The Ethics of Public

Speaking and Persuasion

Brian Rogers

Chemical Engineering 4903

Overview

Ethics in Speaking

Persuasion

Arguing Effectively

Organization

Have ethical goals

Employ ethical means

The Ends and The Means

Ethical dilemmas

Professional obligations can createCircumstances can create

The Ends and The Means

A conflict of responsibilities

A choice between “the lesser of two evils”

Professional Obligation

Situations dictate a change

Does the end justify the means?

Circumstances

Are your purposes consistent w/ prevailing norms?

Would you violate your own ethics by speaking out?

Are you willing to stick to your ethical principles?

What are the ethical standards?

Your Ethical Guidelines

Your basic ethical obligation

Tell the truthTake responsibility

Honesty & Accountability

To avoid plagiarism

Give credit where it is due

Cite sources in the speech

Credit when you paraphrase

Honesty & Accountability

Tough penalties for “academic dishonesty”

In your career, you could lose your job and professional respect

The Costs of Plagiarism

Is not expected to be perfectly objective

Provides good arguments, sound reasoning and solid evidence

Remains open to new information

Is well informed and fully prepared

Contributes useful presentations

The Ethical Speaker

Deliberating in Good Faith

Tell the truth, as you see it

Back up your opinions

Accept your burden of proof

Questions of Fact, Value, and Policy

Involve existence, scope or causality

Questions about past / present

Predictions of the future

Require empirical proof: real examples, statistics, and expert testimony

Is That The Truth?

Issues of Fact

Involve what we consider good or bad, right or wrong

Focus on what we believe to be appropriate, legal, ethical or moral

Determine how we should evaluate facts, ideas or actions

Is This Good or Bad?

Issues of Value

Determine our future actions

Deal with how to solve problems

Evaluate options by costs, feasibility, advantages and disadvantages

What Are We Going To Do?

Issues of Policy

Ethical Proof in Persuasive Speaking

Ethos

The audience’s perception of the speaker’s credibility

Qualities of Positive Ethos

Trustworthiness

Competence

Open-Mindedness

Dynamism

Contextual Factors

Characteristics we admire may vary by situation

Some factors may be beyond our control

Context affects ethos positively or negatively

Ethos

Each time you speak, people form impressions of you

Strengthen Your Ethos

Share audience concerns

Cite reputable experts

Use personal experience

Be clear and interesting

Consider different points of view

Deliver with dynamism

Appealing to Audience Emotions

Appealing to Emotions

Fundamental to motivating an audience

Never a substitute for logical arguments and available evidence

Affective Language

Strong language that plays on emotions

Words must be chosen carefully

Identifying Shared Values

Show your audience that you share values

Show how your ideas relate to those values

Use Vivid Detail

Listeners respond to concrete examples better than abstractions

Speakers can reinforce ideas with vivid details

Use Visualization

Helps the audience to “see”

Stirs emotions

Gets audience to think more deeply

Help your audience visualize with a picture

Paint ‘word pictures’

Compare Unfamiliar to Familiar

Complicated and even controversial ideas can seem more familiar, and more acceptable

Ethical Considerations

Avoid deception and manipulation

Recognize and respect power of emotions

Avoid distraction and disorientation

Don’t overwhelm audience

Use emotional appeals to supplement and complement well-reasoned arguments

Constructing a Reasonable Argument

Debatable assertions by the speaker

Takes a side on a controversial matter and invites debate

Claims

Fact

Value

Policy

Claims

Words that indicate our level of confidence

Examples: “possibly”, “probably”, or “beyond any doubt”

Qualifiers

Qualified at a level appropriate to the strength of the reasoning and evidence behind it

A Reasonable Argument

Exceptions to our claim, or conditions under which we no longer hold the claim

“Unless”

Reservations

Use statistics, specific examples or expert testimony or other support

Consider the criteria or standards that support your evaluation

Reflect on the rules, principles or standard we employ in making judgments

Evidence

Quality

Relevancy

Amount

Tests of Evidence

General assumptions that connect evidence to the claim

Some warrants may be accepted by audience, and may be unstated

If a warrant is controversial, it may require backing

Warrants

Advocates of new policies are expected to establish

Need for change

A specific plan

Proof the plan is workable

Burden of Proof

Construction of the Argument

The Forms of Reasoning

Inductive ReasoningMoves from a set of specific examples to a general conclusion

A number of representative examples makes the case

Claims must carefully qualified

Reservations may be needed

Can be strengthened with evidence

Deductive Reasoning

Draws a conclusion about a specific case based on generally accepted premise

Syllogism is a classic example

Usually we reason from qualified premises to probable conclusions

Deductive Reasoning

Premises often already accepted by audience

Speaker may assume the audience will fill in the missing premise

This is “rhetorical syllogism” or enthymeme

Causal Reasoning

From effect to cause, or cause to effect

At the heart of scientific investigation

Rarely simple

Reputable sources are important

Qualified due to complexity

Analogical Reasoning

What is true in one case will be true in another

Literal analogy compares similar examples

Figurative analogy is similar to metaphor; rarely proves anything

Should be qualified

How Patterns of Organization Connect Ideas

Chronological or Sequential

Good for step-by-step process or historical events

Begin with a specific point in time, move ahead or back from there

Spatial

Organizes according to space or physical relationship

Categorical

Arrange by distinct topics

Addresses

types

forms

qualities

aspects

Climactic

Simple to difficult, least to most, neutral to intense

Effective for gaining audience agreement or action

Can also reverse the pattern, from most to least

Cause & Effect

Moves from cause to effect, or effect to cause

Good to explain how an event unfolded

Chronology does not equal cause

Guard against over-simplification

Problem - Solution

Typically used in persuasive speaking

Speaker usually proposes a best solution

Problem - Solution

Reflective Thinking Sequence

Causes & extent of problem?

Effects of problem?

Criteria by which solutions should be judged?

Possible solutions (strengths & weaknesses)

Best solution?

Put into effect how?

Definition & limits of problems

Motivated Sequence

Five step pattern

Arouse

Dissatisfy

Gratify

Visualize

Move

Combines emotional and logical

Convince the audience they can effect change

Narrative Patterns

Use stories to illustrate or reinforce

Use spiraling narrative for drama / climax