What is the refutative pattern

Chapter 14 Persuasive Speaking

SPEAK

© 2011 Cengage Learning

In this chapter, we discuss what you need to know in order to create effective and ethical persuasive speeches.

5/27/2014 12:31 PM

© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.

The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

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… the power of speech, is to stir men’s blood.

~William Shakespeare

© 2011 Cengage Learning

Learning Outcomes:

1. Learn the importance of considering the initial audience attitude when constructing your persuasive speech goal.

2. How to phrase a persuasive speech goal as a proposition.

3. Identify dispositional persuasive speech frameworks.

4. Identify actuation persuasive speech frameworks.

5. Learn ethical communication guidelines should you follow as a persuasive speaker?

5/27/2014 12:31 PM

© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.

The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

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Creating Effective & Ethical Persuasive Speeches

Understand where most of the audience members stand on your topic

Phrase a proposition that is appropriate to the rhetorical situation

Choose a suitable persuasive organizational framework

Evaluate the speech based on ethical guidelines

© 2011 Cengage Learning

What do you need to know in order to create effective and ethical persuasive speeches? First, you need to understand where most of the audience members stand on your topic so you can identify whether a speech to convince or to actuate is most appropriate. Then, you need to phrase a proposition, or persuasive speech goal, that is appropriate to the rhetorical situation and choose a suitable persuasive organizational framework. Finally, you need to evaluate your speech plan based on the ethical guidelines you have learned, as well as additional guidelines that are specific to persuasive situations.

5/27/2014 12:31 PM

© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.

The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

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Audience Attitude

Attitude -“a general or enduring positive or negative feeling about some person, object, or issue.”

Target audience - the group of people you most want to persuade

© 2011 Cengage Learning

Because it is very difficult to convince someone to change his or her mind, what you can hope to accomplish in any one speech depends on where your audience stands on your topic. So as you begin considering your speech, you’ll want to understand the current direction and strength of audience members’ attitudes about your topic.

Assessing your audience’s attitudes is part of the audience analysis process, which is Step 2 in the speech-planning process. Recall, you can do this by surveying the audience or by referring to published surveys and extrapolating these polls to the members of your audience. So you will want to begin your persuasive speech preparation by understanding the attitudes your audience is likely to have about your topic.

5/27/2014 12:31 PM

© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.

The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

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Exhibit 14.1 Sample Opinion Continuum

© 2011 Cengage Learning

Attitudes

Opposed - seek incremental change.

No opinion

uninformed – provide basic arguments and information

impartial – demonstrate the superiority of your position

In favor

mildly in favor – reinforce and strengthen beliefs

strong agree – move the audience to act on speech goal

© 2011 Cengage Learning

When your target audience is opposed to your goal, it is unrealistic to believe that you will be able to change their attitude from “opposed” to “in favor” in only one short speech. Instead, when dealing with a hostile audience, seek incremental change—try to move them only a small degree in your direction— hope for further movement later. When your target audience is neutral, you can be straightforward with reasons to support your goal. When your target audience is only mildly in favor of your proposal, your task is to reinforce and strengthen their beliefs. An audience whose attitude supports your topic will still benefit from a logical explanation of the reasons for doing so.

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Proposition

A declarative sentence that clearly indicates the position you will advocate.

“I want to convince my audience that smoking causes cancer.”

© 2011 Cengage Learning

In a persuasive speech, you state your specific goal as a proposition. A proposition is a declarative sentence that clearly indicates the position you will advocate.

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Proposition of Fact

A statement designed to convince your audience that something:

did, probably did, probably did not, or did not exist or occur

is, probably is, probably is not, or is not true

will, probably will, probably will not, or will not occur

“Thanks to the Internet, paperbound books will cease to exist.”

© 2011 Cengage Learning

Proposition of Value

A statement designed to convince your audience that something is good, bad, desirable, undesirable, fair, unfair, moral, immoral, sound, unsound, beneficial, harmful, important, or unimportant.

“I want my audience to believe that multilingual education is beneficial to children.”

© 2011 Cengage Learning

Proposition of Policy

A statement designed to convince your audience that a particular rule, plan, or course of action should be taken.

“I want to convince the audience that water packaged in plastic bottles should be taxed to pay for the cost associated with recycling empties.”

© 2011 Cengage Learning

Persuasive Speeches

Speeches to convince

focus on changing or reinforcing audience’s belief or attitude towards a topic

Speeches to actuate

focus on encouraging audience to take action

© 2011 Cengage Learning

Once you have identified your speech goal and phrased it as a proposition, you are ready to organize the main points using an appropriate persuasive speech framework. If your proposition focuses on changing or reinforcing your audience’s belief or attitude toward your topic, you will give a speech to convince. If your proposition focuses on encouraging your audience to take action, you will give a speech to actuate. There are several different organizational frameworks for each of these types of persuasive speeches.

Speech Planning Action Step for Persuasive Speeches -Writing a Specific Goal as a Persuasive Proposition

1. Tentatively phrase your goal as a proposition.

2. Check whether you believe that your target audience is opposed to, has no opinion of, or is in favor of your proposition. Why?

3. Check whether you believe that the degree of your target audience’s attitude makes your goal too difficult to meet or your audience is already convinced of your goal. If you’ve checked either of these, then rephrase your goal to adapt to that audience attitude.

4. Check whether your proposition, as stated or revised, is one of fact, value, or policy.

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Organizational Framework for Speeches to Convince

Comparative advantages

shows that one, two, or more alternatives is best

Criteria satisfaction

seeks audience agreement on criteria that should be considered when evaluating a particular proposition, and shows how proposition satisfies the criteria

© 2011 Cengage Learning

The comparative advantages organizational framework shows that one of two or more alternatives (which may include the status quo) is best. You show that the advantages of your alternative outweigh the disadvantages and that its advantages surpass the advantages of the other options.

The criteria satisfaction frame work is an indirect organization that seeks audience agreement on criteria that should be considered when evaluating a particular proposition and then shows how the proposition satisfies those criteria.

A criteria satisfaction framework is especially useful when your audience is opposed to your proposition because it approaches the proposition indirectly by first focusing on criteria that the audience may agree with before introducing the specific proposition.

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Organizational Framework for Speeches to Convince

Refutative

challenges opposing arguments and bolsters the speaker’s.

Statement of reasons

used to confirm propositions of fact in which speaker presents best-supported reasons in a meaningful order

© 2011 Cengage Learning

A refutative framework helps you organize your main points to persuade by both challenging the opposing arguments and bolstering your own. This framework is particularly useful when the target audience opposes your position.

The statement of reasons is a form of persuasive organization used for confirming propositions of fact in which you present your best-supported reasons in a meaningful order. For a speech with three reasons or more, place the strongest reason last because this is the reason you believe the audience will find most persuasive. You will often place the second strongest reason first because you want to start with a significant point. Place the other reasons in between.

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Organizational Frameworks for Speeches to Actuate

Problem-solution

explains the nature of a problem and proposes a solution

Problem-cause-solution

adds to problem-solution framework a main point that reveals the causes of the problem and proposes a solution designed to alleviate those causes

© 2011 Cengage Learning

A problem-solution framework explains the nature of a problem and proposes a solution. A problem-solution pattern can be used with any persuasive speech, but it is particularly useful when listeners may be unaware of the problem or how they personally can work toward a solution. A speech to actuate organized in this way usually has three main points. The first examines the problem, the second presents the solution(s), and the third suggests what action the listener should take.

The problem-cause-solution framework is similar to problem-solution but differs from it by adding a main point that reveals the causes of the problem and then proposes a solution designed to alleviate those causes. This pattern is particularly useful for addressing seemingly intractable problems that have been dealt with unsuccessfully in the past as a result of treating symptoms rather than underlying causes. In speeches to actuate, the problem-cause-solution main points are followed by a fourth main point that calls the audience to a specific action.

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Organizational Frameworks for Speeches to Actuate

Motivated sequence combines problem-solution pattern with explicit appeal designed to motivate audience

The attention step

The need step

The satisfaction step

The visualization step

The action appeal step

© 2011 Cengage Learning

The motivated sequence is an organizational framework that combines a problem-solution pattern with explicit appeals designed to motivate the audience.

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Ethical Guidelines for Ethical Speeches

Ethical persuasive speeches aim to improve the well-being of the audience by advocating the honest belief of the speaker.

Ethical persuasive speeches provide choice.

Ethical persuasive speeches use representative supporting information.

Ethical persuasive speeches use emotional appeals to engage the audience in the rational thought process.

Ethical persuasive speeches honestly present the speaker’s credibility.

© 2011 Cengage Learning

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Speech is power: Speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

© 2011 Cengage Learning

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