A Talk on The Art of

Persuasion
25TH, June 2008
Summarized E-BOOKLET

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Speaking to Persuade
Persuasive speeches have two objectives:
1. to influence thinking
2. to motivate action

Persuasive speaking requires additional skills to affect the audiences beliefs and actions so it is important to
understand the psychology of persuasion.
Persuasion occurs when two or more points of view exist.
They could be opposing or dissimilar. Persuasion therefore is a psychological process with the speaker winning over the
audience to create understanding and commitment to his point of view
Audience analysis and adaptation is vital to the success of a persuasive speech.
The success of your speech is determined by how well you tailor your message to the values, attitudes and beliefs of your
audience.
You must have a strategy to convince the audience to adopt your point of view and as a result act on it.

How listeners process persuasive messages

During speeches the speaker does not speak to but with the audience.

During a speech the audience does not passively listen

to the message; the audience engages in a mental
evaluation of the speech, assessing the speakers
credibility, delivery and supporting materials,
language and reasoning.

With persuasive speeches you must:

1. Anticipate possible objections the audience might have
to your point of view and
2. Answer those objections in your speech.

With persuasive speeches the audience will argue with

the speaker inside their minds.

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There are three major types of Persuasive Speeches:

1. Persuasion on questions of fact
2. Persuasion on questions of value
3. Persuasion on questions of policy

a). Persuasion on questions of fact

This type of persuasive speech is similar to the informative speech but the speaker takes a partisan stand and presents one view of
the facts as persuasively as possible. E.g. courtroom trials.
This type of persuasive speech is usually organized topically.

b). Persuasion on questions of value

This type of speech involves facts but also demands value judgments
Value judgments are based on a persons beliefs about what is right or wrong, good or bad, moral or immoral etc. E.g. Euthanasia,
abortion,
This type of presentation calls the speaker to justify their claim and give the standards for your value judgments.
This type of speech is also organized topically. The first part of the speech usually establishes the standard for the value judgment
while the second part applies those standards to the subject of your speech.
E.g. Specific Purpose: TOPIC: To persuade my audience that Cycling is the ideal form of transportation within Nairobi.

Main points (Application of standards to the topic of speech):

I.

Cycling as an ideal form of land transportation should

meet the four major standards
A. It should be faster than walking or running.
B. It should reduce traffic congestion within the city
C. It should not pollute the environment
D. It should be beneficial for the person who uses it

II.

Cycling meets all the above standards for an ideal

form of transportation within Nairobi.
A. Cycling is faster than walking or running.
B. Bicycles would greatly reduce vehicle congestion
within the city
C. Cycling does not produce air, land, water or
noise pollution
D. Cycling greatly improves the health of the rider.

Note: Persuasive speeches on question of fact and value do not necessarily argue directly for a course of action. They do not urge
listeners to do anything other than adopt a particular viewpoint.

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Questions of Policy
This type of presentation deals with a specific course of action.
They include questions of fact and value but go the extra mile in that they decide whether something should be done or not
For Example:
Should Euthanasia be legalized in Kenya?
Should the government institute online voting for Kenyan citizens in Diaspora?

There are two types of policy speeches:

1. Speech Presentations made to gain passive agreement and not necessarily for the audience to take action in support of a
policy.
2. Presentations made to gain immediate action by rousing the audience to act right away.

Policy speeches have three basic issues that must be considered for effectiveness Need, Plan and Practicality
Need You must show the need for the policy; convince listeners that there is a problem with the status
quo and that new
policy will effectively improve things. Could also be that the current policy is sufficient and does not need changing.
Plan Explain your plan for solving the problem outlined. Address any aspects that may affect your
accept the plan.

audiences willingness to

Practicality Demonstrate that the plan will work and solve the problem, not create a bigger problem.

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Methods of Persuasion
Identifying your Audience

Persuading all the members of the audience is seldom possible so it is important to identify subgroups within the audience that
you want to reach with your speech. This is your target audience.
In tailoring your speech, you reach everybody but you want to convince the target audience.

Persuasion scale Determine what level of persuasion your audience is at and what level you want them to be at after your speech:

Techniques for persuasion

Building Credibility
Before listeners accept your ideas, they want to know whether you are reliable, competent and trustworthy.
During the Persuasive speech you will enhance your credibility by being enthusiastic and having a well-organized, well-reasoned
and clear speech.

Explain your competence Modestly let your audience know if you have special expertise
Be accurate Do not be sloppy with facts and figures. Do not oversimplify; it makes you appear unreliable.
Show your open-mindedness Show you are reasonable and capable of being wrong. Know-it-alls or people who seem
unable to make mistakes elicit distrust.

Show common ground With your audience -

In speeches listeners respect and trust a speaker who is similar to themselves;

your job is to show that to some degree you are like your listeners. Show that you identify with their experience.

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Providing Evidence

Choose evidence most likely to prove your point with a particular audience.
1. Is the evidence accurate?
2. Is the evidence up to date?
3. Is the evidence typical/common?
4. Choose evidence from reliable and reputable sources
5. Provide a variety of evidence in most cases multiple support is needed
6. Use a vivid personal narrative (a personal story is one of the most effective strategies to persuade) whenever possible
your most powerful evidence may be found in your own pool of personal experience.

Using Sound reasoning

Use logic to draw conclusions from the evidence you present

Employ reasoning using deduction and induction.

Deduction

Deduction is reasoning from a chain of generalization through to specifics and into a conclusion.
Listeners are compelled by the logic presented to accept the proposed view point.
e.g.

Generalization: Commuters who do not put on their safety belts will be fined.
Specific: I was not wearing my seat belt when the Matatu pulled over at a police road block
Therefore, I will be fined.

Induction
With induction the argument proceeds from the specific evidence to a general conclusion.
Inductive arguments usually follow three steps:
1. Ask the question
2. Answer the question with appropriate specific evidence(s)
3. Reach a conclusion based on the evidence.

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Inductive reasoning is particularly effective when

when:
The audience is skeptical or hostile to your position.
This method helps the audience keep an open mind.
Building your argument block by block makes the audience respect and appreciate your central idea when you present it at the
end.
Even if you dont win your audience over, they will see the merit of your argument.
When you want to show the drama of discovery
Taking listeners through an inductive path can be fun and exciting for them and leaves a lasting impression with your audience.
This is especially great when marketing products to new clients.

Using Emotional Appeal

Effective persuasion often requires emotional appeal.

Emotional appeals can be used to provoke listeners to action.

The intended emotions can be positive (amusement, joy, love) or negative (fear, anger, sadness).

Techniques for emotional appeal

Use emotional language

Use words loaded with emotion; use moving language to move your audience.
Caution: Do not use too many emotionally charged words in one section of your speech for fear of undermining your impact.

Develop vivid examples

Let emotional appeals which grow naturally from the content of your speech.
Use examples that personalize your ideas and draw the audience to the speech emotionally.

Speak with sincerity and conviction

Your sincerity and conviction is the strongest source of emotional power.

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Guidelines for using emotional appeal

1. Always combine emotional appeal with rational appeals.

People need to think of themselves as rational beings; they need to have

a reason for the feeling and passions they embrace.
Using emotion and logic combined makes for a more powerful speech
than either one alone.

2. Know how to use fear.

High-fear messages are more effective when they are coupled with
specific instructions on how to take action.

3. Use emotional appeals ethically.

In using emotional appeals determine which emotion you want to arouse

and ask the following questions:
Is the emotion worthy of the audience in the context of your
topic?
Does the emotion reinforce rather than replace solid evidence and
sound logic?
In arousing this emotion, are you treating the issue and the
opposing side with fairness?

If you cannot
answer yes
to all three
your ethical
footing is
shaky.

4. Develop emotional appeals inherent with some pieces of

evidence.
e.g. 25, 000 family-related rape cases were reported in Kenya last year.
That means that every 22 minutes, a woman or young girl is raped by an
uncle, a brother, a father a cousin.

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Appealing to Motivations
Motivations are needs, desires or drives that motivate people to act in a certain way.

People are driven by various motivations be it happiness, health, social acceptance,

financial security and so on.
If you can show your audience how your ideas can help them satisfy their needs and you have a higher chance of persuading
them to adopt them.
e.g. To try and convince people to invest in stocks and shares, you can tap into peoples desire for financial security, freedom
and wealth.

How to motivate your audience

1. Focus on the listeners needs, rather than on your own.
2. Appeal to more than one motivation; listeners not reached by one appeal may be influenced by another.
E.g. Cycling is great for tension relief and makes you feel energetic and happy
Burn a lot of calories (health needs) and is ideal for weight control and is a great way to make new friends (social needs)
3. Determine the strongest motivational appeals. While doing audience analysis ask which motivations are the strongest for
your audience and work these motivations into your presentation.
4. Anticipate conflicting needs. While conducting audience analysis determine if any need you want to emphasize on in your
speech conflicts with some of the audiences motivations. Deal with this problem clearly in your speech.

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Ethical Considerations in Persuasion

It is important to be ethical and avoid fallacies (a fallacy is an error in reasoning; and in persuasive presentations include those
arguments which are based on false inferences).They can render your persuasion ineffective.

The following are common fallacies;

Hasty/sweeping generalization

A conclusion reached on the basis of insufficient evidence.

Often too broad and categorical being unfair and inaccurate.
e.g. All Kenyan motorists are reckless drivers.

Red Herring

An argument that distracts listeners from the real issue and leads them towards an unrelated matter.
e.g. Arguing for the need to rehabilitate stray dogs when there is a glaring need to rehabilitate street children.
Attack on a person
Attacking your opponent instead of his ideas. This is unfair and unethical.

False cause

The assumption that because two events are related in time, the first caused or triggered the second.

Building on an unproven assumption

Treating an opinion which is open to question as though it were already proved.

This can cause your listeners to be resentful; they may feel tricked to accept a proposition they do not believe.

False analogy

Creating a comparison that is exaggerated or flawed.

Either-or reasoning

Occurs when a speaker offers only two alternatives when in fact more exist.
The speaker comes across as unreasonable and rigid.

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Bandwagon

Argument that because something is popular, it is therefore good, correct and desirable.
Popular opinion cannot be taken as proof that an idea is right or wrong.
e.g. everyone used to believe that the world was flat.

Slippery slope

This fallacy assumes that taking a first step will lead to subsequent steps that cannot be prevented.

e.g. If we allow the government to ban alcohol and cigarette advertising, there will be a ban on all forms of product advertising and the result will be a
non-existent advertising industry.

Conclusion:

Thank you for Participating in the Talk on the Art of Persuasion,

this is a summary of the presentation, we invite you to register
for the Full training on the Art of Persuasion coming up between
17th-18th,July 2008.
Powered By AmbitionSupported By Speech
Jade Communications Ltd
Sacoma Centre For Enterprise - Gichugu Road, Kileleshwa
P.O. Box 8446-00100
Tel: +254-020-230-82-46
Cell: + 254-722-446-954
Paul@jadecom.co.ke

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