The Psychology Of Language : Why Are Some Words More Persuasive Than Others?

Audience can be influenced by a variety of types of text. These include song, cartoon and speech. Each text can demonstrate a variety of persuasives techniques, such as repetition, emotive language and alliteration. Evidence of text can be found in “You’re the Voice” by John Farnham. The Sorry speech presented by Kevin Rudd. And the political cartoon by Clifton Evers, depicting refuges. Each of these text type employs a method, uses language and persuasives techniques and presents themes to their target audience.

What appeals or persuasive techniques are used? Many persuasive writers use a combination of pathos, logos, and ethos to sway their audience. (QUOTE SANDWICH)

Today, one can see the tactic of persuasion being used as a standard avenue to influence a person’s attitude or beliefs by presenting them with different messages that encourage things like using certain brand name products, vote a certain way, or where to take a vacation just to name a few. There are four types of people that include gullible people, skeptical people, firm believers, and people who are leaders who trust others as well as make others follow their ideas. Persuasion is a widespread topic of social psychology and may be done in different ways. There are two types of cognitive processes by which to persuade someone, which are the central route or the peripheral route. For this assignment I used mostly the central route approach as well as using a little of the peripheral route approach. To reinforce the peripheral route approach the use of pathos was also used during the video to play on the emotions of the watcher. This PowerPoint is effective at using the central route of persuasion, peripheral

“As we explore persuasion, we can divide the persuasive communication into three parts: the communicator, the message, and the audience. First, we will deal with what characteristics of persuaders make people more likely to be persuaded. Next, we will think about characteristics of the message that lead people to change. Finally, we will explore what characteristics of the audience can lead them to be persuaded.” (Feenstra, 2011, p. 88) For your assignment this week, provide an in-depth analysis of the three parts of persuasion. Please reference the bullet points below to complete your assignment.

Modes of persuasion are rhetorical appeals used in writing to persuade an audience (Worthington 58). The rhetoric appeals are divided into three categories; ethos, pathos and logos. Writers and speakers alike must have the ability to use the three appeals within a text to persuade a particular audience. Ethos refers to the author’s or writer’s credibility. The writer or the author has to establish his or her credibility for the audience to consider his or her views. Pathos is appealing through the audience’s emotions. As an author or speaker, it is important to create a certain sense of curiosity and imagination in the audience’s minds in order to have them identify with the speech’s or text sentiments. Logos is the most important of the three

Persuasive texts are written for the purpose of presenting a point of view in favor or against a specific topic. The goal of the author is to try to convince the reader to

When it comes to being a successful rhetor, a speaker or writer, a rhetor must take three major factors into account. The rhetor must understand that the audience, the genre of their topic and different rhetorical situations play a huge role in the effectiveness of presenting their topic. Not only does an audience, rhetorical situations and genre effect a rhetor’s persuasive topic, but the constraints, purpose and five modes/techniques of communication also become substantial factors that the speaker must use and look out for. The main question being what is communication? Communication is essentially a speaker or writer trying to pass down information to a specific or non-specific audience. Successful and persuasive communication in any form

In the context of an influential speech, the correct use of language is essential. When attempting to persuade listeners to agree with them, speakers must use a particular type of vocabulary, known as emotive language, to evoke certain emotions within the listeners. Emotive language often uses words that would be categorized as biased, and in a way, manipulates onlookers to feel sympathetic towards the speaker.

In general, effective persuasive speeches strive to influence the attitude and mentality of other individuals, moving them more closely towards the perspective of the respective speaker. Simultaneously, persuasive speeches may also strive to cause an explicit response in the audience, such as persuading individuals to take action against poverty and donate money. There are many factors that could be attributed to influencing the success of the speaker in doing so. These reasons may include: motivation, reason and emotion, and even credibility. During the persuasive speeches in class, the members of my group, Amanda, Meghan, Elena, and Christine, all used effective techniques, such as props, visuals, and personal disclosure in order to effectively

Rhetoric was first developed as a formal area of study and practice in the mid-300’s BC by Aristotle. It is the study of effective speaking and writing, and has often been called the art of persuasion. Speaking and writing were the predominant means of communication at the time of rhetoric’s development, but in recent years its principles have been applied to the persuasive value of the image, particularly in visual communication. As communication designers we should be aware of various forms and uses of rhetoric.

When giving a persuasive speech, the intent of the speaker is to convince the audience to support or to think about a specific perspective on a topic (Schwartz, 2011). To convince the audience to support your ideas or agree with them, evidence and appeals must be given (Schwartz, 2011). Concepts such as inductive reasoning, fallacies, and deductive reasoning play an important part when presenting a persuasive speech (Schwartz, 2011). When looking at a persuasive speech, Why We Use Animals in Medical Research, there are strengths and weaknesses of the speech that can all be contributed to different persuasive concepts, that overall result in an effective speech. Three main persuasive concepts, verbal and nonverbal issues, and overall effectiveness is discussed.

What is a strong, persuasive speech? According to Boundless, a persuasive speech is defined as a “specific type of speech in which the speaker has a goal of convincing the audience to accept his or her point of view.” (Boundless, 1) The speech is organized in a particular format- to try to convince the audience to accept all or part of the writer or speaker’s view. Although the person delivering the speech could be the writer and/or speaker, for this essay, the subject will be referred as the writer. There are a few key persuasive factors that a writer can use to develop a strong, persuasive speech - audience analysis, and Aristotle’s ‘Three Methods of Proof’. Audience analysis is an important factor to consider when writing a strong, persuasive speech. Analyzing the target audience can help the writer learn how to prepare the proper content, determine the tone, usage of examples and the proper presentation required to connect with their target audience. The ‘Three Methods of Proof’, which consists of Ethos, Pathos and Logos can also assist the writer in delivering their persuasive speech.

Persuasion is very important in communication especially during speeches or pitching a product, even when selling or trying to convince someone to do business with you. Companies use persuasion and so do individuals in both their private and personal lives. There is no right way or correct method used to persuade, however social psychologist Robert Cialdinioffers six principles of persuasion that are effective and powerful.(my clean 2010). They are reciprocity, scarcity, authority, commitment and consistency, consensus and liking. Recognizing and understand which of these principle is being used in an operation will give leverage to the inherent social norms and expectations to an individual.

Social psychologists have not only studied the effects of persuasion, but also the elements that contribute to attitude change. Carl Hovland (1953) developed the Hovland-Yale model of persuasion, in which he used a research team from Yale University. They found that there are a considerable number of factors that can influence how likely attitude changes are to occur, however they also noticed that some are more important than others [McGuire et al 1996]. One of the key factors they found that determines whether persuasion occurs is the communicator. Social psychologists have found that persuasion can be influenced depending about who is presenting the argument, which can impact on how an audience receives it. The credibility of the communicator plays a large role in influencing persuasion, in which

Texts are similar, yet very different. Some texts are to inform, persuade or argue. Although the genres and tones are different some features stay the same. This essay shows some similarities and differences between two texts of different genres, and how the differences and similarities influence the meaning to persuade. Including the genres, rhetorical devices, language features, main idea, the tone and also register.