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Heather Best

SPCH 3320

Dr. McIntyre

March 8, 2017

What Makes a Persuasive Speech Effective?

When discussing persuasive speaking, it is difficult to think about

without referencing Aristotle. Aristotle provided us with a foundational

guideline for persuasive public speaking. He outlines the three important

elements as ethos, pathos, and logos.

The first of the three elements, ethos, is the perception we have of a

speaker- whether that perception is positive or negative (J. Michael Hogan,

2014, p. 335). To have ethos, you need the audience to see you as

trustworthy. It means that you have a good reputation or that you make a

good impression on the audience by appearing credible. According to Hogan

(2014), there are four major qualities that contribute to a positive ethos:

trustworthiness, competence, open-minded, and dynamism.

From the assignments in this class, I have learned that ethos is key to

getting your audience to allow you make an impact on them. If someone

seems untrustworthy, you will tune them out. If I am going to comment or

review someones work in class, I first view the work and see if they have put

it into a format that makes sense. Some of the rehearsal videos were done

while the person looked bored or stressed. This didnt present them as

having ethos, so I would often go to a different persons assignment to

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comment. When they didnt have the elements of trustworthiness,

competence, open-minded, or dynamism, I didnt want to review that paper

or listen to that speech. While I wasnt consciously thinking about it as ethos,

I realize now that it was making an impact on me.

The second element is pathos. This deals with the emotional response

your speech can elicit from an audience. Appealing to an audiences

emotions is fundamental to motivating them to act (J. Michael Hogan, 2014,

p. 344). This often comes in the form of storytelling. It is also made effective

through affective language, shared values, vivid detail, visualization, and

familiar references (J. Michael Hogan, 2014, pp. 345-350). Pathos is that

emotional feeling we get when we see distressing images on the TV,

internet, or during a speech as the speaker visually shows or tells us about a

subject. We may feel saddened, angry, or horrified.

Looking back at the assignments we have completed, the one on

Poverty Porn deals with the possible misuses of pathos. There is a point in

which we can go too far and exploit the people that we are concerned with

helping. As I discussed in the paper on Poverty Porn and in the discussion

board of the same subject, we have to ethically use our emotional appeal so

that we get our point across and make an emotional impact without leaning

on sensational pictures and wording that undoes our credibility or hurts the

subject that we are speaking about.

The last element of persuasive speaking is logos. Logos is the logical

appeal to the audience. an argument can be judged not only in terms of

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how it is received but also by certain theoretical and ethical principles (J.

Michael Hogan, 2014, p. 357). We need logical, ethical claims and evidence

in our speeches to prove our point is reasonable and well-founded.

In the assignments, logical and ethical reasoning has been taught by

preparing for speeches. Through the speech outlines that require the burden

of proof to be explicitly written out, I have been able to feel confident that I

was giving a true and ethical speech.

An example that puts these three elements together is the Pentagon

Strikes assignment. The short video uses scary music and foreign voices and

languages to emotionally persuade you that this is an ominous conspiracy.

This is pathos. While it is effective, it is also an unethical use of pathos. The

presentation does not cite sources for where all the pictures and information

came from. When it does give source information, most cant be validated. It

does not give any reference to alternative views of the Pentagon strike. Its

main point is to convince you to agree with their point of view without

thinking through or researching the evidence.

You never see the person who made the video. However, that doesnt

mean that ethos is lacking. If I knew I was watching another presentation by

the same person, I would be skeptical of what was being presented because I

already doubt their credibility.

In conclusion, to make a persuasive speech effective you need to

present yourself as credible on your subject, use emotional appeals to

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impact your audience, without abusing this element, and you need to have a

logical and ethical well-reasoned speech with current source materials.

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References
J. Michael Hogan, P. H. (2014). Public Speaking and Civil Engagement. Upper Saddle

River: Pearson.