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Public Speaking Fall2009 Sn21

Social judgment theory can be useful in analyzing your audience
- It posits that people make decisions relative to what they already believe
  - there are things that people already accept
  - there are things that people already reject
  - there are things about which they are non-committal

Latitudes of
Acceptance Non-Commitment Rejection

For any given position on any given issue, there are things we want people to accept and reject
- and our goals and strategy will be determined by who we are talking to.
  - When audiences agree we want to reinforce and actuate belief
    - New information
    - "Inoculation"
    - Add emotional weight
    - Convert belief into action
  - When audiences disagree we need to take a different path
    - Set limited goals
    - Find common ground
    - Build credibility
    - Use strong evidence
It is generally easiest to change peoples views about the things they are non-committal
- But even here there are variations
  - Address uninformed audiences with information
  - Give the unconcerned reasons to be concerned
  - Deal with the adamantly neutral by acknowledge both sides while providing new information
The is where the difference between convincing and actuating is really important here
When people make decisions, they generally use only a subset of their beliefs in making that decision
- generally capable of juggling 5-7 ideas at once
- usually consider less
This is where the difference between convincing and actuating is important
- Convincing is making an idea so compelling that it becomes one of the things people consider
  - Getting somebody to believe something
- Actuating is getting them to make a decision based on a set of ideas
  - Getting somebody to take a particular action

Strategy and Persuasive Speaking

Three kinds of persuasive speech
1. Questions of fact
  - Seek to persuade an audience to accept the speaker’s view of the facts on a particular issue.
    - Some questions of fact can be answered with certainty
      - for example, how far is it from New York to Baghdad?
    - Other questions of fact cannot be answered with certainty
      - for example, will the economy be better or worse next year?
  - Persuasive speeches on a question of fact differ from an informative speech.
    - Informative speeches present information impartially without arguing a point of view.
    - Persuasive speeches on questions of fact take a partisan view of the information
      - One frequent venue for such speeches is the courtroom
      - Competing attorneys try to persuade the jury that the facts of the case prove guilt or innocence
  - Most persuasive speeches on questions of fact are organized topically.
    - Each main point presents a reason why the audience should agree with the speaker.
    - Be logical and consistent
2. Questions of value
  - Require judgments about what is right or wrong, good or bad, moral or immoral, etc.
  - Speaker needs to justify value judgment in light of clearly defined standards
    1. Define standards for value judgment.
    2. Judge subject of speech against those standards.
3. Questions of policy
  - Deal with specific courses of action.
    - Inevitably involve questions of fact.
    - May also involve questions of value.
    - Decide whether something should or should not be done.
  - Two types persuasive speech on questions of policy.
    1. Gain passive agreement that a policy is desirable, necessary, and practical.
      - Aim is to affect the thinking of listeners.
  1. Motivate the audience to take immediate action.
  - Speeches on questions of policy must address three basic issues
    1. Need.
      - Must show the need for the change.
      - Speakers who oppose will try to show there is no need for change.
    2. Plan
      - Must offer a specific plan-policy-that will resolve the need.
      - Be specific in identifying the major features of the plan.
    3. Practicality.
      - The plan must be workable and not create new problems
      - Opponents will argue that the plan is impractical and will create problems

Four effective patterns of organization for persuasive speeches on questions of policy
1. Problem-solution order.
  1. Shows need for new policy by demonstrating a serious problem.
  2. Present plan for solving problem that is demonstrably practical
  - Can also be used to oppose a change in policy
  1. There is no need for change.
  2. Even if there were a need, the new policy would not solve it
    - Indeed, it would create serious problems of its own.
2. Problem-cause-solution order.
  1. Show existence of problem.
  2. Analyzes causes of problem.
  3. Present solution to problem.
  - Can make it easier to check solution
    - Will it get at the causes of the problem
    - Or merely control the symptoms
3. Comparative advantages order.
  - Most effective when the audience on need for new policy.
  - Speaker can focus each main point to explaining why their plan is preferable
4. Monroe’s motivated sequence.
  - Five steps that follow the psychology of persuasion.
    1. Gain the attention of the audience.
    2. Show the need for a change.
    3. Satisfy the sense of need with a plan that will remedy the need.
    4. Visualize the benefits and practicality of the plan.
    5. Urge the audience to take action in support of the plan.
  - Especially valuable when seeking immediate action.

The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion
- There are two ways to persuade
  1. The Central Path
    - where audiences seriously consider your arguments
    - and attitude change is likely to be enduring
  2. The peripheral path
    - where audiences don't consider your arguments
    - but are likely to be swayed through the activiation of existing beliefs.
    - albeit only temporarily
On either path, credibility matters
- The audience’s attitude toward or perception of the speaker.
  - Credibility will vary from
    - audience to audience
    - topic to topic.
- Credibility is affected by two primary factors
  1. Competence
    - intelligence, expertise, and knowledge of the subject.
  2. Character
    - sincerity, trustworthiness, and concern for the audience.
- Three strategies for enhancing credibility.
  1. Explain your competence.
    - Research on the speech topic.
    - Special knowledge gained through personal experience.
  2. Establish common ground with the audience.
    - Respecting and identifying with the audience’s values and beliefs.
    - Especially important in the introduction of a persuasive speech.
  3. Deliver your speech fluently, expressively, and with conviction.
- Peripheral path audiences will sometimes accept the recommendations of credible speakers
- Central path arguments will consider your credibility as evidence in thinking about your arguments.

When persuasion works, it is usually for one or more of four reasons.
1. the speaker is perceived as having high credibility.
2. the audience is won over by the speaker’s evidence.
3. the audience is convinced by the speaker’s reasoning.
4. emotions are touched by the speaker’s ideas or language.
You want to make each of these work for you

Credibility
- The audience’s attitude toward or perception of the speaker.
  - Credibility will vary from
    - audience to audience
    - topic to topic.
- Credibility is affected by two primary factors
  1. Competence
    - intelligence, expertise, and knowledge of the subject.
  2. Character
    - sincerity, trustworthiness, and concern for the audience.
- Three strategies for enhancing credibility.
  1. Explain your competence.
    - Research on the speech topic.
    - Special knowledge gained through personal experience.
  2. Establish common ground with the audience.
    - Respecting and identifying with the audience’s values and beliefs.
    - Especially important in the introduction of a persuasive speech.
  3. Deliver your speech fluently, expressively, and with conviction.
Evidence
- Examples, statistics, and testimony used to demonstrate something.
  - Careful listeners are skeptical of unsupported claims and generalizations.
  - Strong evidence is particularly important for
    - building credibility.
    - overcoming the objections of a hostile audience
    - Success depends on anticipating objections and using evidence to refute them.
- Four tips for using evidence effectively.
  1. Be specific
    - Demonstrates grasp of the topic.
  2. Be novel
    - Evidence is often more effective when it is new to the audience.
  3. Use credible sources.
    - Audiences will be skeptical of evidence biased or self-interested sources
  4. Make the point of the evidence clear
    - You cannot count on listeners to draw your conclusion for you
    - In most situations, persuasive speakers need to be sure to state the point they are trying to make with their evidence.
Reasoning
- The process of drawing a conclusion based on evidence.
- Reasoning must be both sound and persuasive
- Forms of Reasoning
  1. from specific instances.
    - Moving from particular facts to a general conclusion.
    - Induction
    - Be careful, when reasoning from specific instances, to
      - Avoid hasty generalizations
      - Avoid overstating the facts.
      - Reinforce your argument with statistics or testimony.
  2. from principle.
    - Moving from a general principle to a specific conclusion.
    - Make certain the audience will accept the general principle.
    - They also need to make sure the audience will accept the minor premise.
  3. Causal Reasoning
    - Relationships between causes and effects.
    - Avoid the fallacy of false cause (the post hoc fallacy)
      - Correlation is not causation
      - Sequence is not causation
      - Events can, and often do, have more than one cause
  4. Analogical reasoning.
    - Reasoning by simile: what is true in one case will also be true in the other.
    - Make sure the two cases being compared are essentially alike.
    - Avoid the invalid analogy
- Guard against logical fallacies
  - In addition to those highlighted above
    - Red herrings introduce an irrelevant issue
    - Ad hominem arguments attack the person instead of the issue
    - Either-or presumes that there are only two alternatives
    - Bandwagon arguments assume that popularity equals correctness
    - Slippery slope arguments assume that one step necessarily leads to another
  - Use of any of these argument forms should be viewed with suspicion
Emotional appeals
- Intended to make listeners feel sad, angry, guilty, fearful, reverent, or the like.
- Effective persuasion often requires emotional appeal.
  - “When persuasion is the end, passion also must be engaged.? (Campbell)
- Three ways to generate emotional appeals
  1. Emotionally charged language.
    - Some words can generate strong responses evoking emotions
    - Be careful calling attention to emotional appeals
    - Consistency is important as well
  2. Vivid examples.
    - Stories and descriptions that imbue with emotion
    - Can put ideas in personal terms that invite emotion
  3. Sincerity and conviction.
    - When speakers appear to feel an emotion themselves, they create common ground
- Hazards of emotional appeals
  - Can be abused by unscrupulous speakers for detestable causes.
  - Can easily distract from your point and get away from you
  - Are incompatible with arguments of fact
  - Such appeals should never for evidence and reasoning
- It remains that appeals to emotion are often necessary when motivating an an audience to take action.

-- Last edited November 19, 2009

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Unless otherwise noted, the contents of this page were written by participants on the Media Space Wiki, operated by Davis Foulger, and should be cited accordingly. For example (APA):
Foulger, D. and other participants. (November 19, 2009). Public Speaking Fall2009 Sn21. MediaSpaceWiki. Retrieved on from http://evolutionarymedia.com/wiki.htm?PublicSpeakingFall2009Sn21.