Page 326 - Essentials of Human Communication

Three Types of Persuasive Speeches 305

hate speech is wrong. To argue for a zero tolerance policy on guns in schools implies that Communication
you think it’s wrong for students or faculty to carry guns to school. Choice Point
You can develop your main points on a question of policy by asking a strategic Changing behavior
question of your thesis. With policy issues, the question will be “Why should this As the supervisor of a team of
policy be adopted?” or “Why should this policy be discontinued?” or “Why is this 6 co-workers, you’ve just been informed that
policy better than what we now have?” Taking our first example, we might ask, “Why computer parts are being stolen by one or
should smoking be banned from municipal parks?” From the answers to this ques- more of the workers. You’ve been assigned
tion, you would develop your main points, which might look something like this: the task of stopping the theft, and you de-
cide to tackle this in your weekly meeting
I. Smoking creates dangers for park land. with the workers and to apply the principles
II. Smoking creates health hazards for park users. of persuasion. What types of appeals (logical,
emotional, or ethical) would you use? What
III. Smoking creates litter problems.
are some of the things you might say?
Support Once you’ve identified your main points, you’re ready to incorporate
the supporting materials you’ve collected to develop these points. For example, you would
further develop each main point with supporting materials that would convince your audi-
ence that smoking should be banned from municipal parks. Taking the first main point as an
illustration, you might develop it something like this:
I. Smoking creates dangers for park land.
A. The forest fire in Montana was caused by a cigarette.
B. Japanese cherry trees in Wisconsin were destroyed by careless smokers. Communication
C. Animals in numerous parks lost their homes. Choice Point
Selecting Arguments
In some speeches on questions of policy, you might simply want your listeners to
You want to prepare a per-
agree that the policy you’re advocating is a good one. In other cases you might want suasive speech on a question of policy,
them to do something about the policy—to vote for a particular candidate, to take vita- arguing that owners of psychic services
min C, to write to their elected officials, to participate in a walkathon, to wear an AIDS should be prosecuted for fraud. What are
awareness ribbon, or to vote against smoking in parks in the upcoming referendum. some of your options for persuading your au-
dience to accept your thesis?
Organization Speeches on questions of policy may be organized in a variety of
ways. For example, if you’re comparing two policies, consider the comparison-and-
contrast method. If the existing policy is doing harm, consider using a cause-to-effect pattern.
If your proposed policy is designed to solve a problem, consider the problem-solution pattern.
In the smoking in parks example, a simple topical pattern was used. Table 14.2 presents a brief
summary of these questions of fact, value, and policy.

TABLe 14.2 questions of Fact, value, and Policy
This table summarizes the three types of persuasive speeches in terms of their purposes, examples of the types of questions
such speeches deal with, and the questions the audience is likely to ask and that you will likely want to have answers for
somewhere in your speech.
questions and Purposes examples questions Audience May want Answered
Questions of Fact ● Higgins is guilty (not guilty). ● Is this the most likely interpretation of the issue?
To persuade listeners that ● What he did was criminal (legal). ● Are other, more likely, explanations possible?
something is true or false ● The stock market will go much higher (much ● How do we know that this is true or that this
lower). is false?
Questions of Value ● Higgins deserves the chair (to go free). ● Why is this good or just or the right thing to do?
To persuade listeners in the ● Universal health care is essential (not essential). Are there alternatives that would be more just
or fairer?
value of something, that some- ● The war is just (unjust)
thing is good, moral, or just
Questions of Policy ● The verdict must be guilty (not guilty). ● Might there be better courses of action to follow?
To persuade listeners that this is ● Plan B needs to be enacted (discarded). ● Are there downsides to this course of action?
the policy to adopt or not adopt ● The war needs to be continued (discontinued).