Persuasive Techniques

Rhetoric - The art or study of using language effectively and persuasively; language that is elaborate, pretentious, insincere, or intellectually vacuous (stupid)

Appeals to the Audience Emotional Appeal – The attempt to convince someone to do something or believe something by tapping into their emotions - common emotions: fear, love, pride, happiness etc. Logical Appeal –using facts, case studies, statistics, analogies, experiments, and logical reasoning – opposite would be faulty logic – sounds logical, but after further consideration is not – misrepresents facts, stats, analogies, etc. Ethical Appeal –sense of right or wrong – the ability of the writer to show they are trustworthy and credible

Well if those people are… Bandwagon The attempt to convince someone to do something or believe something just because “everyone else does” Testimonial – quotations or endorsements in or out of context which attempt to connect a famous or respectable person with a product, item or idea

Words, words, words Repetition – Repetition of key terms, names, ideas, etc several times to ensure it will be remembered or recognized (ex. 347-1111) Glittering Generalities – words that have different positive meaning for individual subjects but are linked to highly valued concepts – words like beautiful, loyal, fun etc.

Hitting below the belt Name Calling –the use of derogatory language or words that carry a negative connotation when describing the enemy or the competing idea Pinpointing the Enemy – used extremely often during times of war, political campaigns and debate. An attempt to simplify a complex situation by presenting one specific group or person as the enemy

Making a connection Transfer – attempt to make the subject a view a certain item/symbol in the same way as another item/symbol – ex. Using an American Flag behind a truck is an attempt to make a person feel pride, loyal or free when looking at (or driving) the truck Plain Folk – attempt by the propagandist to convince the public that their views or product reflects the common person – may use the accent of a specific audience or specific jokes – ex. “Joe the Plumber”

Using Sentence Structure Rhetorical Questions – questions that the speaker/writer wants the audience to think about– they are designed to evoke an emotional reaction in the audience and act as an emotional appeal Parallelism – the repetition of grammatical constructions to highlight a main point, show equality of ideas and allow the information to be remembered more easily

Independence Day Lean on Me 300 President's Address to the U.S. Fighter Pilots [DIGITALLY ENHANCED AUDIO!] Lean on Me Principal Clark Addresses Students on 'the New East Side High' [VIDEO + DIGITALLY ENHANCED AUDIO!] 300 Queen Gorgo Addresses the Spartan Council [VIDEO + DIGITALLY ENHANCED AUDIO!]

Friday Night Lights Remember the Titans Coach Gaines: Sincere Warfare Speech [DIGITALLY ENHANCED AUDIO!] Remember the Titans Coach Herman Boone: Gettysburg Speech [DIGITALLY ENHANCED AUDIO!]