The Art of Persuasion

Persuasive Speaking and Writing

Persuade- To try to get someone to
accept an opinion (think as you do) or
to move someone to do something.

First Things First

TV commercials, magazine ads, and

billboards are always trying to
persuade consumers to buy the
latest products.
Think about ads you have seen or
heard. What techniques do the
advertisers use to try and convince
you to buy their products?

Methods for Persuading:

Rhetorical Devices
Please write down all of the
information written in BLUE.

Fact vs. Opinion

Fact

Something that can

be proven true or
false.
Example: South
American rain
forests are
endangered.

Opinion

A belief or attitude you

take about a topic
what you think about
something
Opinions vary from
person to person
Example: The U.S.
should act to save the
rainforests.

Fact vs. Opinion

I. Label each statement as fact or opinion
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Mrs. Rhynes birthday is in February.

School should begin at 9:00 a.m. every day.
The first Olympic games were held in Athens, Greece.
Babe Ruth was the greatest baseball player in Major
League Baseball history.
Anne Frank was a Jewish girl who lived during the
Holocaust.
McDonalds is the most popular fast food chain in the
U.S.

II. Write your own fact and opinion.

Ways to Persuade the Audience

In order to write or speak persuasively

you must appeal to the audience.
According to the philosopher Aristotle,
there are three main forms of appeals:
Logos
Ethos
Pathos

Logos

Pronounced low-goes
From the Greek word meaning law
From logos, we get the English word
logic
An appeal to ones reason or logic
To appeal to logos, use definitions, factual
data, statistics, expert opinions, etc.
Needs logical evidence supporting your
opinion

Appeal to logos

Crest users have

50% fewer cavities
than those who
use other brands.
Dentist
recommended
A survey of 100
health care
professionals says
Crest is the best!

Ethos

Pronounced eth-ose
From ethos, we get the English word
ethics
An appeal to the reliability or
trustworthiness of the writer/speaker
Making someone understand that this
is the right thing to do.

Appeal to Ethos
If you wanted advice on basketball,
who would you turn to?

Using Ethos:
The Celebrity Testimonial

Celebrities
endorsing
Proactiv:
Alicia Keys
Diddy
Lindsay Lohan
Kelly Clarkson
Jennifer Love
Hewitt
And the list
goes on

Nowadays,
companies love to
use the ethos of a
celebrity to sell
their products.
I want to be like
Jessica Simpson. If
it works for her,
itll work for me
too!

Pathos

Pronounced path-ose
From pathos, we get the English
words pathetic, sympathy,
empathy, etc.
An appeal to ones emotions
To appeal to pathos, use vivid
language and examples that bring to
mind emotional experiences or ideas.

Appeal to Pathos

Dont you just feel

so bad for this poor,
little guy, stuck in an
awful animal shelter
where he is soon
going to be put to
sleep? You know you
want to adopt him,
dont you? cue
Sarah McLachlans
song Angel

Identify the following types of

appeals
Logos, ethos, or pathos?

Logos, ethos, or pathos?

School wants to raise money for less

fortunate students in Africa.
In order to persuade students to
donate to their cause, the school
shows pictures of poor children
starving.
PATHOS

Logos, ethos, or pathos?

School wants to put a spotlight

outside of the school.
Reason: Heavy traffic at beginning
and end of school; it is dangerous.
According to the police, three
students have been hit leaving
school.
LOGOS

Logos, ethos, or pathos?

Acme Gizmotronics is supporting a dihydro-cesium
reactor, trying, in their ethnocentrism, to squeeze
energy out of such destructive explosions. And, they are
dumping waste cesium into our oceans, killing sea life
and threatening the quality of the water YOU swim in.
Studies have shown that the dihydro-cesium reactor
could also destroy our ecosphere in less than four
months! If you want to continue to live a healthy life,
Dont let them get away with it! Boycott Acme
products! Call your representatives and tell them you
support stricter legislation to prevent things like this!

PATHOS

Logos, ethos, or pathos?

Acme Gizmotronics, the company that you've trusted
for over 100 years, has recently entered the World Wide
Web! Now you can purchase our fine products through the
internet. Our quality gizmos, widgets, and thingamabobs
can be shipped to you within minutes. All come with the
famous lifetime guarantee that makes Acme the company
that the world depends on for it's gizmo needs. Our
spokesperson, Mr. Coyote says "I'm not really a coyote,
but I play one on TV. I've used Acme products for years.
Their slingshots, rocket launchers, crowbars, pogo sticks,
and power pills are the best around. And don't forget their
high-powered dynamite! I buy everything from Acme.
They are the company that I trust the most."

ETHOS

Audience matters!

In order to persuade, you must use language

and tone appropriate to your audience.
For example, if the school was not allowed to
have dances and you had to convince the
school to allow them, you would have to
consider how to convince:

The administration
Your peers
Parents

So when delivering a persuasive speech or writing a persuasive

essayalways KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE!