COMM 112 Persuasive Speaking

Lecture Hours: 4
Credits: 4

Prepares students to research, organize, and deliver persuasive speeches. Focuses on the ethics of persuasion and crafting speeches for specific audiences. Covers analysis persuasive speeches, media messages, and other forms of persuasion in different arenas, including advertising, business, and politics.

Prerequisite: Placement into WR 115; or completion of WR 090 with a grade of C or better; or consent of instructor.
Student Learning Outcomes:

Research a persuasive speech using academically appropriate source material.
Organize a persuasive speech so that an audience can understand key arguments including evidence, reasoning, and conclusions.
Use appropriate strategies to effectively craft and ethical, persuasive, and responsible speech for a specific audience.
Critically evaluate persuasive messages in speeches, the media, and other forms of communication.
Demonstrate an ability to identify fallacies of logic and assess the relative strength of logical proofs employed in persuasive speeches.

Additional Statewide General Education Outcomes

Engage in ethical communication processes that accomplish goals.
Respond to the needs of diverse audiences and contexts.
Build and manage relationships.

Content Outline

Persuasive Speaking
- Research
- Organizational speech patterns, such as motivated sequence, pro/con, and problem-solution
- Outline
- Delivery
- Ethics
- Audience analysis
Augmentation
- Logical proofs
- Fallacies
- Stock issues for fact, value, and policy
- Strategies for engaging specific audiences
Analyzing Persuasion
- Visual images
- Media messages
- Advertising strategies
- Business strategies
- Political strategies