COMM201 - Lecture 3 - Persuasive Purpose and Audience

Lecture 3 – Persuasive Purpose and
Audience
COMM201
Lesson #1 – Purpose Statements

Introduction
Before any work can be done on crafting the body of your speech or presentation, you
must first do some prep work—selecting a topic and formulating a purpose statement.
In doing so, you lay the foundation for your speech by making important decisions
about what you will speak about and for what purpose you will speak. These decisions
will influence and guide the entire research and speechwriting process, so it is wise to
think carefully and critically during these beginning stages.
Choosing a topic
A presentation topic is typically chosen for you in the workplace or personal life, but
your options are more open in the classroom. As you begin to consider topic
possibilities, consider what your needs are for the presentation.
Most people feel more confident speaking about topics they already know a great deal
about. These topics allow you to draw on your own expertise when planning your
presentation. Don’t feel like an expert on any topic? That is definitely not true!
Consider all aspects of your life: as a college student, are you a master at multitasking—
school, job, home life? Do you have an interesting hobby? Do you have knowledge of
different cultures? Think about what you do well or what you have experienced that
can be used to guide your presentation.
Another option is to explore a topic you are eager to learn more about that topic. This
choice will require more research, but it will allow you to dig deeper into a topic you
are interested in. Persuasive presentations also will enable you to explore topics about
which you hold strong beliefs or opinions.
Finding a Persuasive Purpose

All content from this section was extracted from:
COMM201 - Lecture 3 2
Tucker, B., Barton, K., Burger, A., Drye, J., Hunsicker, C, Mendes, A., & LeHew, M.
(2019). Exploring public speaking (4th ed).
https://oer.galileo.usg.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1000&context=communication-textbooks
Keeping your target audience in mind, you can begin to write a specific purpose
statement, which will be the foundation for everything you say in the speech and a
guide for what you do not say. This formula will help you in putting together your
specific purpose statement:
 Specific Communication Word: an infinitive phrase—to inform, to explain, to

demonstrate, to describe, to define, to persuade, to convince, to prove, to argue
 Target Audience: my classmates, the members of the Business Club, my
coworkers
 The Content: how to bake brownies; Macs are better than PCs
Each of these parts of the specific purpose is important. The first two parts make sure
you are clear on your purpose and know precisely who will be hearing your message.
The content part of the specific purposes statement must first be singular and focused,
and the content must match the purpose. The word “and” really should not appear in
the specific purpose statement since it would seem like you have two purposes and two
topics. Obviously, the specific purpose statement’s content must be very narrowly
defined. One mistake beginning speakers often make is to try to “cover” too much
material. Instead of just " T " or " L, they tend to speak about the whole alphabet, A-Z on
a subject, instead of just “T” or “L.” This comes from emphasizing the topic more than
the purpose and not keeping the audience and context in mind. In other words, go deep
(specific), not broad.
Second, the content must match the focus of the purpose word. A common error is to
match an informative purpose with a persuasive content clause or phrase. For example,
“To inform my classmates about how the recent Supreme Court decision on police
procedures during arrests is unconstitutional”—this is a persuasive purpose statement,
not informative.
Third, the specific purpose statement should be relevant to the audience. How do the
purpose and topic touch upon their lives, wallets, relationships, careers, etc.? It is also a
good idea to keep in mind what you want the audience to walk away with or what you
want them to know, to be able to do, to think, to act upon, or to respond to your topic—
your ultimate outcome or result.
For example, “to explain to my classmates the history of NASA” would be far too much
material, and the audience may be unsure of its relevance. A more specific one such as
“to inform my classmates about the decline of the Shuttle program” would be more
manageable and closer to their experience. It would also reference two well-known
historical tragedies involving the Shuttle program, the Challenger Disaster in 1986 and
the Columbia Explosion in 2003.
Here are several examples of specific purposes statements. Notice how they meet the
standards of being singular, focused, relevant, and consistent.
 To inform my classmates of the origin of the hospice movement.

 To describe to my coworkers the steps to apply for retirement.
 To define for a group of new graduate students the term “academic freedom.”
 To explain to the Lions Club members, the problems veterans face in the wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan.
 To motivate my classmates to support the College’s sports teams.
 To convince my classroom audience that they need at least seven hours of sleep
per night to do well in their studies.
Evaluating the Purpose Statement

Once you have settled on your purpose statement, make sure to evaluate it to ensure it
meets the expectations of the assignment or the task. Consider the following questions
before moving on to the research step:
 Does your purpose statement meet the assignment requirements? Reread the
assignment carefully to ensure your purpose meets the assignment expectations.
If you are unsure, ask your instructor for feedback on your purpose statement.
 Consider how much time you have to achieve your purpose statement
effectively? You will be more successful if you have a particular, limited purpose
statement for a 4 to 10-minute speech.
Lesson #1 Completed!
Thank you! You have completed this lesson. Please scroll down to complete a short,
ungraded Knowledge Check activity.
Check Your Knowledge #1

True or False
1. The best topic for a presentation is one you know nothing about the subject.
False
2. The purpose statement “To inform the Board of Education to change the school
start time” is a specific, strong purpose statement. False
3. The purpose statement “To persuade my classmates to vote in the next election”
is a specific, strong purpose statement. True
Lesson #2 – Audience Analysis

All content from this point until Lesson 3 was extracted from:
Decaro, P., Adams, T., & Jefferis, B. (2011). Audience analysis. In The Public Speaking
Project’s, Public speaking: The virtual text. Is
http://publicspeakingproject.org/PDF%20Files/aud%20analy%20web%201.pdf
In contemporary public speaking, the audience you are addressing is the entire reason
you are giving the speech. Knowing your audience—beliefs, attitudes, age, education
level, job functions, language, and culture—is the single most important aspect of
developing your speech strategy and execution plan. Your audience isn’t just a passive
group of people who come together to listen to you by happenstance. Your audience is
assembled for a very real and significant reason: they want to hear what you have to
say. Be prepared.
We analyze our audience because we want to discover information that will help create
a bond between the speaker and the audience; this is Burke’s theory of Identification.
Burke’s theory of Identification is not a one-way process between the speaker and the
audience; instead, it is a two-way transactional process. When you ask an audience to
listen to your ideas, you are inviting them to come partway into your personal and
professional experience as an expert speaker. In return, it is your responsibility and
obligation to go partway into their experience as an audience. The more you know and
understand your audience and their psychological needs, the better you can prepare
your speech, and this confidence will reduce your anxiety.
What They Know

Unless your selected speech topic is a complete mystery to your audience, your listeners
will already hold attitudes, beliefs, and values toward the ideas you will inevitably
present. As a result, it is always important to consider where your audience stands on
the issues you plan to address ahead of time. They are your keys to understanding how
your audience thinks.
 Attitudes: An attitude is a learned disposition to respond in a consistently

favorable or unfavorable manner with respect to a person, an object, an idea, or
an event. Attitudes come in different forms. You are very likely to see an attitude
present itself when someone says that they are “pro” or “anti” something. Above
all else, attitudes are learned and not necessarily enduring. Attitudes can change
and sometimes do, whereas beliefs and values do not shift as easily. Attitudes
are good indicators of how people view the persons, objects, ideas, or events that
shape their world.
Examples: Pro- or Anti-war; Pro- or Anti-welfare; Pro- or Anti-capital
punishment
 Beliefs: Beliefs are principles or assumptions about the universe. They are more
durable than attitudes because beliefs are hinged on ideals and not issues. For
example, you may believe in the principle “what goes around comes around.” If
you do, you believe in the notion of karma. You may align your behaviors to be
consistent with this belief. You do not engage in unethical or negative behavior
because you believe it will “come back” to you. Likewise, you may try to exude
ethical and positive behaviors because you wish for this behavior to return in
kind.
Examples: Marijuana is an addictive gateway drug. Ghosts are products of our
imagination.
 Values: A value is a guiding belief that regulates our attitudes. If you probe into
someone’s attitudes and beliefs far enough, you will inevitably find an
underlying value. Importantly, you should also know that we structure our
values in accordance to our own value hierarchy, or mental schema of values
placed in order of their relative individual importance. Each of us has our own
values that we subscribe to and a value hierarchy that we use to navigate the
issues of the world. We really aren’t even aware that we have a value hierarchy
until some of our values come in direct conflict with each other. Then, we must
negotiate something called cognitive dissonance, or the mental stress caused by
the choice we are forced to make between two considerable alternatives. For
example, let’s assume that you value “having fun” a great deal. You like to party
with your friends and truly enjoy yourself. Let’s also say that some of your close
personal friends are doing drugs. You are torn. Part of you wants to experience
the “fun” that your close friends may be experiencing; but, the saner part of you
wants to decline responsibly. In honesty, you are juxtaposed between two of
your own values—having “fun” and being responsible. This real-life example is
somewhat exaggerated for your benefit. Realize that we make decisions, small
and grand, based on our value hierarchies.
Examples: Inner harmony, friendship, trust, equality, family, security.
If the goal of your speech is to deliver a unique and stirring presentation (and it should
be), you need to know ahead of time if your audience is interested in what you have to
say and has any prior knowledge about your topic. You do not want to give a boring or
trite speech. Instead, you want to put your best work forward and let your audience see
your confidence and preparation shine through.
Situation
Situational audience analysis considers the situation for which your audience is
gathering. The focus is on why the audience is gathered in the first place. Are they
willingly gathering to hear you speak? Have they paid to hear you? Or are your
audience “speech captives” who have somehow been socially or systematically coerced
into hearing you? These factors are decisively important because they place a major
responsibility upon you as a speaker, whichever the case. The entire tone and agenda of
your speech rest largely upon whether your audience even wants to hear from you.
Many audiences are considered captive audiences in that they have no real choice
regarding the matter of hearing a given speech. In general, these are some of the most
challenging audiences to address because these members are being forced to listen to a
message and do not have the full exercise of their own free will. Consider for a moment
when you have been called to a mandatory work meeting. Were you thrilled to listen to
the speaker, in all honesty? Some might say “yes,” but usually, most would rather be
doing something else with their time. This is an important factor to keep in mind when
preparing your speech: some people simply do not want to listen to a speech they
believe is compulsory.
The voluntary audience situation, in stark contrast, is completely different. A voluntary

audience is willingly assembled to listen to a given message. As a rule, these audiences
are much easier to address because they are interested in hearing the speech. To
visualize how this works, reflect upon the last speech, concert, or show you’ve chosen
to attend. While the event may or may not have lived up to your overall expectations,
the very fact that you freely went to the occasion speaks volumes about your
predisposition to listen to—and perhaps even be persuaded by—the information being
presented.
Demographics
Advertising and public relations professionals widely use Demographics to analyze
specific audiences so that their products or ideas will influence. However, all good
public speakers consider the demographic characteristics of their audience, as well. It is
the fundamental stage of preparing for your speech.
 Ethnicity: Don’t try to use words or phrases to “cuddle up” to one race or
another. You would lose some credibility if you made a point in your speech and
then said, “So get jiggy with it” or “You could enjoy that with your afternoon tea
ceremony.”
 Age: Stay away from jargon from one age range or another, like “OMG” or “the
cat’s pajamas.”
 Gender: Use words that do not gender specific. Instead of policeman, fireman,
and stewardess, use police officer, firefighter, and flight attendant. Do not use
one gender pronouns, for example, assuming a teacher is a “she” and a dentist is
a “he.”
 Income: Some people in your audience will have more money than others. If
you keep fit by maintaining membership in a prominent gym and taking classes
there, don’t assume everyone else can afford to do so. You can tell your audience
what you do but give them options like parking far from the store and working
out with a yoga or Pilates CD at home.
 Occupation: Unless you speak at a convention where everyone in your audience
works in the same field, make your speech more explanatory. Assume your
audience has not had extensive training in medical terms nor legal terms. You
need to explain what you are talking about without using the big words, making
your audience feel confused, stupid, and put down.
 Religion: Realize that your audience will likely have a wide variety of religions
represented, and some people may have no religious or spiritual beliefs. You can
say that YOU read the Bible every night for 10 minutes, but you suggest that
everyone choose a religious or inspirational reading for pre-sleep relaxation.
 Education Level: Even if you speak to an audience of first-year college students,
not everyone has had the same educational experiences. For example, some of
the people in your class may have completed a high school equivalency program
like the GED, some may be high school students who are taking a college class,
some may have gone to secondary school in another country, some may be
homeschooled, and some may have gone to a private prep school. It would be
best if you were careful not to talk down to your audience and not to use fancy
sentences and words to impress your audience. Gauging the right level of
communication for your speech is a significant challenge.
 Multicultural: In our increasingly diverse society, it is worthy to pay particular
attention to the issue of speaking to a multicultural audience. The odds are that
any real-world audience that you encounter will have an underlying
multicultural dimension. As a speaker, you need to recognize that all your
audience members may not necessarily share your perspective on any given
topic. Therefore, it is imperative that you become a culturally effective speaker.
Culturally effective speakers develop the capacity to appreciate other cultures
and acquire the necessary skills to speak effectively to diverse ethnic
backgrounds. Keep these factors in mind when writing a speech for a diverse
audience.
Consider for a moment how valuable it would be to you as a public speaker to know
that your audience will be mostly female, between the ages of 25 and 40, mostly
married and Caucasian. Would you change your message to fit this demographic? Or,
would you keep your message the same, no matter the audience you were addressing?
Chances are you would be more inclined to talk to issues bearing upon those genders,
age, and race qualities. Frankly, the smart speaker would shift their message to adapt to
the audience. Simply, that’s the purpose of being aware of demographics: to embed the
acceptable parameters of your audience’s range of needs within your message.
Multiple Choice
1. Why is it important to analyze your audience before developing your speech?
a. The more you know about them, the more likely you will be able to connect
with them.
b. You want to make sure they agree with what you say in your presentation.
c. It is important to impress them with your knowledge.
d. It is not a requirement to analyze an audience to give a successful
presentation.
2. What should you expect from an audience made up of “speech captives”?
a. They do not want to be there.
b. They may not be listening or may be restless.
c. They may be more difficult to connect to and gain their attention.
d. All of the above
3. All the following are demographics that should be considered before developing
a speech except:
a. the age of the audience
b. the religious belief held by the audience
c. the economic background of the audience
d. how the audience feels about you as a speaker
Lesson #3 – Research
All content from this point until the Reliable Sources section was extracted from:
Watt, S. S. (2011). Supporting your ideas. In The Public Speaking Project’s, Public
speaking: The virtual text.
http://publicspeakingproject.org/PDF%20Files/supporting%20web1.pdf
To give an effective speech, you will need to offer support for the ideas you present.
Finding support necessitates research. Librarians have found that professors and
students tend to have very different ideas regarding conducting research. Professors,
who regularly conduct scholarly research as part of their occupation, tend to envision a
process filled with late nights in the stacks of a library. Students, who regularly conduct
research on where to eat or what to do as part of their weekend activities, tend to
envision a less formal process that involves consulting the most popular web search
results. The reality is that to properly support your ideas and craft a compelling speech.
You will need a little of each approach, possibly combined with additional investigative
tools with which you may be less familiar. The wide variety of resources available for
conducting research can be overwhelming. However, if you have a clear topic,
recognize the purpose of your speech, and understand the audience you will be
speaking to, you can limit the number of sources you will need to consult by focusing
on the most relevant information.
When you know the topic of the speech, have developed a purpose statement and
analyzed the audience for your speech, you are ready to shift your focus to research as
you piece together the supporting evidence to fill out the remainder of your speech. As
you begin exploring research, regularly ask yourself, “Does this evidence support the
goal of my speech?” If the source offers information that contradicts your specific
purpose statement, hold on to it so that you can address the contradiction with evidence
for your own idea. If it does appear to support your specific purpose statement, the next
question you will ask is, “Is this evidence appropriate for my audience?” Different types
of appeals and evidence are better for different audiences. The best speeches will
combine multiple forms of evidence to make the most convincing case possible.
Where to Research
The most well-established way of finding research to support your ideas is to use the
library. However, many students see the library and its resources as imposing and
intimidating and are anxious about how they will manage in such an environment.
Don’t let any twinge of anxiety keep you from exploring all that the library has to offer!
One of your best resources is the librarian. It is their job to know all about the resources
available to you and help you succeed in locating the most relevant material for your
assignment. Ideally, you should seek some information on your topic alone before
asking for their assistance. Doing some initial research independently demonstrates to
the librarian that you have taken ownership of the assignment and recognize that the
research is ultimately your responsibility, not theirs. They will be better equipped to
help you find new information if they know where you have already looked and what
you have found.
Books: Books are an excellent place to gain general knowledge. They contain
comprehensive investigations of a subject in which authors can convey substantial
amounts of information because a strict page count does not constrain them. You are
likely to get a rich investigation of a single topic.
The length of a book can make it seem overwhelming to someone researching a brief
speech. To streamline your research, determine what you are looking for in advance.
Are you seeking general background knowledge or support for a specific idea? Use the
table of contents, headings, and index to guide you to the portion of the book that is
likely to have what you are looking for. You do not need to read or even skim the
entirety of every book. It is appropriate to skim for keywords and phrases that pertain
to your topic. Just be sure that once you find what you are looking for, you read enough
of the section around it to understand the context of the statement and ensure that the
book is making the point you think it is.
The Virtual Library and Academic Databases: Rather than finding print copies of the
latest magazines, journals, or newspapers, an academic database, like Bryant &
Stratton’s Virtual Library, contains the full text of these sources. Databases give you the
opportunity to search for articles matching your desired time period, author,
publication, or keywords. Like Bryant & Stratton’s Virtual Library, some databases also
allow you to specify whether you are looking for general interest or scholarly
publications.
Internet Searches: Search engines allow you to type in the topic you are interested in
and narrow the possible results. These sites use software to scan their index of existing
Internet content to find the sites most relevant to your search. Each search engine uses
different algorithms and techniques to locate and rank information, which may mean
that the same search will yield different results depending on the search engine.
Based on its algorithms, the search engine will sort the results with those it determines
to be most relevant, appearing first. Since each site is different, you should use the one
that seems most intuitive to you. However, since their ranking systems will also be
different, you cannot assume that the first few sites listed in your chosen search engine
are the most relevant. Always scan the first few pages of search results to find the best
resource for your topic. Skimming the content of the pages returned in your search will
also give you an idea of whether you have chosen the most appropriate search terms. If
your search has returned results that are not relevant to your speech, you may need to
adjust your search terms and try a new search.
Pay close attention to the first few sites listed in search results. Some databases allow
“sponsored links” to appear before the rest of the results. If you are giving a speech
about the dangers of rental cars and searching for rental cars in Google, links to
Hotwire.com, Orbitz.com, or National Rental Car are likely to appear first in your
results. These sites may or may not be relevant to your search, but they have also paid
for the top spot on the list and, therefore, may not be the most relevant. When search
engines display sponsored sites first, they typically distinguish these from the others by
outlining or highlighting them in a different color. For example, while Google lists
advertisements related to your search on the right-hand side of the screen, they
sometimes also put a limited number of sponsored links at the top of your search
results list. The only distinction between these sponsored links and the rest of the list is
a subtly shaded box with a small label in the upper right indicating they are “Ads.”
Google Images: Google Images may be useful as you seek visual aids to illustrate your
point. You can search Google Images for photographs, charts, illustrations, clip art, and
more. For example, if you are giving a speech on the Nineteenth Amendment, you
could add interest by offering a picture of the Silent Sentinel’s picketing the White
House. Alternatively, if you wanted to demonstrate the statistical probability of electing
a woman to Congress, you could use Google Images to locate a chart displaying that
information.
Reliable Sources
Sources are “reliable” when they have been written by people who are experts in their
field. Sites like Wikipedia are not reliable because anyone can edit the site, and those
writers may not have a thorough knowledge or full understanding of a topic. Anyone
can post information on the internet, so it is important to use your critical thinking skills
to assess the validity of every source.
The table below illustrates sources that tend to be reliable and those that tend to be
unreliable. Regardless of where you retrieve a source, it is still important to assess the
credibility and reliability of the source before using it.
Possible Reliable Sources Unreliable Sources

 Authored, edited, and published  Wikipedia, ask.com, essay sharing
books websites
 Newspapers and magazines (but pay  Blogs, social media (tweets,
attention to their agenda!) Instagram, etc.), or message boards or
 Scholarly, peer-reviewed articles and forums
journals, Ph.D. or MBA dissertations  Sites created by organizations that
and research, Isolated studies, or may have political or biased agendas
academic research (these are typically (.org)
peer-reviewed)  Opinionated articles such as editorials
 Educational institutions and their  Online sources ending in .html
websites (.edu)  Some online sources ending in .com
 Government websites (.gov)
While there are several different ways to evaluate a source for reliability, librarians at
California State University at Chico established the CRAAP test to use as a checklist
when evaluating sources. CRAAP is an acronym for Currency, Relevance, Authority,
Accuracy, and Purpose. Below is a checklist to use when CRAAP Testing your sources:
Currency o
o
When was the information published or posted?
Has it been revised or updated?
(Timeliness) o Is the information current or out-of-date?
o Are the links functional?
o Undated factual or statistical information should never be used.
Relevance o Does the information relate to your topic or answer your research
question?
(for your o Who is the intended audience?
needs) o Is the information at the appropriate level (not too elementary or
too advanced for your needs)?
o Does it pass the “so what” test?
o Have you looked at a variety of sources before determining this is
the best one?
o Would you be comfortable using this source for a research paper?
Authority o
o
Who is the author/publisher/source/sponsor?
What are the author's credentials or organizational affiliations?
o Is the author qualified to write on the topic?
o Is there contact information, such as a publisher or email address?
o Does the URL reveal anything about the author or source?
Accuracy o No Web standards exist to ensure accuracy. Anyone can publish

on the Web!
(reliability, o Where does the information come from?
truthfulness, o Is the information supported by evidence (or strictly based on
and opinion)?
correctness) o Has the information been reviewed or refereed?
o Can you verify any of the information in another source or from
personal knowledge?
o Does the language or tone seem unbiased and free of emotion?
o Are there spelling, grammar, or typographical errors?
Purpose o What is the purpose of the information? Is it to inform, teach, sell,

entertain or persuade—and how does that impact the reliability of
(why it the source?
exists) o Do the authors/sponsors make their intentions or purpose clear?
o Is the information fact, opinion, or propaganda?
o Does the point of view appear objective and impartial?
o Are there political, ideological, cultural, religious, institutional, or
personal biases?
(Blakeslee, 2004)
This list of questions helps with evaluating sources, but it is also useful to see this
evaluation process applied to a reliable source and an unreliable source. Below is a 6
minute and 37-second video titled “Applying the CRAAP Test.” Highline College
Library publishes the video. As you watch, pay attention to the following:
 What makes the unreliable source less reliable?
 What makes the reliable source more reliable?

 What additional locations and sources are helpful to use to help during this
evaluation process?
Applying the CRAAP Test
This video provides an excellent example of the CRAAP Test process on different ways
to access additional information from sources beyond the source itself. Some of the
main takeaways from the video are:
 Sources can be flawed in some areas of the CRAAP test but not in others yet still
be reliable. Assess those flaws carefully.
 The evaluation takes more than just a glance at the top of the article to assess for
an author and date.
 It may be necessary to leave the source and seek additional information using
Google, the “about us” page for the source, Media Bias Fact Checker, etc.
Critical thinking skills are extremely important in the information literacy cycle and
every aspect as you move through the research process. It is important to apply those
skills as you choose the best sources for your purpose.
APA Format
Citing your sources is an important skill to learn because it ensures you have the
knowledge to acknowledge the contributions of the sources you have used in your
writing. Citing your sources accurately ensures you do not intentionally or
unintentionally plagiarize.
APA format is citation standards set by the American Psychological Association. This
standardized method provides a familiar and consistent structure that anyone can
follow. When you follow APA standards, you increase your credibility as a writer
within the field and indicate an awareness of audience expectations. You are providing
your reader with the necessary information to easily access your sources if they are
interested.
APA format is a two-step process:

1. An in-text citation at the spot where you referenced source material. This is
expected within PowerPoint or multimedia presentations.
2. A reference citation on the “References” slide at the end of the presentation.
Bryant & Stratton has a detailed APA Style Guide available with an active Table of
Contents for ease of access.
There is no need to speak the formal APA in-text citation, but it is important to offer
oral attributions for all material you have taken from a source.

Multiple Choice
1. You are giving a speech about the importance of legislation banning text
messaging while driving. You want to offer credible support for your argument
that the legislation is necessary. Which of the following sources would be the
most reliable?
a. A personal narrative concerning the effects of texting while driving.
b. An academic study concerning the effects of texting while driving.
c. A YouTube video made by students in high school
d. A Wikipedia page about texting.
2. Which of the following sources is not considered to be reliable?
a. Academic journals
b. Surveys
c. Twitter
d. Ph.D. Dissertation
2. Which of the following statements is false?
a. When presenting, there is no need to speak a formal in-text citation.
b. Pasting an http address into the body of a paper is an acceptable way to
cite a source in APA format.
c. The American Psychological Association sets APA format.
d. When a writer uses APA format consistently and correctly, it is an
indication to the reader that the writer is a credible and honest writer.
Lesson #4 – Persuasive Speeches

All content from this point on was extracted from:
Watt, S. S., & Barnett, J. T. (2011). Persuasive speaking. In The Public Speaking Project’s,
Public speaking: The virtual text. http://www.oercommons.org/courses/public-
speaking-the-virtual-text/view
Although persuasion occurs in nearly every facet of our day-to-day lives, there are
occasions when more formal acts of persuasion—persuasive speeches—are appropriate.
Persuasive speeches intend to influence the beliefs, attitudes, values, and acts of others.
Unlike an informative speech, where the speaker is charged with making some
information known to an audience, in a persuasive speech, the speaker attempts to
influence people to think or behave in a particular way. This art of convincing others is
propelled by reasoned argument, the cornerstone of persuasive speeches. Reasoned
arguments, which might consist of facts, statistics, personal testimonies, or narratives,
are employed to motivate audiences to think or behave differently than before they
heard the speech.
In a nutshell, persuasive speeches must confront the complex challenge of influencing
or reinforcing peoples’ beliefs, attitudes, values, or actions, all characteristics that may
seem natural, ingrained, or unchangeable to an audience. Because of this, speakers must
motivate their audiences to think or behave differently by presenting reasoned
arguments.
Types of Persuasive Speeches

Persuasive speeches revolve around propositions that can be defended using data and
reasoning. Persuasive propositions respond to one of three types of questions: questions
of fact, questions of value, and questions of policy. These questions can help the speaker
determine what forms of argument and reasoning are necessary to support a specific
purpose statement.
Questions of Fact
Questions of fact ask whether something can potentially be verified as either true or
false. These questions can seem very straightforward—something is, or it is not—but in
reality, the search for truth is a complex endeavor. Questions of fact rarely address
simple issues such as, “is the sky blue?” They tend to deal with deep-seated
controversies such as the existence of global warming, the cause of a major disaster, or
someone’s guilt or innocence in a court of law. To answer these questions, a proposition
of fact may focus on whether something exists, what was the cause, or what will
happen in the future.
When advancing propositions of fact, you should focus on the evidence you can offer in
support of your proposition. First, make sure that your speech contains sufficient
evidence to back up your proposition. Next, take the time to interpret that evidence to
make sense to your audience. Last, emphasize the relationship between your evidence
and your proposition and its relevance to the audience.
Questions of Values
Persuasive speakers may also be called to address questions of value, which call for
judging the worth of something. These propositions make an evaluative claim
regarding morality, aesthetics, wisdom, or desirability. For example, some vegetarians
propose that eating meat is immoral because of the way that animals are slaughtered.
Vegetarians may base this claim in a philosophy of utilitarianism or animal rights.
Sometimes a proposition of value compares multiple options to determine which is

best. Consumers call for these comparisons regularly to determine which products to
buy.
Since questions of value tend to be more subjective, speakers need to establish

evaluation criteria by which the audience can judge and choose to align with their
position. When advancing a proposition of value, offer a clear set of criteria, offer
evidence for your evaluation, and apply the evidence to demonstrate that you have
satisfied the evaluation criteria.
Questions of Policy
Questions of policy ask the speaker to advocate for an appropriate course of action. This
form of persuasive speech is used every day in Congress to determine laws, but it is
also used interpersonally to determine how we ought to behave. A proposition of policy
may call for people to stop a particular behavior or to start one. For example, some U.S.
cities have started banning single use plastic bags in grocery stores
When answering a question of policy, speakers will typically begin by describing the
status quo. Suppose you are arguing that a change must be made. In that case, you must
first identify the problem inherent in the current behavior and then demonstrate that
the problem is significant enough to warrant immediate consideration. Once you have
established a problem that the audience ought to consider, you can then offer your
proposal for a preferable course of action. Then, it is up to you to demonstrate that your
proposed policy will have more benefits than costs.
Ethics
Persuasion is often confused with another kind of communication with similar ends but
different methods—coercion. Like persuasion, coercion is a process whereby thoughts
or behaviors are altered. In coercive acts, deceptive or harmful methods propel the
intended changes, not reason. Think of almost any international crime film you have
seen, and you are likely to remember a scene where someone was compelled to out
their compatriots by way of force. To avoid coercing an audience, speakers should use
logical and emotional appeals responsibly.
Audience Consideration
When choosing a topic for your persuasive speech, it is crucial to consider the
composition of your audience. Because persuasive speeches are intended to influence or
reinforce an audience’s thoughts or behaviors, speakers must consider what and how
the audience thinks, feels, and does. Your audience might be ambivalent about your
topic, or they may be strongly opposed, in strong agreement, or somewhere along the
spectrum. In persuasive speeches, it matters where they fall on this continuum.
Some questions you might ask before giving a speech include, “Who is hosting the
speech?” Often this can provide a great deal of information about who will be in the
audience. Audience members at a National Rifle Association gathering probably do not
need to be convinced that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution— the right
to keep and bear arms—is worth upholding.
Sample Persuasive Speech

Below is a 7 minute and 54-second video titled “What Adults Can Learn from Kids,”
Adora Svitak attempts to persuade the TED audience that the world needs more
“childish” thinking. As you watch, pay attention to the following:
 How does Adora catch her audience’s attention early in her presentation?
 What sources does she use to support her persuasive point?
 How does Adora attempt to connect with her audience?
What Adults Can Learn from Kids
This speech provides an excellent example of a persuasive speech delivered to a diverse

audience very different from the speaker. Some of the main takeaways from the video
are:
 Adora begins by asking a question for her audience to consider. This allows her
to establish her focus immediately and connect with her audience through
humor.
 Her sources are historical in nature initially, but she also makes connections to
the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, publishers, and her parents.
 Adora relies heavily on humor to connect with her audience, but she also gives
relevant and universal examples to support her points and show a shared
connection with her audience.

True or False
1. When addressing questions of fact, a speaker’s focus should be on the evidence
that proves the fact. True
2. When addressing questions of value, it is important to establish some sort of
criteria for comparison. True
3. When a speaker wants to suggest a policy change, the focus should only be on
the solution to the problem, not the problem itself. False
Lecture Recap
Preparing to deliver a presentation requires attention to many aspects, including a clear
purpose, a strong sense of who and what the audience believes, and supportive and
reliable sources. Bringing all of these together to effectively identify with the audience
and persuade them to listen to what you have to say because of the ultimate goal of a
strong presentation.
As we move forward, you will explore organizational strategies for preparing and
delivering a presentation.
References
Blakeslee, S. (2004). Evaluating information: Applying the CRAAP test. Meriam Library
California State University, Chico.
https://library.csuchico.edu/sites/default/files/craap-test.pdf
Decaro, P., Adams, T., & Jefferis, B. (2011). Audience analysis. In The Public Speaking
Project’s, Public speaking: The virtual text. http://publicspeakingproject.org/PDF
%20Files/aud%20analy%20web%201.pdf
Tucker, B., Barton, K., Burger, A., Drye, J., Hunsicker, C, Mendes, A., & LeHew, M.
(2019). Exploring public speaking (4th ed).
https://oer.galileo.usg.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1000&context=communication-textbooks
Watt, S. S. (2011). Supporting your ideas. In The Public Speaking Project’s, Public
speaking: The virtual text.
http://publicspeakingproject.org/PDF%20Files/supporting%20web1.pdf
Watt, S. S., & Barnett, J. T. (2011). Persuasive speaking. In The Public Speaking Project’s,
Public speaking: The virtual text. http://www.oercommons.org/courses/public-
speaking-the-virtual-text/view

COMM201 - Lecture 3 - Persuasive Purpose and Audience

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Lecture 3 – Persuasive Purpose and

Lesson #1 – Purpose Statements

Finding a Persuasive Purpose

 Specific Communication Word: an infinitive phrase—to inform, to explain, to

 To inform my classmates of the origin of the hospice movement.

Evaluating the Purpose Statement

Check Your Knowledge #1

Lesson #2 – Audience Analysis

What They Know

 Attitudes: An attitude is a learned disposition to respond in a consistently

The voluntary audience situation, in stark contrast, is completely different. A voluntary

Possible Reliable Sources Unreliable Sources

Accuracy o No Web standards exist to ensure accuracy. Anyone can publish

Purpose o What is the purpose of the information? Is it to inform, teach, sell,

 What makes the reliable source more reliable?

Applying the CRAAP Test

APA format is a two-step process:

Check Your Knowledge #3

Lesson #4 – Persuasive Speeches

Types of Persuasive Speeches

Sometimes a proposition of value compares multiple options to determine which is

Since questions of value tend to be more subjective, speakers need to establish

Sample Persuasive Speech

What Adults Can Learn from Kids

This speech provides an excellent example of a persuasive speech delivered to a diverse

Check Your Knowledge #4

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