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Beebe/Beebe/Ivy Communication: Principles for a Lifetime 6e
Instructor’s Manual
184
CHAPTER 15:
Speaking to Persuade
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After studying this chapter, students will be able to:
1. Define persuasion and describe five ways listeners may be motivated.
2. Explain how to select and narrow a persuasive topic, identify a persuasive purpose,
and develop and support a persuasive proposition.
3. Use credibility, logical reasoning, and emotional appeals to make your persuasive
speech more effective.
4. Organize your persuasive message.
5. Provide specific suggestions for adapting to receptive audiences, neutral audiences,
and unreceptive audiences.
TEACHING OUTLINE
I. Understanding Persuasion
A. Persuasion Defined
B. The Psychology of Persuasion
1. Dissonance
2. Needs
3. Fear Appeals
4. Positive Appeals
5. The Elaboration Likelihood Model
II. Developing Your Audience-Centered Persuasive Speech
A. Narrowing Your Topic
B. Identifying Your Purpose
C. Developing Your Central Idea as a Persuasive Proposition
1. Propositions of fact
2. Propositions of value
3. Propositions of policy
1. Competence
2. Trustworthiness
3. Dynamism
4. Stages of Credibility
B. Logos: Using Evidence and Reasoning
1. Inductive Reasoning
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2. Deductive Reasoning
3. Causal Reasoning
4. Logical Fallacies
C. Pathos: Using Emotion
1. Attention
2. Need
3. Satisfaction
4. Visualization
5. Action
V. Adapting Ideas to People and People to Ideas
A. The Receptive Audience
B. The Neutral Audience
C. The Unreceptive Audience
CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTION SETS
How do the authors define persuasion?
• Do you find this definition to be a little open?
• What behaviors would be included with the definition?
• What behaviors would be excluded according to the definition?
• Is persuasion ethical? When does it become unethical?
• Is it ethical to use a physical threat to achieve your objective (“Your money or
your life.”)?
• Is it ethical to use a psychological threat to achieve your goal (“If you really loved
me . . .”)?
• Is it ethical to use a psychological reward to achieve your goal (Quid pro quo: “Do
this and you’ll get a raise.”)?
• So where do we draw the ethical boundaries?
• What other ethical standards do you see coming into play?
What is cognitive dissonance?
• Let’s take a simple example. Have you ever gone to withdraw money from the
ATM machine only to discover you’re out of money? How does it make you feel?
• Can dissonance have different degrees of intensity?
• In other words, can some issues cause slight dissonance and others major
dissonance?
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• So as a speaker, what do you have to do to make dissonance strategies work?
Get the audience to take ownership of the problem and see how it directly affects
them.
What are fear appeals?
• How are fear appeals different from other emotional appeals?
• When the automotive industry ran a campaign to encourage seat belt use, they
told parents to buckle up their kids. Was this ethical?
• When do fear appeals become unethical?
• Can fear appeals become too vivid? (Run the dentist’s scenario. See activities.)
• What’s the danger of being too vivid?
• The authors suggest that if a speaker does not have high enough credibility, they
may not be able to use fear appeals well. How does this relate to the ideas of
What are positive appeals?
• (Some professors may want to introduce the idea of motives here.)
• What are common motives a college audience would have?
• If you link your arguments to these will you be more successful?
• What ethical cautions must you be aware of?
• How do you distinguish persuasion from peer pressure?
What are attitudes?
• Do we have feelings on everything? Ice cream, cars, dating?
• What about concepts? Chaos theory, persuasion, epistemology?
• What are neutral attitudes?
• How easy is it to change a person’s attitude?
What are beliefs?
What are values?
• How are values different than beliefs?
• Have you ever had a knock-down, drag-out, hair-pulling, tear-letting argument
with someone else about God, religion, or politics? What happened? Why
weren’t you successful?
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• Did you argue the values or the attitudes and beliefs that they were based upon?
• How difficult are values to change?
What are behaviors?
• Are behaviors easy to change? Why not? (Overt; we will defend and rationalize
these)
What is a proposition?
• Let’s use the idea of space exploration—what would be some propositions of fact
we could raise about extraterrestrial life, NASA, or the viability of future space
travel?
• What are the dangers of facts? (Once admitted, they are very difficult to
overturn. See fact activity.)
• How important is logical development to a proposition of fact?
• Returning to the logical syllogism, if an audience accepts an invalid major
premise, what must they do with the conclusion?
• Have we done this in the past?
• What premise was racism built on? What premise was chauvinism built upon?
• How easy has it been to overturn these conclusions?
What is a proposition of value?
• Let’s go back to space exploration—what are value-oriented propositions we
could raise?
• What role do opinions play in a proposition of value?
Why?
What is a proposition of policy?
• What propositions of policy could you create on space exploration?
• Based on this exercise, can you create a proposition of fact, value, or policy on
practically any subject? (Yes.)
• What determines your proposition? (The specific purpose)
• How important is credibility to a proposition of policy?
• Is it more important here than say a proposition of value or fact? Why?
How is the organization of a persuasive presentation different from an informative
presentation?
• So, how do you determine the specific organization of your presentation?
(Audience analysis)
• How do you know specifically what an audience knows or how they feel?
What is a problem-solution organization?
• When would you use it?
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• Let’s take one of the space exploration propositions—which do you want to use?
• Do you emphasize the problem side or solution side? (Depends on audience)
What is cause and effect?
• When do you use it?
• Again, let’s take another of the space exploration propositions—which do you
want to use?
• Do you emphasize causes or effects?
• What are the dangers in using cause effect?
When do you use refutation as an organizational strategy?
• How do you use refutation effectively? (Must know the objections)
• Let’s use another space proposition—which do you want to use?
• What are likely points we would have to refute? List these.
• How do you begin the refutation? (Look for common ground)
What is the motivated sequence?
• Have you ever seen this before? (Yes, just unaware of it.)
• (Refer to various commercials.)
• (Please refer to the activities section.)
What is the attention step?
• Should you begin the attention step with an illustration? (No, The need step has
an illustration and this is only overkill. Another attention getter is preferable.)
• How do you establish your credibility?
What is the need step?
• What is the ultimate goal of ramifications? (Create cognitive dissonance.)
• What is pointing?
• How does this differ from a general audience relation? (More direct and varied)
What is the goal of the satisfaction step?
• Can you use the word need in the satisfaction step?
• Should the solution be social or audience directed? (Usually social)
• Must you always provide a plan? (Yes, but not always detailed)
• Must you always provide a rebuttal? (No, depends on the audience.)
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• What is solvency?
What is visualization?
• Should visualization be logical or emotional? Emotional?
• How do you enhance this? (Word pictures)
• Should you aim at positive or negative visualization? (Depends on audience)
• When do you use both? (Time and when you want to create antithesis)
What is the action step?
• How do you distinguish it from satisfaction? (This is where the audience solution
is stated.)
• Can you just say, “So vote”? (No, has to be more inspirational, but depends on
audience as well.)
What is credibility?
What do the authors mean by competence?
• What does a speaker do verbally to establish competence?
• What does a speaker do nonverbally to demonstrate competence?
What do the authors mean by dynamism?
• What can a speaker do verbally to establish dynamism?
• What can a speaker do nonverbally to establish dynamism?
What do the authors mean by trustworthiness?
• How does a speaker develop trust in a presentation?
• What does a speaker do nonverbally to establish trust?
• Which of the three dimensions is most important? (Trust) Why?
you want to know?
What is derived credibility?
• How does a speaker develop this?
• Can a speaker violate his own credibility? How?
• Who determines credibility, the audience or the speaker?
What is terminal credibility?
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• Think of some teachers you had in high school or here at the university. Now, no
names, but why do you still respect some of them?
• What kinds of things did they do to earn your respect?
• Now more importantly, what about the ones you don’t respect. No names again,
but what did they do to lose your confidence?
What is logic?
• Do we make decisions based on logic? (Sometimes)
• How do you structure the logic of a presentation? (Depends on the audience)
What is inductive reasoning?
• When you know what I’m talking about, shout out the answer:
o I am a mammal. I have four legs, I have horns. I eat grass. I produce milk
and meat that is consumed by humans. My flesh is often tanned for
leather products. I say Baa.
o (The point here is to get them to say cow, so when they’ve done this you
can skip to the end.)
• What’s the danger of inductive logic?
• Did Sherlock Holmes really deduce things or induce ideas?
• When do you want to use inductive logic? (Resistant audience)
• (Use an example where the solution would be to raise student fees or tuition to
pay for some university improvement—teacher salaries are always nice to play
on.)
What is deductive reasoning?
What do the authors mean by reasoning by analogy?
• What’s the danger of reasoning from analogy? (Apples to apples and oranges to
oranges)
• When do you want to use this style? (Refutational or rebuttal strategy)
What is causal reasoning?
• What is the danger of causal reasoning?
• What condition illustrates causality?
• X (causal condition) must precede Y (noted effect or outcome).
• Other potential causal factors must be eliminated, controlled, or explained.
• A significant change in Y must be observed only after X and only X was
presented.
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What is a logical fallacy?
• Are logical fallacies common? If they are common why do we accept them?
• Is it ethical to knowingly use a logical fallacy to influence others?
What is a causal fallacy?
• Can you offer an example?
• Have you ever heard, “if you keep making that face, it will freeze that way”?
• What other ones can you think of? (And let’s keep it clean!)
What is the bandwagon fallacy?
• Can you offer some examples?
• Look, don’t you want to be cool? Everyone’s doing (insert favorite vice—drugs,
booze, tattooing, etc.).
What is an either/or fallacy?
What is personal attack (ad hominem) fallacy?
• What are examples?
• Well you know, he’s gay. OR That can’t be right, she always comes up with
dumb ideas.
What is a red herring?
• Can you think of a red herring—and please, no Scooby Doo.
What is an appeal to misplaced authority?
• What are examples? “I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV.”
What is non-sequitur?
• What are some examples?
• How about, “if I drive a nice car, I’ll get all the babes”? Or “looking good is the
same as being good”?
• Now, regardless of whether or not logical fallacies are correct or not, do they
work?
• How does peer pressure work?
• So, again, is it ethical to knowingly use a logical fallacy?
• How do you know a logical argument is faulty? (When it raises more emotional
levels than cognitive processing.)
What are emotional appeals?
• Are emotional appeals ethical?
• What about pushing buttons such as guilt, anger, and ethnocentrism?
What are trigger words?
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• Can trigger words be both positive and negative?
• What are some positive trigger words you can think of?
• What are negative trigger words?
How can a speaker use nonverbal messages to inspire emotion?
• Can visual aids have an effect?
• Is it appropriate for a speaker to manipulate their nonverbals (such as crying) to
create an effect?
• So is crying always unethical? (No, not when it is genuine.)
How do you adjust messages to audiences?
What do the authors mean by a receptive audience?
• How do propositions of value work with this audience? In many cases, values
become fact here.
• Rather than proving capital punishment, gun control, abortion, or active
euthanasia is right or wrong, it is accepted as a given.
• Would you use a deductive or inductive method of organization?
• Would you spend more time on problem or solution?
• Do you have to refute the opposing side? (Only to gather emotional enthusiasm)
• How important would it be to create cognitive dissonance for this audience?
(Little. They already agree.)
• How critical will this audience be of your logical argumentation?
• What would your initial credibility be with this audience?
• How would you enhance your credibility?
• What role would emotion play? (High)
• Would you want to create positive or negative emotions? Why?
What do the authors mean by a neutral audience?
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• Would you spend more time on problem or solution? (Solution would unite the
audience more, but problem is usually most helpful.)
• Do you have to refute opposing ideas? (Yes, but not in detail.)
• How important is cognitive dissonance to this audience? (Very. Audience must
take ownership of the problem.)
• How critical will this audience be of your logical argumentation? (Moderate to
high)
• What would your initial credibility be with this audience?
• How would you enhance your credibility? (Dynamism is important)
• What role will emotion play? (High)
• Would you want to create positive or negative emotions? (Why?)
What do the authors mean by an unreceptive audience?
• Would you spend more time on problem or solution?
• Must you refute the other side? (Yes, but be respectful.)
• How important is cognitive dissonance to this audience? (You are the source of
cognitive dissonance. Don’t add fuel to the fire.)
• How critical will this audience be of your logical argumentation? (Very)
JOURNAL QUESTIONS
1. Look at the authors’ definition of persuasion and think about what you consider to be
ethical and unethical forms of persuasion. Write an ethical code for yourself. List at
least five standards of ethical persuasion you would be unwilling to violate. Do you
feel all speakers should conform to these ethical standards? Does this include
advertisers and politicians?
2. Take a value in which you strongly believe and map the beliefs and attitudes that
support this. As an example, “My education is very important and will improve my
3. Look at the specific purpose for your presentation and re-write it as a proposition of
fact, then one of value, and one of policy. Now think about the audience you will
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face. Do you think it would be better to present your idea as fact, value, or policy?
Why do you say this?
4. Look at the four organizational strategies provided: problem/solution, cause/effect,
refutation, and motivated sequence. Watch television and find one commercial that
5. Think of two teachers you have had in the past: one who has strong, positive
terminal credibility and one who has weak terminal credibility. Evaluate the two
instructors on the three dimensions of credibility: competence, dynamism, and
trustworthiness. What makes one instructor stand out more than another? As a
speaker, what things would you want to emulate and what are things you would want
to avoid?
6. Read an editorial in your local college or city newspaper. Outline the argument to
analyze the reasoning it uses. Did the author use an inductive or deductive
7. Watching television, try to find one example of each logical fallacy. Identify the
commercial where you found the fallacy. If advertisers know they are using logical
fallacies, why do they use them? Do you think this is ethical?
8. Using commercials again, identify as many emotional appeals as you can. How do
advertisers use trigger words, word pictures, and nonverbal messages to create
9. Analyze your audience with regard to your presentation topic. Do you feel they are
receptive, neutral, or unreceptive on your topic? Based on this knowledge, how will
you structure your presentation? What organizational strategies will you use? How
will and what propositions of value will you use? How will you maintain or enhance
your credibility? Will you emphasize logical or emotional appeals? Why? What
major values can you build upon to create unity? What values might you avoid?
ACTIVITIES
Activity 15.1: The Music Man
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Many plays and musical use various forms of the motivated sequence, but the best
example can be found in the Broadway musical, The Music Man. Rent a copy of the
musical and show two excerpts to the class. The first should be “We Got Trouble.” This
is the attention and need step. Linking the idea of social decay to the pool hall
school gym when the proposal is made to create a “boys’ band.” The song you will
want to show is the first rendition of “76 Trombones Led the Big Parade.”
Follow-up:
Many follow up points can be raised.
First, direct students’ attention to the overall format and how the motivated sequence is
used to first create cognitive dissonance and then resolve it through the solution.
Third, and most importantly, direct students’ attention to the ethics of the performance. I
am somewhat disturbed that many students see no ethical violation in manufacturing a
need. A solid follow up question to ask is. “How do we protect the first amendment
Imagine you are reclining in a chair, staring at a white tiled ceiling. Although not
restrained in anyway, you know you are not to move. The smell of antiseptic invades
your nostrils as you hear the whine of a motor begin. Slowly the hand moves towards
your open mouth and the drill is placed on your numbed, unfeeling tooth. Pressure
builds as the whir of the motor heightens in pitch. Smoke rises from your mouth and
turns the antiseptic smell into an acrid odor you cannot help but inhale. . .
(That’s all this author can handle writing, and normally students begin tuning out far
before the end.)
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Lead a discussion on when vividness becomes too real and the danger of using too
much fear appeal.
Activity 15.3: Definition and Facts
Because definitions classify objects, they often serve as major premises. A major
premise that is invalid can lead to faulty conclusions that may serve as points of fact for
an audience. Once these facts are accepted as true, they are very difficult to defeat.
Many of these major claims become the basis for various forms of bigotry. Cases in
point include:
What are faulty facts under which we operate today? Divide your class into 4-5 groups
and ask them to consider what facts under which we operate that may be overturned by
future generations. To help focus the groups, you might give each a specific area to
consider. The following are merely suggestions:
Economics and Business
Politics
Gender/Sex Differences
Family and Relationships
Entertainment
To begin, have students generate lists of commonplace statements we use to describe
each of these. After they have five commonplace statements, challenge them to
critically evaluate the underlying assumptions that promote these views. Please note
that this is a very difficult assignment and takes time to complete, but students can and
do generate some wonderful ideas related to these issues.
Follow up points include critical evaluation of ideas, how illogical statements can be
used to inspire and shape social perceptions, and the difficulty in challenging
established norms and ideas.
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Activity 15.4: Commercials and the Motivated Sequence
Students often have resistance to the motivated sequence because they feel it is an
unfamiliar organizational strategy. To combat this, relate the Sequence to various
commercials. A few examples are from car dealers or from cell-phone companies. In
the case of car dealerships, a gimmicky attention step is usually used, and then
followed by a problem statement: “We’re overstocked.” This is followed by satisfaction,
“We’re reducing prices.” A quick visualization then shows a beautiful new car speeding
down a winding road. Following this, an action step occurs with “At these prices, they
won’t last long. So, hurry down . . .” The cell-phone commercials work similarly. A
phone-bearing man shows up in a dreary location (attention step). A problem is
illustrated (need step). Cell-phone man hands over the phone and suddenly the
problem is solved. The commercial ends with visualization of “Someday, we all will.”
Activity 15.5: Logical Fallacies
Divide your class into four groups. Assign each group two of the logical fallacies
provided by the authors. As described in the question and answer section, logical
fallacies often serve as a foundation for peer pressure. Ask students to create various
peer pressure statements based on the logical fallacies you’ve given them. Then, ask
them to create responses to the statements. Ask them to think of a variety of situations,
such as a party, dating, work, friends, etc. Try to create one peer pressure statement
for each situation, as well as a response for each.
Follow-up points include:
Activity 15.6: The Syllogism
Have students break into dyads or small groups. Have each dyad or group review the
section of the textbook on syllogisms and deductive reasoning. Then, have each create
two or three syllogisms that arrive at a certain conclusion rather than a probable
conclusion. Remind the class that each syllogism must contain the three parts
discussed in the text:
