Speech Chapter 16 Persuasive Speaking Learning Objectives After Studying The Topics This Students

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CHAPTER 16: Persuasive Speaking

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After studying the topics in this chapter, students should be able to:

2. Summarize the nature of each of the three pillars of persuasion.

4. Recall three criteria to consider when deciding whether a persuasive speech should be

one-sided or two-sided.

6. Apply chapter guidelines to prepare an effective persuasive speech.

MINDTAP ENGAGEMENT QUESTION

The first student activity in Chapter 16 asks students a polling question where they are presented

with a set of answer choices. One point is awarded regardless of what answer they choose. The

question is designed to reveal beliefs or assumptions about a chapter-specific topic. As an

instructor, you can view your classes’ responses as a pie chart within MindTap and discuss the

results in class, if you choose. This chapter’s question is:

What leads you to perceive a speaker as credible?

a. The speaker seems to care about me.

CHAPTER OUTLINE

I. Persuasive speeches are presentations that aim to change others by prompting them to

think, feel, believe, or act differently.

A. Persuasive speaking is transactional.

1. Effective persuasion is an engagement between speaker and listeners.

3. Speakers should attend to listeners’ feedback during speeches.

B. Persuasive speaking relies on artistic proofs.

C. Persuasive impact is usually gradual or incremental.

II. The three pillars of persuasion are ethos, pathos, and logos.

A. Ethos refers to the perceived personal character of the speaker.

1. Listeners are more likely to believe the words of people whom they consider to be

good and ethical.

2. Listeners will have confidence in the speaker if they think the speaker is

B. Pathos refers to emotional reasons for attitudes, beliefs, or actions.

2. Persuasive speakers should develop ways to help listeners not just understand

ideas but feel something about them.

C. Logos refers to rational or logical proofs. In persuasive speeches, logical proofs are

arguments, reasoning, and evidence to support claims.

1. Inductive reasoning begins with specific examples and uses them to draw a

general conclusion.

3. The Toulmin model of logical reasoning consists of claims, grounds for the

claims, and warrants.

a. A claim is an assertion.

b. Grounds are evidence or data that support the claim.

c. A warrant justifies the relevance of the grounds to the claim.

III. Credibility is the willingness of others to believe a person has personal integrity, is

positively disposed toward them, and can be trusted. Credibility is tied to listeners’

perceptions of a speaker.

A. Credibility arises from ethos, pathos, and logos.

B. There are three different types of credibility.

1. Initial credibility is the expertise and trustworthiness listeners recognize before a

presentation begins.

3. Terminal credibility is the cumulative expertise, goodwill, and trustworthiness

listeners recognize in a speaker.

C. A persuasive speaker should aim to build credibility through the process of planning,

developing, and presenting a persuasive speech.

IV. In addition to the general principles for organizing public communication, there are

specific organizational concerns and a pattern of organization to consider when

organizing a persuasive speech.

A. Motivated sequence patterns organize a persuasive speech into five steps.

1. The attention step focuses listeners’ attention on the subject.

3. The satisfaction step recommends a solution.

5. The action step calls on listeners to take action to bring about the solution.

B. One- and two-sided presentations are effective in different circumstances.

2. If listeners favor the speaker’s position, it may not be necessary to discuss

3. If listeners are or are likely to be aware of more than one side of a topic, a speaker

should discuss all sides.

4. If listeners are likely to be exposed to the other side later, it is effective to

inoculate them in advance by identifying and dispelling the opposing sides.

V. Digital Media and Persuasive Speaking

A. Persuasive speakers, like other speakers, may rely on digital media to conduct

research, find experts and verify their qualifications, and conduct interviews and

surveys.

VI. Guidelines for Effective Persuasive Speeches

A. Effective persuasive speeches build common ground with listeners by identification

or recognizing and enlarging commonalities among communicators.

B. Effective persuasive speeches focus on particular listeners’ knowledge, attitudes,

motives, experiences, values, and expectations.

C. Effective persuasive speeches avoid fallacious reasoning. To be effective and ethical,

speakers should avoid using fallacies in their speeches.

2. Ad hominem arguments are ones that go to the person, instead of going to the

idea.

4. The bandwagon appeal argues that because most people believe or act in a

particular way, you should also.

6. Hasty generalization is a broad claim based on too few examples or insufficient

evidence.

8. Either–or logic wrongly suggests that there are two and only two options.

9. Reliance on the halo effect occurs when a generalization is made about an

individual’s authority, or expertise, in a particular area to other areas that are

irrelevant to the individual’s experience and knowledge.

You can also search for these terms directly in MindTap to find them in the Reader. Students can

use flashcards in MindTap to study key concepts.

KEY TERMS PAGE IN TEXT

Ad hominem arguments 328

Bandwagon appeal 328

Claim 318

Credibility 319

Deductive reasoning 317

Derived credibility 320

Either–or logic 329

Ethos 314

Fallacy 327

Grounds 318

Halo effect 329

Hasty generalization 328

Identification 326

Inductive reasoning 317

Initial credibility 320

Inoculation 325

Logos 317

Motivated sequence pattern 323

Pathos 316

Slippery slope 328

Terminal credibility 321

Toulmin model of reasoning 317

Warrant 318

ACTIVITIES

1. The Lifeboat Game

Students will appreciate the importance of using persuasive proofs as they relate to effective

persuasive speaking. Divide the students into five groups. After discussing ethos, pathos, and

logos, read the following “Lifeboat Scenario” to the class. Tell the students that each group will

proofs given. Groups cannot vote for their own character, and only three characters can stay on

the boat.

Lifeboat Scenario

You are in a lifeboat with four other people. Aboard this boat is enough food and water for

three people to survive the number of days it will take to get to shore. Otherwise, the food

and water will not last and all will perish. It is agreed that two of you must abandon the boat,

and because of the heat and location, these two are SURE to perish. In addition, the waters

are infested with sharks!

The five people are:

2. A history teacher

4. A pregnant woman

5. A famous musician

Note: I put the above characters on index cards and have one member from each group draw

their character. I also tell them that they can “create” names for their character to establish

credibility and ethos. They can be famous people if they choose. I have had characters from

[Adapted from Beth Pottratz (1987). Persuasive Speaking: A Two-Week Instructional Unit, p.

2. Ghostwriting, Persuasion, and Ethics

In his Ethic and Human Communication text, Richard Johannesen discusses the use of

1. What ethical considerations surround the use of ghostwriters?

2. Why might ghostwriting be considered ethical? Why might some consider it unethical?

3. Does the use of a ghostwriter give too much policymaking or agenda-setting power to the

speechwriters?

4. Does the style with which speeches are written and the “packaging” of the presidency

create an image of our leaders that really doesn’t exist?

5. If it is ethical for politicians to use ghostwriters, why isn’t it ethical for you to use them?

3. Ethos, Logos, and Pathos in Advertising

This exercise is designed to get students to apply Aristotle’s concepts of ethos, logos, and pathos

to a real communication phenomenon.

Bring a videotape of several television commercial advertisements to class (any eight to 10

commercials you happen to catch should do it). Inform students to look for examples of ethical,

logical, and emotional claims in the commercials as you view them. View one at a time and

4. Speech Analysis Exercise

For this exercise, you will build upon the textbook’s treatment of Aristotle and Cicero by

combining their theories in a discussion of Neo-Aristotelian criticism. Specifically, discuss

1. How does MLK establish a sense of ethos through this speech? Possible areas for

2. How does MLK establish his arguments in this speech? Possible areas for discussion

3. How does MLK rely on emotion in this speech? Again, you may discuss the reference to

4. How is the speech organized? You may get several answers to this question. The most

5. How would you characterize MLK’s language? Look here for examples of inversion of

5. Persuasive Speech Workshop

You can use this exercise if you have assigned a persuasive speech as part of the class

6. Persuasive Speech Analysis

This activity utilizes the website located at

http://www.pbs.org/search/?q=great+american+speeches. Go to the website in class and show a

Speech Evaluation Form

Speaker

Evaluator

Competency One—Ability to choose and narrow a topic appropriately for the audience

and occasion.

Met time limit

Clearly related to audience throughout speech

Chose a challenging, substantive topic

Chose a topic appropriate to occasion

Competency Two—Ability to develop a clear thesis statement and organizational

pattern appropriate for the topic, audience, and occasion.

Introduction

Attention-getter

Clear thesis statement

Established credibility

Established significance of the topic

Clear preview

Body

Clear organizational pattern

Identifiable main points and subpoints

Included varied, fluent transitions between main points

Conclusion

Summary

Referred to the introduction to provide closure

Final statement that has impact

Competency Three—Ability to assemble and use effective and sufficient supporting

materials.

Used appropriate, adequate, and varied supporting material

Used valid sources

Cited sources orally and accurately

Connected support material to main ideas

Competency Four—Ability to use nonverbal and verbal behaviors to support the message.

Used good speaking volume

Avoided vocalized pauses (uh, um, etc.)

Used expressive and emphatic tone of voice

Avoided distracting mannerisms

Used effective gestures and purposeful movement

Used effective eye contact

Delivered the speech in a polished manner

Competency Five—Ability to choose, pronounce, and articulate grammatically correct

language that is appropriate for the topic, audience, and occasion.

Was free of serious errors in grammar, pronunciation, and word usage

Used clear, precise, colorful, creative, and culturally sensitive language

Articulated words clearly

JOURNAL IDEAS

• Describe the ways you are persuaded every day through the media. How are the persuasive

messages communicated? Reflect on the more effective ways that you are persuaded to

change your thinking or behaviors. What makes these strategies effective?

• Choose three of the fallacies of argument discussed in your text. In your journal, explain the

three fallacies and find and explain two examples from print, television, or online

advertising.

• Describe how you try to gain other people’s compliance to do things for you. Which

persuasive proofs are you most likely to use?

• Think of two public figures who you think are persuasive and two who are not persuasive.

Why are the first two speakers persuasive? What about them allows them to be influential, in

your opinion? Why are the second two speakers not persuasive? How can they work on

increasing their influence?

TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES

There are additional student resources in MindTap. If you have a networked computer in your

classroom and a projection system for viewing the computer screen, you can easily introduce

your students by walking them through the process for accessing the website. If you don’t have

this projection and computer equipment in your classroom, you can share the resources in this

Web Links

Website Description

URL

The American Rhetoric site features hundreds of

speeches you can read, hear, and watch.

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/

Here are two examples of persuasive speeches.

http://www.ted.com/talks/noy_thrupkaew_human_traffic

king_is_all_around_you_this_is_how_it_works

http://www.ted.com/talks/pamela_ronald_the_case_for_

engineering_our_food

This site provides an overview of persuasive speaking.

http://www.usm.edu/gulfcoast/sites/usm.edu.gulfcoast/fi

les/groups/learning-commons/pdf/persuasive_web.pdf

This site gives guidelines for event persuasive speaking.

http://www.phirhopi.org/uploads/1/6/1/8/16185708/even

t_rules.pdf

This site contains an overview of argumentation and

how it relates to critical thinking.

http://www.humboldt.edu/act/HTML/nav/links.html

This site contains an overview of the Toulmin theory of

argumentation.

http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/documents/Toulmin.pdf

TEST ITEMS

Multiple Choice Items

1. When Jeremy begins his speech, the audience doesn’t know him and has no basis for

assuming he is competent. During his speech, however, Jeremy gains the trust and respect of

listeners because he has good research and clear organization. The increase in Jeremy’s

credibility during the speech is due to which of the following?

a. Derived credibility

b. Initial credibility

c. Terminal credibility

d. Authority-based credibility

e. Assumed credibility

2. Which of the following characteristics are attributed to someone who has ethos?

a. Integrity

b. Trustworthiness

c. Goodwill towards the audience

d. Committed to the topic, shows enthusiasm and dynamism

e. All of these are correct.

3. Which of the following is (are) ways to enhance pathos in persuasive speaking?

a. Personalize the issue, problem, or topic.

b. Use nonverbal to accentuate or highlight the key information.

c. Appear to know about what you (as the speaker) are talking about.

d. Appear to care about the welfare of the audience members.

e. All of the these are correct.

4. Tom’s specific purpose is to convince his audience that texting while driving should not be

made illegal. “I’m a really good driver, and I text a lot. I’m a member of my baseball team, on

student council, and I go to church regularly.” These statements are an example of what kind

of fallacy?

a. Either-or

b. Ad hominem

c. Slippery slope

d. Red herring

e. Hasty generalization

5. What is the form of reasoning that begins with broad claims that listeners accept and then

moves into specific claims?

a. The Toulmin model

b. A warrant

c. A claim

d. Deductive reasoning

e. Inductive reasoning

6. You begin your speech by stating that “global temperature is melting ice in Antarctica.” You

then provide examples that illustrate how the entire planet is experiencing a rise in global

temperature. Your choice to organize information in this way is an example of what type of

reasoning?

a. Deductive

b. Inductive

c. Warrant

d. Claim

e. Qualifier

7. A persuasive speaker relying on arguments, reasoning, and evidence to support claims is

utilizing what type of persuasive proof?

a. Logos

b. Ethos

c. Pathos

d. Mythos

e. Logistics

8. The motivated sequence step that asks listeners to imagine the results that would follow if

they adopt the recommended solution is which of the following?

a. Attention

b. Action

c. Motivation

d. Satisfaction

e. Visualization

9. Which of the following does NOT apply to persuasive speaking?

a. Speakers and listeners interact.

b. It is motivational and artistic.

c. It is incremental and gradual.

d. Persuasive speaking takes longer than informative speaking.

e. All of these answers apply to persuasive speaking.

10. The statement “the death penalty doesn’t deter crime” is an example of

a. a claim.

b. grounds.

c. a warrant.

d. a qualifier.

e. a rebuttal.

Exhibit 16-1

Refer to the following statement: “John is a U.S. citizen because he is native born. We all know

that usually native born Americans are U.S. citizens because of U.S. law and the Constitution

unless, of course, they renounce their citizenship.”

11. Which of the following statements or phrases is the claim?

a. John is a U.S. citizen.

b. John is native born.