Persuasive Speaking –
Part I
Persuasive Speaking
4th Century BC
Student of Plato who was a student of
Socrates who was known for logic
Aristotle’s Rhetoric
Epideictic – Praise or Blame
Forensic – Guilt or Innocence
Deliberative – Policy Making
Persuasion
The process of creating, reinforcing, or
changing people's beliefs or actions.
Persuasion in Life
Persuasion and influences
When do you use persuasion?
Are others trying to persuade you?
Top
10 Commercials
Friends
Who else tries to persuade you?
Speech to Gain
Immediate Action
The speaker’s goal is to convince the
audience to take action.
To change things from the status quo
OR
NOT to change things from the status
quo
When creating a
persuasive message
Consider
context
Time limit (7 to 10 Minutes)
Environment
Attitudes and expectations of
audience members
Speaking to Persuade
Influencing of the attitudes, beliefs, or
behavior of the listeners.
Appropriate when two or more
points of view are in conflict
about a topic
Four keys to effective
persuasion
Credibility
Well-reasoned argument
Emotional Appeal
Audience involvement
It is more difficult than
speaking to inform, because it
demands additional skills.
Examples: political figures, lawyers, legislators,
speaking to PTO, city council, etc.
When creating a
persuasive message
Small doses best over long periods
Can’t change world in 7 minutes
Aim for fair consideration from audience
How to Begin
Ask yourself: What do I want my
listeners to know, do, motivate,
inspire, change, or to agree with?
What is my topic a question of?
Fact
Value
Policy
Questions of fact: occurrences and
the reasons that they have happened,
are happening, or will happen in the
future.
Fact claim: Persuade the public that global
warming is harming the environment.
Establishing Fact
If you state a fact claim then prove
that your claim is the best.
Why do I think something is true or
false?
Provide evidence, hard facts, statistics,
new figures, illustrations, quotations,
definitions.
Value Claims
Questions of value: call for judgments
about right and wrong, ethical and
unethical, etc.
Value claim: Persuade the public that
animals don't belong in zoos.
Value Claim
If you state a Value Claim then appeal to the
morality and values of your listeners.
Why do I like or dislike something?
Why do your listeners have to agree that
something is right or wrong, moral or immoral,
valuable or worthless?
Why do you want to convince them?
Offer examples the public will recognize, try to
find common ground on related subjects and
expert testimonies, and compare your idea with
oppositional ideas.
Policy Claim
Questions of policy: deal with
whether certain courses of action
should be taken.
Policy claim: Persuade the public that
motorcyclists should be required by
law to wear helmets.
Policy Claim
If you state a Policy Claim then persuade
that there is a problem and get the
audience to agree with your solution.
Appeal to human needs, to reason and to
emotion.
Summarize the present situation, the causes
and the negative effects everybody will
recognize.
Then present your solution to solve the
problem.
Language Strategies
Various Strategies
The Beatles will give us an overview
Beatles
Video
Let’s Let Taylor Swift Explain
Taylor
Video
Figurative Language
Movies
Appealing Strategies
There are many methods employed by
speakers to divert audiences away
from the real issues or appeal to them.
This speech is in response to
allegations of illegally funneling
campaign funds to cover personal
expenses. Can you pick out some of
the strategies? Nixon Checkers Speech
Persuasive Speaking –
Part II
Degrees of Persuasion
Strongly
Opposed
Moderately
Opposed
Slightly
Opposed
Neutral
Slightly
in Favor
Moderately
in Favor
Strongly
in Favor
Persuasion involves any movement by a listener from
left to right
Audience Analysis
Types of audience:
Positive / favorable audience-already
agrees with your basic purpose.
Easiest type to persuade. Needs only
to have feelings deepened on your
topic.
Neutral / indifferent
audience-does not know
very much about your topic.
Need is for information that
will make it possible to
form an opinion.
Disinterested / indifferent
audience-knows about topic, but
couldn’t care less. Consider it a
dull issue or an unimportant one.
Need to be shown seriousness of
problem, or how they will be
affected. Consider arguments
Hostile audience - most
difficult to persuade. They
disagree with you. May be
distrusting of you. Need
open-mindedness then
conviction.
Establish your prestige. Show
that you are well prepared and
competent, sincere, and
genuinely interested in them.
Use frequent evidence and
supporting materials: facts,
surveys, statistics, quotations
Refer to your own experience with
topic, especially in intro.
Express appreciation for invitation
to speak. Compliment them.
Be logical and honest.
Three major sources by which
people can be persuaded:
Pathos: Emotions - listeners’
own personal drives, needs, or
desires
Use Maslow’s Heirarchy
of Needs:
biological drives (food, drink, air, sleep, etc.)
safety (security, stability, protection from
harm, structure, predictability)
love and belonging (affection, feeling part of
a social group, acceptance and approval,
etc.)
esteem (confidence, freedom, independence,
recognition by others, etc.)
self-actualization (self-fulfillment, realizing
individual potential, being true to self, etc.)
Ethos: the way in which an audience
perceives the character and
personality of the speaker
Logos: Logic Appeal
Persuader must know listeners’ needs,
establish own prestige when
attempting to influence an audience,
and build logical arguments that their
listeners can follow.
Using facts, examples, testimony and
statistics
Examples
Do not use alone to support a claim
Useful in reinforcing or clarifying
ideas
Consider source, age, and
representativeness of example
Statistics
Combine with examples
Don’t use too many at a time
Identify the source of the statistics
Translate and round off
Use visual aids
Testimony
Quote accurately
Paraphrase fairly
Use qualified sources
Identify source and source’s
credentials
Wrapping Up Rhetoric
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO
9d2PpP7tQ&list=PLCSX24yuW0Zlgy8E
hGsj-_BR2_JB5-RXa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O
DwmSYb3Tw
Monroe’s Motivated
Sequence
Get attention of audience
Establish a need
Satisfy that need
Visualize the future
Ask for action
Monroe’s motivated
sequence
Introduction =
Attention
Main point 1 =
Need
Main point 2 =
Satisfaction
Main point 3 =
Visualization
Conclusion
Action
=
Monroe’s motivated
sequence --ATTENTION
Attention:
Get audience’s attention,
arousing curiosity about what the
speaker is going to say.
Copyright © 1997 by Stephen E. Lucas
Attention
Functions
To gain attention
To secure good will and respect (your
credibility and why audience should
listen/care)
To prepare the audience for discussion of
your topic
To help avoid the effects of psychological
reactance, the preview statement should
be omitted.
Methods
Reference to a subject, event, or occasion
Personal greeting
Rhetorical question
Startling statement/statistics
Quotation
Humorous anecdote
Illustration
Appeal to needs
Use Maslow’s Heirarchy
of Needs:
biological drives (food, drink, air, sleep, etc.)
safety (security, stability, protection from
harm, structure, predictability)
love and belonging (affection, feeling part of
a social group, acceptance and approval,
etc.)
esteem (confidence, freedom, independence,
recognition by others, etc.)
self-actualization (self-fulfillment, realizing
individual potential, being true to self, etc.)
Monroe’s motivated
sequence --NEED
Need: Create a need for change. The
speaker must establish a clear, urgent,
and unfulfilled need in the mind of the
audience. This is a critical step in the
sequence. No solutions should be
proposed during this stage.
Need
Functions
To describe the problem
To make your audience uncomfortable with
the status quo
Methods
Statements (backed by evidence)
Illustration
Show ramifications
Pointing (show audience why to care / how
it applies to their lives / how they will be or
are affected)
Monroe’s motivated
sequence --SATISFACTION
Satisfaction: Satisfy the need with a
solution. Present the solution to the
needs or problems described in step
two. During this stage, speakers must
also identify and eliminate possible
objections to the solution.
Satisfaction
Functions
To present a solution to the need described
above
Methods
Statements (backed by evidence)
Explanation
Theoretical demonstration
Practical experience
Meeting objections and potential
counterarguments
Monroe’s motivated
sequence --VISUALIZATION
Visualization: Intensify desire for
solution. Intensify audience
members' desire for the solution
by getting them to visualize what
their lives will be like once
they've adopted it. Use vivid
images and verbal illustrations to
support the benefits of the
proposed solution.
Visualization
The visualization step carries the audience from
accepting the feasibility of your proposal to seeing how
it will actually benefit them.
Functions
To intensify your audience’s desire to adopt the solution
and action you propose
To help the audience to “see” the results
Methods
Positive method
Negative method
Contrast method
Perhaps appeal to needs
Monroe’s motivated
sequence --ACTION
Action: Urge the audience to take
action. In the final step, the speaker
must turn the audience's agreement
and commitment into positive action.
Tell audience members what they
need to do to obtain the described
solution and its benefits.
Action
Functions
To focus the thoughts of your audience
To motivate your audience to ACT
To leave the audience in a mood appropriate to
your topic
To convey a sense of completion
Methods
Challenge
Summary
Quotation
Illustration
Personal Intention
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