978-0133753820 Chapter 15 Part 2

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• major premise

• minor premise

• conclusion

Upon completion of the creation of syllogisms, have the dyads or small groups explain

how they arrived at their syllogisms and why their conclusions are certain and not

probable. The instructor may wish to evaluate the syllogisms during the discussion or

this activity may be used as a graded assignment to be performed in class.

ASSIGNMENTS

Assignment 15.1: Motivated Sequence

This assignment is designed to help students:

1. Prepare and deliver a persuasive presentation using the motivated sequence.

2. Analyze an audience.

3. Adapt a message based on audience expectations.

4. Recognize the roles logic, emotion, and credibility play in persuasive messages.

Time limit: 5 to 7 minutes.

Research Requirement: Four sources. Three must be published.

Assignment: Students should select a topic of interest to them that they feel qualified to

General Purpose: To persuade.

Specific Purpose: What will the audience DO at the conclusion of your presentation?

I. Attention Step

A. Attention getter.

B. Establish your credibility.

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III. Satisfaction

A. State the solution. This is a social solution not audience directed.

IV. Visualization

A. Positive.

B. Negative.

V. Action ***

A. Specifically state what the audience must do.

B. Close on an uplifting note.

* At this stage of the motivated sequence, students must establish a prima facie case.

** At this stage of the motivated sequence, students must prove solvency.

*** This step should only be used by students promoting behavior change.

Presentations promoting attitude change will incorporate steps I through IV only.

With the outline complete, students should transfer key ideas from their preparation

outline to 3 X 5 or 4 X 6 note cards. Using these cards, students should set aside at

least two hours to rehearse the presentation.

Students should also prepare all visual aids that will be needed. Students may use

overheads, poster boards, or PowerPoint (if available). Video, music, or CD-ROM aids

❖ Choice of topic

❖ Organization

❖ Use of supporting materials

❖ Vividness of materials

❖ Visual aids

❖ Presentation

As before, students are encouraged to deliver an extemporaneous address.

Presentations that are merely read will receive a grade no higher than “D.”

Assignment 15.2: Audience Analysis

This assignment is designed to help students:

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1. Conduct a direct audience analysis.

2. Identify various demographic factors related to audience analysis.

3. Make qualified assumptions based on demographic information.

4. Tailor a presentation to a specific audience.

Conduct a poll of your audience to discover the following information:

• Gender

• Age

• Ethnicity

Once you have this information, write an analysis of the topic you will address in your

presentation. You will need to convert the statistical data into rough assumptions about

your topic and how your audience may respond overall. Use the following suggestions

for guiding your analysis:

Gender: Normally, audiences are fairly mixed, but when your audience is imbalanced

one way or the other gender can help in two ways. First, recall the distinctions between

masculine and feminine communication styles. Feminine styles speak to establish

relationships whereas men look at activities to establish relationships. This can be

useful in understanding how to develop and focus emotional appeals. Also, by

understanding gender, it provides suggestions for how to develop examples the

audience can clearly relate to by way of sex roles.

Age: For some people in your audience, Watergate is merely a concept read in a

history book while, for others, it is something they vividly remember. By understanding

age, it gives you a reference of what historical events you might refer to that will have

the greatest and most immediate impact with your audience.

Ethnicity: It is extraordinarily dangerous to make too many assumptions based on

Political Orientation: While few people truly understand their party’s platform, political

orientation will help you to identify the heroes and villains to which you can relate ideas.

For Republican audiences, Ronald Regan, Elizabeth Dole, and Abraham Lincoln are

icons of virtue. With the exception of Lincoln, the reverse is true for Democratic

audiences who will be more likely to champion Bill Clinton, Martin Luther King, Janet

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Reno, and Thomas Jefferson. By understanding the political leaning of your audience,

you know what icons to use and how to use them.

Religious Orientation: This can be used to help establish community by knowing what

values the audience supports. Oftentimes, speakers make religious statements to

establish connections and remind the audience of shared values. Not all presentations

will or should use this dimension.

Economic Level: This helps in two ways. First it tells you what action to call for. If

your audience is affluent you are safe asking for money—and asking for a significant

amount. If, by contrast, your audience is relatively poor, it is safer to either ask for

lesser amounts, or request time and volunteer help. Also, this is an important

Education: This can be used in three ways. First, it tells you what level to address

your presentation. Recall that good speaking seeks a common vocabulary and, as a

consequence, this dimension can help you decide whether you should elevate,

maintain, or decrease your vocabulary. Second, it tells you how important source

citation will be. Highly educated people expect to hear qualified information. They will

want to know the sources you consulted. By citing sources you enhance your

credibility. People with less education will allow more latitude. They will be more

impressed by citing highly recognizable sources. Lastly, education will tell you whether

or not you need to refute the other side. Highly educated people are more likely to stay

abreast of current events through newspapers, magazines, radio, and the Internet. As a

consequence, you will have to refute opposing positions with this audience. The same

is not always true with less educated individuals.

Major/minor: This would be the same as asking for occupation in a more realistic

survey. Different majors are affected by different governmental regulations and local

conditions. It is helpful to understand this as it tells you what things you can link ideas

to create a sense of urgency. Moreover, those majoring in business and industry

normally have a more conservative agenda, whereas the humanities and liberal arts

tend to be more liberal in their thinking.

Relationship Status: This can be helpful in identifying audience motives and values.

Single audiences tend to have different overall motives than married audiences.

Moreover, it tells you where to direct fear appeals. With single audiences, you direct

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1. Who is your audience? Report the findings of your survey. In looking at the raw

data, are there any categories that stand out? Are all of the categories fairly

balanced, or do you notice that some of the categories are somewhat lopsided?

Identify the categories that are imbalanced; these will be the ones you will use most

in making future assumptions.

2. How does your audience feel about your topic? Although you didn’t have the

opportunity to directly ask your audience this question, use the raw data you

3. How knowledgeable is your audience on the topic? Do you feel that this audience

has a great deal of knowledge, some knowledge, or little knowledge on your topic?

Use the categories to support your ideas. What misinformation may the audience

hold on your topic?

4. How personally involved is this audience with your topic? Using the categories,

evaluate how personally involved the audience may be with your topic? What

specific core values are linked to your topic? Why do you say this?

5. What strategies will you use to persuade this audience? Using information from the

text and lecture, write an analysis of what you may do to influence this audience.

6. How will you tailor your message toward audience attitude? Will this be a

presentation of attitude change or behavior change? Why do you say this? What

does this tell you about where you will end your presentation? If you attempt an

attitude change, how far do you think you can move this audience? Why do you say

this? If you will pursue a change in behavior, what behaviors can you realistically

call for?

7. How will you tailor your presentation toward audience knowledge? Reflect on

audience knowledge and on how you should use logical evidence. How will you

handle source citations, and what kind of citations will you be likely to make? How

will you deal with logical links? Will you attempt to make the logical links obvious or

subtle? What might this tell you with the kind of transitions you would use for this

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address? What language choices will you make for this audience? Will you need to

elevate, maintain, or lower your current vocabulary? Will this audience expect a

colloquial, formal, or elegant style of speaking? How can you incorporate this in

your presentation? Will you need to refute other ideas, or can you ignore this

component?

8. How will you use audience involvement? If the audience is very involved with the

topic, what might this tell you about how to balance logic, emotion, and ethical

9. In a final paragraph, analyze your credibility with this audience. Based on your

performance throughout the semester, what derived credibility have you gained? Do

you feel you are viewed with high, moderate, or low credibility? What makes you

say this? Analyze the three dimensions of credibility: competence, dynamism, and

trust. Does this audience view you as a competent speaker? Reflect on past

presentations, group performance, and class participation to evaluate this. Does this

audience view you as a dynamic speaker? Again, use past class experiences to

analyze this. Does this audience view you as being trustworthy? Why do you say

this? Where do your strengths lie? In other words, what elements do you feel you

simply have to maintain? Where are your liabilities? What can you do to overcome

these? Create a plan and identify two things you will do in your presentation to

enhance your overall credibility.

Assignment 15.3: Persuasive Presentation Critique

Choose a day you will not speak and analyze the speakers for that day. Write a critique

to address the following issues. The analysis should be typed and range between 2 to

3 typed double spaced pages. As before, do not make this a formal paper, but simply

place the number of the question to which you are referring in the left-hand margin and

address the topic at hand.

1. What was the most effective presentation you heard? In other words, which

presentation best accomplished its goal? Analyze each component of the motivated

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2. What was the least effective presentation you heard? Analyze each component of

the motivated sequence. What did the speaker do to establish the attention, need,

satisfaction, visualization, and action steps? What problems occurred with the

presentation itself? In other words, where did the argument lose integrity? Did the

need step fail to establish cognitive dissonance? Did the satisfaction step resolve

the dissonance or create greater dissonance? Did the visualization fail to touch or

involve you? If used, was the action step too overpowering? Finally, address the

delivery of the presentation. What elements detracted from your ability to process

the information? Please Note: This section asks you to fully ANALYZE the

argument. Simply saying that you found the topic boring and tuned out is both an

inappropriate and an irresponsible answer. Stay focused.

3. In a final section analyze the success of your presentation. Do you feel you

accomplished the goal of your specific purpose? What makes you say this? Which

of the steps of the sequence were you most satisfied with? Why? Which of the

steps were you least satisfied with? Why? Based on this experience, what might

you do in the future to prepare and deliver a persuasive address? Analyze each

Assignment 15.4: Persuasive Presentation Critique

Assignment 15.5: Motivated Sequence Critique

Assignment 15.6: Peer Evaluation

Refer to the “Peer Evaluation Form” for this assignment.

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Assignment 15.7: Persuasive Presentation Assignment

For instructors who would prefer to use a direct sequence format, the following

assignment is offered.

Performance days:

Time Limit: 5 to 7 Minutes

Research Requirement: Five sources. Four must be published.

Assignment: Students should select a topic of interest they feel qualified to speak on

before the class. The topic should be of worth and persuasive in nature. Students will

be asked to present a presentation that will promote either attitude reinforcement or

change. Students will be required to use at least one visual aid in support of their

argument. Visual aids may include poster boards, overhead projections, or PowerPoint

(if available). Audiotapes, videos, or CD-ROM visuals will have to be cleared with the

instructor.

Plan

General Purpose: To Persuade

Specific Purpose: At the conclusion of my presentation, my audience will be able to. . .

Introduction

I. Attention Getter

II. Statement of Credibility

III. Audience Relation

*Framing Sentence or Proposition

Preview

Body

I. First main point

A. ______________________________________

B. ______________________________________

1. ____________________________________

2. ___________________________________

C. ______________________________________

(First Necessary Transition)

II. Second main point

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(Second Necessary Transition)

III. Third main point

A. _________________________________________

B. _________________________________________

C. _________________________________________

(Signal the Conclusion)

Conclusion

I. Summary (Main Points)

II. Proposition

III. Motivate an audience response. What should the audience do?

Note that this is simply a model and all presentations will have numerous variations.

Some speakers may have only two main points while others will have five, and the sub-

structuring will be determined by the evidence presented. Nevertheless, all

presentations will conform to this direct sequence organization.

With the outline complete, students should transfer key ideas and phrases to 3 X 5 or 4

X 6 note cards. Students will be allowed one note card for each main point presented

plus two additional cards to be used for the introduction and conclusion respectively. In

other words, for a three-point presentation, students may use five cards. A four-point

presentation would have six cards.

With these steps complete, students should set aside at least two hours to talk the

presentation out. Using note cards, they should practice the presentation until they feel

fully confident of its presentation.

Presentations will be graded on the following criteria:

❖ Choice of topic

❖ Quality of outline

❖ Ability to meet the stated time limit

All students are expected to incorporate an extemporaneous style of delivery. Any

presentation that is read can receive no higher than a “D”.

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Please note that this is a persuasive presentation and you cannot stay on the fence.

You must clearly articulate an attitude that will be reinforced or an attitude that needs to

be changed.

With slight modifications, instructors may use the audience analysis form in this chapter

and the direct sequence evaluation forms, peer evaluation forms, and critique found in

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Persuasive Presentation Evaluation Form

Name____________________ Outline Grade______________

Topic____________________ Presentation Aid____________

Time____________________ Presentation_______________

Attention Step:

Attention Getter _____5 points

Statement of Credibility _____5 points

Need Step:

Stated Clear Problem _____5 points

Provided Vivid Illustration _____5 points

Satisfaction:

Clearly Stated Solution _____5 points

Explained Plan Well _____5 points

Theoretical Demonstration:

Provided Appropriate Analysis _____5 points

Used Effective Evidence _____5 points

Provided Useful Source Citation _____5 points

Proved Solvency _____5 points

Refuted Opposing Views Well _____5 points

Provided Appropriate Practical Demonstration _____5 points

Visualization:

Painted Vivid Future Picture _____5 points

Action:

Strong Call to Audience Action _____5 points

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Motivated Sequence Critique Form

Name___________________ Outline Grade ______

Topic___________________ Presentation Aid Grade______

Time___________________ Presentation Grade_______

Attention Step:

Need Step:

Visualization:

Delivery:

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Peer Evaluation Form

What I liked most about your attention step was:

One thing you could do to improve the attention step is:

What I liked most about your need step was:

One thing you could do to improve visualization is:

What I liked most about your action step was:

What I liked most about your physical delivery was:

What you might do to improve your physical delivery is: