Unit 14: Understanding Principles of Persuasive Speaking (Chapter 16 & 17)

1. Unit 14: Understanding Principles of Persuasive Speaking(Chapter 16 & 17) “…the power of speech, to stir men’s blood.” -- William Shakespeare

2. Speeches to Persuade • Influence listeners’ points of view or behavior. • Speaker asks audience to make a choice, does not simply inform the audience. • Speaker not only educates, but advocates.

3. Image from: http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/jmo1253l.jpg

4. Persuasion Defined • Process of changing or reinforcing attitudes, beliefs, values or behaviors. • Attitudes: likes or dislikes • Beliefs: what is regarded as true or false • Values: enduring ideas of right/wrong • Behaviors: actions displayed • Attitudes: Most likely to change • Values: Most difficult to change

5. How Persuasion Works THE CLASSICAL RHETORIC APPROACH Artistotle’s Rhetoric -- earliest discussion of speechmaking Rhetoric: process of discovering the available means of persuasion. If the goal is to persuade: select symbols to change attitudes, beliefs, values, or behaviors. Use ethos, logos, pathos.

6. Three Methods of Persuasion (Classical) • Ethos: creating audience trust and believability through ethics, character & concern for the audience. • Logos: rational & logical arguments, through sound evidence. • Pathos: emotions that may involve stories, pictures and music. • Ethos, logos & pathos motivate people.

7. Persuasion • Classical Rhetoric crafts persuasive message from standpoint of the speaker. • The Contemporary Approach describes how audience members interpret persuasive messages.

8. The Contemporary ELMApproach Elaboration Likelihood Model • Explains how people interpret persuasive messages. • People focus (elaborate) on information given. • Process information directly (logos). • Process indirectly (ethos or pathos).

9. ELM APPROACH • Direct Persuasion Route -- Logos • Audience considers the underlying logos or logic of the message. • Considers the facts and then makes a thoughtful decision. • Indirect Persuasion Route-- Ethos or Pathos • Persuasion by indirect factors -- music, reactions to salesperson.

10. How to Motivate Listeners • Dissonance • Listener Needs • Positive Motivation • Negative Motivation

11. Using Dissonance • People seek consistency & balance. • When unhappy, people change attitudes, beliefs, values or behaviors. • Cognitive Dissonance: mental discomfort, lock of mental harmony or agreement • Speakers need to be ethical when choosing messages that create dissonance.

12. Dissonance Image from: http://resonanceblog.com/wp-content/uploadswp/2009/04/dilbert-cognitive-diss.jpg

13. How Listeners Cope with Dissonance • Discredit the source of information. • Refocus on parts of the message not creating dissonance. Reinterpret message to hear what they want to. • Seek new information to prove speaker’s ideas wrong. • Stop listening; tune out. • Change attitudes, beliefs, values or actions to reduce dissonance.

14. Cognitive Dissonance Image from: http://www.cs.vu.nl/~frankh/dilbert/cognitive-dissonance.jpg

15. How to Motivate Listeners: Use Listener Needs • People change attitudes, beliefs, values or actions to restore needs. • Maslow: humans are motivated by a variety of needs. • Persuasion occurs when listeners become convinced that changes will satisfy their needs.

16. Image from: http://www.businessballs.com/images/jim_barker_cartoons/carrot_motivation_cartoon.jpg

17. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Image from: http://quangkhoi.net/learningcenter/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/maslows-hierarchy1.jpg

18. How to Motivate Listeners: Use Positive Motivation • Good things will happen if listeners follow speaker’s advice. • Emphasizes that positive values will be maintained or restored. • Emphasizes benefits & features. • Benefit: a good result that creates a positive feeling for listener; appealing to emotions. • Feature: a rational cognitive explanation appealing to logic.

19. How to Motivate Listeners:Use Negative Motivation • Bad things will happen if speaker’s advice not followed. • Fear appeals are common. • Threats to loved ones work better. • Fear appeals work better when speaker credibility is higher. • Fear appeals more successful if listeners believe the threat is real. • As fear appeals intensify, so do chances of success.

20. Image from: http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/msh0035l.jpg

21. Image from: http://leapcomp.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/dilbert1.png

22. How to Develop Your Persuasive Speech • Consider your audience • Select & narrow your topic • Determine your purpose • Develop your central and main ideas.

23. Consider the Audience • Consider audience diversity -- don’t design a persuasive message using strategies effective only for your culture. • Remember ethical responsibilities • Don’t fabricate evidence to frighten. • Don’t create dissonance using information that is not true. • Don’t tell people only what they want to hear.

24. Selecting & Narrowing Your Topic • Do you sincerely feel strongly about it? • Does it appeal to listeners’ passions? • Is it an important topic?

25. PERSUASIVE STRATEGIES • Establish Credibility • Use Logic & Evidence to Persuade

26. Develop Central & Main Ideas Proposition -- statement with which you want the audience to agree. • Proposition of Fact -- focuses on whether something is true or false. • When women joined the military, the quality of the military improved. • Global warming is not occurring in our atmosphere.

27. Central & Main Ideas • Proposition of Value -- Listeners must judge the worth or importance of something. • It is wrong to turn away immigrants. • A private-school education is more valuable than a public school education.

28. Central & Main Ideas • Proposition of Policy -- Advocates a specific action • Senior citizens should pay for more of their medical costs. • The G&T Program should have a full-time coordinator.

29. END PERSUASION PART 1

30. Chapter 17

31. Types of Reasoning • INDUCTIVE -- Using specific examples to reach a general conclusion. • Example Students are sneezing. (specific) Professors are canceling classes. (specific) The clinic has long waiting lines. (specific) There must be a flu on campus. (general)

32. Types of Reasons • ANALOGY Makes a comparison between two things. http://pactiss.org/resources/media-articles-cartoons/analogy.jpeg

33. Types of Reasoning • DEDUCTIVE Start with general claim and then move towards specific conclusion. All tough drug laws introduced in medium-sized communities result in diminished drug-related crimes. San Marcos, Texas is a medium-sized community. San Marcos should institute tough drug laws.

34. Types of Reasoning • CAUSAL Relating events to show connections. Cause to effect or effect to cause.

35. Avoid Faulty Reasoning FALLACIES • Casual -- no real connection • Bandwagon -- Everyone doing it. • Hasty Generalization -- Since my niece is failing, city schools are bad. • Ad Hominem -- Personal attach • Red Herring -- Changing the subject to distract • Misplaced Authority -- Jessica Simpson says McMillan trucks are best. • Non Sequitor -- Ideas do not follow.

36. Using Emotion to Persuade • Use details that help listeners visualize. • Use emotion-arousing words -- freedom, mommy. • Delivery should reflect emotions. • Use pictures or images. • Use appropriate similes & metaphors.

37. Strategies for Organizing Persuasive Messages • State your strongest arguments first. • Do not bury key arguments in the middle. • Save action calls for the end. • Consider presenting both sides of issue. • State and refute counterarguments.

38. Strategies for Organizing Persuasive Messages • Organizational Patterns • Problem-Solution • Refutation • Cause & Effect • Motivated Sequence • Attention • Need • Satisfaction • Visualization • Action