Chapter Twenty-Four

1. Chapter Twenty-Four The Persuasive Speech

2. Chapter Twenty-Four Table of Contents • What Is a Persuasive Speech? • The Process of Persuasion • Classical Persuasive Appeals • Contemporary Persuasive Appeals

3. What Is a Persuasive Speech? • Persuasion: the process of influencing attitudes, beliefs, values, and behavior. • Persuasive speaking: speech intended to influence the beliefs, attitudes, values, and acts of others.

4. What Is a Persuasive Speech? • Persuasive speeches: • Attempt to influence audience choices • Limit alternatives • Seek a response • Respect audience choices

5. What Is a Persuasive Speech?Persuasive Speeches Attempt to Influence Audience Choices • The goal is not to increase understanding and awareness; it is to influence audience choices. • This influence can vary from slight shifts in opinion to wholesale changes in behavior.

6. What is a Persuasive Speech?Persuasive Speeches Limit Alternatives • A persuasive speech will have at least two viewpoints. • Persuasion seeks to weigh the alternatives to demonstrate that one alternative is ultimately preferable.

7. What is a Persuasive Speech?Persuasive Speeches Seek a Response • “Perspective taking”: leading the audience to a perspective that is the speaker’s.

8. The Process of Persuasion • Guiding the audience to adopt a particular attitude, belief, or behavior that you favor.

9. The Process of Persuasion • To influence your listeners you must understand how their attitudes, beliefs, and values might affect the way they view your position.

10. The Process of Persuasion • Relate your message to the audience. • Show how the change will benefit them. • Have a strong attitude. • Seek minor changes. • Present yourself as truthful.

11. The Process of Persuasion • Convince your audience that a change will make them feel satisfied and competent. • Be moderate in your position. • Listeners must be assured they will be rewarded if they listen to you.

12. Classical Persuasive Appeals • Aristotle believed that persuasion could be brought about by through the use of three means of persuasion, or forms of rhetorical proof.

13. Classical Persuasive Appeals • Forms of rhetorical proof: the nature of the message, the audience’s feelings, and the personality of the speaker.

14. Classical Persuasive Appeals • Logos: Appeals to Audience Reason • Pathos: Appeals to Audience Emotion • Ethos: Appeals to Speaker Character

15. Classical Persuasive Appeals:Logos: Appeals to Audience Reason • Many persuasive speeches focus on serious issues requiring considerable thought. • Logos: refers to persuasive appeals directed at the audience’s reasoning on a topic.

16. Classical Persuasive Appeals:Logos: Appeals to Audience Reason • Syllogism: a three-part argument consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion. • Enthymeme: a syllogism presented as a probability instead of an absolute; states either a major or minor premise but not both.

17. Classical Persuasive Appeals: Pathos: Appeals to Audience Emotion • Pathos involves an appeal to audience emotion.

18. Classical Persuasive Appeals: Pathos: Appeals to Audience Emotion • You can identify and appeal to the following emotions: • Anger and meekness • Love and hatred • Fear and boldness • Shame and shamelessness

19. Classical Persuasive Appeals:Ethos: Appeals to Speaker Character • Ethos: the nature of the speaker’s moral character and personality.

20. Classical Persuasive Appeals:Ethos: Appeals to Speaker Character • Elements of an appeal based on ethos: • Good sense: the speaker’s knowledge of and experience with the topic. • Moral character:reflected in the manner in which a speaker presents an argument. • Goodwill:an interest and concern for the welfare of the audience.

21. Contemporary Persuasive Appeals • Current theories expand upon Aristotle by considering audience needs, rationales for choice, and ways of processing information.

22. Contemporary Persuasive Appeals:Motivating Listeners by Appealing to Their Needs • Appealing to audience needs is one of the most commonly used strategies for motivating people. • Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: a set of five basic needs ranging from the essential to the less critical

23. Contemporary Persuasive Appeals:Motivating Listeners by Appealing to the Rationales for Their Behavior • Maslow’s Hierarchy: • Physiological • Safety • Social needs • Self-esteem • Self-actualization

24. Contemporary Persuasive Appeals:Motivating Listeners by Appealing to the Rationales for Their Behavior • Expectancy-Outcome Values Theory: maintains that people consciously evaluate the potential costs and benefits (or value) associated with taking a particular action.

25. Contemporary Persuasive Appeals:Motivating Listeners by Making the Message Relevant to Their Concerns • Elaboration Likelihood Model: a theory that suggests people process persuasive messages by one of two mental routes (central processing or peripheral processing), depending on their degree of involvement in the message.

26. Contemporary Persuasive Appeals:Motivating Listeners by Making the Message Relevant to Their Concerns Central Processing: listeners who are influenced primarily by the strength and quality of a speaker’s argument.

27. Contemporary Persuasive Appeals:Motivating Listeners by Making the Message Relevant to Their Concerns Peripheral Processing: listeners who are more likely to be influenced by non-content issues, because they find the message too complex or irrelevant.