This text is suitable for courses in persuasive or public speaking, business and professional speech, advertising,
and professional development. Speaking to Persuade places persuasion at the center of life and urges the importance
of understanding how it operates and how we can effectively employ it. Presenting an attractive balance between
theory and practice, it provides a classical foundation as well as guidelines for contemporary application of speech
as a practical art. Emphasis on critical thinking and the latest research on memory put this book at the forefront.
Table of Contents
I. The Persuasive Perspective
1. The Why's and What's of Persuasion
II. Invention: Preparing to Persuade
2. Thinking About Controversies
3. Discovering Arguments: Using the Common Topics
4. Discovering Arguments: Analyzing and Repairing Credibility
5. Analyzing the Audience
III.Organization and Style: Speech Construction
6. Organizing the Persuasive Speech
7. Reasoning and Refutation
8. Verbal Style in Persuasive Speaking
IV. Memory and Delivery: Speech Presentation
9. Memory - Persuasion in the Head
10. Delivery Decisions
V. Beyond the Basic Speech: Analysis and Adaptation
11. Adapting the Basic Persuasive Speech
12. Evaluating the Persuasive Speech