Post on 18-Dec-2015
Persuade: to motivate someone to do something or believe something.
Logos: reasoning, logic (facts, statistics,
comparisons, cause/effect relationships)
Ethos: character/credibility of speaker
Pathos: emotion, desires
10 Emotional Motivations
Self-preservation: the desire to survive and be safe.
Pride: desire for self-esteem or a feeling of personal worth and accomplishment.
Personal enjoyment: need for beauty, comfort, and relaxation.
Emotional Motivations
Love and affection: to have friends, to share life with others.
Acquisition and savings: desire for ownership or money
Adventure and curiosity: need for exploration or thrill
Emotional Motivations
Loyalty and faithfulness: patriotism, school spirit, civic pride, family, and friends
Imitation: need to conform or fit in
Reverence: desire to “look up” to someone or believe in something.
Creating: urge to invent
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Need Description Sample appeal
1. Physical Air, water, food clothing, shelter
Let’s clean up the river.
2. Safety Physical safety, security
Don’t drink and drive. It puts everyone at risk.
3. Social Love, respect, acceptance
Here’s how to survive a blind date.
Three Types of Persuasive Speeches
Question of fact: argument involves a real event or issue that can be viewed as true or false.
Question of value: problem, issue, or matter involving a strong opinion or attitude.
Question of policy: problem, issue, or matter proposing a change in policy or plan of action.
Definition:One that
shares and supports your opinion.
Strategies: Begin by stating
your speeches purpose.
Create a warmth and a sense of community
Audience Positive
Use strong emotional appeals. Stir listeners to specific actions. Show that you appreciate their
support. Stress your common beliefs,
ideas, and experiences.
Definition: ignorant or
undecided about your topic or no interest
Strategies: Wake up
listeners with a powerful opening.
Identify history, values, and goals you share.
Audience Neutral and Apathetic
Relate their arguments to their needs.
Use strong and authoritative evidence
Establish your credentials. Hold their attention with high
interest material
Definition: audience not in
agreement with you
Strategies: Show that you
know and respect the listeners’ position. Avoid confrontations.
Establish common ground before introducing your argument.
Opposed Audience
Gain their respect by sharing your qualifications, experience, background, and values.
Build your argument carefully, taking into account possible objections.
Use evidence they can’t contradict. Use humor.
Inductive reasoning: specific
facts=conclusion
Deductive reasoning main argument=
evidence to support it
Cause/Effect reasoning
Begging the question
Card-stacking
False premises
Glittering generalities
False generalizations
Non-sequitar
Unrelated testimonials
Steps to Writing the Persuasive Speech
Choose a topic. Write a thesis. Make points that support your thesis. Develop, research, and refine your
points Write your introduction and conclusion Prepare to deliver your speech.
Creating Your Thesis
Make a point in a concise, complete sentence.
Make a specific point.Make an original point that few
others have made. Example: I will argue that
affirmative action is not warranted.
Problem-Solution Pattern
Harms/Causes/Solutions 1. Establish harms of whatever is the
opposite of what you are advocating. (ex. Harms of not having a dress code when you are advocating a dress code)
2. Establish causes--who’s to blame for X to be occurring? (why don’t we have a dress code?
Toulmin’s Practical Arguments
Stephen Toulmin--British philosopher from mid-20th Century--came up with unique ways to form arguments--ways that we use in persuasive speaking today.
Claim/Data/Warrant/Backing These will be used as your structure for
your points and subpoints.
Toulmin Con’t
Claim--Main point supported by the data and warrant. (ex. “I am a British citizen.”)
Four types of claims--definition, value, cause or policy.
Claim of definition--explain what something means.
Claim of value--judges some quality--will think something is pretty or “good”, or “new and improved.”
Claims Con’t
Claim of cause--links an effect with the reasons for it (a teacher who tells you that if you ace the final you will pass the course).
Claim of policy--try to change action on some level.
Remember, there are overlap between the types of claims.
Data--evidence presented in support of a claim or set of claims.
Types of data or evidence can range from statistical evidence to anecdotal evidence.
(ex. “I was born in Bermuda.” Remember, your speech must contain at
least five (5) different pieces of data/evidence no older than 2002.
Warrant--assumption or idea that connects the data with the claim in an argument. (ex. “A man born in Bermuda will be a
British citizen.”) Evidence is worthless without warrants!! Warrants link the claim to the evidence--
prove why the evidence matters.
Backing--must be introduced when the warrant itself is not convincing enough to the readers or the listeners For example, if the listener does not deem the Bermuda example warrant as credible, the speaker will supply the legal provisions as backing statement to show that it is true that “A man born in Bermuda will legally be a British Citizen.”