CFL Research Project 2012

The process of creating, reinforcing, or changing people's beliefs or actions.

Persuasion involves any movement by a listener from left to right Strongly in Favor Moderately Opposed Slightly Opposed Neutral Slightly in Favor Moderately in Favor Strongly Opposed

The portion of the whole audience that the speaker most wants to persuade.

 Speeches on questions of fact - a question that cannot be answered absolutely  Speeches on questions of value – judgments based on a person’s beliefs about what is right or wrong, good or bad, fair or unfair  Speeches on questions of policy – a question about whether a specific course of action should or should not be taken

 To persuade your audience that the plays attributed to William Shakespeare were not actually written by him.  To persuade your audience that poaching of wild animals is a serious international problem.  To persuade your audience that California will suffer an earthquake of 9.0 or greater in the next 10 years.

 To persuade your audience that cloning is morally wrong (or morally right).  To persuade your audience that bicycling is the ideal form of land transportation.  To persuade your audience that journalists should practice ethical responsibilities.

 To persuade your audience that security measures should be increased/decreased at airports.  To persuade your audience that the government should (or should not) provide all Americans adequate health care.  To persuade your audience that there should be stricter safety standards on amusement park rides.

The speaker’s goal is to convince the audience that a given policy is desirable without encouraging the audience to take action in support of the policy. BUT WE WANT MORE THAN PASSIVE AGREEMENT!!

The speaker’s goal is to convince the audience to take action in support of a given policy. THIS IS WHAT WE WANT!

 Speeches to gain passive agreement ◦ To persuade your audience that the age for full driving privileges should be raised to 18. ◦ To persuade your audience that school districts should/should not allow soft drink companies to stock their products in school vending machines.  Speeches to gain immediate action ◦ To persuade your audience to give blood through the Red Cross. ◦ To persuade your audience to vote in the next Presidential election. ◦ To persuade your audience to donate time to become literacy tutors.

A five-step sequence designed especially for organizing persuasive speeches that seek immediate action.

Provide a solution to the need Satisfaction: Show the need for change Need: Gain the attention of the audience Attention:

Urge the audience to take action in support of the solution– Don’t forget that this comes in the conclusion. Action: Intensify desire for the solution by visualizing its benefits – Also include a visualization of what the situation would be like if the action is not taken. Think of this like a pros and cons discussion. Visualization:

 The Satisfaction Step – Two parts: ◦ Addressing the reservations of the audience ◦ Showing the audience that their reservations can be overcome (or satisfied) by following a simple plan  Part 1: Addressing the audience’s reservations ◦ Brainstorm on your own and determine what would prevent your audience members from accepting your call to action. ◦ Example:  If your specific purpose statement is to persuade your audience to drink Coca Cola products instead of Pepsi products, your audience might say …  “Well, I would do that, but.... Coca Cola products are usually more expensive.”

 Part 2: Providing a satisfaction of the audience’s reservations ◦ Brainstorm on your own and research supporting evidence to combat the reservations ◦ Example: ◦ Do a survey of local stores and present a chart on which you give the prices of the Coca Cola and Pepsi products. IF the cost of Coca Cola products is less than or comparable to the cost of Pepsi products, you can show this to your audience. ◦ You could interview local store managers and get information on the number of times Coca Cola products go on sale versus the number of times Pepsi products go on sale. ◦ Interview people who say that, regardless of the price, they still prefer the taste of Coca Cola products to the taste of Pepsi products.

 Address Reservation #1. ◦ Follow-up with the satisfaction of that reservation.  Address Reservation #2. ◦ Follow up with the satisfaction of that reservation.  Address Reservation #3. ◦ Follow up with the satisfaction of that reservation.

 Don’t forget that this comes in the conclusion.  Don’t forget that part of the “call to action” is the inclusion of your personal commitment. ◦ You must make a verbal personal commitment to accept your own call to action. If you can’t stand in front of your audience and do this, then you need to change your topic! ◦ Example: If your specific purpose statement is to persuade your audience to eat ten candy bars each day, you must be able to stand in front of your audience and “testify” that you either already to this OR you plan to do this.

 Take roll each day.  Create ground rules of acceptable behavior of the team and turn in after signing.  Reach a consensus on what value or policy your team wants to explore – Turn in a 1 st, 2 nd, and 3 rd choice  Begin brainstorming what you want your specific purpose to be  Determine how you will conduct research

 Research your subject online, keeping records of all sites explored (bookmark, type links into a Word document)  Create an outline and speech from your research  Create a PPT presentation of your research  Present your speech and PSA to the class and possibly a larger audience (TBD)

©2007 Stephen W. Lucas. All rights reserved.