>> Okay, we're coming down to the final chapters in the textbook.
And we're going to start off with Chapter 16, "Speaking to Persuade."
Now, a lot of the stuff that we've already learned in the semester kind of come
down to this all the way up and including the informative speech because, you know,
a good 85 to 90% of persuasive speech is informative.
So all of that stuff, the research, the credibility,
all of that comes down to being able to persuade.
But what are we talking about with persuading?
Well, persuasion is creating, reinforcing, or changing people's beliefs or actions.
So really what we're talking about is creating a belief, reinforcing a belief
or changing a belief or creating an action, reinforcing an action or changing an action.
So for example, if I'm trying to get people to exercise or exercise more,
I can get them to exercise so create an action.
Reinforce an action if they're already exercising.
I'm reinforcing that.
Or if they're exercising not enough or poorly, I can change that action.
So creating, reinforcing or changing people's beliefs, or actions.
Okay but just because we can do something doesn't mean we should and that's what we need
to kind of touch base on ethics and persuasion.
Now we talked about ethics in public speaking before but now we need
to relate it specifically to persuasion.
So two different areas we want to look at -- ethical goals and ethical methods.
So ethical goals have to do with are you convincing someone to do something
that is legal, moral and ethical?
If it's not then it's not ethical to do.
So in other words, you can't ethically --
you can't have a goal of getting someone to do something that's illegal, immoral or unethical.
So your goals need to be ethical and your methods need to be ethical meaning
that you can't lie or mislead to your -- mislead your audience.
So make sure your goals are ethical and that you're doing that --
you're achieving them in an ethical way.
Okay, degrees of persuasion.
Now, some people think that oh, I'm going to persuade someone to do this thing.
Well, sometimes, it's not about getting someone to do something
or know something or believe something this time.
We need to understand that sometimes people are strongly opposed to what we're talking about
and it's not our job to get them to be strongly in favor.
It's our job to get them towards that.
So if they're strongly opposed, our job is to get them to be moderately opposed.
If they're moderately opposed, their job is to get them to be slightly opposed.
And if they're slightly opposed and if they're slightly opposed to be neutral and the neutral
to be -- so you see how this goes.
We're trying to move them in our direction.
Now, especially if we're talking about things that people have strong convictions about,
we're not going to get them to move from one end of the scale to the other.
We might be able to move them a little bit.
So what we're talking about here when we're persuading is really getting the people
that are being -- that are slightly opposed to be neutral
on the neutral to be slightly in favor.
And really, what we're talking about is the target audience,
the portion of the audience the speaker most wants to persuade.
And those are the ones that we can make the biggest impact
with in the -- right now and in the future.
Okay, you need to understand that when you're persuading people that you're going
to have a mental dialogue with that audience.
It's that mental give-and-take between the speaker and the listener.
You're going to say things to your audience to try to persuade them.
They're going to argue with you in their head.
If you leave that argument in their head, you're going to lose it.
So you need to bring that out.
Okay, different types of persuasion -- persuasive speeches that we can do.
We could do speeches on a question of fact, a question of value, or a question of policy.
And we'll break these down even more in a second.
So a question of fact -- this is the truth or falsity of an assertion.
A question of fact has to do with is something true or is it false?
So our example here to persuade my audience that an earthquake of 9.0 or above
on the Richter scale will hit California in the next 10 years.
It's easy.
It's a statement of fact.
It will hit California so anything that, you know, was, is or will, is a question of fact.
Really easy to prove this.
Just wait 10 years, see if it happens.
Since that will probably get you a pretty stiff time penalty on your speech,
we got to do it in different ways.
So how do we support that question of fact?
How do we prove that question of fact?
Well, first main point here, California is overdue for a major earthquake.
Many geological signs indicate that a major earthquake may happen soon.
And experts agree that a major earthquake could hit California any day.
So really what I'm doing is if we go back to the support chapter supporting new ideas,
what we can use to support ideas, we could use examples, statistics, and testimony.
So California is overdue for a major earthquake.
That's probably going to be statistical because I could show how often they happen.
Many geological signs indicate a major earthquake may happen soon.
Those are going to be examples so I'm going to give examples of signs.
And experts agree that's going to be testimony there.
Okay, questions of value -- questions of value are a little bit harder
because this is a question about the worth, rightness of an idea, or an action.
So our example here, to persuade my audience
that capital punishment is morally and legally wrong.
So this is going to be -- this is going to be a much more difficult thing to do
because when we're trying to persuade an audience about a question of value,
two things that we need to keep in mind.
We have a value object and a value hierarchy.
So in this example, the value object here is capital punishment
and the value hierarchy is whether it's morally wrong or whether it's legally wrong.
So we're trying to take that value object, capital punishment and put it in the hierarchy
of moral or immoral, legal or illegal.
And this is where we run into issues because setting up those hierarchies
or establishing those hierarchies can be problematic.
So we'll see some examples -- see an example of why they're problematic here.
So for a question of value, capital punishment violates the biblical commandment
"Thou shalt not kill."
This is problematic because first of all, not everyone believes necessarily
in our bible or the Christian bible.
Some people might be atheist.
Some people might be from different faiths.
So using the biblical commandment might not necessarily work.
And then thou shalt not kill -- there's some question among biblical scholars whether it
should be kill or murder because within the bible itself, there's a lot of killing.
It is not necessarily always held as bad if we think of like David and Goliath.
So there's yeah, we're going to spend all
of our time just establishing why we use the biblical commandment and not have time
to actually talk about what we need to talk about.
Capital punishment violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
So the first thing we need to do is establish what is cruel and what is unusual
so capital punishment if it's done humanely, some people will say, it's not cruel
and unusual, and other people would say, any time you kill someone, it's cruel and unusual.
So you could see where we might run into a few issues here.
So anything that's a question of value that has to do with the worth or rightness of it,
you know, right or wrong, good or bad, it's a question of value.
Sometimes, these are tougher speeches to do.
Okay, questions of policy -- these are a blend of fact and value.
It's whether a course of action should or should not be taken.
So any time you have that word "should" --
should or should not, it really is a question of policy.
So speeches on a question of policy can either try
to get passive agreement or immediate action.
Passive agreement is convincing your audience that the policy is desirable.
You're not encouraging them to support the policy.
You're not trying to get them to actually do anything.
All you want them to do is agree.
And sometimes, passive agreement is part of a larger persuasive strategy.
So sometimes I just want to get you to agree in principle to something and then later I'll try
to get you to do something about it.
So our example here to persuade my audience there should be stricter safety standards
on amusement park rides.
All I'm trying to do is get you to agree that there should be stricter standards.
I'm not trying to get you to establish the standards.
I'm not trying to get you to establish punishments or not.
Meaning that all I'm trying to do is get you to agree that there should be stricter standards.
Once I've done that then I can move on to the other persuasive acts.
Immediate action is a little bit different.
Immediate action convince the audience to act in support of a policy.
Aha, to persuade my audience to vote in the next election -- the next student election.
I'm trying to get you to actually do something so we'll see an example here
of trying to seek immediate action.
>> Before I studied antibacterial products in my public health class,
I always used antibacterial soaps
and antibacterial all-surface cleaner for my apartment.
I also know from my class survey that 70%
of you use antibacterial soaps, cleaners, or other products.
But after learning about the subject in class and reading research studies for this speech,
I'm here to tell you that try as we might, we cannot build a bubble between ourselves
and germs with antibacterial products.
And that these products actually create more problems than they solve.
>> Most of us have no idea what it means to be poor and hungry.
Before returning to school last year, I spent three years working in local assistance centers.
I've worked in every part of the city and with every kind of person.
I can't begin to tell you what I've seen.
How poverty destroys people's souls and how hunger drives them to desperation.
But on the basis of what I can tell you, I hope that you will agree with me that government help
for the poor and the needy must be increased.
>> So two examples there of establishing credibility
and then saying this is what we need to do for immediate action.
Okay, basic issues of policy speeches --
you have to show that there is a need for the policy change.
You have to show that you have a plan to address that need and you have
to show that your plan is practical.
So need -- is there a problem that requires change from current policy?
If there is not then you're done.
If nothing needs to be changed, you're not trying to persuade.
So is there a problem that requires change?
The plan -- what's your plan to solve that problem?
So just because there is something that needs
to be changed doesn't necessarily mean that your plan will work.
You have to show that you have a plan and then you have to show that your plan is practical.
Will it, will the plan solve the problem?
Will the plan create new problems
because sometimes you could solve one problem and create something else?
So we'll see demonstrating that practicality here.
>> California has already implemented the plan I'm advocating.
And it's working.
As reported by the California Department of Public Health,
California now has the second lowest smoking rate in America.
Only 13% of Californians smoke compared with 21% nationally.
California also reduced its rate of lung cancer, saving the state more
than $86 billion in healthcare costs.
If our state adopted the same anti-smoking measures
as California, we would save money and lives.
>> So by showing that it's practical, you cut off some of the counter arguments
and you can address some of the mental dialogue that is happening with your audience.
Okay, so when you organize policy speeches, now we've already gone
over some organizational structures.
These are going to be more tailored towards policy speeches.
So you could go problem-solution as we talked about before.
If you've got to go in that order, you can't do solution problem.
Problem-cause-solution -- sometimes the cause of the problem is not clear
or evident so you need to establish it.
It could be a comparative advantage or compare and contrast.
And then finally, you could do Monroe's motivated sequence
and we'll see what that looks like.
So problem-solution -- main point one, documents existence of a problem.
Main point two, presents a solution to the problem.
Pretty straightforward, pretty simple, two main points.
Could have multiple subpoints depending on as to how you establish
that problem or complicated your solution is.
So let's see an example here.
To persuade my audience that the use of antibacterial chemicals
in household products is creating health and environmental problems.
We saw the clip of that earlier.
And then, the two points, the use of antibacterial chemicals
in household products is a serious problem.
Solving the problem requires a combination of government and consumer action.
So the thing with problem-solution -- once you establish the problem,
the audience needs a solution and hey, conveniently, here's one right now.
Another -- the other one is problem-cause-solution.
Document the problem, analyze the cost, present the solution.
To persuade my audience that action is required to deal with the problem of childhood obesity.
Now with this particular problem-cause-solution,
the problem itself is probably pretty easy to establish.
I could talk about how they're a major problem by how many and how it's changed over the years.
That's not where I'm going to spend a lot of time.
I'm probably going to spend a lot of time talking about the two major causes
of the increase in childhood obesity because while we can all agree that it's a problem,
we don't all agree on what those causes are.
And once I establish what those causes are,
then I can move to solving the problem for those particular causes.
And we'll see an example here.
>> Now that we have a sense of the seriousness of the childhood obesity,
let's look at the causes of the problem.
The first cause is dietary.
Simply put, kids are eating too much food of the wrong kind.
They over-consume sugar and saturated fat and under-consume fruits,
vegetables, fiber, and micronutrients.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports
that fast food consumption among adolescents has increased 500% since 1970.
Per capita consumption of soft drinks has increased
from 179 grams per day to 520 grams per day among boys.
And close to that much among girls.
>> So again, establishing those causes and then addressing them and the solutions.
Okay, comparative advantage -- each main point explains why the speaker solution is preferable
to other solutions so if my specific purpose were to persuade my audience
that auto makers should emphasize developing hydrogen fuel cell cars more
than gas-electric cars, my main points might look like this.
Unlike hybrid cars, hydrogen cars run entirely without gasoline.
And unlike hybrid cars, hydrogen cars do not emit any air-polluting exhaust.
So one main point addresses the fuel source and another addresses the pollution.
The other way to do this would be to talk about hybrid cars in the first main point
and then hydrogen cars in the second main point.
So this is more like a tennis match where you're going back and forth.
Hybrid cars, hydrogen cars, hybrid cars, hydrogen cars.
The other way to do it would be kind of like a block party where you're doing hybrid cars run
with gasoline and pollute where hydrogen cars do not run with gasoline and do not pollute.
So either way, as long as you're consistent, you're fine.
But really, you're doing a compare and contrast.
And then that brings us to Monroe's motivated sequence --
the five-step process for organizing speeches that seek immediate action.
And those five steps are number one, gain attention.
So you got to gain the attention of the audience.
Get them to listen to it, not only you do this in the introduction.
Anyway, show the need for change so need, satisfaction -- provide a solution to that need.
Now we get into the persuasive elements.
Visualization -- intensify the desire for the solution by visualizing its benefits.
And then the action -- urge the audience to take action in support of the solution.
So an example I might use here, if I were trying to sell you window cleaner,
I might gain your attention by having a bird
on a telephone pole talking because birds don't talk.
That got your attention.
Need -- show a need for the change.
We don't actually show you a dirty window but we know what a dirty window looks
like so we need to change dirty windows.
Satisfaction -- provide a solution, Windex.
Visualization -- now we show the clean window.
And urge action -- urge the audience to take action, get yours at Wal-Mart today.
So in that TV spot, we can actually get that done in 30 section --
30 seconds and they actually cut that particular one down to 15 seconds there.
So can be done very quickly.
So Monroe's motivated sequence and we'll see an example of Monroe's motivated sequence here.
>> It's your constant companion.
It's in your pocket, in your bag, in your hands or against your head.
You use it at home, in class, at the gym, before you go to sleep at night
and first thing when you wake up in the morning.
I'm talking, of course, about your cell phone.
According to my class survey, everyone in this room has a cell phone.
And all of us use it dozens of times every day.
But what if your constant companion is dangerous?
What if it's hazardous to your health?
Evidence is piling up that long-term use of cell phones can lead
to tissue damage, tumors, and even brain cancer.
Given that there are well over four billion people worldwide using cell phones,
we're looking at a problem of potentially staggering magnitude.
>> So she would go on from there and go with the rest of the sequence.
Okay, next time, we're going to go over methods of persuasion.
That's going to be a little bit longer because of all the fallacies we need to address in that
but it is a good chapter to know about.
And not only so you can persuade but sometimes you can avoid being persuaded inappropriately.
Okay, thank you very much and have a good day.