Which type of speech has the purpose to convince or change peoples perspective in doing something?

Learning Objectives

• Differentiate between speaking to inform and speaking to persuade.
• Watch an informative and persuasive speech.

General Purposes of Speaking

The two general purposes of speeches this section will discuss are speaking to inform and speaking to persuade. Public speaking students will write and deliver these two types of speeches in this class. It is important to understand the differences before we begin our first LIVE speech, the informative speech. While any topic can be informative or persuasive, the difference is in the speaker’s purpose.

To Inform

Simply put, this is about helping audience members acquire information that they do not already possess. The most important characteristic of informative topics is that the goal is to share knowledge. The goal is not to encourage people to use that knowledge in any specific way. When a speaker starts encouraging people to use knowledge in a specific way, they are no longer informing but persuading. Let’s say you are assigned to inform an audience about a new vaccination program. In an informative speech, the purpose of the speech is to explain to your audience what the program is and how it works. If, however, you start encouraging your audience to participate or not in the vaccination program, you are no longer informing them about the program but rather persuading them to do something.

One of the most common mistakes new public speaking students make is to blur the line between informing and persuading. Often times it is difficult for us to just share information without trying to convince others to agree with us or change their behaviors. People are typically opinionated and we like our opinions and want others to agree with us. However, knowledge sharing is an important part of every society. You may be asked to share your knowledge in a class or deliver a presentation to inform colleagues in the workplace. Learning how to deliver informative speeches is a valuable skill.

Example Informative Speech

The following video is an example of an informative speech. Take note of the strategies Andrea Ambam uses to share knowledge about bias in the judicial system. She shares research to support her points. Her opinion is apparent, based on her approach; yet, she does not ask the audience to do anything with the information she shares (a call to action). Additionally, she does not offer a solution to the issue. She simply shares researched information (facts, stats, examples, anecdotes) with her audience.

To Persuade

When we speak to persuade, we attempt to get listeners to embrace a point of view or to adopt a behavior that they may not have done otherwise. While persuasive speaking includes informing the audience about a topic, a persuasive speech is distinguished by the fact that it includes a call to action for the audience to make some change in their behavior or thinking. Persuasion can address behaviors—observable actions on the part of listeners—and it can also address intangible thought processes in the form of attitudes, values, and beliefs.

Behavior change: When the speaker attempts to persuade an audience to change behavior. This may be asking your audience to donate money to a cause, to participate in a recycling program, or to adopt a cat. In these examples, the speaker is asking the audience to do something.

Attitude change: An attitude is defined as an individual’s general predisposition toward something as being good or bad, right or wrong, negative or positive. If you believe that dress codes on college campuses are a good idea, you want to give a speech persuading others to adopt a positive attitude toward campus dress codes.

Value change: A value refers to an individual’s perception of the usefulness, importance, or worth of something. We can value a college education, we can value technology, and we can value freedom. Values, as a general concept, are fairly ambiguous and tend to be very lofty ideas. Ultimately, what we value in life actually motivates us to engage in a range of behaviors. For example, if you value protecting the environment, you may recycle more of your trash than someone who does not hold this value. If you value family history and heritage, you may be more motivated to spend time with your older relatives and ask them about their early lives than someone who does not hold this value.

Belief change: Beliefs are propositions or positions that an individual holds as true or false without positive knowledge or proof. Core beliefs are beliefs that people have actively engaged in and created over the course of their lives (e.g., belief in a higher power, belief in extraterrestrial life forms). Dispositional beliefs the other hand, are beliefs that people have not actively engaged in; they are judgments based on related subjects, which people make when they encounter a proposition. Persuading audiences to change core beliefs is more difficult than persuading audiences to change dispositional beliefs. If you find a topic related to dispositional beliefs, using your speech to help listeners alter their processing of the belief is a realistic possibility. But as a novice public speaker, you are probably best advised to avoid core beliefs. Although core beliefs often appear to be more exciting and interesting than dispositional ones, you are very unlikely to alter anyone’s core beliefs in a five- to ten-minute classroom speech.

Example Persuasive Speech

The following video is an example of a persuasive speech. Ron Finley uses persuasive strategies to convince the audience that planting community gardens can have a positive impact on health and hunger in South Central LA.

We will be creating and delivering both an informative and persuasive speech to a live audience this semester. Be sure to have a solid understanding of the differences between the two.

Key Takeaways

• Speaking to inform is sharing knowledge with your audience.
• Speaking to persuade is attempting to convince your audience to change a behavior, attitude, value, or belief.
• Any topic can be informative or persuasive. The difference is in the speaker’s purpose and approach.

References

Atwood, C. G. (2009). Knowledge management basics. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.

Hendriks, P. (1999). Why share knowledge? The influence of ICT on the motivation for knowledge sharing. Knowledge and Process Management, 6, 91–100.

O’Hair, D., Stewart, R., & Rubenstein, H. (2007). A speaker’s guidebook: Text and reference (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins.

Roye, S. (2010). Austan Goolsbee a funny stand-up comedian? Not even close… [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.realfirststeps.com/1184/austan-goolsbee-funny-standup-comedian-close