Deck 16: A: Persuasive Speaking

Question 1

What is Maslow's hierarchy of needs? How can a persuasive speaker use his or her knowledge of an audience's needs to create an effective speech?

Answer 1

Ideal answers will emphasize that Maslow theorized that a person's motivations, priorities, and behavior are influenced by his or her needs. These needs can be arranged in a hierarchy from low to high, and he theorized that a person will not be motivated to meet a higher need until he or she has met lower, more basic needs. Effective speakers analyze and identify the audience's needs and then motivate them by appealing to their unmet needs-that is, that what the speaker advocates will help the audience to fulfill an unmet need. The speaker should take caution not to appeal to a need that is much higher than what the audience has met because it may be irrelevant to their current state (for example, self-actualization is higher than safety, but an audience that is still struggling to meet their physiological needs will find self-actualization irrelevant at that moment).

Question 2

What are the forms of rhetorical proof that Aristotle identified? Define each form of rhetorical proof and explain how a speaker would use each to effectively persuade an audience.

Answer 2

Ideal answers will emphasize the following: •Ethos-The speaker's credibility, trustworthiness, and goodwill toward the audience. While important to all audiences, ethos is especially critical when addressing a hostile audience. Taking care to prepare the speech well, to use quality sources, and to reference them will help establish ethos. •Logos-The speaker can use logical arguments to appeal to an audience's reason, both inductive and deductive. Logos helps an audience come to a conclusion about a complex issue. •Pathos-The speaker can use emotionally charged words and evidence to create an emotional disposition in his or her audiences. The speaker should take care to combine pathos with other logical arguments and to offer audiences a practical way to deal with the issue that is at the root of their emotional state.

Question 3

Council member Dee Jackson finds herself in a difficult position. She firmly believes that approving a casino project to move forward in her community will stimulate the economy of the district she represents and will provide the money that is needed to fund both their ailing public schools and several public works projects that are critically needed. Unfortunately, she has discovered that her constituents and the other members of the city council oppose the casino being located in their community. Synthesizing what you have learned in this chapter, what advice do you have for Ms. Jackson? What should she consider as she develops her proposal and presents her appeal to her audience?
Answer Key

Answer 3

Ideal answers will identify that Dee is facing a hostile audience. Her job is going to be to bridge the gap between her position and the position of her opponents. She may do well to use the refutational design or comparative advantages pattern to organize her presentation. She must take special care to express goodwill to her audience, capitalizing on their shared concerns-improving educational opportunities as well as the capital improvements they all agree are warranted, but she should not need to prove that something needs to be done. She should take her audience's concerns seriously but should also refute their objections to her proposal and prove to them that other options that have been presented for solving the community's problems are not as strong as hers. She can accomplish this by emphasizing logic in overcoming the negative emotion they share.

Question 4

Describe the criteria that make for a good persuasive speech topic. Provide an example of a poor topic and one that is suitable for a persuasive speech, and explain your evaluation of each topic.

Question 5

What do we mean when we refer to logical fallacies? List, define, and provide examples of five forms of flawed logic, and explain what a speaker could do to avoid committing these fallacies.

Question 6

Describe the differences among a receptive, a hostile, and a neutral audience, and explain how knowing this information helps a speaker to develop a persuasive speech. What particular advice do you have for a speaker who encounters each type of audience?

Question 7

Synthesizing what you have learned throughout this chapter and others, what role does ethics play in persuasive speaking? Why would we say that behaving ethically increases a speaker's chances of being successful at persuasive speaking? How does ethics relate to logical fallacies?

Question 8

Compare and contrast the three types of propositions used for persuasive speeches, and provide an example of each type.

Question 9

Consider the topic of the death penalty. First, construct a proposition of fact, a proposition of value, and a proposition of policy that would support elimination of the death penalty. What needs could a speaker taking a stance in repealing the death penalty appeal to in his or her speech? Second, construct a proposition each of fact, value, and policy that would support use of the death penalty for capital crimes. What needs could a speaker taking this position appeal to in his or her speech?

Question 10

Describe the organizational patterns that work well for persuasive speeches. What advice would you give to a speaker to help determine whether each particular pattern would work well for his or her speech?