I used the book from my Persuasion class at Eastern Michigan University to design this unit. The book that we used (Persuasion: Reception and Responsibility by Charles Larson) is an excellent book, it gives lots of examples and references to use. If you were to ever teach persuasion, I would recommend this book even though it would take some reading through because it doesn't have bold print. All the books used, including the persuasion book are referenced at the bottom of this page.

This unit will take you through three weeks. If you were to use these lessons in a traditional speech class, I would suggest that you use lessons 8, 12, 13, 16, and 17. These are the lessons that are the most important when teaching persuasion; they are the fundamentals. Lesson eight has Monroe's Motivated Sequence. This is an important part of teaching persuasion. It lets them know how to set up the argument. Lesson twelve and thirteen go over the needs aspect of persuasion. Lesson sixteen is the fallacies section. That's the fun section. Lesson seventeen is how to give a speech. Lesson seventeen is the needed lesson, whether you use mine or make up your own. It is what the students will need to know in order to get a good grade.

I have a few handouts that are linked with this unit. These handouts are meant to help the students understand the lesson being taught. I would use these handouts as assessments, assigning points to each of them. 

To view the unit in its entirety, goto the unit lesson
 

• Lesson #1: Persuasion as a way of life
• Lesson #2: Is Persuasion tricking? (A) Lying
• Lesson #3: Is Persuasion tricking? (B) Different Perspectives
• Lesson #4: Ethics
• Lesson #5: Avoiding Ethics
• Lesson #6: Developing Classroom Ethics
• Lesson #7: Defining Persuasion
• Lesson #8: Talking about Persuasion
• Lesson #9: Argument Spheres and Fields
• Lesson #10: Beliefs
• Lesson #11: Changing Belief
• Lesson #12: Packard's Eight Hidden Needs
• lesson #13: Maslow's Pyramid of Needs
• Lesson #14: Demographics
• Lesson #15: Types of Evidence
• Lesson #16: Fallacies
• Lesson #17: Tactics & Presentations

Axtell, Roger (1992) Do's and Taboos of Public Speaking: How to Get Those ButterfliesFlying in Formation. United States: John Wiley & Sons.

Carnegie, Dale (1982) How to Win Friends and Influence People. New York, NY: Pocket Books.

Inch, Edward S., Warnick, Barbara (2002). Critical Thinking and Communication: The Use of
Reason in Argument. (4th Ed). Allyn and Bacon (Eds). Boston: A Pearson Education
Company.

Larson, Charles (2001) Persuasion: Reception and Responsibility (9^th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thompson Learning.

Mira, Thomas (1998) Speak Smart: The Art of Public Speaking. New York: Random House, Inc.

Pojman, Louis P. (1998) Classics of Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press.