on what we believe to be appropriate, legal, ethical or moral
Determine how we should evaluate facts, ideas or actions
Is This Good or Bad?
Issues of Value
Determine our future actions
Deal with how to solve problems
Evaluate options by costs, feasibility, advantages and disadvantages
What Are We Going To Do?
Issues of Policy
Ethical Proof in Persuasive Speaking
Ethos
The audience’s perception of the speaker’s credibility
Qualities of Positive Ethos
Trustworthiness
Competence
Open-Mindedness
Dynamism
Contextual Factors
Characteristics we admire may vary by situation
Some factors may be beyond our control
Context affects ethos positively or negatively
Ethos
Each time you speak, people form impressions of you
Strengthen Your Ethos
Share audience concerns
Cite reputable experts
Use personal experience
Be clear and interesting
Consider different points of view
Deliver with dynamism
Appealing to Audience Emotions
Appealing to Emotions
Fundamental to motivating an audience
Never a substitute for logical arguments and available evidence
Affective Language
Strong language that plays on emotions
Words must be chosen carefully
Identifying Shared Values
Show your audience that you share values
Show how your ideas relate to those values
Use Vivid Detail
Listeners respond to concrete examples better than abstractions
Speakers can reinforce ideas with vivid details
Use Visualization
Helps the audience to “see”
Stirs emotions
Gets audience to think more deeply
Help your audience visualize with a picture
Paint ‘word pictures’
Compare Unfamiliar to Familiar
Complicated and even controversial ideas can seem more familiar, and more acceptable
Ethical Considerations
Avoid deception and manipulation
Recognize and respect power of emotions
Avoid distraction and disorientation
Don’t overwhelm audience
Use emotional appeals to supplement and complement well-reasoned arguments
Constructing a Reasonable Argument
Debatable assertions by the speaker
Takes a side on a controversial matter and invites debate
Claims
Fact
Value
Policy
Claims
Words that indicate our level of confidence
Examples: “possibly”, “probably”, or “beyond any doubt”
Qualifiers
Qualified at a level appropriate to the strength of the reasoning and evidence behind it
A Reasonable Argument
Exceptions to our claim, or conditions under which we no longer hold the claim
“Unless”
Reservations
Use statistics, specific examples or expert testimony or other support
Consider the criteria or standards that support your evaluation
Reflect on the rules, principles or standard we employ in making judgments
Evidence
Quality
Relevancy
Amount
Tests of Evidence
General assumptions that connect evidence to the claim
Some warrants may be accepted by audience, and may be unstated
If a warrant is controversial, it may require backing
Warrants
Advocates of new policies are expected to establish
Need for change
A specific plan
Proof the plan is workable
Burden of Proof
Construction of the Argument
The Forms of Reasoning
Inductive ReasoningMoves from a set of specific examples to a general conclusion
A number of representative examples makes the case
Claims must carefully qualified
Reservations may be needed
Can be strengthened with evidence
Deductive Reasoning
Draws a conclusion about a specific case based on generally accepted premise
Syllogism is a classic example
Usually we reason from qualified premises to probable conclusions
Deductive Reasoning
Premises often already accepted by audience
Speaker may assume the audience will fill in the missing premise
This is “rhetorical syllogism” or enthymeme
Causal Reasoning
From effect to cause, or cause to effect
At the heart of scientific investigation
Rarely simple
Reputable sources are important
Qualified due to complexity
Analogical Reasoning
What is true in one case will be true in another
Literal analogy compares similar examples
Figurative analogy is similar to metaphor; rarely proves anything
Should be qualified
How Patterns of Organization Connect Ideas
Chronological or Sequential
Good for step-by-step process or historical events
Begin with a specific point in time, move ahead or back from there
Spatial
Organizes according to space or physical relationship
Categorical
Arrange by distinct topics
Addresses
types
forms
qualities
aspects
Climactic
Simple to difficult, least to most, neutral to intense
Effective for gaining audience agreement or action
Can also reverse the pattern, from most to least
Cause & Effect
Moves from cause to effect, or effect to cause
Good to explain how an event unfolded
Chronology does not equal cause
Guard against over-simplification
Problem - Solution
Typically used in persuasive speaking
Speaker usually proposes a best solution
Problem - Solution
Reflective Thinking Sequence
Causes & extent of problem?
Effects of problem?
Criteria by which solutions should be judged?
Possible solutions (strengths & weaknesses)
Best solution?
Put into effect how?
Definition & limits of problems
Motivated Sequence
Five step pattern
Arouse
Dissatisfy
Gratify
Visualize
Move
Combines emotional and logical
Convince the audience they can effect change
Narrative Patterns
Use stories to illustrate or reinforce
Use spiraling narrative for drama / climax