Basics of Persuasive Speaking
Which of the following is an instance of persuasive speaking?
A) a president of a company presenting an award to an outstanding employee
B) a union representative urging management to avoid a strike by raising wages
C) a personnel manager defining employee benefits at a meeting of workers
D) a marketing manager explaining a new product to the company's sales force
E) a finance officer reporting sales figures to the board of directors
B) a union representative urging management to avoid a strike by raising wages
According to your textbook, the following statement is an example of what type of fallacy?
"If you let the postal service eliminate Saturday delivery, then it's only a matter of time until there's no mail delivery at all."
A) bandwagon
B) slippery slope
C) appeal to tradition
D) red herring
E) invalid analogy
B) slippery slope
What are 3 basic types of supporting materials?
a) examples, statistics, and graphics
b) visual aids, statistics, and bibliography
c) bibliography, testimony, and examples
d) examples, statistics, and testimony
d) examples, statistics, and testimony
Speakers who explain their expertise on the speech topic are likely to reduce their credibility with the audience.
A) True
B) False
B) False
What is a connotative meaning?
The meaning suggested by the associations or emotions triggered by a word or phrase.
"To persuade my audience that genetically altered crops pose hazards to human health" is a specific purpose statement for a persuasive speech on a question of fact.
A) True
B) False
A) True
The ad hominem fallacy
A) attacks the person rather than dealing with the real issue in dispute.
B) assumes that complex events have only a single cause.
C) claims that because something is popular, it is therefore correct.
D) Both assumes that complex events have only a single cause and claims that because something is popular, it is therefore correct.
E) All of these answers are correct.
A) attacks the person rather than dealing with the real issue in dispute.
The middle number in a sorted, ascending or descending list of numbers is called
a) the mean
b) the median
c) the average number
d) the coefficient
b) the median
Appeals to audience emotions such as fear, compassion, guilt, or pride are the kinds of appeals that Aristotle referred to as
A) demos.
B) ethos.
C) pathos.
D) logos.
E) kairos.
C) pathos.
"Fit as a fiddle" is an example of a metaphor.
a) True
b) False
b) True (simile is a type of metaphor)
"To persuade my audience that the use of mobile communication devices by drivers—even when they are hands-free—is contributing to an increase in automobile accidents" is a specific purpose statement for a persuasive speech on a question of
A) opinion.
B) policy.
C) fact.
D) value.
E) attitude.
C) fact.
In her persuasive speech, Kari wants to generate emotional appeal to help convince her classmates to sign up as organ donors. According to your textbook, how can Kari create this emotional appeal?
A) develop vivid examples
B) speak with sincerity and conviction
C) use emotional language
D) both develop vivid examples and speak with sincerity and conviction.
E) All of these answers are correct
E) All of these answers are correct
Situational audience analysis includes:
a) group membership, racial, ethnic, and cultural background and gender and sexual orientation of the audience
b) group membership, physical setting, and size of the audience
c) size of the audience, physical setting, disposition toward the topic, the speaker, and the occasion
d) racial, ethnic, and cultural background, size of the audience, and disposition toward the topic, the speaker, and the occasion
c) size of the audience, physical setting, disposition toward the topic, the speaker, and the occasion
What error in reasoning is exemplified by the following statement?
"The New England Journal of Medicine has discovered that countries that consume the most chocolate have produced over time the greatest number of Nobel Prize winners. Therefore, if you want to increase your chances of winning a Nobel Prize, you should eat plenty of chocolate."
A) circular thinking
B) invalid analogy
C) false cause
D) hasty generalization
E) faulty deduction
C) false cause
The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas, usually in parallel structure is called
a) parallelism
b) alliteration
c) antithesis
d) metaphor
c) antithesis
Monroe's motivated sequence is most appropriate for persuasive speeches on questions of value.
a) True
b) False
b) False
Monroe's motivated sequence is tailor-made for policy speeches that seek immediate action.
Using evidence is especially critical in a persuasive speech when your target audience
A) is apathetic about your point of view.
B) is unsure of your point of view.
C) is neutral toward your point of view.
D) supports your point of view.
E) opposes your point of view.
E) opposes your point of view.
Encyclopedias, yearbooks, biographical aids, and quotation books are all examples of
a) bibliographical aids.
b) special indexes
c) reference works.
d) general indexes.
e) research guides.
c) reference works.
According to your textbook, persuasive speakers have an ethical obligation to
A) make sure their goals are ethically sound.
B) present their evidence fairly and accurately.
C) both make sure their goals are ethically sound and learn about all sides of an issue.
D) learn about all sides of an issue.
E) All the answers are correct.
E) All the answers are correct.
A speech of presentation is
a) a speech or talk in which a new product, idea, or piece of work is shown and explained to an audience.
b) a speech that presents someone a gift, an award, or some other form of public recognition
c) a speech that pays tribute to a person, a group of people, an institution, or an idea
d) a speech that introduces a main speaker to the audience
b) a speech that presents someone a gift, an award, or some other form of public recognition
The final step in Monroe's motivated sequence is to visualize how much better things will be if the speaker's plan is adopted.
A) true
B) false
B) false
The last step is to call for action.
Monroe's motivated sequence:
1) Attention
2) Need
3) Satisfaction
4) Visualization
5) Action
According to your textbook, people are persuaded by a speaker because
A) They perceive the speaker as having high credibility.
B) They are won over by the speaker’s evidence.
C) All of these answers are correct.
D) They are convinced by the speaker’s reasoning.
E) Both they are convinced by the speaker’s reasoning and they are won over by the speaker’s evidence.
C) All of these answers are correct.
What are the three criteria discussed in your textbook for assessing the soundness of documents found on the Internet?
a) authorship, sponsorship, and recency
b) recency, accuracy, and graphics
c) authorship, objectivity, and recency
d) creativity, reliability, and authorship
a) authorship, sponsorship, and recency
According to your textbook, the most important question to ask when assessing analogical reasoning in a persuasive speech is
A) whether the analogy avoids the fallacy of post hoc, ergo propter hoc.
B) whether there are enough analogies to support the general conclusion.
C) whether the analogical principle is supported by the major premise.
D) whether the two cases being compared are essentially alike.
E) whether the analogy assumes that complex events have only a single cause.
D) whether the two cases being compared are essentially alike.
"Nothing great is accomplished without cooperation, compromise, and common cause."
This is an example of...
a) metaphor
b) parallelism
c) alliteration
d) repetition
c) alliteration