Public Speaking

Select Your Persuasive Topic (^235)

Select Your Persuasive Topic

Choosing a persuasive topic can be challenging. It should be disputable, significant

to others, and important to you because it’s arguably more ethical to influence others

toward a viewpoint or action that you personally believe, care about, and actually

practice. So begin your topic search by asking yourself several questions.^4

•   What do I believe strongly? What do I accept as true that my audience might dispute?

What issues and ideas do I think are false?

•   What arouses my emotions? What angers me? What are my pet peeves? What arouses

my pity? When am I happiest? What do I fear?

•   What social ideals do I support? What changes would I like to see in society? What

current problems or conditions could improve if we were convinced there is a

Read, highlight, and take

notes online.

Diversity

in praCtiCe

persuasion in China

As China rapidly becomes a global superpower,

interactions between China and the West high-

light some fundamental assumptions about

influence and persuasion. Li Liu,^2 a professor

at Beijing Normal University, summarizes the

Western model of persuasion as a combination

of ethos, pathos, and logos by which persuaders

hope to sway others. In contrast, Chinese per-

suasion follows a more collectivist model that

is dialogical and interdependent—reflecting

Confucian ideals of harmonious relationships

that balance yang (power, light, masculinity)

and yin (passivity, darkness, femininity).

In China, a person’s sense of self is embed-

ded in family and social relationships; consequently, persuasion is grounded in

these associations. Within the family, influence is based in filial piety (respect

for parents) and in maintaining family harmony. Outside the family, influence is

grounded in guanxi, or relationships that operate on reciprocity; obligations that

emerge from these relationships become tools of influence.

How do cultural differences work out in practice? Researchers explain that

messages are more persuasive when they are tailored to embedded cultural frames,

when they include culturally relevant themes, and when the recipients are aware

of cultural distinctions. For example, European Americans were more likely to

believe that caffeine posed risks and they should alter their behaviors when the

message was framed as hurting them personally. However, Asian Americans were

more persuaded by messages that focused on their relational obligations.^3

On weblink 17.1, watch the video in which two Chinese people explain the

concept of guanxi. Then talk with a few classmates about how guanxi might affect

an American who is doing business in China.

Chinese art symbolizing yin-yang

(Tai Chi).

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