strategies for Organizing Persuasive Messages 17.5 403
III. Stop using electric blankets.
IV. Use protective screens for computer-display terminals.
The problem–solution arrangement of ideas applies what you learned
about cognitive dissonance in Chapter 16. Identify and document a concern that
calls for change, and then suggest specific behaviors that can restore cognitive
balance.
Refutation
Another way to persuade an audience to support your point of view is to prove
that the arguments against your position are false—that is, to refute them. To use
refutation as a strategy for persuasion, you first identify objections to your posi-
tion that your listeners might raise and then refute or overcome those objections
with arguments and evidence. As we noted earlier in this chapter, research sug-
gests that in most cases it is better to present both sides of an issue rather than
presenting just the advantages of the position you advocate.
Suppose, for example, you plan to speak to a group of real-estate developers
to advocate a new zoning ordinance that would reduce the number of build-
ing permits granted in your community. Your listeners will undoubtedly have
concerns about how the ordinance will affect their ability to build homes and
make money. You could organize your presentation to this group using those
two obvious concerns as major issues to refute. Your major points could be as
follows.
I. The new zoning ordinance will not cause an overall decrease in the
number of new homes built in the community.
II. The new zoning ordinance will have a positive effect on the profits of
local real-estate developers.
You would be most likely to use refutation as your organizational strategy
when your position is being attacked. Or if you know what your listeners’ chief
objections are to your persuasive proposal, you could organize your speech
around the arguments that your listeners hold. In her speech to promote organ
donation, Tasha used the refutation strategy by identifying several myths that, if
believed, would keep people from becoming organ donors.* She identified each
myth and then explained why the myth is, in fact, a myth.
I. Myth number 1: If doctors know I’m an organ donor, they won’t work as
hard to save me.
Refutation: Doctors pledge, as part of their Hippocratic oath, that sav-
ing your life is paramount. Furthermore, a patient must be declared
brain dead before their organs may be taken.- Tasha Carlson, “License to Save.” From Winning Orations 2009, Mankato, MN: Interstate
Oratorical Association, 2009. Reprinted with permission.