242 CHAPTER 17^ Persuasive Speaking
• She concluded by emphasizing her goal: Her purpose was to convince listeners of
a link between fashion dolls and body image (causal claim) not to call for a ban on
these dolls (policy claim).
Overall, the studies by experts provided Kelli’s listeners with good reasons to see
the link.Convincing about Values
Because we don’t agree on evaluations of people, objects, policies, and so on, we often
try to convince others to share our judgments. Here are two value claims: (1) embryonic
stem cell research is wrong; and (2) finding cures for people who are currently alive is
more important than preserving an embryo. The first makes a judgment about the issue;
the second argues that both values are important, but one supersedes the other in a
specific context.
For a variety of reasons, value judgments within a single audience may vary so
widely that some judge a topic, such as gay marriage, as unethical whereas others con-
sider it a moral necessity. Furthermore, because values are assumptions about what is
good, value questions often generate deep emotional responses. It is nearly impossible
to move listeners from judging a topic as unethical to evaluating it as highly ethical
because of a single speech, but here are some tips for arguing value claims:
• Use emotional appeals. Examples are a good way to help listeners identify with
those involved in the issue. Also, link the topic to related values that everyone can
agree on, such as fairness or freedom.
• Appeal to authority if your audience accepts your source as authoritative.
(See Chapter 8.) Some audiences will be moved by appeals to cultural traditions,
words of poets, philosophers, scientists, or scriptural texts; others will discount those
same authorities.
One useful organizational strategy is the criteria-satisfaction pattern in which
you first establish the standards you’re using to evaluate the topic and then show howcriteria-satisfaction pattern
good for value or definition
speeches; sets forth stan-
dards for judgment or for
inclusion in a category and
then shows how the proposal
meets or exceeds these stan-
dards or fits into the category
© Matt Jeppson/Shutterstock.comValue claims often arouse
deep emotions, and many
people feel horror at the
claim that a snake makes a
good pet. So Helene carefully
set up acceptable criteria for
good pets and then showed
how snakes met those
criteria.
Copyright 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.www.ebook3000.com