Persuasive speech - what is it in psychology: examples of texts, rules of persuasion

The structure of a persuasive speech always implies adherence to several simple but important principles: specificity, focus on the listener, the presence of evidence, control of people’s reactions, motivation, openness.

The ability to persuade is a unique and useful talent.

Persuasion is a method of influencing people's minds, aimed at their personal critical worldview
.

The whole essence of persuasion is to, with the help of consistent justification, first reach the agreement of the interlocutor with specific conclusions, then, on this basis, form and strengthen new ones or transform former attitudes that correspond to the goal.

You can learn persuasive speaking skills at various trainings, as well as on your own. The methods and principles of persuasive communication listed below will help you learn persuasion techniques. These methods are very highly effective, both when influencing one person and the public.

Psychological aspects

The success of persuasion depends on the persuasiveness factor of a person , which consists of two components:

Firmness of convictions . When a person is extremely confident in his views, they have been formed over a long period of time, confirmed by practical experience or widespread in the environment. In this case, it is difficult for a person to change his point of view, since the old attitudes are convenient and familiar.
Ability to perceive new things. A person may be closed from external sources of data psychologically. He refuses new information and is rigid in his worldview. He does not want to change his position, even if he is given a detailed argument for its erroneousness.

The lower the persuasiveness, the more difficult it is to explain and the more difficult it is to inspire your interlocutor with your point of view.

Main part of the speech

The main part should be clear and rich
. It is necessary to break down the main thoughts, ideas and provisions into component fragments.

You also need to think about measured transitions that will show the connection between the individual parts of the speech.

Ways to convey the main content:

Explaining arguments that can be verified.
The point of view of professionals and experts in this field.
A citation that brings information to life and explains it.
Examples and real events that can clarify and depict the facts.
A statement of personal experience, as well as theories.
Statistics that can be verified.
Reasoning and predictions about future events.
Funny stories and anecdotes that meaningfully support statements.
Precise or figurative comparisons, as well as contrasts, that illustrate a statement by demonstrating differences and similarities.

The human brain is a magnificent thing. It works right up to the minute you get up to give a speech. Mark Twain

Money as the goal of oratory

Currently, trainings and seminars discussing the topic of how to make money have flooded the Internet. In fact, the Internet contributed to this. It opened up opportunities for earning money, and therefore for learning. After all, before, the main source of independent learning was the book.

An example of millionaires' speeches at universities or online seminars on the Internet - all this relates to business topics where the main goal is to make money. The purpose of these speeches is to motivate the listener, charge them with emotions and the desire to do something. All this is driven by the desire to have a lot of money and be independent. A good way to convert knowledge of oratory into money is to open a school for the practice and study of eloquence.

Irrefutable arguments in support of your own idea

Most people think rationally, and occasionally do something without their own benefit.
Therefore, to convince a person it is necessary to find irrefutable arguments that explain the validity and appropriateness of the statement. Arguments are arguments, statements, and thoughts that are used to support a judgment.

. The persuasiveness of the dialect depends on correctly selected arguments and evidence.

After compiling a list of arguments, you need to evaluate them and also think about whether they are appropriate in this case or not. Then, after weighing the pros and cons, you need to choose 2-3 effective arguments.

The conditions for selecting and evaluating arguments should be:

Good arguments can be considered those that are supported by sound evidence. Sometimes rhetoric is heard convincingly, but at the same time it is not substantiated by facts. When preparing a speech, you need to make sure that the arguments are not unfounded.
Arguments should fit into the sentence skillfully and succinctly. They cannot sound distorted.
Often a well-supported and well-founded argument may not be perceived by a person. All people react to them differently. For some, the arguments and facts presented are convincing, but for others, they are not.

Undoubtedly, it is impossible to know exactly which argument will have an impact on the person being persuaded, but the result can be tentatively assumed and assessed based on the analysis of the individual.

It is necessary to answer at least 3 questions in order to ensure the strength of the evidence provided:

What primary source is the information taken from? If the evidence is borrowed from an unreliable primary source, you need to exclude it from your own speech or turn to other sources.
Is the information current? Statistics and ideas don't have to be old. Today, something that was true 3 years ago may become incorrect. Persuasive rhetoric is generally subject to disbelief due to a single flaw. This should not be allowed.
Is this information relevant to the material? It is necessary to ensure that the evidence directly supports the arguments presented.

Principle 4. Controlling people's reactions

The structure of a persuasive speech must be logical and consistent; this is the only way to remain in charge and attract attention. You don’t need to look for long for ways to optimally structure a speech; they have long been compiled and voiced by famous psychologists and speakers, and you can also read them in our article - oratory skills. To control the situation, you can use several methods.

Method of presenting evidence

If the audience has not yet formed certain positive or negative attitudes regarding your question, you can use this method. According to it, you describe your goal and then voice the evidence you have collected. In this case, the second most important evidence is stated at the beginning of the speech, the most important argument is voiced at the end, and all the rest are stated in any order in the middle.

Here is an example of a persuasive text built using this method:

“Dear colleagues (classmates, allies, friends)! I would like to raise a topic that is so important for modern society - the topic of protecting nature. Many of us have completely forgotten that she is very fragile, that she needs to be protected. It is in our interests to achieve a ban on the release of harmful chemicals from a local plant into the river. And that's why:
We live off natural resources, and water is our main wealth. As you know, animals in our region drink water from this river, not to mention the fact that vegetable and fruit plants are watered with this water, the fruits of which we later buy and eat.
Due to increased pollution of the river, we are deprived of summer recreation. According to local environmentalists, in 2-3 years, swimming in the river will be strictly prohibited.
The chemicals cause the river to dry up. Local forecasters suggest that our great-grandchildren may no longer see her.
Since the river is the main one in the city, water from it flows into our water pipes. We poison our bodies with chemicals, just like our children and parents. Almost no filter is capable of purifying water from chemicals 100%.
All data is collected from reliable sources and confirmed by relevant documents. I invite you to check them out now or contact me later. Surely you will share my goal with me and sign the petition demanding a ban on the release of chemicals into our river.”

Problem solving method

This is an equally effective method that is suitable when communicating with an audience that is neutral or even slightly negative. It assumes:

Formulation of the current problem.
The belief that your proposal can solve it.
The belief that your proposal is the best possible because it brings the maximum positive results.

An example of the same text constructed using this method:

“Now, more than ever, the problem of pollution of our river with chemicals has arisen. Water is our main wealth. Just imagine, all the emissions from a local plant directly or indirectly enter your body. This is not a hoax, according to the data that our statisticians and laboratory assistants kindly provided me, 50% of tap water contains these chemicals and exactly the same amount of vegetables and fruits offered in supermarkets were grown using irrigation from the river. What can we say about the fact that in a few years swimming in the river will be life-threatening? No filter is capable of purifying water from such toxic impurities. Such chemicals are known to cause severe cancer.
You can help avoid this course of events and preserve public health. I have created a petition that must be signed by at least 1000 people to be considered. By signing the petition, you will do everything possible for your safety and the safety of your loved ones.
According to my information, they have already tried to solve this problem with the help of rallies and voting, but this did not lead to the desired result. Local authorities are required to consider the petition and take appropriate action if at least 1,000 people have signed the demand. We will be able to demand justice, fully relying on modern legislation. If you have any questions, you can contact me, as well as familiarize yourself with all the documents.”

Comparative merit method

This method consists of you listing to the public all the benefits of your offer. It is suitable for communicating with an audience that is positively disposed towards you.

An example of text compiled using this method:

“Today we need good specialists more than ever. But not every person can afford quality education. I propose to consider my proposal regarding improving the quality of education in regular public schools.
Your positive votes for my project will help me ensure that schools will have new modern computer equipment, foreign language electives will be introduced, and every student from the 5th grade will be able to choose a profile of interest in order to develop in it.
In accordance with the analysis of the results, these activities will lead to the following:
Children will be more willing to attend school and learn more purposefully.
When you leave school, you will be practically ready-made professionals in some areas.
It will be 50% easier for children to enter university.
The level of social life will increase significantly, the number of low-income people will decrease due to the preparation of high-quality labor resources capable of earning good money.
Children will find something to do that interests them, which will reduce the number of children wandering aimlessly through the streets. According to my calculations, this will also have an impact on reducing the level of child crime.
You can support the project by contacting me directly.”

These examples are quite general, but from them you can understand the essence of a persuasive speech and compose a good oratorical speech based on similar ones.

Psychology of influence: how to lie without your interlocutor noticing

The persuasiveness of speech does not make a lie look good if there is a lot of it. It is better to focus on the truth and omit unpleasant details. But sometimes it is necessary. To lie effectively, you need to believe your own lie, become part of it.

Watch your gestures. Stand in an open position, look your interlocutor straight in the eyes. Better practice in front of a mirror. Remember - you are not lying.
Think through everything down to the last detail.
Deny everything. Reinforced concrete evidence does not work against you. You're telling the truth, haven't you forgotten?
Don't make excuses.
Don't apologize or humiliate yourself.

Have you been refused? Was your lie considered too far-fetched? They turned around and left. The interlocutor is waiting for the moment until you start begging him: then he will take a dominant position. If you leave abruptly without getting into verbal confrontations, your chances of winning will increase.

Training exercise

To practice speaking briefly, you can do the following exercise:

Choose any topic.
Record a story on this topic on a video lasting 5 minutes.
Watch the recording and think about what can be thrown out without compromising the content, what phrases can be shortened, and compress the story to three minutes.
Go one more time and compress the story to 1 minute.

This exercise allows you to clean up your speech, remove unnecessary phrases and say the essence.
struktura-korotkogo-vystupleniya-13-gotovykh-skhem-i-videoprimerov

Principle 5: You are more likely to persuade your audience if you speak in a way that motivates them.

Motivation, or “the forces acting externally and internally on the body that initiate and direct behavior” (Petri, 1996), often arises from the use of stimuli and emotional language. For a stimulus to have any value, it must be meaningful. The salience of a stimulus means that it evokes an emotional response. The impact of a stimulus is most powerful when it is part of a meaningful goal.

1. The power of incentives. People are more likely to perceive incentives as meaningful when those incentives indicate a favorable cost-reward relationship. Let's say you ask your listeners to donate an hour a week of their time to participate in a charity program. The time you ask them to spend will most likely be perceived as a cost rather than an incentive reward; however, you can describe the charitable work in such a way that it itself is perceived as providing a rewarding, meaningful incentive.

For example, you can make your listeners feel like they are civically minded, socially responsible, or noble helpers by giving their time to such an important cause. If you show in your speech that these rewards or incentives outweigh the costs, your listeners will be more likely to want to participate in the program you support.

2. Use incentives that meet basic needs. Incentives are most effective when they serve basic needs. One of the most popular theories in the field of needs comes from Abraham Maslow (Maslow, 1954). According to this theory, people are more likely to act when a stimulus offered by the speaker is able to satisfy one of the listeners' important unsatisfied needs.

ALSO SEE: Creative Idea Generation Techniques

What is the point of such analysis for you as a speaker? First, it describes the types of needs that you can address in your speech. Secondly, it allows us to understand why a certain line of speech development can work well in one audience and lead to failure in another audience. For example, in economically difficult times, people are more concerned with satisfying physiological and safety needs and will therefore be less likely to respond by appealing to social sentiments and altruism.

The third and perhaps most important point is that if your offer conflicts with a felt need, you must have at the ready a strong alternative from the same or from a more fundamental category of needs. For example, if implementing your proposal will cost people money (say, raising taxes), you must show that these measures satisfy some other, comparable need (for example, increasing their safety).

Important little things that guarantee success

Watch for nonverbal cues from your interlocutor that indicate a willingness to cooperate:

head nods;
the body is tilted forward;
verbal confirmations (yes, yes, of course, wonderful);
carefully follows the progress of the conversation and your gestures;
does not object, listens;

If your opponent expresses most of these signals, he is ready to agree with you.

But these signals indicate the interlocutor’s disapproval:

crossed arms over the chest, closed posture;
lowered head, unblinking gaze;
distraction from the conversation (went off to sort through papers, fidgets with something in his hands, wants to leave);
self-touching;

When a person is in a closed position, give him something in his hands and divert attention to yourself. Show him a document, a schedule, a presentation. Share a chocolate - it will put you at ease. After that, we begin to plan how to speak convincingly and beautifully.

Psychology of influence: persuade, influence

If the interlocutor is not positive, you need to win him over to your side. The psychology of influence offers us several tricks to quickly win over a person.

How to be persuasive in negotiations:

Create an informal atmosphere. Offer your opponent a cup of tea or coffee. At your own expense or the company's expense, of course (especially if this is a potential client). He will relax and warm up to you.
Be brief. Condense your main idea into 30 seconds or 1 minute.
Keep calm. Even if the other person is wrong, your composure is the key to success.
Be neat. A neat and scrupulous person is more trustworthy than a slob.

How to make speech clear and intelligible

A person’s diction plays an important role. Correct diction is rarely innate, so it needs to be trained:

prepare speeches on different topics, speak in front of the mirror;
read more scientific papers, expand your vocabulary;
say tongue twisters every day;
avoid filler words;
learn not to swallow words;

A persuasive person is a person who has 100% mastery of language skills.

Psychology of influence - psychology of persuasion

The key to persuasion is reasoned arguments. Often people resort to false arguments. They confuse the interlocutor, humiliate him and undermine his authority. If a person acts not of his own free will, but under pressure or coercion, this will not lead to a good result in the long run.

5 False Arguments That Will Repel Your Opponent

In business and interpersonal relationships, dishonest tricks seem like a good idea. But only at first glance. We'll talk about how to lie convincingly a little later. First, familiarize yourself with the basic logical fallacies and how to avoid them.

1 – Appeal to false authority

“An authoritative person did the same. This means we must do the same.”

It is a logical mistake to cite as an example a person who is incompetent in the area of the dispute. For example, grandmothers force their grandchildren to eat oatmeal for breakfast and say:

“The Queen of Great Britain eats oatmeal for breakfast every morning. And you will eat."

Is the Queen of Great Britain a nutritionist? It would be more appropriate to tell the child about the beneficial properties of porridge, to help him see the benefits:

“Porridge is very healthy and nutritious, it helps the body become better. If you eat porridge, you will become the strongest among the guys” - an example of the correct argument.

2 – False reason

It is not always possible to correctly establish a cause-and-effect relationship. It is wrong when a false reason appears as an argument.

“You can't do anything because you don't try hard enough! Work harder!”

Instead, it's better to say:

“Let's think together about why the project failed. This way we will avoid failure in the future.”

3 – Look at yourself!

This logical fallacy often pops up in informal communication. Here's an example:

– You don’t know how to count money and you buy all sorts of nonsense!

Instead of mutual accusations, it would be better to answer like this:

“This month I bought necessary things for the family: (listing). Come shopping with me and you will see how much the prices in the store have increased.”

4 – Appeal to the majority

“All our colleagues think so. Are you taking us for fools?

People once believed that whales kept the earth flat. The statement did not become true from universal faith. The crowd is mistaken and is often mistaken. Instead, say:

"I respect your opinion. Let's have a meeting so that you can argue your point of view, and I can express mine. We will make a decision by voting."

5 – Get personal

“Your point of view has no merit because you didn’t go to university.”

Subtext: “You are not smart and educated enough to put forward your pathetic opinion.” Initiative shows a person’s concern; this should be encouraged, not destroyed. Any opinion deserves attention. It is correct to say this:

“Yes, I agree with you here. But here you are wrong, because...”

Always back up your arguments with facts.

Psychology of influence and safe words

Keeping safe words to a minimum will add decisiveness and build trust. How to speak confidently and convincingly, avoiding prohibited words:

Instead of “but”, “and yet”, say “and”.
Instead of “no” - “not now”, “not in this form”, “not like that”.
Forget the words “simple” and “only”. Replace “it's just an idea” with “my initiative.” Don't discount your thoughts.
Instead of “should” and “must”, indicate clear deadlines. Use the word “important”, “main thing”.
Don't say "you should." It is better to use “I recommend you”, “you better do it”.

Remember: don't deny everything. If you want it to be your way, first praise the person for his diligence, idea, etc. Then make your own adjustments.

The main rule of persuasion

The whole essence of persuasion comes down to one thing: you need to show the person that your offer is beneficial to him. If you can clearly describe the benefits for your interlocutor, consider success in your hands.

The matter becomes more complicated when you want to convince the interlocutor of an unprofitable or unprofitable offer. Then the psychology of suggestion and persuasion comes into play.

Structure of a Persuasive Speech

Persuasive speech is capable of attracting attention, convincing the public of the correctness of one’s point of view, becoming a leader in the eyes of people, and inspiring confidence in certain ideas and positions.
It is the process by which a skilled speaker conveys to people the message needed to persuade the public about some aspect, change a certain point of view, or motivate a particular action. The structure of a persuasive speech always implies adherence to several simple but important principles: specificity, focus on the listener, the presence of evidence, control of people’s reactions, motivation, openness.