Introduction to Speaking Persuasively

Persuasive speaking can be contrasted with informative speaking. There are several points of contrast…

Persuasive speaking urges us to choose from among options.

Informative speaking reveals and clarifies options.

Persuasive speaking ask the audience for more commitment than informative speaking does.

The persuasive speaker is a leader.

The informative speaker is a teacher.

Persuasive speaking often involves emotional appeals that are out of place in speeches to inform.

There are focuses of persuasion.

The Question of Fact. This refers to something that we can know to be either true or false, but right now we can argue about it. Examples include: historical controversy, predictions, or questions of existence.

To persuade my audience that the New England Patriots will win the Super Bowl.

To persuade my audience that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone when assassinating President John F. Kennedy.

To persuade my audience that video game violence causes real world violence.

The Question of Value. Here we can argue whether something is right or wrong, moral or immoral, or better or worse than another thing.

To persuade my audience that it is wrong to drive over the speed limit.

To persuade my audience that Coke is better than Pepsi.

To persuade my audience that it is immoral to live together before marriage.

The Question of Policy. Here is where we argue that some action should or should not be taken. The form is always: “To persuade my audience that X should do Y.”

To persuade my audience that they should wear their seat belts when in an automobile.

To persuade my audience that the US military should lift its ban on allowing women to fight on the front line.

To persuade my audience that they should donate blood.

Fact, Value and Policy Exercise Determine if the following statements focus on the question of fact, value or policy. 1. To persuade my audience that the US should adopt a mandatory youth service program. 2. To persuade my audience that volunteering will make them feel better about themselves. 3. To persuade my audience to become Peace Corps volunteers. 4. To persuade my audience that experience as volunteers will help them on the job market. 5. To persuade my audience that volunteering is the duty of every citizen.

Methods of Persuasion Aristotle ( B.C.) Greek teacher/scientist His work, the Rhetoric, is widely regarded as the most important work on persuasion every published. He tackled the question…

How do we come to believe something or to believe we should act in a certain way in the absence of knowing “the truth”?

Aristotle details major modes of proof.

3 Major Modes of Proof Think of it as 3 ways that people are persuaded or that we come to believe things or to act upon things.

Ethos “ethical” – credibility appeal Sometimes we come to believe something or to act upon something simply because someone we trusted told us it was so. Aristotle suggests that the source of the material is the MOST powerful mode of persuasion.

Pathos “pathetic” – emotional appeal Sometimes we come to believe something or to act upon something simply because of a gut feeling of an appeal to our emotions. We act out of fear and greed and also out of love and compassion. We even act in certain ways because we are concerned about what others will think of us.

Logos “logical” – rational appeal Sometimes we come to believe something or to act upon something simply because someone gave us what we considered to be a “good reason.” Here is where we consider evidence and reasoning as parts of the persuasive process. This is the most complicated mode of proof. Use of support materials (examples, statistics, and testimonies) constitute offering “good reasons” to accept a claim.

Let’s look at some examples.

We Cannot Lose NPo NPo FDR – Pearl Harbor MpPno MpPno

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