Objective:

This is to help students understand how they need to give their persuasive speech, it also provides a look into deceptive methods of persuasion. These are methods that they can use in their own speeches. They are also things that have probably been used against them in the past. The things taught in this lesson will be what I will look for in their speeches, as well as if they are using the methods that we have worked on in class over the past few weeks.

Lesson:

When giving a speech the persuader should appear to be confident in front of the audience. These are some things that the persuader must demonstrate in order to appear confident.
 

Posture: Your posture needs to be relaxed but confident. The speakers shoulders and torso should be upright. They shouldn't be tense however. You don't want a speaker that looks like a cardboard cutout, you also don't want one that looks like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. The important factor is to appear to be confident. This doesn't mean that you wont have any butterflies in your stomach.
A couple of good books to reference are:
• Speak Smart: The Art of Public Speaking by Thomas K. Mira copyright date 1998
• Do's and Taboos of Public Speaking by Roger E. Axtell, copyright date 1992.)

Eye Contact: The myth is to look over the audience or to picture them naked, this is the worst thing to do. It brings you further away from your audience.The trick is to make to make conversation with people in the crowd. Pick out people in the crowd that you want to talk to and talk to them. It's easy to talk to one person in the crowd. Start with one side of the audience. Pick someone out and share a thought with that person, then move to someone in the middle and share a thought then someone on the left. This will let you talk one-on-one with many different people in the audience. It will also let the audience become intimate with your speech. The result? Both you and the audience will enjoy the speech. You will feel like you have gotten to know one another.

Articulation and vocal quality: One way you will notice your nerves is through your voice. Don't let your voice hinder your speech, make it work for you. Most people will notice their voice starting to crack and become more nervous. In an effort to correct this they will speak softer which will make their voice crack even more. Before you know it, you are just as nervous as you were before reading this book. Don't let this happen to you. Do some preliminary exercises to help warm up that voice. Before giving your speech stretch your mouth side to side and yawn. Make noises as you yawn and move your mouth around. This will help warm up your vocal cords and prepare your mouth for speaking. When you are giving your speech use the full capacity of your voice. Breath in using your diaphragm and use all the air you have inhaled to speak with. If you use your full voice (thus using all the air in your lungs) your voice wont have a chance to crack on you. This means if you speak loud, your voice wont crack. Also use the full range of your voice. If you are excited about something then let the audience know you are excited through your voice. It's perfectly ok and encouraged to use: tonal inflection (sounding excited), rate (how fast you talk), pitch (questions vs. non-questions), and even laughter in your speech.

Some tactics that you can use with your audience.

Get your audience involved by asking direct questions and calling people by name. You can get them involved by having them do something physically before or during your speech. You could also ask them to participate in demonstrations, or ask the audience members questions. If you are going to give the audience members handouts, this should be done at the end of the speech because material given before the speech will take the attention away from you.
 

Ways to get them to agree with you:

• The Yes-Yes Technique - The idea here is to get people to start agreeing with you. When people believe that they are in agreement with you on most issues, they are more likely to support you on other issues. You are showing your audience members how much you are alike.

• Don't ask if, Ask which - It is easier to make a choice between two things. If you ask the audience what they want, there may be a range of answers. If you give them the choice between two things, one of them will have to win out.

• Answer a question with a question - Use this tactic when you need more time to think about the question being asked of you. Responding with a question usually throws the other person off, and gives you time to gather your thoughts.

• Get Partial Commitment - Sometimes people aren't sure if they want to join a group, or participate in something. They may not know if they like your idea or not. Work them into it slowly by getting them to commit to something small that wont take anything away from them. The church does this with prayer. By bowing your head for prayer, the church is getting partial commitment from you.

• Ask for more, and settle for less: Stores do this all the time with sales. They give you a price that you may think is a little to high, then once it goes on sale you are inclined to buy it for the cheaper price, sometimes you will buy things that you wouldn't have bought for that price if it was the original price.

• Make it their own: This is an idea of Dale Carnegie's. He suggests that if people think something is their own idea, they are more likely to believe in it and follow through on it. In court this is called leading the juror. You can make subtle remarks about your idea

• Planting: This idea here is to use sensory memory to have the audience members remember your product or idea. A steakhouse would use this with their steak by showing how "sizzling" it is.

• Get an IOU: It is much easier for people to commit to something in the future then it is to commit to something today. This works with quitting smoking. It is easier to set a date in a month or two, then to set a date in a day or two. You are more likely to commit if you have a set date in the future.

Activity:

Students will research a topic and give a persuasive speech on it. They should use a sequence when giving the speech, create desire, build their credibility, stay away from fallacies, and use one of the persuasive tactics.