Section 7. TECHNIQUES IN PERSUASIVE SPEAKING

Focusing

In English, there is a way you can focus key-points so that everyone knows you want them to listen to what you have to say next. For example:

We can’t expect too much too soon.

What we can’t do is expect too much too soon.

I’d like to approach this question from two different angles.

What I’d like to do is approach this question from two different angles.

Rhetorical questions

It is often more interesting to present your ideas as questions rather than direct statements. Questions involve the audience. They also make your speech sound more conversational and create anticipation in the minds of your listeners. For example:

For the fifth year running they've managed to increase sales volume.

So, how did they do it?

The opportunities in Eastern Europe are better now than they've ever been.

So, what are we waiting for?

Sometimes a good way of introducing an emphatic statement is to ask a rhetorical question first:

So, just how big IS the labor market?

……eNORmous.

Notice how the adjective in the question is reinforced with a stronger adjective in the answer. Notice also how the verb and a strong adjective are stressed.

You can make a rhetorical question much more powerful by repeating key words. The following pattern is common:

Statement + Rhetorical Question + Answer

For example:

The fact is that cheap imitations of this company’s leading product are flooding the market. So, what’s the SOLUTION? The SOLUTION is to push for tighter controls.

Dramatic contrasts

Good presenters frequently make use of dramatic contrast to reinforce the point they are making. For example:

Ten years ago we had a reputation for excellence.

Today we’re in danger of losing that reputation.

People are very aware of simple opposites – good and bad, past and present, us and them. And if you can make your point with two strongly opposing ideas, you will immediately get the attention of your audience.

Knock-downs

A popular technique with presenters who want to sound provocative is to carefully build up-a series of points which seem to oppose their main argument and then knock them all down in a single sentence. For example:

Of course, the experts said that a palm-top computer could never succeed. They did market research which showed that people would just see it as a gimmick. They said its memory capacity would be too limited for serious business users. And they did feasibility studies which showed that the keyboard would be too small for even the fingers of a five-year-old!

So how come it sold more than a million units in its first year?

Typical Knock-Downs:

So, how come . . . ……?

The problem is………….

The amazing / stupid thing is……………

But it didn't stop us / them………………

But what I want to know is……………..

Practice Assignments

Task 1. Define the type of the given propositions:

1. Couples should limit their families to one child.

2. Victims of rape are treated as criminals by the judicial system.

3. Bilingual children have an educational advantage.