public speaking final

adjusting the content for a particular audience

a speaker facing a favorable audience is relieved of a number of burdens. in this situation, as a speaker, you rarely need to establish credibility. your listeners, perceiving your position as identical to theirs, approve of you and your good taste already. a favorable audience will not raise internal counterarguments for you to deflect or defuse. when speaking to a favorable audience, you can focus on solidifying or strengthening their attitudes, or you can cause them to move from theoretical agreement to positive action. an audience can be neutral toward your position for one of three reasons: they are uninterested, they are uninformed, or they are genuinely undecided. stress attention factors, clarify your position, and present arguments that blend. with an unfavorable audience set realistic goals, stress common ground, use logic and evidence, and establish a credible image.

written style

a written essay exists as a time machine: It allows a reader to return to a place where the eye had been a few seconds or many years before, or to jump ahead at will.

how to make persuasive goals clear

establish a realistic target based on what your goals are and what they are not. in any persuasive speech, ask yourself if you are primarily trying to change people's minds or their actions.

analyzing persuasive goals

identify whether you need a proposition of fact, value, or policy. use well-defined lists of requirements or stock issues to help you analyze your topic.

four types of reasoning

inductive, deductive, causal, and analogical.

maslow's hierarchy of needs

(level 1) physiological needs, (level 2) safety and security, (level 3) relationships, love and affection, (level 4) self esteem, (level 5) self actualization

fallacies

ad hominem fallacy attacks a person, fallacy of the absurd extreme makes a potentially sound argument appear groundless, fallacy of the absurd extreme makes a potentially sound argument appear groundless, circular reasoning assumes as one of its premises the very conclusion it sets out to establish, semantic fallacies occur when a word's connotative meanings are misused, leading to faulty reasoning, false dichotomy is reasoning based on an either/or statement when the two alternatives are not really mutually exclusive or when other alternatives exist, affirming the consequent or denying the antecedent, occurs when a speaker assumes that, because Y necessarily follows X, the reverse is also true, hasty generalization entails making a premature inductive "leap" based on insufficient evidence, post hoc fallacy the latin label for this fallacy—post hoc, ergo propter hoc—translates as "after the event, therefore because of the event.".

how to deal with opposing arguments

address opposing arguments directly and answer counterarguments after developing your position.

how to use appropriate language

analyze your audience, and then you must make decisions about how formal to be, which part of your personality to project linguistically, and how deeply to descend into specialized language. adapt your language to the formality of the occasion. use slang carefully. avoid substandards. use respectful and inclusive language.

claims

any statements that you need to substantiate because they are not taken for granted by your listeners.

oral style

because a listener can't look back or ahead, oral style intentionally uses more repetition, signposting, internal summaries, and internal previews to ensure comprehension and make the organization clear. uses shorter sentences and words.

how to use emotional words to make an impact on the audience

positive emotions—hope, joy, pride, and love—are surefire motivators. negative emotions like fear, envy, disgust, and contempt can also motivate, but the motivational effects of negative emotions are less predictable. moderate levels of fear appeal can enhance persuasion, but higher levels may work against the desired effect. some presentations feature gory films of traffic accidents, vivid visual aids showing cancerous lung tissue, or detailed descriptions of the plight of a family whose breadwinner had no insurance. these can either cause the audience to tune out the unpleasantness or appear too extreme to be statistically plausible for the listener to worry about. when adding emotion to your speech, remember the old adage, "although some is good, more is not always better."

how to connect evidence to the claim

show your listeners what makes your evidence meaningful to you.

data

supporting material used to bolster your point; evidence.

warrant

the link between a claim and the data used to support.

appealing to the listeners needs

the significance of maslow's hierarchy to the speaker is apparent. you must analyze your audience well enough to determine which need is most salient. listeners whose jobs are in danger and who are struggling to feed their families do not want to hear you contrast local economic programs in terms of the implications drawn from keynesian theory. they want to know which one will create jobs. being absorbed with their security needs, they are not likely to respond at the self-actualization level. you have to meet lower levels before you can meet higher levels.

how to use clear language

to construct clear messages, you must do two things. first, know exactly what you want to communicate. second, consider who the receivers of your message are and what the words are likely to mean to them. choose precise and proper words. be specific and concrete. don't be super wordy be straightforward.

organizing points for a persuasive impact

use motivated sequence or use comparison of advantages.

listeners' values and types of values

values are very general, and any particular issue can touch on many values, on both the pro side and the con. values ranks are shown in a circle with the outside layer being peripheral values, the next level being authority values, and the center being core values.

how to use vivid and varied language

your audience is much more likely to remember your message if it is filled with vivid imagery, descriptive language, and memorable phrasing. use imagery, similes, metaphors, personification, hyperboles, and repetitive structure. vary your rhythm.