Persuasive Strategies The Speakers Handbook By Jo Sprague

Persuasive Strategies The Speaker’s Handbook By Jo Sprague and Douglas Stuart

Inquiry is prerequisite to advocacy • Research topic, examining both sides of issue • When attitude is result of processing issuerelevant arguments, it is more predictive of actual behavior • Well-developed and well-supported position works better and lasts longer

Clarify the goals of your persuasion • Set realistic target • Set your goals in terms of action and tell people what to do, not think. • Adoption = getting people to start doing • Discontinuance=getting people to stop doing • Continuance= getting people to keep doing • Deterrence=getting people to not start doing

Example of Physical Fitness • • Adopt an exercise program Continue eating good foods Stop eating junk foods Avoid taking up cigarette smoking • Continuance and deterrence only make sense if there is some jeopardy or pressure in the opposite direction.

Base persuasive efforts on sound analysis of issues Thesis sentence proposition requires proof. 1. Fact issues w/in domain that cannot be verified. Argue from data in hand, draw most logical inference IS/IS NOT 2. Value judge good/bad, wise/foolish, just/unjust, ethical/unethical, competent/incompetent GOOD/BAD 3. Policy specific course of action. What plan/program to be adopted by what specifically empowered group or agency. SHOULD/SHOULD NOT

Use stock issues to help analyze • Stock Debate issues – Is there a compelling need for change? – Is that need inherent in the very structure of the present system? – Will the proposed solution meet the need presented? – Is the proposed solution workable and practical? – Do the advantages of the proposed solution outweigh the disadvantages?

Stock Problem-solving Issues • Is there a problem? – What are the symptoms? – How serious is it? – What caused the problem? – Appropriate criteria to evaluate solutions? – All possible solutions? – Best fit? How to put into effect?

Adjust Speech in Light of Audience Attitude • Hostile – strongly/moderately/slightly disagree • Neutral – Neither agree nor disagree • Favorable – Slightly/moderately/strongly agree

Favorable Audience • Make use of emotional appeals to intensify listeners’ support • Basic values – patriotism, humanitarianism, progress • Basic needs – survival, security, and status • Basic emotions – fear, pity, love

Favorable con’t. • Major Task is to create personal involvement – Be very specific about how their lives are affected – Show their actions can make a difference

Get audience to make public commitment • Invite listeners to – offer suggestions, – sign petition, – raise hands in agreement, – lend their names to letterhead, – talk to others

Provide several specific alternatives for action • Make it easy to take action • Give several specific choices of immediate action • Tell them what you want them to do • Make the execution easy and attractive – Give them what they need to begin!

Prepare audience to carry message to others • Offer examples, arguments, and statistics • Give ready answers to refute standard counter arguments – “inoculates audience” against counter measures

Neutral Audience • Uninterested – – Stress attention factors Vital—let’s them see how it affects them directly Concrete illustrations of impact on their lives Make sure facts and statistics are relevent to your listener’s experience – Sprinkle with humor and human interest – Use lively and animated delivery

Neutral con’t. • Uninformed • Emphasize material that clarifies and illuminates your position • Provide essential background knowledge • Explanations, definitions, examples, restatement, visual aids • Use simple language and straight forward organization • Save direct appeal for end of speech

Neutral con’t. • Undecided=establish credibility by blending logical and emotional appeals • Admit truth on both sides • Communicate expertise and integrity • Stress recent evidence or new interpretations • Acknowledge and respond to major arguments against your position • Well-documented, logical presentation is best

Hostile Audience • Set realistic goals for single speech • Stress common ground in the intro and at several points during the speech • Base speech on sound logic and extensive evidence – Unbiased evidence – Clearly indicate every step of reasoning

Hostile con’t. • Spell out links and connections that hold argument together • Do not overstate—use “suggest” and “contributes” • Use factual/statistical evidence and cite sources completely • Confront directly arguments foremost in listeners’ minds • State counterarguments fairly and answer strongly

Hostile con’t. • Pay particular attention to establishing credible image • Plan every detail of content and delivery • Project image of calm, reasonable, fair, well-informed, and congenial person. • Direct humor at yourself, position, common enemy, or ironic aspects of confrontation. Never at the audience or their beliefs.

Organize Points Consider how speech unfolds for listeners… Use motivated sequence to engage audience • Attention—first motivate audience to listen to speech • Need—auditors must become aware of compelling, personalized problem • Satisfaction—course of action must be shown to alleviate the problem • Visualization—Audience must have vivid picture of benefits of agreeing w/speaker or the evils of the alternatives • Action—end with overt call for listeners to act

Compare advantages of two alternate proposals • Organize speech around sequence of headto-head comparisons of components of each proposal • Don’t need to say one is perfect • Simply strive to tip the scales in your favor.

General Rule • Place strongest points first or last • Primacy principle—people remember what you say first • Recency principle—people remember what you say last • Weakest to strongest is climax • Strongest to weakest is anticlimax • Previews and summaries essential in developing complex line of argument.

Deal with opposing arguments • Address counterarguments—already on listeners’ minds and response is expected • Inoculate audience by presenting a few counterarguments and answering them. When arguments are brought up later, listener will remember and be more inclined to agree.

Opposing con’t. • Address opposing arguments directly w/refutation techniques • State opposing view fairly and concisely • State your position on that argument • Document and develop your own position • Summarize the impact of your argument and show the two positions compare

Handling counterarguments • Point A denied directly • Point B conceded but labeled unimportant • Point C partly conceded, then analyzed in a different light. • You may concede, minimize, dismiss as irrelevant, attack supporting evidence or underlying premise, or even grant existence of the problem and still differ on the best solution.

Avoid or limit simplistic appeals • Name-calling – attaches negative label to idea or person • Raises fear or hatred in audience • Glittering generalities – Creates positive response using words or phrases that represent some abstract virtue

Simplistic appeals con’t. • Testimonials – Link a popular figure w/some cause or product – Inappropriate extension of a person’s credibility • Plain folks – “I’m just like you” – Often anti-intellectual using unwarranted distinction between “common sense” of audience and “hair-brained” reasoning of experts, academics, and opponents in general

Simplistic appeals con’t. • Card-stacking – Carefully uses only facts or examples that bolster position – Highly biased selection passed off as representative • Bandwagon – Discourage independent thinking – “Everyone is doing it”

Simplistic con’t. • Transfer – Ascribe to unfamiliar thing characteristics of something familiar – Often no true relationship between the two • Snob Appeal – Opposite of plain folks • Stand out from the crowd – Opposite of bandwagon

Conclusion • Remember, it’s all about your audience – What do you want them to do? – What do you want them to remember?