Discussion # 1 11/16

Response to Reading Ch. 15 & 16

Chapter 15
Arguments are important in successfully persuading your audience to accept the claim you are making in your speech. Therefore, your claim as well as the evidence you are presenting to support it should be clear and relevant to your claim. Chapter 15 gives some insight about fallacies and irrelevance in speech claims and evidence. There are many different kinds of fallacies that exist. Here are a few that the book defines:

Fallacies in Claim
False dilemma - This is when the claim tries to draw a conclusion based on two extreme situations (the either-or thinking).
Begging the question - This is when the claim itself states that the argument one is making is true.
Slippery slope - This is when the claim draws an illogical connection between an event that has already occurred and one that will inevitably occur due to the first event.
Ad ignorantium - This is when the claim deems something to be true because it hasn't been proven false yet.

Fallacies in Evidence
Red herring - When evidence provided for a claim is unrelated and used to distract the audience.
Ad populum - When evidence to prove the truth of a claim is based on popular consent.
Appeal to tradition - When evidence to prove the truth of a claim is based on tradition.
Comparative evidence - Inaccurate or irrelevant use of statistics.

Chapter 16
Different kinds of speeches can call for different styles and methods used to successfully send a message to the audience. For instance, how you write the intro to an introductory speech versus one to a persuasive speech will be similar (as they both will introduce the main points and thesis) but will also be different due to the starkly different purposes of each. Presentations can be done in large groups (making keynotes at a conference) or in front of small groups (as in round-table discussions). Speeches can be tributes and eulogies, nominations and classroom presentations. Whatever the purpose may be, all speeches are made of the same fundamental components. And as long as you pay attention to those components your speech will always be successful.