1. PERSUASIVE
SPEAKING - GOALS
Part 1 (Ch 14)

2. Today
I. Goals of Persuasion
A. Audience Attitude
B. Propositions

3. What is Persuasion?
Text: Goal is to influence audience attitudes,
beliefs, values and / or behaviors (Ch 13)

4. “Rhetoric”
Rhetoric, n.: 1a. The art or study of using
language effectively and persuasively. – 3b.
Language that is elaborate, pretentious,
insincere, or intellectually vacuous.
Aristotle’s definition of Rhetoric:
The American Heritage Dictionary

5. Persuasive Goals
Relates directly to Audience

6. Persuasive Goals
Audience Attitude
• General positive or negative feeling
toward topic
Target Audience
• The group of people you most want to
persuade

7. Persuasive Goals
Must be adapted to
audience attitudes
• Opposed
• Neutral
• In favor

8. Audience: Opposed
 Goal: Incremental change
 May need to change original proposition
 Goal is a small change, not complete change

9. Audience: Neutral
 Why is the audience neutral???
 Goal: Provide straightforward reasons to
support proposition

10. Audience: In favor
 Mildly in favor
 Goal: Reinforce this attitude
 In favor
 Goal: Move audience to act

11. Persuasive Speech Goals
 Proposition: A declarative sentence that
clearly indicates the position on the topic.
 Proposition = Specific Goal

12. Persuasive Speech Goals
 Proposition: A declarative sentence that
clearly indicates the position on the topic.
 “I want to convince my audience that smoking
causes cancer”
 “I want to convince my audience that it is wrong to
smoke in public places”
 “I want to convince my audience to stop smoking”

13. Proposition = Specific Goal
 Fact
 Value
 Policy

14. Examples
 Fact
 … Students who attend a university after receiving a
degree from a community college are more successful
than incoming freshmen at a university.
 Value
 … Funding for community colleges is an important
issue
 Policy
 … You should attend a community college
 …. Community colleges should receive more funding