Power of Persuasion

Persuasion A means of convincing people to: Buy a certain product Believe something Act a certain way Agree with a point of view

Who’s Aristotle? Aristotle : 384 BC- 322 BC Greek Philosopher (a study concerned with ethics and reasoning among other things) Student of Plato: another Greek philosopher “Rhetoric,” to Aristotle is the “ability to see the available means of persuasion

Three Elements of Persuasion: 3 types of persuasive approaches 1. Logos (Greek for “word”)- appeals to logic or reasoning provides evidence, statistics, proof 2. Pathos (Greek for “suffering” or “experience”)- appeals to emotions 3. Ethos (Greek for “character”)- proves you are reliable/credible source, proves you are someone worth listening to

3 Ways to Persuade! Using Logos (appealing to logic)- use facts/statistics/evidence to help support your argument Using Ethos (proves you are a reliable source)- try to find things you may have in common with your audience and build on them Using Pathos (appealing to emotions)- use vivid words, figurative language, and imagery- make your audience feel what you are talking about

Why should we learn about this? Companies persuade us to buy certain products Politicians persuade us to support them Peers sometimes use persuasion to get others to join them in an activity You may want to persuade others to agree with you or do something you want them to do

Audience Who are you trying to persuade? Advertisers know how to target their audience

Persuasive Techniques Appeal to Emotion Bandwagon Humor Celebrity endorsement Word choice

Appeal to Emotion Words or pictures that appeal to our emotions May appeal to positive emotions Happiness, excitement Or negative emotions Fear, sadness Commercial

Bandwagon *Convincing us to accept someone or something because of its popularity “Everyone else is doing it” Or “Everyone else has one” Commercial

Humor Make the audience laugh Often gives little or no information about the product Commercial

Celebrity Endorsement A famous person appears in the ad If _______________ uses the product, then it must be good Commercial

Word Choice over and over in the same advertisement Repetition: -Repeating a name, slogan or image over and over in the same advertisement Commercial *Glittering generalities: Telling only positive things about something or someone, without giving evidence or facts

Today’s Activity Look at each ad Answer these questions: Who is the advertiser? Who is the target audience? What persuasive techniques are used?

Group Activity Create a commercial for your original product Script must be two written pages front and back. Everyone must have a copy of the script in their journals. Length: 2-3 minutes Must be Memorized & everyone must have lines! Must include the persuasive techniques *Can include humor Must have a set. Can use props and/or costumes