Chapter 7.24: Persuasive Speaking

What Is a Persuasive Speech? Persuasive speeches are meant to appeal to the audience’s attitudes, beliefs and values about the issue in question, to sway listeners to the speaker’s point of view. Attempt to influence audience choices Limit Alternatives Seek a response Respect audience choices

LOGOS: Proof By Reason Logos refers to persuasive appeals directed at the audience’s reasoning on a topic. These appeals make use of arguments—stated positions, with support for or against an idea

PATHOS: Proof By Emotion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1Xh-tZrzwk Pathos is appeals to audiences emotion Requires creating a certain disposition in the audience Four Sets of Emotion Anger and meekness Love and hatred Fear and boldness Shame and shamelessness

ETHOS: Proof Through Character Ethos are appeals to the speakers character (moral character) Competence: speakers knowledge and experience with subject Moral Character- straightforward & honest Goodwill- general concern for welfare of the audience

What is An Argument? An argument is a stated position, with support for or against an idea or issue. Arguments are used to present one alternative as superior to other alternatives available to an audience. The core elements of an argument are a claim, evidence, and warrants. Sample persuasive speech topics

Claims, Evidence, and Warrants The claim states the speaker’s conclusion, based on evidence, about some state of affairs The evidence substantiates the claim The warrant provide reasons that the evidence is valid or supports the claim

Use Effective Reasoning Reasoning is the process of drawing conclusions from evidence Deductive reasoning begins with a general principle or case, followed by a specific example, which leads to a conclusion General Case: All men are mortal Specific Case: Socrates is a man Conclusion: Therefore, Socrates is mortal

Inductive reasoning moves from a specific case to a general conclusion supported by those cases Speaker offers evidence that points to a conclusion that appears to be, but is not necessarily true (page 197_ Causal reasoning, is when the speaker argues that one event, circumstance, or idea (the cause) is the reason (effect) for another “Smoking causes lung cancer”

Types of Claims Claims Claims of Fact- focus on whether something is or is not true or whether something will or will not happen Is homosexuality a generically determined orientation, an outcome of environmental influences, or the result of a combination of factors? Claims of Value- address issues of judgment Is assisted suicide ethical? Claims of Policy- specific course of action be taken or approved by the audience Students who earn an A on all speech assignments should be exempt from the final exam.

Fallacies in Reasoning Logical fallacy- an invalid or deceptive line of reasoning Page 198

Address Culture Persuasion depends on appeals to values; culture shapes these values Core values Cultural norms Cultural premises Emotions

Strengthen your case with Organization Problem-Solution: speech points arranged to demonstrate a problem and then to offer a solution. Problem-Cause-Solution: speech points arranged in order to demonstrate the problem, reasons for the problem, and solution to the problem. Monroe’s Motivated Sequence: speech points arranged to motivate listeners to act on something or to shift their attitudes in direction of speaker’s.

Types of Organizational Formats Comparative Advantage- Speech points arranged to demonstrate that your viewpoint or proposal contrasts favorably with (is superior to) one or more alternative positions. Refutation- Speech points arranged to disprove opposing claims. Example speech page 206