Exam 3 Study Guide - Lecture notes 12-17 PDF

Preview

Summary

Study Guide for Chapters 12-17 for Public Comm...

Description

Exam 3 Study Guide: Chapters 12-17 Chapter 12: Claim: a generalization that remains to be proven with reasoning and evidence Skepticism: the critical thinking process of inquiry whereby claims are evaluated by engaging in rigorous examination of evidence ● Are not of one mind on controversial issues Probability Model of Skepticism 1. Possibility a. Could happen, but not likely ex. Getting an A in this class even though we fail speeches 2. Plausibility a. Making a logical case, this alone is a basis for inquiry when substantial evidence is lacking, but it’s insufficient basis for an acceptance of a claim b. Shouldn’t use plausibility alone to make any conclusions 3. Probability a. What are the odds? Strongest speech arguments should be both plausible and highly probable b. Logical and have a lot of good evidence c. Law of truly large numbers: with large enough numbers it’s likely to happen d. Avoid making speech that rests solely on extraordinary examples 4. Certainty a. Without exception True Belief: a willingness to accept claims without solid reasoning or valid evidence ● Close minded system of thought ● Don't want to change mind even if a mountain of evidence is against it ● Difference between this and true belief: t he process used to arrive at and maintain a belief ● Don’t use true belief to build a speech ● 6 dangers of true belief ○ Decline in scientific literacy and critical thinking ○ Inability to make informed decisions ○ Monetary losses by substantial number of people ○ Diversion of society’s resources that could be used to solve problems

○ Promotion of simplistic answers to complex problems ○ Creation of false hopes and unrealistic expectations Process of True Believing ● Confirmation Bias: tendency to seek information that supports one’s beliefs ● Rationalization of disconfirmation: inventing superficial, alternative explanations for contradictory evidence ● Burden of Proof: it is the speaker’s obligation to present compelling reasoning and evidence to support your claim → asking the audience to accept your claims without giving them enough evidence is shifting the burden of proof which is inappropriate but common among true believers ○ An extraordinary claim requires extraordinary proof Cynicism: nay-saying, fault finding and ridiculing ● Do not seek truth, just their next target

Chapter 13 Argument: implicitly or explicitly presents a claim and provides support with reasoning and evidence ● Basic structure of an argument is syllogism: contains a major premise (general statement), minor premise ( specific statement) and conclusion Reasoning: the thought process of drawing conclusions from evidence Evidence: consists of statistics, testimony, credible sources and verifiable facts Tomlin Structure of Argument 1. Claim: generalization that remains to be proven 2. Grounds: reasons to accept claim and evidence 3. Warrant: reasoning that links the grounds of the claim, usually implied 4. Backing: the reasons and relevant evidence that support the warrant 5. Rebuttal: refute things that diminish your claim 6. Qualifier: degree of truth to the claim Fallacy: any error in reasoning and evidence that may deceive your audience ● Non sequitur fallacy: evidence has no relation to your topic ● Ad hominem fallacy: personal attack on the messenger → is irrelevant to the message ● Ad populum fallacy: basing a claim on a popular opinion

Credibility: refers to believability of evidence as determined by consistency and accuracy ● Consistency: what a source of information says and does are the same ● Accuracy: evidence has no error Bias Source: look for a source that has no personal stake in the outcome ● Quote experts only in the field you are talking about: No general experts Sufficiency: must  use a random sample: portion of the target population, self-selected samples does not work Margin of error: measure of the degree of sampling error accounted for by imperfections in sample selection Vividness Effect: dramatic or outrageous event distorts our perceptions of the facts Inductive Reasoning: drawing conclusions from specific instances → can lead to hasty generalizations Causal Reasoning: when we see events and infer what caused them ● Can lead to invalid assumptions ● Correlation: consistent relationship between two variables ● Variable: anything that can change → correlation DOES NOT cause causation ○ Correlations suggest possible caustations but they alone are not insufficient reasons to claim probable causations ● Analogical reasoning: alleges that because two things closely resemble each other they should be viewed in similar ways ○ False analogies: occur when significant point or points of difference exists despite some superficial similarities between the 2 things

Chapter 14 Informative Speeches ● Want to teach listeners ● No call to action ● Types of Informative Speeches ○ Reports: brief, concise and informative → make sure to have your facts straight and that all information presented is accurate ○ Explanations: concerned with deep understanding of complex concepts for listeners that are probably unfamiliar with the topic ○ Demonstration: that shows audience how to use an object or do an activity ○ Narratives

○ Speeches that compare balancing Pros and Cons ● Guidelines for giving informative Speeches ○ Be informative: tell audience what they do not know ○ Adapt to audience: topic choice and knowledge base ○ Avoid information overload ○ Tell your story: narrative tips

Chapter 15 Persuasive Speeches ● Persuasion: comm process of converting, modifying or maintaining the attitudes and behaviors of others ○ Attitudes that are formed from direct experience usually conform more closely to actual behavior than those formed more indirectly ○ More directly you can make audience feel they are affected by the problem, the more the chance is that they will change their behavior ○ Despite best intentions the attitudes and behaviors will be inconsistent because consistency may require too great an effort to perform the behavior ○ Elaboration Likelihood model: persuasion is an overarching explanation for how listeners cope with a lot of messages ■ Central route: requires deep thought and interpretation ■ Peripheral route: mindless, little attention and thought ● Which route people use when listening to persuasive messages depends on  motivation and ability ● attitude change produced by the central route tends to be more persistent, resistant to change and predictive of behavior than attitude change produced by the peripheral route ● Proposition: primary, overriding claim for a persuasive speech ○ Provides foundation for entire speech ○ Prop. of fact: alleges a truth ○ Prop of value: calls for judgement that assesses the worth of an idea, object or practice ○ Prop of policy: calls for change for how problems are handled ● Monroe's Motivated Sequence ○ Attention: grab audience attention maybe with a short story ○ Need: why this topic matters, what is needed to be changed ○ Satisfaction: by changing this, this is what the outcome would be

○ Visualization: show how this would make a difference → give examples ○ Action: call for action to audience ● Individualistic Cultures: emphasize personal autonomy and competitiveness, privacy, individual liberties and toleration of nonconformity ● Collectivist Cultures: emphasize group harmony, cooperation, individual sacrifice

Chapter 16 Persuasive Arguments: Quality and Quantity ● Ethos: enhancing the speaker ○ Use all strong arguments if you have enough time ○ Use both narratives and statistics as your main strategy, using both forms of evidence ● Pathos: emotional appeal ○ Appeal to many different emotions ○ Fear appeals: the more fear that is aroused in listeners, the more vulnerable they feel and more likely they will be convinced ○ Don’t always work… ■ Audience must feel vulnerable ■ A clear, specific recommendation for avoiding or lessening the fear is important ■ Recommendation must be perceived as effective ■ Listeners must perceive that they can perform the actions recommended ■ Fear appeals are more persuasive when combined with high quality arguments ■ Strong fear appeals may backfire if these conditions are not met ○ Arousing anger in your audience can be persuasive but it can also backfire ● Emotional Appeals ○ Are ethical as long as they compliment the central route to persuasion (skeptics) ● Framing: the influence that wording has on our perception of choices ○ Especially powerful with those who initially view the issue as being promoted as one of low importance ● Cognitive Dissonance: when someone feels inconsistencies between their attitude and behavior

○ You need to awaken dissonance in your listeners in order for persuasion to occur ● Contrast effect: listeners are more likely to accept bigger second request or offer when when contrasted with a much bigger initial request or offer ○ Sometimes referred to as the door in face strategy ○ Contrast effects works well when presenting a solution to a problem ● Two sided persuasive messages are more effective than one sided messages in convincing listeners to change their attitudes ○ Only if you provide effective refutation of opposing arguments ○ 4 steps to refutation ■ State the opposing argument: ■ State your reaction to the opposing argument ■ Support your response with reasoning and evidence ■ Indicate what effect, if any, opposing arguments have had on the strength of your case

Chapter 17 Tribute Speeches: praise or celebrate a person ● Toast: brief tribute to a person or couple, usually accompanied by alcohol ● Roast: purposefully humorous, but doing it with love towards the honoree ○ Humor is the key ingredient ○ Keep the tone positive ○ Be brief ○ Finish on a heartfelt, serious note ● Honoring the departing: light-hearted and should emphasize contributions and notable qualities that everyone will miss ○ Don't be afraid to take a small risk and give a speech that tries something different ● Eulogy: delivered in praise of someone who has died ○ Should show respect and closure but don't have to be somber ○ Opening should capture attention and set the theme ○ Organizational pattern is typically a narrative ○ Strive for emotional control ○ Be balanced and realistic in your praise ○ Relate what you will most remember and miss about the person ○ Finish strong ● Speech of Introduction: prepares an audience for a speech to be given by a featured speaker

● ● ●

●

○ Want to create enthusiasm for the speaker but remember you are not the main focus ○ The last statement should ask the audience to welcome the speaker Speeches of Presentation: must communicate to the audience assembled the meaning and importance of the award Speeches of Acceptance: should be appreciative, humble and genuine ○ Do not say “i didn't think i should win” Commencement Addresses: inspirational speech that occurs at graduation ceremonies ○ Usually have a serious message to impart to graduates but the best such addresses blend abundant humor with a serious theme ○ Inspirational commencement addresses should appeal to our better nature After Dinner Speeches: presentation that occurs at a formal gathering of some group ○ Not always presented after dinner ○ Meant to entertain → can be serious topic but MUST have an amusing approach ○ Still not stand up comedy ○ Should have a central theme and serious point relevant to the theme ○ Occasion and makeup of audience may also dictate certain topic choices...