PERSUASION AND THE ETHICS OF PUBLIC SPEAKING

Because Aristotle Knew What He Was Talking About

PERSUASION Process of changing or reinforcing attitudes,

beliefs, values, and behaviors

Ethos, Pathos, and Logos Ethos—credibility Pathos—emotional appeal Logos—logical appeal (reasoning & evidence)

People will be persuaded by one or more of these reasons

QUALITIES OF POSITIVE ETHOS

Credibility—whether you are qualified to speak on a given topic Competence Character

Establish Credibility Competence—informed, skilled, knowledgeable Trustworthiness—believable and honest Dynamism—energy (charisma)

Enhance Credibility Initial Derived Terminal

STRENGTHEN YOUR ETHOS

Each time you speak, people form impressions of you

Share audience concerns Cite reputable expertsUse personal experienceBe clear and interestingConsider different points of viewDeliver with dynamism

APPEALING TO EMOTIONS (PATHOS)

Fundamental to motivating an audience Never a substitute for logical arguments and

available evidence Dimensions of emotion = pleasure, arousal,

power

Be ethical when using emotion. Use: Concrete examples Emotion-arousing words Visual images to evoke emotion Appropriate metaphors and similes Appropriate fear appeals Appeal to several emotions; hope, pride, courage,

etc.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS Avoid deception and manipulation Recognize and respect power of emotions Avoid distraction and disorientation Don’t overwhelm audience Use emotional appeals to supplement and

complement well-reasoned arguments

MORE ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Have ethical goals and use ethical means Ethical dilemmas

Professional obligations can create A conflict of responsibilities A choice between “the lesser of two evils”

Circumstances can create Situations dictate a change Does the end justify the means?

ETHICAL GUIDELINES

Are your purposes consistent w/ prevailing norms?

Would you violate your own ethics by speaking out?

Are you willing to stick to your ethical principles?

What are the ethical standards?

Your basic ethical obligationsTell the truthTake responsibilityAvoid plagiarism(!!!)

THE ETHICAL SPEAKER Is not expected to be perfectly objective Provides good arguments, sound reasoning

and solid evidence Remains open to new information Is well informed and fully prepared Contributes useful presentations

BUILDING AN ARGUMENT (LOGOS) Use logic and evidence to persuade

Logic—System of rules for making inferences Reasoning—Process of drawing conclusions from evidence Evidence—Facts, examples, statistics, expert opinions

Claims Debatable assertion by speaker Takes a side on an issue and invites debate A statement with which you want your audience to agree

Types of Claims Fact Value Policy

TYPES OF CLAIMS

FACT CLAIMS

Claims about the truth or falsity of an assertion Involve existence, scope or causality Questions about past / present Predictions of the future Require empirical proof: real examples,

statistics, and expert testimony

Example:To persuade my audience that William Shakespeare did not write the plays attributed to him.

VALUE CLAIMS

Claims about the worth, rightness, and morality of an idea or action Involve what we consider good or bad, right or

wrong Focus on what we believe to be appropriate,

legal, ethical or moral Determine how we should evaluate facts, ideas

or actions

Example:To persuade my audience that bicycle riding is the ideal form of land transportation.

POLICY CLAIM

Claim about whether a specific course of action should or should not be taken Determine our future actions Deal with how to solve problems Evaluate options by costs, feasibility,

advantages and disadvantages “Should” is either stated or implied

Two kinds of policy claims:1. Speeches to gain passive agreement2. Speeches to gain immediate action

SPEECHES TO GAIN PASSIVE AGREEMENT

Goal is to convince audience that a given policy is desirable without encouraging the audience to take action in support of it.

Example:To persuade my audience that there should be stricter safety standards on amusement park rides.

To persuade my audience that the age for full driving privileges should be raised to 18.

SPEECHES TO GAIN IMMEDIATE ACTION

Goal is to convince the audience to take action in support of a given policy

Examples:To persuade my audience to vote in the next presidential election. (i.e. everyone old enough to vote should vote)

To persuade my audience to become literacy tutors. (i.e. you should be a literacy tutor)

ANALYZING POLICY CLAIMS

1. Need—you must establish that there is a need for change

Burden of Proof—your obligation to prove that change is necessary

2. Plan—you must have a plan to solve the problem

3. Practicality—Does your solution solve the problem? Does it create new problems? Has this plan worked elsewhere? How has this plan been implemented elsewhere?

REASONABLE ARGUMENTS

Qualified at a level appropriate to the strength of the reasoning and evidence behind it Words that indicate our level of confidence Examples: “possibly”, “probably”, or “beyond any

doubt” Recognize reservations

Exceptions to our claim, or conditions under which we no longer hold the claim

“Unless” Evidence

Consider the criteria or standards that support your evaluation

Reflect on the rules, principles or standards we employ in making judgments

Tests: quality, relevancy, amount

FORMS OF REASONING

INDUCTIVE REASONING

Moves from a set of specific examples to a general conclusion

A number of representative examples makes the case Claims must be carefully qualified Reservations may be needed Can be strengthened with evidence

ExampleFact 1: My physical education course last term was easyFact 2: My roommate’s physical education course was

easyFact 3: My brother’s physical education course was easyConclusion: Physical education courses are easy

DEDUCTIVE REASONING

Draws a conclusion about a specific case based on generally accepted premise

Usually we reason from qualified premises to probable conclusions

Premises are often already accepted by audience Speaker may assume the audience will fill in the

missing premise Syllogism is a classic example

Example

1. The U.S. Constitution guarantees all U.S. citizens the right to vote

2. Women are U.S. citizens

3. Therefore, the U.S. Constitution guarantees women the right to vote

CAUSAL REASONING

From effect to cause, or cause to effect At the heart of scientific investigation Rarely simple Reputable sources are important Qualified due to complexity Can be difficult to claim causation

ExampleDrinking soda will make you fat

Caution: post hoc, ergo propter hoc - "after this, therefore because of this") Example :“Since event Y followed event X, event Y must have been caused by event X."

ANALOGICAL REASONING

What is true in one case will be true in another Literal analogy compares similar examples Figurative analogy is similar to metaphor; rarely

proves anything Should be qualified

ExampleIf you’re good at racquetball, you’ll be good at Ping-Pong

ORGANIZATIONAL PATTERNS

CHRONOLOGICAL

Good for step-by-step process or historical events

Begin with a specific point in time, move ahead or back from there

The principle of recency—the event discussed last is the one that the audience will remember best

SPATIAL

Organizes according to space or physical relationshipArranges ideas according to their location

and directionCan progress up or down, east or west,

forward or backward Ideas must be developed in logical order

CATEGORICAL

Arrange by distinct topics Addresses

types forms qualities aspects

Can organize in a variety of ways Recency—highlights one point more than the

others Primacy—puts the most important or convincing

point first Complexity—moves from simple to complex

BUILDING TO A CLIMAX

Simple to difficult, least to most, neutral to intense

Effective for gaining audience agreement or action

Can also reverse the pattern, from most to least

CAUSE & EFFECT

Moves from cause to effect, or effect to cause

Good to explain how an event unfolded Chronology does not equal cause Guard against over-simplification Must be able to demonstrate that one

event actually caused something else to occur

PROBLEM-SOLUTION

Typically used in persuasive speaking Speaker usually proposes a best solution

Reflective Thinking SequenceCauses & extent of problem?Effects of problem?Criteria by which solutions should be judged?Possible solutions (strengths & weaknesses)Best solution?Put into effect how?Definition & limits of problems

MOTIVATED SEQUENCE

1. Attention—get listeners’ attention

2. Need—establish problem or issue and convince audience of the need for change; demonstrate that this need affects audience directly

3. Satisfaction—identify how your plan will satisfy the need and explain solution

4. Visualization—use positive visualization to explain how great life will be after your solution is implemented, or use negative visualization to show how terrible life will be if it is not

5. Action—tell audience the specific action(s) they must take to implement solution