476 Part 4 Public Speaking
can certainly be influenced, but because they tend to pay attention to things
other than the central message, such as the speaker’s reputation or any slogans
or emotional manipulation used in the speech (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986),
they are less likely to experience meaningful long-term changes in attitudes or
behavior.
To put the principles of the ELM model of persuasion into practice, con-
sider the following points:c Make certain that your message is relevant. Use language and examples to con-
nect your message to your listeners’ lives.
c Be sure to present your message at an appropriate level of understanding. You can’t
persuade your audience members if they don’t understand the message.c Establish credibility with the audience. Show your research, cite experts, and
(if relevant) clearly explain your own credentials and experience.
c Establish a common bond with your listeners. Ensure that they see you as trust-
worthy. Clearly explain why you support this specific message; if you have a
specific interest in it, let them know.These steps will increase the odds that your persuasive appeal will produce
lasting, rather than fleeting, changes in the audience’s attitudes and behavior
(O’Hair, Stewart, & Rubenstein, 2007).Strategies for Persuasive Speaking
When the conduct of men is designed to be influenced, persuasion, kind
unassuming persuasion, should ever be adopted. It is an old and true
maxim that “a drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall.” So
with men, if you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that
you are his sincere friend. Therein is a drop of honey that catches his heart,
which, say what he will, is the great highroad to his reason, and which, once
gained, you will find but little trouble in convincing him of the justice of
your cause.... (Lincoln, 1842, para. 6)This quote from President Abraham Lincoln truly touches on the important
strategies you will need to keep in mind as you persuade your audience, though
it was Aristotle who first named the three means of persuasion or forms of
rhetorical proof that comprise major persuasive speaking strategies. The first,
appeal to ethos, concerns the qualifications and personality of the speaker; the
second, appeal to logos, concerns the nature of the message in a speech; the
third, appeal to pathos, concerns the nature of the audience’s feelings. According
to Aristotle—and generations of theorists and practitioners that followed him—
you can build an effective persuasive speech by incorporating a combination of
these factors. We will examine each of these appeals in turn, in addition to con-
sidering examples of problematic reasoning that undermine your effective use of
ethos, logos, and pathos.