Stephen Lucas Persuasive Speech Summary

Stephen Lucas spends two chapters discussing the importance of persuasion. The first chapter, chapter 16, discusses what persuasive speeches are; the second chapter, chapter 17, discusses the methods of persuasion. Persuasion is used in much more than just speeches; persuasion is used in everyday life. This journal is about the methods of persuasion. To begin this chapter Stephen Lucas asks the question what makes a speaker persuasive? Many people have tried to answer this question but the man who came the closest to answering this was Aristotle. He created what is called the rhetorical triangle that uses ethos, pathos, and logos. But for the chapter Lucas focuses “the audience perceiving the speaker as having high credibility, they won over by the speaker’s evidence, they are convinced by the speaker’s reasoning, and their emotions are touched by the speaker’s ideas or language” (Lucas, 2012. Pg. 326). Lucas discusses first building credibility. Building credibility is broken up in to smaller …show more content…
Casual reasoning is a part of fallacies and should be avoided if possible in a persuasive speech. Lucas gives an example of casual reasoning it is “There is a patch of ice on the sidewalk. You slip, fall, and break your arm” (Lucas, 2012 pg. 337. This is casual reasoning because one often blames themselves. One of the most complex aspects of giving a speech is the ethics around giving a speech. Lucas states “There is no question that emotional appeals can be abused by unscrupulous speakers for detestable causes. But emotional appeals can also be wielded by honorable speakers for noble causes.” (Lucas, 2012 pg. 345). Lucas reminds the readers that the ethical line will not always be clearly seen, so speakers must be extremely careful. The ethical line can be especially tricky in emotional appeals. This is because different countries have different views on certain