Name and define the 4 types of Informative Speech. Give 2 examples each. (8 Points) Each of the following statements is an informative speech about an object, policy, event or concept. (COPE) Correct
Chapter #16 – PERSUASIVE SPEAKING
Persuasion is the process of creating, reinforcing or changing people’s beliefs or actions. When you speak to persuade, you act as an advocate. Your job is to get listeners agree with your idea or belief. Make sure your goals are ethically sound and that you can defend them if questioned or challenged. Don’t mislead the audience with shoddy research. Learn about all sides of an issue, seek out competing views and get your facts right. Take care to present statistics, testimony and other evidence fairly and accurately. When dealing with controversial topics, you’re dealing with audience’s attitudes, values and beliefs. The speaker’s goal, realistically, is to move some of the audience to your side of thinking or at least reexamine their views. A speaker should put herself in the place of the audience and imagine how they would respond to a topic. It’s necessary to anticipate possible audience objections to your point of view and then respond to those objections.
There are three major kinds of organized persuasive speeches: questions of fact, questions of value and questions of policy.
A Question of Fact is a question about the truth or falsity of an assertion. Was the 1963 assasination of President John F. Kennedy a conspiracy? Did Lee Harvey Oswald act alone? Was this a government conspiracy? Investigate the 16,000 page Warren Commission and draw a conclusion from known facts, trying to convert listeners to your viewpoint.
A Question of Value is a question about the worth, rightness, morality of an idea or action. Is it morally justifiable to clone human beings? Is it morally right to pursue stem cell research? Is it morally right to execute a convicted murderer? A speaker must justify their position. Whenever giving a speech about a question of value, the speaker must give thought to their own standard of value judgement.
A Question of Policy is a question about whether a specific course of action should or should not be taken. Should you buy a new plasma television set or wait for a further reduction in price? Should I go on strike at work? Should I vote for a specific political candidate in the upcoming election?
There are two types of speeches on questions of policy: speeches to gain passive agreement or speeches to gain immediate action.
A speech to gain Passive Agreement is a persuasive speech in which the speaker’s goal is to convince the audience that a given policy is desireable without encouraging the audience to take action in support of the policy. To persuade my audience that the University of Illinois should be required to change their mascot that was demeaning to Native Americans. Native Americans deemed the buckskin clad, tomahawk wielding Chief Iliniwik offensive to their culture and petitioned congressmen, senators, school administration and the NCAA to ban the mascot. They succeeded in a long protracted battle that lasted a couple of years.
A speech to gain Immediate Action – a speaker’s goal is to convince the audience to take immediate action in support of a given policy. To persuade my audience to contribute to the Hurricane Maria Relief Fund. After Hurricane Maria devastated the Island of Puerto Rico, the American Red Cross and Salvation Army implored civilians to send money and non-perishable goods to aid in the relief effort. A speaker is attempting to get the audience to pursue a definite call for action.
Irregardless if your aim is to elicit passive agreement or gain immediate action, the speaker will face 3 basic issues regarding a question of policy – need, plan and practicality.
Need – the first basic issue in analyzing a question of policy is there a serious problem or need that requires a change from current policy? The obligation facing a persuasive speaker is to prove that a change from current policy is necessary.
Plan – the second basic issue in analyzing a question of policy: if there is problem with current policy, does the speaker have a plan to solve the problem?
Practicality – will the speaker’s plan solve the problem or will it create new and more serious problems? Audience’s want assurances a speaker’s plan will work.
There are two methods of outline organization regarding questions of policy.
Problem/Solution Order
First Main Point – demonstrate a need for a new policy. Elaborate on an existing problem.
Second Main Point – explain your plan to solve the problem
Problem/Cause/Solution Order
First Main Point – identify and discuss an existing problem
Second Main Point – analyze the causes of the problem
Third Main Point – present a solution to the problem
