Introduction
Persuasion is the process of influencing other people’s attitudes, beliefs, values, or behaviors. Persuasive speaking is an activity which is aimed at bringing people or your audience to take your view or perspective about a given issue or subject. The persuasive speaker develops an argument in support of a position on a topic. The speaker relies on his or her ability to formulate a case that is going to be accepted by the audience.
The speaker, therefore, formulates arguments that create meaning and provide evidence that supports the claims which one puts across. In this case, the informative speaker seeks to create a mutual understanding of a topic (Griffin). In addition, the speaker hopes to influence listeners to agree with a position and sometimes to take action as a result. Persuasion is necessary when there are two or more points of view on a topic: these may be directly opposed or differ only in degree.
Case analysis
I happened to listen to a student who was seeking support from other students for the position of student president. The aspirant was quite vibrant in the way he was presenting his points. To anyone who is objective or was objective at that time could have voted for him. However, he got jeers from his audience even before he could finish his speech (Naistadt). In an attempt to understand what was going on, I took an analytical perspective to his speech. In essence, this aspirant had challenges with his mode of delivery. The aspirant was delivering his speech in a large auditorium where the sound system was not well balanced (Griffin).
In addition, he did not have a clear voice; thus, he found himself shouting instead of communicating his agenda. This led to creating noise in the auditorium, which forced the listeners to start jeering. Secondly, the speaker did not have appeal as compared to his competitor. He was underrated by virtue of the fact that he could not communicate articulately. He seemed not composed even as he delivered his speech. In addition, he could not be able to recite what he had; rather he had to depend on his notes. This delayed and interfered with the flow of the message; thus, it ended up being boring and bogus. His introduction was not able to bring the audience on board.
This was a major challenge because he was not able to resonate with the pulse of the audience. Despite this, his proposition was quite clear. However, due to the fact that he was not able to create a pool of resonance, he was not able to appeal to majority of the audience. The listeners lacked the motivation to think critically about the topic that was being presented (Zeoli). The audience moved toward using the peripheral route. In this situation the listeners ended up consuming the message in a passive manner.
Though at some point the audience focused on the message, it was quite clear that they focused on parts of the speech without thinking critically about the message in its entirety (Naistadt; Zeoli). It is also worth noting that the dressing of the speaker did not resound with the listeners. Listeners may be influenced by the dressing code of the speaker and not the quality of speech structure and content.
Conclusion
Effective persuasive speaking is important for you as a speaker and as a listener. The speaker should be to table a case in an articulate manner that creates meaning. In this sense, the speaker relies on the ability to create a solid argument which is characterized with logical reasoning. Persuasive speaking can also reevaluation of a position, as well as improve the ability to defend them (Sellnow). Finally, being able to judge how well others use persuasive speaking techniques can help you improve your own effectiveness as a persuasive speaker.
Works Cited
Griffin, Cindy L. Invitation to Public Speaking, California: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.
Naistadt, Ivy. Speak Without Fear:A Total System for Becoming a Natural, Confident Communicator, New York: HarperCollins, 2005. Print.
Sellnow, Deanna D. Confident public speaking, California: Cengage Learning, 2004. Print.
Zeoli, Richard. The 7 Principles of Public Speaking:Proven Methods from a PR Professional, New York: Skyhorse Publishing Inc., 2008. Print.