Introduction to Persuasive Speaking

Learning Objectives

Define and explain persuasion.

Explain the three theories of persuasion discussed in the text: social judgment theory, cognitive
dissonance theory, and the elaboration likelihood model.

People are bombarded by persuasive messages in today’s world, so thinking about how to create
persuasive messages effectively is very important for modern public speakers. A century (or even half a
century) ago, public speakers had to contend only with the words printed on paper for attracting and
holding an audience’s attention. Today, public speakers must contend with laptops, netbooks, iPads,
smartphones, billboards, television sets, and many other tools that can send a range of persuasive
messages immediately to a target audience.

What Is Persuasion?

We made it to the part in the class that most students are excited about. The persuasive speech! There
are similarities and important differences between the informative and persuasive speaking styles. This
reading will highlight our purpose of persuasive speaking.

To begin though, we need to define persuasion. You are used to experiencing persuasion in many forms,
and may have an easy time identifying examples of persuasion, but can you explain how persuasion
works? Osborn and Osborn define persuasion this way: “the art of convincing others to give favorable
attention to our point of view.”[1] There are two components that make this definition a useful one.
First, it acknowledges the artfulness, or skill, required to persuade others. Persuasion does not normally
just happen. Rather it is planned and executed in a thoughtful manner. Second, this definition delineates
the end goal of persuasion—to convince others to think favorably of our point of view. Persuasion
“encompasses a wide range of communication activities, including advertising, marketing, sales, political
campaigns, and interpersonal relations.”[2] Because of its widespread utility, persuasion is a pervasive
part of our everyday lives.

Persuasive versus Informative Speaking

Informative (or informational) and persuasive speaking are related, but distinct, types of speeches. The
difference between the two lies in the speaker’s end goal and what the speaker wants the audience to
leave with.

Informative speeches are probably the most prevalent variety of speech. The goal is always to supply
information and facts to the audience. This information can come in the form of statistics, facts, or other
forms of evidence. Informational speeches do not tell people what to do with the information; their goal
is for the audience to have and understand the information. Academic lectures are often informational
speeches because the professor is attempting to present facts so the students can understand them.

Like informational speeches, persuasive speeches use information. However, persuasive speeches are
designed for the audience to not only hear and understand the information but to use it to be convinced
of a viewpoint. The end goal of a persuasive speech is not for the audience to have information, but
rather for them to have a certain view or do something specific with the information provided.
Persuasive speeches may use some of the same techniques as informational speeches but also will use
persuasive strategies to convince and motivate the audience. A sales pitch is one example of a
persuasive speech.

Goals of Persuasive Speaking

We typically use persuasive speaking to change or reinforce someone’s attitudes, values, beliefs, and/or
behaviors.

Attitude: What do you like or dislike? Attitudes encompass our thoughts and emotions. For instance, if I
think running is fun and I feel good when I do it, I am more likely to do it. Attitudes will uncover an
individual’s general predisposition toward something as being good or bad, right or wrong, or negative or
positive.

Beliefs: What convictions (or assumptions) do you hold? Beliefs are ideas we hold to be true. They may
be positions that an individual holds as true or false without positive knowledge or proof. Beliefs can be
spiritual, moral, political, or social, just to name a few. You may believe that lying is bad and therefore
you refrain from it or feel bad when you do it. While beliefs may not be based on “proof,” they are
typically deeply held and influence our attitudes and behaviors in powerful ways.

Value: What drives you? Values are an individual’s judgment of what is important in life. This may include
the usefulness or with of something. You may value courage or respect or kindness. We can value a
college education or technology or freedom. Values, as a general concept, are fairly ambiguous and tend
to be very lofty ideas.

Behaviors: Behaviors, the ways in which someone acts, come in a wide range of forms. Speeches
encouraging audiences to vote for a candidate, sign a petition opposing a tuition increase, or adopt a
puppy are behavior-oriented persuasive speeches.
Ultimately, our attitudes, beliefs, and values motivate us to engage in a range of behaviors. For example,
if you value technology, you are more likely to seek out new technology or software on your own. On the
contrary, if you do not value technology, you are less likely to seek out new technology or software
unless someone, or some circumstance, requires you to.

Why Persuasion Matters

When you study and understand persuasion, you will be more successful at persuading others. Do you
want to persuade your boss you deserve a raise? Do you want to convince your client to purchase a
service? Do you want to change the social landscape of a community? If you want to be a persuasive
public speaker, then you need to have a working understanding of how persuasion functions.

When people understand persuasion, they will be better consumers of information. We live in a society
where numerous message sources are constantly fighting for our attention and many of those messages
are purposeful false. Unfortunately, most people just let messages wash over them like a wave, making
little effort to understand or analyze them. As a result, they are more likely to fall for half-truths, illogical
arguments, and lies. When you start to understand persuasion, you will have the skill set to actually pick
apart the messages being sent to you and see why some of them are good and others are simply not.

Psychology of Persuasion

Understanding how people are persuaded is very important to the discussion of public speaking.
Thankfully, a number of researchers have created theories that help explain why people are persuaded.
While there are numerous theories that help to explain persuasion, we are only going to examine three
here: social judgment theory, cognitive dissonance theory, and the elaboration likelihood model.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Cognitive dissonance is an aversive motivational state that occurs when an individual entertains two or
more contradictory attitudes, values, beliefs, or behaviors simultaneously. For example, maybe you know
you should be working on your speech, but you really want to go to a movie with a friend. In this case,
practicing your speech and going to the movie are two cognitions that are inconsistent with one another.
These cognitions may cause anxiety or discomfort. The goal of persuasion is to induce enough
dissonance in listeners that they will want to change their attitudes, values, beliefs, or behaviors.
Anxiety or discomfort caused by dissonance is typically resolved in one of three ways:

Change: The listener can change beliefs or behaviors to align with one another. The smoker may quit
smoking or they may decide that smoking is not harmful and continue to smoke. Either way, they have
relieves the anxiety of contradictory beliefs and behaviors.

Acquiring new information: If the listener acquires new information that confirms or contradicts a belief,
the anxiety may be reduced. For instance, if the smoker reads a study that indicates that smoking is not
harmful, they can continue to smoke and not feel disturbed by it.

Perception shift: Typically anxiety can be reduced by rationalizing our decisions. If the smoker decides
that living in the moment and experiencing the pleasure of smoking is worth a potential far-off event,
they may continue to smoke rationalizing that life is short and they should enjoy it.

When considering cognitive dissonance as a speaker, you must first create dissonance in your listeners.
You want to make them uncomfortable with their beliefs or behaviors. Beware of making them too
uncomfortable though. Listeners will tune you out if you make them too anxious. Once you have created
dissonance, you can then offer new information to change perceptions and encourage behaviors
changes in the direction you are seeking.

Elaboration Likelihood Model

When I was in graduate school, my computer got attacked with the Michelangelo virus. In short, when I
turned on my computer on Michelangelo’s birthday, it wiped out everything on my computer. At least
that’s what they told me at the computer repair store. I had spent a month of my life researching and
writing my persuasion paper and it was gone in an instant. In a moment of what can best be described as
a graduate school freak out, I went to the store to buy a new computer. I looked at the salesperson and
said, “Quick, show me which computer to buy.” He pointed at one, I bought it, and went home and
started writing.

Was I persuaded to buy a computer by the salesperson? I bought one so clearly, I was persuaded, right?
Which persuasion technique did he use? Could this even count as an act of persuasion? Sometimes, we
just want to decide without putting too much thought into it. You could argue that I didn’t put any
thought into it. I didn’t have time to research; I didn’t have the mental capacity to think about which
computer was best for me. I trusted the decision to the person in the computer store–he was the one in
the red shirt after all. He worked there so he must know about computers.
The next time I bought a computer, I wasn’t in such a stressful situation. I took my time and shopped
around. I talked to multiple salespeople, and I read reviews. I even made a spreadsheet of the features
and the prices. I put a lot of thought into picking the right computer. Was I any more or less persuaded to
buy? After all, in both cases, I bought a computer.

Petty and Cacioppo developed the Elaboration Likelihood Model as a way to explain how persuasion
works in different scenarios–particularly, how sometimes we think a lot about our decisions and how
sometimes we look for other ways to be persuaded. They said we go on different persuasion routes.
When we are thinking (cognitive elaboration) about our decision, they would say, we are taking the
central route. We take this thinking route when there is personal involvement and personal relevance.
When we are not thinking–because of the situation, our mood, our inability to understand, or the fact
that it is not a big decision for us– they would say we are taking the peripheral route. The peripheral
route can be thought of as deciding based on anything other than deep thought. In my case, my decision
was made based on the authority of the person.

Which of the computers do you think I would likely suggest to a friend–the one bought fast because it
was recommended or the one bought after much research? Which computer did I think was the best
computer? If you guessed the one that I shopped around for, you would be right. That is the computer I
would most likely believe was the best one and that is the one I would most likely recommend to a
friend. It makes sense. When we think about our decisions, persuasion is more long-lasting, we are
more committed to the decision, and we are more likely to tell others.

What does any of this have to do with you writing a persuasion speech? Knowing that people are
persuaded differently can help you design your persuasive arguments. Deciding whether you are going
for thoughtful or peripheral persuasion is key.

I used to work for a non-profit and did a lot of fundraising speeches. If I wanted people to be persuaded
to give money and have a long-term emotional and financial commitment to the organization, it made
sense to persuade them via the central (thinking) route. That meant, I had to tell them what we did and
give them facts and details about our organization. I had to build trust and I had to help them believe in
the cause.

By contrast, my son was in marching band so there was always a fundraiser where we sold overpriced
candy to our friends to support his upcoming trip. The persuasion I used was usually some version of,
“My son is selling candy bars for his upcoming band trip, would you help support him.” There was not a
lot of thinking when people were buying these candy bars. They were buying because they liked my son,
they knew me, or because I bought cookies from their daughter for her fundraiser. This was peripheral
persuasion one candy bar at a time.

Elaboration Likelihood Model–What’s the Big Idea?

A picture showing how someond looking at a care via the central route thinks about cost and fuel
efficiency and someone via the peripheral route notices the color and sex appeal.

If you want your persuasion to be long-lasting, persuade them via the central route. Offer facts, data,
and solid information

If you want a quick persuasion where they don’t put much thought into it or if your audience is not very
knowledgeable, tired, or unmotivated, persuade them by the peripheral route.

Social Judgment Theory

I have a colleague that travels around the country speaking on college campuses and at farmer’s markets
telling people why they should not eat meat. He finds the eating of meat completely unethical.

I’ve noticed that when it comes to meat-eating, people have strong opinions on either side. Think about
it, would you eat a horse? dog? goat? rabbit? Some of you have grown up eating meat all your lives and
consider it a tasty and healthy way to eat. For others of you, the very thought of eating any animal
product seems cruel. Most reading this will fall somewhere in between. Look at the chart below and
decide, which of the category best describes you.

Eats all meat—horse, goat, dog, lamb, beef, pork, chicken, rabbit, fish Carnivore

Technically Omnivore unless you only eat meat.

Eats many types of meat–goat, lamb, beef, pork, chicken, rabbit, fish

Eats many types of meat–deer, beef, pork, chicken, fish

Eats domestic meat— beef, pork, chicken, fish

Eats some meat–chicken, fish Flexitarian

Eats fish, eggs, and dairy Pescatarian

Eats eggs Ovo-vegetarians

Eats no meat or eggs but consume dairy Lacto-vegetarian

Eats no animal products at all Vegan

As you looked at the list there were some categories you found acceptable, and some you did not. In all
honesty, most of you did not think that I was going to suggest eating dogs and horses. When you saw
that on the list, most of you didn’t think of those as tasty options. Social Judgement Theory proposed by
Sherif, Sherif, and Nebergall suggests that on any topic from diet to abortion and gun control to movie
choices, we have an idea of what we like and are willing to accept and what is out of the question. The
researchers studied human judgment to understand when persuasive messages are likely to succeed,
and it comes down to how we fit into the ranges and how closely that message is to what we already
believe. Each of us has a favorite position on any given topic, they call that the anchor position. As you
looked on the chart and picked the category that best describes you, you found your anchor position. On
the list, you likely found several categories that you would be willing to accept and maybe several
categories you reject entirely.

Let’s go back to a colleague of mine, remember, the one who speaks on campuses about veganism.
When he looks at this chart, the only position he is willing to accept is to eat no animal products at all.
The researchers would say that he is ego-involved because he has a large group of ideas he rejects. How
hard would it be to get him to try eating a dog? a goat? an egg? As you can imagine, if I suggest that he
tries eating goat, he will think that position is too extreme and that as individuals we are far apart in
what we believe. On the other hand, I might be able to nudge him up the continuum a little. Maybe, I
could convince him to try honey. After all, no bees were harmed from making honey and it does not
contain any meat. People with extreme views can be moved, but only in small increments. If I want the
persuasion to work, I might be able to persuade him to try honey.

Now, think of a friend you might know who hunts, and fishes, and eats deer, rabbit, and squirrel. This
friend of yours likes trying different types of jerky-like elk and moose. How hard would it be to convince
him to try eating a dog? How about a goat? Since your friend has a large range of ideas he already
accepts, adding one more animal to the list of things he eats might not be that hard. He would be much
more likely to try a dog than would my vegan friend. It doesn’t matter how good we are at persuading as
much as how close that persuasion is to what they already believe.

In any audience, you will have people all up and down the spectrum of beliefs. It is your responsibility to
try to find out as much as you can about your audience before your speech, so you will know generally
where they are. You will have more luck persuading people if you try to move them a little as opposed to
move them a lot. Every semester, a vegan group comes to the University of Arkansas campus and passes
out flyers promoting a vegan lifestyle. I’ve noticed their messages have slowly changed from meat is
murder and you should never eat meat because production is hard on the environment to a more
palatable message to try eliminating meat one day a week. Maybe these vegans learned about Social
Judgement Theory or maybe they learned by trial and error that moving someone from one extreme to
the next is an unlikely feat.
Alexander Edwards Coppock did his dissertation looking at small changes in political opinions, he found
the following:

When confronted with persuasive messages, individuals update their views in the direction of
information. This means, if you give them good information, they are likely to be persuaded by it.

People change their minds about political issues in small increments. Like mentioned before, they are
more likely to move in small increments.

Persuasion in the direction of information occurs regardless of background characteristics, initial beliefs,
or ideological position. Translation, good information can be very persuasive regardless of what they
believed before.

These changes in political attitudes, in most cases, lasted at least 10 days. In other words, good facts help
people to change their attitudes and that information can stick.

In summary, if you provide people information and attempt to persuade them in small increments
regardless of their prior beliefs, they can change their political attitude and that change will stick.