Chapter 16 Persuasive Speaking 477THINK
ABOUT
THIS❶ What do the opinions
of these employees tell
you about your research?
Are your numbers wrong?
Is there really a discrep-
ancy between what em-
ployees say and what the
numbers tell you?
❷ Would it be fair to sim-
ply dismiss the evidence
your personal investigation
produced, simply because
you think you know better?
Is there a way to include
the positive feelings of
the employees you talked
to without changing your
position?
❸ Is it possible to find
emotional appeals that
support the statistical
evidence you’ve gath-
ered? What other people
might you speak to about
the issue?
❹ Is it crucial to include
emotional appeals? Are
they more or less valu-
able than other kinds of
evidence?Emotional Punch or Sucker Punch?
A major retail chain is trying to open a big box store just outside the village,
which is proving controversial. As the town board considers allowing the lo-
cation to be rezoned to accommodate the new store, your communication in-
structor has asked each student in your class to present a persuasive speech
either in favor of opening the store or against it.
Your small college town is known for its charming main street, peppered
with small businesses, independent stores, and restaurants. The fact that it’s
so different from the suburb you grew up in is one of the reasons you chose
to attend it. You are concerned that competition from this large store, which
will undoubtedly offer lower prices than the local markets, will endanger
these small businesses. But you also know that there are a lot of low-income
families living in the town who want the jobs, as well as the less expensive
merchandise, that a big box store will bring.
Having investigated the company’s track record, you find that it does
bring jobs but that the jobs are primarily part-time, minimum-wage jobs,
with no benefits, and that the overall effect of opening a large store like this
will be detrimental to the town’s economy as well as its overall charm. How-
ever, when you head to a similar store in your hometown to talk to workers
and customers, the response you get to the store is incredibly positive. One
worker tells you that although she does, indeed, work part time, the second
income the job provides on top of his wife’s teacher’s salary is the only rea-
son he is able to make his mortgage. Another tells you that without this job to
supplement her own full-time job as a home health care aide—as well as the
low prices she gets on groceries at the store—she would not be able to feed
her family.
These comments weigh on you heavily, and you know they would add
emotional heft to a speech that supports opening the store. But your other
research, which includes economic studies and statistics, has led you to
conclude that the store will be bad for the town in the long run. What should
you do?EVALUATINGCOMMUNICATIONETHICS
Ethos
If audience members have little or no regard for the speaker, they will not
respond positively to persuasive appeals; attitude change in your audience
is related to the audience’s positive perception of you, the speaker, on a per-
sonal level (McCroskey & Teven, 1999; Priester & Petty, 1995). Aristotle
believed that speechmaking should emphasize the quality and impact of
ideas, but he recognized that issues like a speaker’s competence, charac-
ter/trustworthiness, and goodwill also play an important role in how well
the audience listens to and accepts the message. He referred to this effect of the
speaker as ethos, the speaker’s credibility.