I. Introduction to Persuasive Speaking
II. Patterns of Organization for Persuasive Speaking
Introduction to Persuasive Speaking
Persuasive speaking can be contrasted with informative speaking.
The two appear on a continuum.
Informative ---------------------- Persuasive
There are several points of contrast.
Another focus of persuasion are the questions of value.
Here is where we argue something is right or wrong, moral or immoral,
or better or worse than another thing. Examples include: "To persuade
my audience that it is wrong to drive over the speed limit." "To
persuade my audience that Pepsi is better than Coke." "To persuade
my audience that it is better to live together before marriage."
Another focus of persuasion can be the questions of policy.
And this is your assignment.
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 ISU should turn Morill Hall into a Multi-cultural
Center." "To persuade my audience that the U.S. military should lift
its ban on women in combat." "To persuade my audience that they should
donate blood."
Fact, Value or Policy? Exercise
1. To persuade my audience that the U.S. 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.
Fact, Value, or Policy?
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.
Your Assignment See your workbook, p. 38
Goals: Policy Speech
Topics
Time: 7-9 minutes
Sources: minimum of 5; review guidelines about sources on p. 10
Visual Aid--your choice
There are two types of persuasive speeches of policy.
Time Management during the Persuasive Unit
Choose a topic ASAP. The last day to turn in p. 42 is Monday.
Use the Persuasive Speech Development form early to get you going.
It is on pp. 43-44 in the workbook and is due Mon. Oct. 26.
Plan a time to meet with your speaking group.
Get a draft of your outline done by your workshop day Oct. 28th or
30th.
Keep up with homework, ask questions and practice.
Persuasive Analysis and Structures
Once you have chosen a topic, your next task is to analyze it and prepare
for your research.
We will use the traditional concepts that persuaders have used for
centuries to argue for change in the status quo.
The three issues to consider are grounded in theories of human psychology.
The Three Ps: Persuasive Speech Stock Issues
1. The Problem issue refers to what is wrong with the status quo.
2. The Plan issue refers to the solution.
3. The Practicality issue refers to considerations of how well the
plan solves the problem and its advantages and disadvantages.
Sample Speech: “The Problem With Pennies” (pp. 393-396)
Problem Issue--paragraphs 4-8
Pennies are a nuisance for individuals. [class survey, U.S. Mint
Survey, example of Noel Gunther from the L.A. Times]
Pennies are a nuisance for businesses too. [Fortune magazine,
National Association of Convenience Stores]
Pennies are a nuisance for the nation. [stats and testimony from
the Treasury Dept., from the U.S. Mint, from U.S. News and World Report]
Plan Issue--paragraphs 10-13
First step is for the federal government to legalize and standardize
rounding off purchases to the nearest nickel.
The next step is to round the sales tax off to the nearest nickel.
The third step is for the Mint to stop making pennies.
The fourth step is for people to cash in their pennies removing them
from the money supply.
Practicality Issue--mixed in with the plan steps in paragraphs
10-15
Rounding off purchases: would not cause increased cost to consumers.
Rounding off sales tax: again, no increased cost; it is like rounding
off to the nearest dollar on your income tax return.
Stop minting: this will save $80 million a year.
Such a plan has worked in the U.S. before; in 1857 we eliminated the
half-penny.
We already practice this plan through the "Leave a Penny, Take a Penny"
dishes at check-out counters.
II. Patterns of Organization for Persuasive Speaking
Problem-Solution
Problem-Cause-Solution
Monroe’s Motivated Sequence
Best pattern to use for a personal action appeal.
Five Parts: Attention, Need, Satisfaction, Visualization, Action; but
only three main points.
ATTENTION
In the Introduction
A scenario of a heart attack
NEED:
I. We have a problem with heart disease and heart failure in America.
A. Every year thousands of Americans die from heart attacks.
B. Only a small part of the population knows how to save someone who
is suffering from a heart attack.
SATISFACTION:
II. If more people were trained in CPR more lives could be saved.
A. You can get trained in CPR by attending a Red Cross class.
B. You can get trained in CPR here on campus.
VISUALIZATION:
III. Once you are trained in CPR, you can save a life.
A. Let's look again at the opening scenario.
B. Statistics show that communities that have a large percentage of
the population CPR certified have lower rates of death from heart attacks.
ACTION:
In the conclusion
Call to the audience to get trained in CPR
Comparative Advantages
For use only when the audience already agrees that there is a problem
that needs to be solved.
The main points are used to discuss the advantages and disadvantages
of the various plans suggested.
It is essentially a process of elimination structure.
Example Comparative Advantages:
Intro: We all have heard of the energy crisis, but some may think that
it is over. It's not. In my research I discovered that . .
. [fill in with cited specific predictions to illustrate that fossil fuels
will run out if we continue our present rates of consumption].
[Preview] There are three possible ways to solve this problem, but
only one can really work. Today I will persuade you that nuclear
power is the only viable answer to our energy crisis.
[The first part of the Body lists and examines and then dismisses the competing options.]
I. We could try to develop wind power.
A. It is being tried. [describe the Plan]
B. It won't work. [Practicality]
II. We could try to develop solar power.
A. It is being tried. [Plan]
B. It won't work. [Practicality]
[The you introduce and defend your proposed plan.]
III. We must develop nuclear power.
A. It is being used. [Plan]
B. It works and will solve our energy crisis. [Practicality]
Conclusion: Call to "action."
Alternative Comparative Advantages format: If you have only 2 plans to compare, you might arrange the speech as follows:
I. Nuclear power is better than solar power because it is more reliable.
II. Nuclear power is better than solar power because it produces more
energy for less cost.
III. Nuclear power is better than solar power because it is no more
harmful to the environment.
Topical Pattern [See pp. 39-40 in the workbook.]
This pattern may be resorted to when arguing against a change in the
status quo.
The strategy is essentially one of listing reasons to keep the present
system.
Problem, Plan and Practicality must still be dealt with.
Sample Topical Pattern:
Introduction: CARP+ show that a call for change had been made.
Body
I. We should not abolish casino gambling in Iowa because no one is
being hurt by it.
II. We should not abolish casino gambling in Iowa because it is not
an immoral activity.
III. We should not abolish casino gambling in Iowa because it increases
tourism in the state.
IV. We should not abolish casino gambling in Iowa because it is raising
money for education.
Conclusion: Simply reinforce the case and urge the class to act accordingly.
Sample Patterns of Organization: Exercise
Aristotle: Greek teacher/scientist (384-322 B.C.)
Student of Plato; Teacher of Alexander the Great; Author of over 170
works; 30 of which survived.
His work, the Rhetoric, is widely regarded as the most important work
on persuasion ever published.
Aristotle 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 three major modes of proof. Think of it as three
ways that people are persuaded or that we come to believe things or to
act upon things.
Three Types of Support Material
Examples
Statistics
Testimony
All three types of support material require that you:
make accurate use
evaluate and identify the source (beware bias)
consider recency
consider strength
Guidelines for use of Examples:
1. Do not use them alone to support an important claim.
2. Examples are useful in clarifying, reinforcing, or personalizing
ideas.
3 Ethical use demands that you consider the source, age, and representativeness
of the example.
Tips for effective use of statistics:
1. Combine statistics with examples.
2. Don't use too many at a time.
3. Identify the source of the statistics.
4. Translate your statistics.
5. Round off your statistics.
6. Use visual aids.
Guidelines for the use of testimony:
1. Quote accurately.
2. Paraphrase fairly.
3. Use qualified sources.
4. Use reluctant testimony.
5. Always identify the source and the source's credentials.
Methods of Persuasion: Reasoning
The two main forms of reasoning are deduction and induction.
A. Deduction refers to arguments that run from general to specific;
they are characterized by necessity.
B. Induction refers to arguments that run from specific to general;
they are characterized by an inductive leap.
Classic form of Deduction: the syllogism
The U.S. Constitution guarantees citizens the right to vote.
Women are citizens.
**The U.S. Constitution guarantees women the right to vote.
Senator Grassley has recently argued:
What is good for Farmers is good for Iowa.
The chapter 12 bankruptcy provision is good for farmers.
Therefore, the chapter q2 bankruptcy provision is good for Iowa
Popular form of Deduction: The Enthymeme:
George Bush is not a wimp; he's a military hero.
She's a girl; she can't throw the ball.
He's a man, of course he wouldn't stop to ask directions.
Our text associates deductive reasoning with the class of arguments
called arguments from principle.
In the Chewing Tobacco Speech:
To be effective a law must be enforced and have adequate penalties.
Adopting my plan will make Wisconsin's laws on chewing tobacco
be enforced and will create adequate penalties.
My plan will be effective at curbing chewing tobacco use.
Beware the false principle.
The police say he committed the crime, so he committed the crime.
stereotypes
starting from principles that only those who already agree with you would maintain.
The major form of Inductive reasoning our text calls argument from
specific instances.
[Otherwise known as generalization arguments.]
In the chewing tobacco speech:
“Chewing tobacco use is widespread.”
Proof
The American Cancer Society says one in twelve Americans is a regular
user.
The average age of first use is 10.
40% of high school boys say they have tried it.
21% of kindergartners (boys?) have tried it.
Surveys, studies, and even elections are often grounded in reasoning
from specific instances.
conducting a poll
“Four out of five dentists surveyed”
Nielsen ratings
Beware the Hasty Generalization
my friends and I watched violent cartoons and never committed a crime,
so . . . .
the two people I sat next to in lecture got Bs on their speeches, so everybody but me got a B on the speech.
“but Mom, everybody else is going to the party!”
Arguments from Analogy
Literal and Figurative; both are grounded in the concept of similarity
Literal Analogies
Socialized medicine works in Canada, so socialized medicine will work
in the U.S.
The U.S. got rid of the half-penny in 1857 without causing harms, so today we can get rid of the penny without causing harms.
Higher penalties for selling chewing tobacco to minors in California has reduced chewing tobacco use by minors by 60%. Therefore, higher penalties in Wisconsin will also work.
The Kansas City Royals have switched from chewing tobacco to bubble gum, so other teams would switch if people appealed to them.
Weak Analogies
Having a funeral without the body is like having a wedding without
the bride.
The university shouldn't be able to tell me what classes I have to take; after all, the store manager doesn't tell me what groceries to buy.
A ban on all alcohol use in the dorms will work at ISU because such a ban worked at Simpson College.
Figurative Analogies
useful for framing an argument
As the tiger needs its claws to provide for its internal needs, so does America need its defense in order to meet domestic concerns.
Malcolm X: An integrated civil rights movement is like strong black coffee diluted with cream; its strength is lost.
Causal Arguments
The most challenging of the types of reasoning. We can't see
causal relationships, we can only infer them. Hume saw that in order
to conclude a causal relationship we must see constant conjunctions as
well as a relationship in time. Furthermore, the causal link must
make "sense" according to our sense of how the world works.
How do we reach the conclusion that cigarettes cause lung cancer?
Problems of Causal Arguments
Tips for success in causal reasoning.
use causal chains to help the audience see the causal relationship.
use testimony of experts to support conclusions