The Science and Art of a Persuasive Speech

I think I pooped. Change me NOW!

Persuasion is something you as public speaker will do quite frequently. In fact, persuasion has been part of your existence from the time you could communicate.

If you are lucky enough to have children you are constantly being persuaded to let them have ice cream for dinner or for you to buy that new toy that everyone else has. If you have teenagers like I do, it could be that new pair of jeans they must have, or the new iPhone, or a car (yes it appears as children get older their "persuasiveness" is for more expensive items). And if you don't have kids yet, get ready for the day you have them because they will persuade you even when you know it's not in your best interest.

Persuasion is derived from the Greek verb "to believe," and today we think of persuasion as the process of influencing attitudes, beliefs, values, and behavior.

For me, I like to look at the synonyms of persuasion to help me understand what persuasion is. Words like:

• argue
• bring around
• convert
• convince
• gain
• get
• induce
• move
• prevail (on or upon)
• satisfy
• talk into
• win over

Persuasion is everywhere, it's on every billboard we see, every magazine ad we look at, it's in our daily interactions with friends, loved ones, and "not-so-loved ones." At any given moment, someone is trying to get us to change our beliefs, thoughts, actions, and/or behavior.

The process of persuasion in public speaking is often dictated by a variety of circumstances, but what I am going to share with you is the baseline of persuasion that you can build upon (More advanced lessons later).

The science and art of persuasion can never be mastered, but you can always get better at it!

I would like to add that becoming great at persuasion is VERY POWERFUL! One who is a master at persuasion can change the world, literally, for good or for evil.

The Science and the Art of Persuasion

For me, persuasion is broken down into the science- or systematic structure of what you "do" to prepare for persuasion, and then the art- or the "how" you present the information in order to persuade.

Part I: The Science of Persuasion

Know your audience. What are their thoughts, beliefs, attitude, knowledge on the subject you are wanting to persuade them on. The further they thoughts and beliefs are from yours, the less change will occur.

Establish your credibility with your audience. Why should they believe you? What is your background in this subject area? Do you have any credentials that may be useful? You may also want to share a personal connection to the subject you are speaking on.

How much time do you have to persuade? The smaller the amount of time you have in front of an audience the less change/persuasion can occur. You may want to scale back your goal and think baby steps.

How is your message relevant to your audience? Is there a STRONG benefit for the audience to change, or is there a STRONG or painful outcome if they don't change (although pain is a strong motivator, pleasure is much more long lasting and can be easier to persuade to). Think avoid pain and gain pleasure.

Find common ground and build from it. You need to know what you have in common with your audience before you can ask them to change. Find "connectors" and build upon them.

Have you set clear and easy goals for the audience to follow in order to make the change? Again, think baby steps here- small, easy goals that have big pay-off. Sorry, but nobody is going to change if it is too hard to change.

Don't tell your audience what they "have" to do, instead show them the benefits and allow them to make up their own mind. Nobody likes to be told what to do.

Part II: The Art of Persuasion

Yes you have heard me (or your mother say it), it's not what you say, but it's how you say it that counts. The art of persuasion is HOW YOU SAY IT! 

Here are the keys to the art of persuasion:

Passion. Donald Trump once said, "With out passion you don't have energy, with out energy you have nothing." I couldn't agree more.

People follow passion, people seek out passion, people want passion.

As with all things, one must understand their passion and ALWAYS ask you yourself, is my passion enhancing the situation or distracting from it.

There is a fine line between being passionate and someone who is CRAZY!

People often display their passion with nonverbals. Their face will "light up," and their eyes will widen. Body movement and the rate of speech often becomes quicker and voice inflections will change.

A passionate person radiates an energy that others can feel- and that FEELING is one of the most powerful persuaders one can can emit. 

Use Emotion-Logic-Emotion to help persuade. Find ways to tap into the emotional side of whatever ever you are trying to persuade, then back it up with some solid facts, statistics, and logic, then add some more emotion. As humans we often decide with emotion first, then we go through a logical process to make sure we made a good decision, then we go back to emotion to feel good again.

Emotional words are words that resonate in your heart- they are feeling words, descriptive words that we can translate into pictures, feelings, memories, smells, tastes, etc.

Logical words are thinking words. They are dry, often mathematical, statistical, boring, non-emotional. These words resonate in your brain.

Ask yourself if there a difference between these two statements?

1. What do you think about that?
2. How do you feel about that?

If you can understand the difference between those two statements, you will have a greater impact on what kind of words to use in a persuasive speech.

Use words that can help the listener visualize what you are talking about. In fact, use words that can help the listener experience all five senses.

If your speech allows for it, use pictures or props to enhance your speech purpose.

Trust is a major factor in persuasion. I often say that the first and quickest way to build trust is to get someone to smile (and this means it starts with you).

Now there are different kinds of smiles out there

• there are fake smiles
• there are nervous smiles
• and there are genuine smiles. 

You want a genuine smile- a smile that is reflected in your eyes and your whole demeanor. People can often tell if you are faking a smile or not. Being prepared helps curb the nervous smile, and having a passion and a genuine care and concern for others will help you achieve a genuine smile.

Act confident (but not cocky). This also has a lot to do with being prepared and having lots of practice.

Confidence also has a lot to do with a belief in what you are talking (persuading) about. I am amazed at many of our political leaders who live by the credo of "do what I say, not as I do." Confidence doesn't mean you have to come across as condescending or rude to others. Another great example is Vice President Joe Biden in his debate against Paul Ryan. Mr. Biden is a great example of what NOT to do.
(Click to YouTube Link)

Look for the nonverbal's of your audience to gauge how you are doing. Remember, public speaking is not about standing in front of a crowd and talking. Public Speaking is about making a difference, creating value, and the context of this lesson, persuading.

Be accountable for every word that comes out of your mouth, because somebody is listening and just might take it to heart.

Question:

1. What are some of your personal strengths and weaknesses when it come to giving a persuasive speech? What can you do to ensure that you are "wildly successful" during your next persuasive speech?

Using Language "Style" for Your Speech

The purpose of this lesson is to help you understand and learn how language style influences your speech. Style refers to both the specific words choices and the rhetorical devices (techniques of language) used to express your ideas and achieve your speech purpose.

Of course rhetoric doesn't doesn't move mountains, but it is the catalyst of action.

To quote one of my favorite authors Thomas Sowell, he states, “The big divide in this country is not between Democrats and Republicans, or women and men, but between talkers and doers.”

Good use of rhetoric creates action and results! 

(Quote by me, Professor Brendan Dalley)

Here's a quote from your mother:

"It's not what you say, it's how you say it." 
(This was usually said to me after getting in trouble for back-talking or teasing a younger sibling)

FYI: Giving a speech is not like reading out of a textbook. I have often said to my students that if you were to write like I talk then you would get an "F" on your paper. When giving a speech we can often get away with some run-sentences and grammatical errors, but don't think that writing well doesn't affect your speech. Understanding how language and grammar is used correctly will help you be a better speaker.

Effective speeches:

• Use familiar words, easy-to-follow sentences, and straight forward syntax. (Again, know your audience)
• Make frequent use of repetition and often have more transitions than written text.
• Are clearly organized and have a specific pattern to help listeners follow along.
• Are interactive and can be changed/altered by the feedback (verbals/nonverbals) of the audience.

Here's a Helpful Hint: Keep it Simple Stupid (KISS)

Which is easier to understand?

1. It is of utmost preponderance that the the assemblage apprehends your exposition; do endeavor for elementariness of your elocution. 

Or

2. Make sure your audience understands you. Strive for simplicity of expression in your speeches.

Here are some more Tips on using "Language Style" in your speech:

1. Be Concise in Your Speech

• Use fewer words words to express your thoughts.
• Use contractions
  (I'm instead of I am, he's instead of he is, Dalley's the best instead of Dalley is the best, etc.).

*Being concise in your speech is more easily understood and allows for better flow.

2. Use some Sentence Fragments
It's okay to use sentence fragments and short phrases when giving a speech (but not in written language). Just don't make all your sentences fragments. Actually, I dare you to try and make all your sentences fragments or even simple sentences (you'll sound pretty stupid).

Often sentence fragments coupled with tone and body movement can enhance the "feeling" of your speech and it can give your speech some personality (your personality).

3. Remember that Repetition is the Mother of Skill 
Good speeches often repeat key words and phrases. 
Repetition adds emphasis to main ideas, helps listeners follow the speaker's logic, creates a style to the speech.

4. Use Transitions
Transitional statements help the audience follow along with the flow and intent of the speech. The use of good transitions helps to connect main ideas to supporting details to other main ideas to other supporting details. 
Think of transitions as street signs that are telling you where you are going (or in my case a GPS that talks in a sexy computer voice).

5. Use Personal Pronouns
Personal pronouns in speech (I, you, me, we, us) are great to use when speaking because it personalizes the speech and can help audience members connect to you as the speaker and to the message.

6. Use Culturally Sensitive Language (you Hippy!)
As a public speaker it's critical to be sensitive to cultural variations.
Here are some things to be aware of:
Biased Language. This refers to language that relies on unfounded assumptions, negative descriptions, or stereotypes a given group's age, class, gender, disability, geographic, ethnic, racial, or religious characteristics.
Colloquial Language. Refers to language/sayings that are specific to a certain region or group of people. Use of colloquial language can help you "hit the nail on the head" with your speech, or just might make you look as "dumb as a load of coal." If you're not getting what I'm saying than there's a good chance you are "as slow as mud" or just "too dumb to pound sand in a rat hole."
Need some enLightenment, Click Here 

7. Don't be Sexist. Steer clear from referring to everyone as "he" or being generic when referring to stereotypical jobs. All nurses are not females, and not all construction workers are males. No longer is there such thing as "chairmen" it's now "chairperson." If you're struggling with this, then go ahead and struggle, but it's not going to change. 

8. Be Sensitive to Disabilities. A disability does not define a person. There are many different types of mental and physical disabilities, so be aware of language that will accord dignity, respect, and fairness.

9. Choose Concrete over Abstract
Use concrete words that are specific, tangible, and definite. Use a Thesaurus and Dictionary to help you understand and use this.
The opposite of concrete is abstract. Abstract words are general and nonspecific. The problem with using abstract words is these words can be left to the interpretation of individual audience members, which may confuse and frustrate listeners. 

If audience members start of ask questions in their head like, "What did he mean by that?", then they are not listening to what you just said.

Examples of Abstract Words:

• old
• bad
• a lot
• short
• good
• thing
• big
• long
• new
• late

Let me add some clarity by looking at Abstract vs. Concrete phrase.
Abstract: The road was rough.
Concrete: The road was pitted with muddy craters and basketball size boulders.

10. Paint a Picture with Words
Using vivid images to paint a mental picture for the audience will get their imaginations involved. Key words to help you do this: (taken from Dictionary.com)
Similes: a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared, as in “she is like a rose.”
Metaphors: a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance, as in “A mighty fortress is our God.”
Analogy: a similarity between like features of two things, on which a comparison may be based: the analogy between the heart and a pump.

Side Note-Stay away from overly used similes, metaphors, or analogies. These are also known as Cliches.

Select words that are colorful and concrete.

Here are some other words you may want to understand:

Personification 
Understatement 
Irony 
Allusion  
Hyperbole  
Onomatopoeia  

A good rule is to use words that appeal to the 5 senses

11. Use Appropriate Language
Enough said with this. Don't be using language that offends others.
NO *#$%#! SWEARING!

12. Ewes Language Correctly
Credibility can be lost when you use words incorrectly. 
A malapropism occurs when one uses a word or phrase in the place of one that sounds similar but has a different meaning. "It's a strange receptacle" is wrong. It should say, "It's a strange spectacle."

Be careful of connotative meaning of words. A connotative word is a word that will have different associations or feelings when used. For example, you may consider yourself big-boned or husky, but not fat.

13. Be Confident and Convincing
This has a lot to do with how you say it as much as what you say. Be prepared, act like you belong in front speaking, be passionate about what you are speaking on, and convince by connecting with the audience. 

14. Us an Active Voice
Use and active voice not a passive voice. An active voice is when the subject performs the action. An example would be:
Passive: A test was announced by Professor Dalley for Monday.
Active: Professor Dalley announced a test for Monday.

15. Use I, Me, My
The "I" language will often create an impression of conviction and ownership. Remember, act credible, and by using "I" in an active voice, can show confidence. People follow confident people. People believe confident people.

16. Avoid Wimpy Speech
Avoid phrases that show lack of decision, confidence or understanding, such as:
I'm not sure, but…
I may not be right, but…
I think….
This might….
...kind of...
….or at least I thought.
….wasn't it?
….is that okay?

16. Leave a Lasting Impression
This ties into the last lesson on Developing a Conclusion that is Memorable, but it also has a lot to do with how well you have connected with your audience. People will remember how they felt more than they will remember what was said.

17. Use Repetition, Repetition, Repetition, Repetition
As stated earlier, repetition is the mother of skill and remembering. A form of repetition called anaphora, is when you repeat a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences. An example of this is Dr. Martin Luther King's speech, "I Have a Dream" where he repeats the phrase "I have a dream" numerous times.

Repetition reinforces key ideas and can be used to create a thematic focus of your speech.

18. Use Alliteration (Similar to Repetition)  
Alliteration occurs when a series of words in a row (or close to a row) have the same first consonant sound. For example, “She sells sea-shells down by the sea-short” or “Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers” are both alliterative phrases.

Word of Caution- when alliteration is poorly crafted, it can distract from from a message.

19. Use Parallelism
Parallelism is not just a mathematical expression. In language it refers to the arrangement of words, phrases, or sentences in a similar form.
For more information on parallelism Click Here  

In conclusion, a well crafted speech that uses appropriate language style and rhetorical devices will help you to convey a message that will be considered unforgettable. 

Rhetoric can be the seed of hope that just may blossom into action and produce the fruit of results! - Brendan Dalley

Developing a Conclusion that is Memorable

The purpose of this lesson is to help you develop a conclusion that will make you and your speech memorable. There is nothing more disappointing when giving a speech and no one remembers you or your speech.

Or what's worse than that is your audience DOES REMEMBER your speech because it was LAME! 

BE MEMORABLE IN ALL THE RIGHT WAYS!!!

Basic Function of Conclusion

• It gives you a chance to summarize main points and goals of your speech.
• It allows you to reiterate the thesis or central idea of your speech.

An Ending Signal that the END IS NEAR!

• Alert your audience that you are coming up to the end of your speech.
• Use transitional words or phrases to help your audience know that the end is near.

Examples of concluding transitional words or phrases:
Finally…
Looking back…
In summary...
In conclusion...
To wrap it up...
To put this all in perspective…
Let me close by saying…
Once you've given the closing "signal" wrap it up and finish.
DO NOT do a "wait a minute, I forgot to say…"

The biggest mistake I see in speeches is poor time management and you (the speaker) realize that you're out of time so you quickly wrap it up.

"Oh it looks like I'm out of times, so I hope you enjoyed the presentation, I know I have, and…..thank you."

Doing this does not create closure for the audience. It would be like if you are watching your favorite show and as soon as you are getting to the really good part, the television just speeds up the ending (kind of like the old VCR days when you could fast forward a tape and see it on the television). It just doesn't have the same affect as watching it in real time speed. 

Summarize the Main Points and Reiterate the Topic and Main Points
REMEMBER the basic outline of a speech is:
1. Get their attention
2. Introduce topic
3. Give the speech (main body)
4. Conclusion
5. Memorable statement.

By reiterating the main points, you help the audience remember the "good stuff" of your speech.

Once you have summarized your speech you need to finalize you speech with something that is MEMORABLE!!!

IMPORTANT!!! The MEMORABLE STATEMENT is the FINAL STATEMENT uttered from your mouth. It is the END of you speech and how you say it is just as important as what you say. Too many people struggle with how to close a speech and error on the side of saying stupid things like, "And that's all I have to say," or "I'm done," or "And that's it." Yes I have heard it all and seen it all. I have seen people just walk away and the audience just looks around for a moment to see if they are done, and there is an awkward moment of silence before the courtesy applause.

Here's a simple HINT: When drawing to the close of your speech lower the pitch and tone of your voice. You can also provide physical nonverbals to let the audience know you are done.

A MEMORABLE STATEMENT is like the Attention-Getter you used at the beginning of your speech.

Here are some things to help you be MEMORABLE!!!

• Use quotations (similar to what you learned in Lesson 14). Quotes can come from poetry, lyrics, and pertinent statements from others.
• Pose rhetorical questions to make your audience think about the speech topic and your speech purpose/intention.
• Tell a story that illustrates or sums up a key speech idea or ideas.
• Use appropriate humor.
• Issue a challenge.
• Make a startling statement. 
• Link back to the introduction to give the audience a sense of having come full circle.

Something else you can consider is Challenging the Audience to Respond

What does this mean exactly? It means that whatever your speech is about you can challenge the audience members to put to use what you have taught them. This applies to both persuasive and informative speeches. 

It is a call to action, whether to explore further what you shared (informative) or to change thinking/habits or go along with what you shared (persuasive).

In closing I would like to sum up some areas to remember when preparing for a conclusion (Hey, did you catch that? I just used a transition statement to move into the conclusion of this lesson).
Ask yourself these questions: Does my conclusion...

• begin with an alert (transitional statement) that the speech is coming to an end?
• actually come to an end when I give the signal? (Remember a conclusion should only take about 6-10% of you speech time).
• reiterate the main points?
• reminds the audience of the speech topic and purpose?
• provide a sense of closure and make a lasting impression?
• provide a MEMORABLE STATEMENT?

With all you have just learned, you must remember that people will often forget what you said, forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel!

When you turn your words into a feeling, you will be memorable!

Developing the Attention-Getter and Introduction to Your Speech

This lesson is going to go over how to develop a great Attention-Getter and Introduction to your speech. Having a good Attention-Getter and Introduction can (and will) set the tone for the rest of your speech, likewise, a poor Attention-Getter and Introduction will be a disaster for the rest of your speech.

Purpose of Introduction

Capture the audiences attention!!!

A good Attention-Getter will arouse the audience's attention and make them want to listen to you!

How to Capture the Audiences Attention

1. Lead with a quote.

Not just any quote, but a quote that will resonate with your audience (remember- know your audience). A quote can come from a variety of sources- poetry, literature, film, or from an individual. 

JUST MAKE SURE IT'S APPROPRIATE AND CLEAN.

REMEMBER- Inappropriate jokes or quotes will lessen your credibility.

2. Tell a story.

Noted speech writer and language expert William Safire once remarked that stories are "surefire attention getters."
A good story can personalize and issue and help audience members relate to the topic (plus it humanizes you the speaker).

Something that will help you is understanding what an anecdote is. An anecdote is a brief story of interesting, humorous, or real-life incidents. 

The key to successfully introducing a speech with an anecdote is choosing one that strikes a chord with the audience.

3. Pose a question.
There are two types of questions you can ask your audience- REAL or RHETORICAL.

A real question invites the audience for a response, whereas a rhetorical does not solicit an actual response but allows the audience to "think" about the answer.

FYI- Depending on the rhetorical question, you may need to explain to the audience that the speech will answer the question. 

Other types of rhetorical questions are what I call positive response rhetorical questions. This kind of question is one that you know the audience will answer or agree with (i.e. give a "yes" of favorable response to). This is a great way to get the audience involved without actually having them respond.

There is also a mixture of REAL and RHETORICAL questions. It's a question that you pose (usually a yes or no question) and the audience will answer through body language (head nod, head shake, smile, or laughter). 

WARNING!!! The drawback to asking questions is if you get an audience that will not respond at all. This usually happens when one doesn't know who their audience is and the questions do not resonate with them.

4. Say something that "startles" the audience.
I'm not talking about making some random goat noise or YELLING. To say something startling is introducing a fact or statement that is not highly known by the audience and (this is important) it is going to relate to your topic.

Example: Let's say I am going to talk about the Rules of Golf. I could start out with this:
"Did you know that you cannot putt with a pool cue? This is true, the USGA forbade the use of pool cues for putting in 1895 after a dispute came up during the U.S. Amateur."
It's startling because it's weird, it's strange, and it's not common knowledge.

Will Ferrell Always Makes Me Laugh

4. Make the audience laugh.

As I have said many a time, there is nothing that will build trust faster than by making someone smile or laugh. Humor is a powerful tool to establish rapport with an audience, but if it is used inappropriately, it will be the death of your speech.

Here's a great checklist to make sure you are using humor appropriately:

• Is your humor appropriate to the occasion?
• Does your humor help you make a point about your speech topic or the speech occasion?
• Have you avoided any potentially offensive targets, such as race, gender, or religion?
• Is your humor likely to insult or demean anyone?
• Will the audience understand your humor?
• Have you given your humor a trial run?
• Is your humor funny?

A great resource for humor is the Comedy Bible by Judy Carter (If you are SERIOUS about humor then click on Link to buy a copy from Amazon- It's only like 11 Bucks!!!)

5. Refer to the occasion.
Referring to the occasion just means that you give reference to the speech occasion and to any relevant facts about the event. 

An Example of this would be if I were giving a speech at the annual Golf Hackers Executive Club Meeting. It would go something like this:

"I wish to express my thanks and to let you know that it is an honor to be invited to participate in the 10th annual Golf Hackers Executive Meeting. I would like to recognize those who have been awarded for their Hacking Excellence and I wish to your continued excellence in hacking."

*Personally, I think this type of Attention-Getter is dry and often boring, but sometimes it's what is needed based off who the audience is.

6. Establish common ground.
Establishing common ground is done by showing and expressing interest in the audience and most importantly, showing how you and they are similar. This could be a common belief, gender, religion, purpose, etc. 

Remember, establishing common ground should not offend anyone (present or not present) and it must have some emotional connection. (Saying that we are all Homo Sapiens doesn't really work)

Once You Have the Audience's Attention it's Time to Introduce Them to Your Topic

There are some VERY IMPORTANT things to remember when stating your introduction, and they are:

1. Declare Your Purpose and Intentions
This goes back to grade school paper writing. The introductory paragraph must tell the reader what you are going to tell them. The same holds true for the introduction of a great speech; tell them what you are going to tell them. I would enhance that by really getting into the purpose of the speech and what your desired outcomes should be.

Example: "After my speech you will understand the mechanics of a basic golf swing and will be able to implement this new skill in lowering you overall handicap."

OR you can....

2. Tell the Audience What You are Going to Tell Them
Start by previewing the main points.
To continue with my golf swing introduction, I could say something like, "I am going to teach you the importance of grip and stance and how it affects your swing."

Here are some IMPORTANT things to remember when developing an introduction.

1. Give the Audience a Reason to Believe
Emphasize the topic's practical implications.
Show what the audience has to GAIN or LOSE by listening or not listening (Pleasure Pain Principle)

I would say that most of the time it is better to focus on a positive outcome rather than a negative outcome, but just remember that the feeling of a negative outcome can be just as (if not more) powerful than a positive outcome. 

2. Establish Your Credibility
State your qualifications for speaking on the topic.
Briefly emphasize some experience, knowledge, or perspective you have that is different from or more extensive than that of your audience.

AND/OR...

Make sure you are using information that is credible. You are probably not the EXPERT in what you are talking about, but using EXPERT sources and letting the audience know that you are using it (i.e. citing you sources), will establish credibility.

Here are some TIPS on preparing the introduction

• You may find it easier to prepare your introduction AFTER you have completed the body of the speech.
• Keep the introduction brief and to the point (purpose and intention)
• Review any of your research material that you can use in your introduction.
• Practice and time the length of your introduction.
• Introduction is only 10 to 15 percent of the overall speech.
• Revise until you feel good about it and it has a good "flow" to it.
• Make sure you have the Attention-Getter and Introduction MEMORIZED so it flows!!!

Questions

1. Why do you want to have a good Attention-Getter with your introduction? 
2. What is the downside of having a poor introduction and can you still have a great speech after a poor introduction? Why or Why not?
3. How could helping the audience see what they have to lose (pain) be a good way to captivate your audience? Do you think it's best to use the "pain" or "pleasure" approach in your introduction? Why or why not?