Thien Christian Nguyen

Prep #12

Preparing to Participate: Chapter 16

Studying Persuasion
1. What reasons does the text mention for studying persuasion? What is persuasive public speaking? What
are the goals of persuasive public speaking?
Studying persuasion will help us be a more informed and critical consumer of persuasive
messages like advertisement or television.
Persuasive public speaking is a specific type of speech in which the speaker has a goal of
convincing the audience to accept his or her point of view
The goal of persuasive public speaking is (1) to change attitudes, values, and beliefs and (2) to
change behavior
o Persuade audience to support same-sex marriage
o Persuade audience to drink tap water instead of bottled water.
2. How is persuasive speaking different from informative speaking? How does the role of the audience
change?
In informative speaking, a speaker plays a role of a teacher who tries to inform the audience
about the topic without taking any side. However, in a persuasive speaking, a speaker plays a role
of an advocate for a position, policy, or way of viewing the world. For example
o Topic for informative speaking: History of same-sex marriage legalization
o Topic for persuasive speaking: Why same-sex marriage should not be legalized in the
United States.
The audience in persuasive speaking becomes the focus of your persuasive efforts as they present
the portion of the whole audience that you most want to influences. There are three things that
one should consider while analyzing the audience for persuasive speaking.
o Attitude is defined as an individuals general predisposition toward something as being good
or bad, right or wrong, or negative or positive. For example, attitudes towards underage
drinking.
o Beliefs are propositions or positions that an individual holds as true or false without
positive knowledge or proof.
o Value refers to an individuals perception of the usefulness, importance, or worth of
something. For example, value for technology.
Persuasive Public Speaking
3. What are questions of fact, value, and policy? What are the burdens of proof for each?
Questions of fact are questions concerned with what is or is not true, what does or does not exist,
what did or did not happen in the past.
o For example: Facebook is not profitable in 2009
o Burden of proof for this type of question include
Defining key terms: What does it mean to be not profitable
Questions of value concern what you might consider to be right or wrong, moral or immoral, just
or unjust, or good or bad.
o
o

For example: Dating people on the Internet is an immoral form of dating.

Burden of proof:
Defining key terms: What is Internet dating? What constitutes immoral.
Criterion is the measuring stick by which the value judgment is made: What do
you compare Internet dating to when you claim that it is immoral?
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Thien Christian Nguyen

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Questions of policy concern what should be done, what law should be changed, or what policy
should be followed.
o For example: The United States should stop capital punishment.
o Burden of proof:
Defining key term: Which arm of the US government are you talking about?
What do you mean by capital punishment?
Some problem or harm must exist: The speaker of the above topic can argue that
capital punishment costs more than imprisonment or rehabilitation programs.
There are inherent barriers exist that is preventing the status quo from acting to
solve the problem: Why is the current policy on capital punishment not effective
in reducing crime and reducing cost for the government?
The speaker must establish that his/her recommended course of action will solve
the problem.

4. How do you know whether your topic needs to be argued from fact, value, or policy?
Your topic needs to be argued from fact if your topic posits whether something is true or untrue,
or is the potential for controversy. It also must be specific as to time, place, people involved, and
situation.
o For example: Global warming is caused by increased greenhouse gases
Your topic needs to be argue from value if your topic posits whether something is right or wrong,
and it involves judgments arise from social, religious, and/or cultural values.
o For example: Affirmative action should be ban because it reinforces social inequality
Your topic needs to be argue from policy if your topic posits whether an social entity should or
should not do something
o For example: The US government should stop commercial bank from getting too big to
fail
Organizational Patterns
5. What organizational patterns are best for questions of fact, value, or policy?
Topical, spatial, or chronological organizational patterns are best for questions of fact
Topic pattern is best for question of value. However, the speaker may weaver his/her criteria into
main points to highlight his/her arguments.
Problem-solution, problem-cause-solution, comparative advantage, and Monroes motivated
sequence are best for questions of policy:
o Problem-solution is best when you are advocating a change in policy
o Problem-cause-solution is best when you want to highlight the causes associated with a
problem.
o Comparative advantage order is best when you want to compare the advantages and
disadvantages of two competing solutions.
o Monroes motivated sequence includes five steps
Attention capture attention of your audience
Need demonstrate that the problem must be addressed
Satisfaction address your recommended course of action
Visualization Help the listeners visualize the benefits of adopting your plan
Action Tell the listeners what they should do and how they can do it.
6. How do you decide which organizational pattern is most appropriate for your topic?
First, one need to decide whether he/she is going to argue the topic from facts, values or policy.

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Thien Christian Nguyen

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Next, one need to understand what the focus of the topic is: Does he/she want to focus on the
different aspects of the problem, the cause associated with the problem, or the course of actions
needed to solve the problem?

Preparing to Participate: Chapter 16

Directions: Identify whether the following topics are topics of fact, value, or policy. (Note: All lab prep
questions and answers must be typed and submitted during lab.)
Passive smoking affects non-smokers because of indirect exposure: F
The rights of endangered animal species are more important than the rights of indigenous human
populations. V
The American judicial system has overemphasized the rights of the accused. V
Smoking in public places should be banned. P
The U.S. government should establish a national safety program for elementary school students P
Fastening seatbelts saves lives. F
The current tax system favors the wealthy. V
Organized college athletics should reorganize to optimize television revenue. P
The U.S. government should significantly increase the exploration of space. P
Friends is a better television program than Seinfeld. V
Life evolved naturally from existing conditions on Earth. F
American commercial broadcasters have sacrificed quality for entertainment. V
Poodles make better dogs than beagles. V
Computer technology will change American education. F
The U.S. government should establish a comprehensive AIDS policy. P
Media Interaction: Chapter 16
1. According to this video, what persuasive strategies do manufactures of tobacco and alcohol use to
market their products?
Advertised with young people
Men are told to earn their freedom and masculinity through smoking (through the image of
cowboys)
Through advertising and feature films, with celebrities holding cigarettes in their hands.
Using talking animals to attract children and teenagers.
2. Is the Deadly Persuasion video effective? Why or why not?
The Deadly Persuasion is effective since it uses a wide variety of real life example to prove its
point
The video has very clear and logical topical organizational pattern with clear introduction and
conclusion, as well as smooth transitions from one point to another.
o Introduction
o The Advertising of Tobacco
o The Advertising of Alcohol
o Fighting Back with course of actions
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3. Who is the target audience for the Deadly Persuasion video?

Students during their teenagers age who are more easily attracted to advertisement of tobacco and
alcohol.
4. How can you use your knowledge of persuasive strategies to shield you against the persuasive attempts
of others?
First of all, it is important to question all the sources used in this video since the speakers rarely
orally cites any source she uses through her presentation

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