Real Communication An Introduction

466

After you have finished

reading this chapter,

you will be able to

Define the goals of

persuasive speaking

Develop a persuasive

topic and thesis

Evaluate your listeners

and tailor your speech

to them

Explain three forms of

rhetorical proof: ethos,

logos, and pathos

Identify the logical

fallacies, deceptive

forms of reasoning

Choose an appropriate

organizational strategy

for your speech

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chapter

outcomes

hat do you think of when you hear the word persuasion? When we ask

students this question, they often mistakenly think of sneaky used-car

salespeople and dishonest politicians. They also point to manipulative leaders,

like an unscrupulous supervisor at work or a bully at school, who use commu-

nication to achieve their own selfish goals while exploiting or harming others in

the process. The first two examples might involve people at least attempting to be

persuasive to sell cars or policies, but their dishonesty certainly involves unethi-

cal communication. Examples of exploitative leaders or bullies are a clear-cut

description of coercion, the act of using manipulation, threats, intimidation, or

violence to gain compliance.

Persuasion is none of these things; rather, it is the process of influenc-

ing (often changing or reinforcing) others’ attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors on

a given topic. When done properly and respectfully, it is also a highly ethical

practice. Think of all of the important accomplishments that can come from a

competent use of persuasion, such as raising money to support victims of natural

disasters. Persuasion is also a tool that you use every day, whether you are per-

suading your roommates to save money by cutting the cable cord or convincing

your four-year-old to eat his peas. In this chapter, we will examine the nature and

goals of persuasive speaking while helping you consider your audience, the sup-

port for your speech, and helpful organizational patterns.

The Goals of Persuasive Speaking

Persuasive speaking is speech that is intended to influence the attitudes, beliefs,

and behavior of your audience. Although these three terms may be familiar to

you, let’s take a moment to examine them in light of how we will think about

them in this chapter.

c Attitudes are our general evaluations of people, ideas, objects, or events

(Stiff & Mongeau, 2003). They are our feelings about something, our judg-

ments of good or bad, important or unimportant, boring or interesting, and

so on. For example, you might have a positive attitude toward sports and

exercise: “Exercising regularly is good.”

c Beliefs are the ways in which people perceive reality (Stiff & Mongeau,

2003). They are our thoughts about what is true and real and refer to how

confident we are about the existence or validity of something: “I believe that

exercising results in a healthy body and lifestyle.”

c Behavior is the manner in which we act or function. It refers to what we do,

often in response to our attitudes and beliefs (Homer, 2006). For example, if

your attitude about exercise is really positive and you believe that it contrib-

utes to a healthy lifestyle, you’ll probably be motivated to get out there and

walk or jog or lift weights.

Speaking to persuade your listeners involves some informative speaking.

Just look at any presidential campaign. The candidates all want to inform you

about their plans and goals for the nation. However, their primary goal is to

W