Persuasion Lecture ONE - Persuasion How does persuasion...

Unformatted text preview: Persuasion How does persuasion impact your life? Persuasion Persuasion The process of influence. (textbook) The process of creating, reinforcing, or changing people’s attitudes, beliefs and values. Changing the mind, the heart or the actions. Aristotle: Rhetoric is "the faculty of discovering in any particular case all of the available means of persuasion.“ Degrees of Persuasion Degrees Strongly Moderately Slightly Neutral Slightly Moderately Strongly In Opposed Opposed Opposed In In Favor Favor Favor Persuasion involves any movement by a listener from left to right, or right to left. The Challenge of Persuasive Speaking Persuasive TAILOR YOUR MESSAGE!!! Target audience: the portion of the whole audience that the speaker wants to persuade. Mental dialogue with the audience: the mental give­and­take between a speaker and listener during a persuasive speech. Persuasive Audiences Persuasive Friendly/Receptive Audience: agrees with you and your position Neutral Audience: doesn’t know enough to have an opinion; doesn’t care enough to have an opinion, or is detached, objective enough to see both sides Hostile/Unreceptive Audience: disagrees with you and your position Persuading a Receptive Audience Persuading Identify with your audience Clearly state your speaking objective Tell your audience exactly what you want them to do Ask listeners for an immediate show of support Use emotional appeals Make it easy for listeners to act Example Example Lean on Me Speech (Click here to view) Persuading the Neutral Audience Persuading Capture your listener’s attention EARLY Refer to beliefs that many listeners share Relate your topic not only to your listeners but also to their families, friends and loved ones Be realistic in what you can accomplish Example Example Jerry McGuire Leaving the Office Scene (Click Here to View) Persuading the Unreceptive Audience Unreceptive Don’t immediately announce that you plan to change their minds Begin your speech by noting areas of agreement before you discuss areas of disagreement Don’t expect a major shift in attitude from a hostile audience Acknowledge the opposing points of view that members of your audience may hold Establish your credibility Consider making understanding rather than advocacy of your goal Example Example Judgment at Nuremberg Speech (Click here to view) Persuading Diverse Audiences Persuading Evidence Appeals to Action Message Structure Persuasive Communication Style Artistic Proofs Artistic As opposed to inartistic proofs (hardfacts), artistic proofs are the components of our arguments that we as speakers have control over: Logos: logical appeals Reasoning Evidence Ethos: speaker credibility Pathos: emotional appeals Language Delivery Mythos: appealing to your audience’s frame of reference (stories, religion, etc) Using Ethos to Persuade Using Ethos to Persuade Establish your credibility (initial and derived) Explain your competence Stress your research Stress special knowledge Establish common ground with your audience Use dynamic, charismatic delivery that expresses your conviction and proves your trustworthiness If you mess up your ethos. . . “I feel like hell.” ­­Dan Rather http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/20/politics/main644546.shtml Using Pathos to Persuade Using Pathos to Persuade Emotionally charged language Concrete words to help listeners visualize Visual Images Use Appropriate fear appeals Delivery (nonverbal)– sincerity and conviction Yet remember: Be ethical! Emotional appeals should not override logical appeals! Using Mythos to Persuade Using Relies on social traditions and values that are important to the audience Stories that illustrate values, faith and feelings that make up the social character of the audience that is being addressed. An Example of Ethos, Pathos & Mythos at Work Mythos Remember the Titans Speech (Click here to view) Because our goal is influence . . . Because ATTITUDES BELIEFS VALUES Cognitive Dissonance Cognitive When we realize that our actions are inconsistent with what we purport to believe, we become uncomfortable. In the 80’s movie, Footloose, a big­city boy, Ren, moves to a small town where dancing is prohibited because it “usually leads to drinking, drugs and sexual relations” (the lead figure in this town movement is a preacher). Ren petitions the town council to allow the high school to have a prom. His speech follows: Footloose Example: Ren’s Speech Example: I just wanted to say a few words about this motion... so that you wouldn't think that we were... encouraging destruction with this idea. From the oldest of times, people danced for a number of reasons. They danced in prayer, or so that their crops would be plentiful, or so their hunt would be good. And they danced to stay physically fit, and show their community spirit. And they danced to celebrate. And that is the dancing we're talking about. Aren't we told in Psalm 149? ‘Praise ye the Lord. Sing unto the Lord a new song. Let them praise his name in the dance.’ Amen. And it was King David­ King David, who we read about in Samuel. And what did David do? What did David do? What did David do? ‘’David danced before the Lord with all his might leaping and dancing before the Lord.‘’ Leaping and dancing. Ecclesiastes assures us that there is a time for every purpose under heaven. A time to laugh and a time to weep. A time to mourn and there is a time to dance. And there was a time for this law, but not anymore. See, this is our time to dance. It is our way of celebrating life. It's the way it was in the beginning. It's the way it's always been. It's the way it should be now. Common Responses to Cognitive Dissonance Cognitive Leon Festinger, 1957 Discredit the source causing the dissonance Reject or deny the new action that caused the inconsistency Seek new information about the source of inconsistency Stop listening Alter values, beliefs or attitudes causing the dissonance Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs Maslow’s www.lifeworktransitions.com/images/maslow.gif Motivation Motivation Positive Motivation Negative Motivation Fear Appeals (Appropriate and Inappropriate) Demagogue Demagogue A speaker who gains control over others by using unethical emotional pleas and appeals to listeners’ prejudices Who is a demagogue? Ethical Stances Ethical Quinitilian: “The good man speaking well.” Martin Buber’s “I­Thou” Relationship Was the speech appropriate for the occasion? Does the speaker walk the talk? Conversational, dialogic John Rawls’ “veil of ignorance” Suspend preconceptions of a speaker, idea or audience (race, gender, political affiliation, etc) Ethical Speaking: Remember . . . Ethical The role of ethos, pathos and logos American History X Film Clip http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/fannie See Brockriede’s “arguers as lovers” ...
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