Persuasion in Organizational Settings “I have this lovely swamp land in Florida you might be interested in.”
Uncle Nick’s Handy Midterm II Survival Guide All material from the lectures/PowerPoint Chapters 5, 6, 10, 12, 14 Chapter 5 especially pp. 123-128 Chapter 6 especially pp. 150-156 Chapter 10 especially pp. 241-254 Chapter 12 especially pp. 317-326 Chapter 14 especially pp. 368-376
Definitions and Initial Considerations “To persuade is to limit the options that are perceived as acceptable.” Hamilton Contrasted with coercion and informing Key issue--do you view persuasion as essentially a rational or a non-rational enterprise?
Modes and Venues for Persuasion Speaking to convince versus speaking to actuate The attitude-behavior dichotomy Persuasion happens in: public settings formal one-on-one settings informal settings
Yale School of Persuasion Research Carl Hovland and colleagues Attention Comprehension Acceptance Retention Action Criticisms of the model
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Physiological needs Security Needs Social or love needs Esteem needs Self-actualization needs
Cialdini’s Principles of Persuasion Reciprocation Commitment and Consistency Social Proof Liking Authority Scarcity
Monroe’s Motivated Sequence Attention Step Need Step Satisfaction Step Visualization Step Action Step
Monroe’s Motivated Sequence: Illustrated Persuasive speech on improving workplace safety Attention: Personal experience of workplace accident Need: Severity and numbers of workplace injuries--stats, case studies, projections Satisfaction: solve through aggressive employee ed. and strict OSHA enforcement Visualization: lower worker comp costs Action: call insurance co., get OSHA training packages
Alternative Organizational Patterns Problem solution format Criteria satisfaction format Cause-effect-solution format Indirect sequence establish the problem outline criteria for response disqualify alternatives present the unpopular solution
Speaker Credibility Extrinsic credibility--prior to… Intrinsic credibility--during… Dimensions of credibility: trustworthiness competence/expertise dynamism objectivity organizational rank
Final Thoughts Audience analysis is key to effective persuasion Ethics should not be an afterthought Aristotle was probably right ethos pathos logos