Persuasive Speaking

The Goal of Persuasive Speaking
Persuasion is a communication process involving both verbal and nonverbal messages.
- The ultimate goal is action or change.
* Adoption asks listeners to demonstrate their acceptance
* Discontinuance asks listeners to avoid certain behavior
* Deterrence asks listeners to prevent an occurrence of something
* Continuance asks listeners to continue to perform behaviors

Topics for Persuasive Speeches
Questions of Fact identify what is true or false
Questions of Value identify what is right or wrong, good or bad
Questions of Policy seek a specific course of action

Persuasive Claims: Toulmin’s Model
Toulmin developed a model to help understand everyday persuasive arguments.
The claim is what the speaker wishes listeners to believe/accept.
There are not enough parking spaces to accommodate the students.
Data is the evidence (support) used to establish the claim.
According to XYZ News, 20% of the students are unable to find a parking space when coming to class.
The warrant explains the relationship between the claim and the data.
Because students are unable to find a parking space, there is poor class attendance.

Establishing Credibility
Competence is the audience’s evaluation of speaker’s expertise or knowledge and experience with the subject. * Demonstrate involvement. * Relate experiences. * Cite research.
The audience judges the speaker’s character based on their view of the speaker’s trustworthiness and ethics. * Cite sources when info is not your own and cite them accurately. * Do not falsify or distort info in order to make you point. * Show respect for your audience.
Charisma is the appeal or attractiveness the audience perceives. * Show sincere interest in listeners. * Speak with energy and enthusiasm. * Get audience involved in the message.
Becoming Effective Consumers of Persuasion
* Listeners need to get accurate, reliable, and worthwhile information.
* We need to ask questions of ourselves and of our speakers to be more effective consumers of persuasion.
Preparing and Developing Persuasive Speech
* Careful thorough research is required.
* The speech must be carefully organized.
- Know whether to present one side or both sides of an argument.
- Know when you should present your strongest arguments.
- Know the best way to organize your persuasive speech (problem- solution, cause-effect, and Monroe’s Motivated Sequence).
* Adequate and appropriate supporting materials are necessary.
- Appeal to Needs ranging from physical and safety to higher-prder needs (self-esteem).
- Appeal to Logic attempts to move people through action through use of deductive reasoning, inductive reasoning, casual reasoning, and reasoning by analogy.
- Appeal to Emotion motivates listeners by attempting to make them feel things. (i.e. anger injustice, fear, excitement).
* Use persuasive strategies to get listeners to act
- Speakers demonstrate rhetorical sensitivity when they make listeners aware that the speech has been adapted to them. - Persuasive speakers should always be listener-oriented.