Page 318 - Essentials of Human Communication

Three Types of Persuasive Speeches 297

● Name-calling occurs when the speaker gives an idea, a group of people, or a Communication
political philosophy a bad name (“bigoted,” “soft on terrorism,”) to try to get lis- Choice Point
teners to condemn an idea without analyzing the argument and evidence. The Introducing Credibility
opposite of name-calling is the use of “glittering generalities,” in which the You are going to speak to an
speaker tries to make you accept some idea by associating it with things you audience about Internet censorship, and
value highly (“democracy,” “free speech,” “academic freedom”). By using these you’ve been asked to provide a brief bio
“virtue words,” the speaker tries to get you to ignore the evidence and simply note (about one minute in length or about
approve of the idea. 150 words) about yourself for another
speaker to use to introduce you. What are
some of the things you might want to include
Objectives Self-Check to establish your competence, character, and
● Can you explain the types of logical, emotional, and credibility appeals in persuasion? charisma? What would you say?
● Can you effectively use these supporting materials and at the same time avoid the
fallacies for each type of proof?
● Can you identify the common logical, emotional, and credibility fallacies?

Explore the Exercise “The
Three Types of Persuasive Speeches Persuasive Speech on Questions
of Fact, Value, and Policy” at
Here we examine persuasive speeches on questions of fact, value, and policy and look at how MyCommunicationLab
you can develop appropriate theses and main points, supporting materials, and organiza-
tional pattern for such speeches. In addition see the accompanying PSSA: Special Occasion
Speeches (Largely Persuasive) on page 298.

PerSuaSIve SPeeCheS On QueStIOnS Of faCt
Questions of fact concern what is or is not true, what does or does not exist, what did or did For a really excellent special occa-
not happen. Some questions of fact are easily answered. These include many academic ques- sion speech (this one a commence-
tions you’re familiar with: Who was Nostradamus? When was the first satellite launched? ment address), see the one given
Questions of fact also include more mundane questions: What’s on television? What’s Jenny’s by Steve Jobs at Stanford University
e-mail address? You can easily find answers to these questions by finding the information on- at tcbdevito.blogspot.com.
line or in a book or asking someone who knows the answer.
The questions of fact that persuasive speeches deal with are a bit different. Although
these questions also have answers, the answers are not that easy to
find and in fact may never be found. The questions concern contro-
versial issues for which different people have different answers. Daily
news reports abound in questions of fact. For example, on May 18,
2012, Google News dealt with questions of fact that included issues
such as these: Is Facebook worth $38 a share? Who is at fault in the
Trayvon Martin killing? Is John Edwards guilty of campaign fraud?
Does sugar make you stupid? Is J. P. Morgan’s chief guilty of fraud? Is
obesity a risk factor in liver disease?

thesis and Main Points For a persuasive speech on a question
of fact, you’ll formulate a thesis based on a factual statement:
● This company has a glass ceiling for women.
● The plaintiff was slandered [or libeled or defamed].
● The death was a case of physician-assisted suicide.
● Gay men and lesbians make competent military personnel.
● Television violence leads to violent behavior in viewers. ViewPOIntS
Persuasive Messages at Work
If you were preparing a persuasive speech on, say, the first example
given above, you might phrase your thesis as “This company discrimi- Consider the places you’ve worked or observed in some way. In
nates against women.” Whether or not the company does discrimi- what ways was persuasion used? What form did the persuasive
message take? Who used it? What effect did the messages have?
nate is a question of fact; clearly the company either does or does