Speaking to Persuade

FACT: Old (young) drivers are dangerous. VALUE: Old (young) people shouldn’t drive motor vehicles POLICY: Ohio should require rigorous license testing for old (young) drivers

Question of Fact Specific Purpose: to persuade the audience that another major earthquake will hit California by 2007. 1. California is long overdue. (“Claim”) 2. Many geological signs point to an imminent earthquake. (“Claim,” etc.) 3. Experts agree that a big one could hit any day.

Question of Fact Specific Purpose: to persuade the audience that long-term exposure to EMF can cause serious health problems. 1. Lab research on cell cultures suggests that EMF may promote cancer by interfering with cell growth and the immune system. Case studies have connected EMF with health problems. A growing number of scientists have expressed concern about the long-term effects of EMF.

Question of Value Specific Purpose: to persuade the audience that bicycle riding is the ideal form of land transportation. An ideal form of land transportation should meet four standards: Faster than walking or running Not exploit animals or other people Nonpolluting Beneficial for the person who uses it

Bicycle riding meets all these standards. Bicycles are faster than walking or running Bicycles don’t exploit the labor of animals or other people Not a source of air, land, water or noise pollution Extremely beneficial for the health of the rider

Question of Value Specific Purpose: to persuade the audience that capital punishment is morally and legally wrong Capital punishment violates the Biblical commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.” Capital punishment violates the constitutional ban on “cruel and unusual punishment.”

Question of Policy Specific Purpose: to persuade the audience that Ohio should require recertification of lawyers every ten years. Many citizens are victimized every year by incompetent lawyers. A bill requiring lawyers to stand for review every 10 years will do much to solve the problem.

Question of Policy Specific Purpose: to persuade the audience that America should act now to protect the quality of its drinking water. Impure drinking water has become a serious national problem Solving the problem requires action of citizens and government alike.

To Gain Passive Agreement To persuade my audience that the United States should institute a national sales tax to help balance the budget. To persuade my audience that there should be tougher enforcement of child-support payments when parents become separated or divorced. To persuade my audience that the federal government should institute a ban on all advertising for cigarettes and other tobacco products.

To Gain Passive Agreement To persuade my audience that college scholarship athletes should receive a $200 monthly stipend for personal expenses. To persuade my audience that businesses should not be allowed to use genetic testing to screen prospective employees

To Gain Immediate Action To persuade my audience to volunteer as literacy tutors. To persuade my audience to participate in intramural athletics. To persuade my audience to vote in the next presidential election To persuade my audience to give blood through the Red Cross. To persuade my audience to sign a petition for longer library hours.

Two General Types of “Cases” The Need Case Something’s wrong or needed The plan will deal with it The plan won’t create new problems The Comparative Advantage Case Nothing’s wrong, but we’re always looking for a better way No costs, new benefits

Problem-Solution Order To persuade my audience that urgent action is needed to deal with the environmental problems created by disposable batteries Disposable batteries have become one of America’s most serious environmental dangers Disposable batteries are made of three highly toxic elements – cadmium, mercury and lead. When thrown away, these toxic elements escape into the environment, polluting the air and ground water.

The problem can be solved by business, government and individual action. Business should continue its efforts to develop new kinds of batteries Government should require recycling of disposable batteries. Individuals should use rechargeable batteries instead of disposable batteries

Problem-Cause-Solution Order To persuade my audience that colleges and universities should take stronger action to control campus crime. Violent crime on college campuses is a serious problem. Recent studies show an alarming increase in reported cases of robbery and physical assault on American campuses The problem is worse than statistics reveal because many crimes are not reported.

2. There are three main causes specific to college life for the growth of campus crime. Campus security officials often are unqualified and poorly trained College administrators have not given priority to programs for preventing campus crime. Students often do not take sufficient precautions to protect themselves and their possessions.

An effective solution must deal with all three causes of the problem Schools must upgrade the quality and training of security officials Administrators must develop programs for preventing crime from occurring Students must be more cautious in protecting themselves and their possessions

Comparative Advantage Order Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience that the US space program should put a greater priority on unstaffed scientific missions that gather information about planets and the solar system. 1. Unstaffed missions are less constly 2. Unstaffed missions provide many more practical benefits than do staffed ones.

Monroe’s Motivated Sequence Attention: get the attention/interest of the audience Need: make the audience feel a need for a change Satisfaction: satisfy the need by providing a solution to the problem Visualization: intensify the satisfaction by visualizing its benefits Action: urge the audience to take action in support of the solution

Speech in Monroe’s M.S. INTRODUCTION – (Attention) Would you let a perfect stranger examine your medical files, peek at your personal finances, eavesdrop on your phone calls, or invade other aspects of your private life? Yet all of these are happening as a result of privacy-invading technology by businesses and government agencies. The erosion of personal privacy has become one of the most serious problems facing Americans in our high-tech, electronic age. Today I would like to explain the extent of this problem and encourage you to support a solution to it.

BODY (Need – no evidence) The use of electronic data-gathering by business and government poses a serious threat to personal privacy. Business and government agencies have compiled massive amounts of information on the personal lives of most Americans. There are few laws protecting Americans against the gathering or misuse of personal information by businesses and government agencies.

BODY (Satisfaction/Plan – no detail) The problem could be greatly reduced by the passage of federal privacy laws. These laws should impose strict controls on the collection of personal information by businesses and government agencies These laws should also include stiff penalties on anyone who uses personal information for unauthorized purposes

BODY (Visualization) Similar laws have worked in other countries and can work in the United States The practicality of privacy laws has been demonstrated by their success in almost all the countries of Western Europe If the US had such laws, you would once again have control over your medical files, financial records, and other kinds of personal information

CONCLUSION (Action) So I urge you to support privacy legislation by signing the petition I am passing around to be sent to our state’s US Senators and Representatives. As Congressman Jack Fields has said, “This is not a Democratic or Republican issue … Privacy is a basic human right.”

Mainly Fact, Value or Policy? President Franklin D. Roosevelt knew in advance about the Japanese plan to attack Pearl Harbor and allowed it to happen. If Franklin D. Roosevelt knew in advance about the Japanese plan to attack Pearl Harbor, he was wrong in allowing it to happen. Using lie detector tests as screening devices for jobs in private business is a violation of the employee’s right to privacy.

The use of lie detector tests for screening employees in private business should be banned by law. A federal law should be passed requiring that anti-lock brakes be standard on all new cars sold in the United States. If anti-lock brakes were standard equipment on all cars sold in the US, we could reduce traffic fatalities by 5,000 lives every year.

Colorizing classic movies such as Casablanca violates the artistic integrity of such movies. Congress should protect the artistic integrity of movies such as Casablanca by passing a law prohibiting the colorization of classic American films.