Aristotles Favorite Topic How to Use Your Audiences Point of View Gain the High Ground People often pitch an argument that sounds persuasive to themselves but not to their listeners ID: 572997
Download Presentation The PPT/PDF document "Gain the High Ground" is the property of its rightful owner. Permission is granted to download and print the materials on this web site for personal, non-commercial use only, and to display it on your personal computer provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright notices contained in the materials. By downloading content from our website, you accept the terms of this agreement.
Slide1
Gain the High Ground
Aristotle’s Favorite Topic
How to Use Your Audience’s Point of ViewSlide2
Gain the High Ground
“People often pitch an argument that sounds persuasive to themselves, but not to their listeners.”
-Sympathy, which is very important in argument by emotion, is also important in argument by logic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZBPoRwog00Slide3
Gain the High Ground
In deliberative argument, you need to convince your audience that the choice you offer is the most advantageous…
…to the advantage of the audience, that is, not you.The advantageous is an outcome that gives the audience what it values.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSca1EnBNJASlide4
Gain the High Ground
“Aristotle maintained that the person most affected by a decision makes the best judge of it.”
“The diner is more qualified to judge a dish than the chef.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQjsmbDxKE8Slide5
Gain the High Ground
The example of child who doesn’t want to eat her oatmeal.
How can you convince a child to do what they don’t want to do…for their own good?You have to offer something to the child’s advantage. Make eating it advantageous to her.Slide6
Gain the High Ground
“Many debates divide between morals and the advantageous. In politics, the advantageous usually wins in the long run (statecraft is a selfish art). If you believe in military action to depose a violent dictator, for example, argue the morals of your side; but spend more time arguing how your country would benefit. You’re more likely to win your point.”Slide7
Gain the High Ground
“Babbling” is what Aristotle calls an arguer’s tendency to repeat himself over and over. This reveals the bedrock of your audience’s opinion.
The example of voting and rising taxes.“An unpersuadable audience tends to repeat the same rationale over and over.”Slide8
Gain the High Ground
“Before you begin an argument, first determine what your audience is thinking.”
“The common sense of your audience is square one—the beginning point of your argument.”Slide9
Gain the High Ground
“To shift people’s point of view, start from their position, not yours.”
In rhetoric, this is called a commonplace.…a viewpoint your audience holds in common.Use it as your argument’s jumping-off point.Slide10
Gain the High Ground
-Behavior is controlled more by your environment than your willpower
.
-Being interesting
comes from being
interested
.
-Conflict can be healthy.
- It's not all about intelligence.Slide11
Gain the High Ground
“We equate commonplace with cliché, but the term once had a broader connotation.”
“The rhetorical commonplace is a short-form expression of common sense or public opinion.”“Commonplaces represent beliefs or rules of thumb, not facts.”Slide12
Gain the High Ground
A commonplace must be ‘about’ something…
“I’m hungry.” X“When I’m hungry, I eat right away.” OSlide13
Gain the High Ground
“A commonplace takes advantage of the way humans process information.”
“It’s an argument shortcut that skips what prevailing wisdom already agrees with.”
“The early bird gets the worm” vs. “People who get out of bed…”Slide14
Gain the High Ground
“Topic” is Greek for “place.” (topos).
“Early to bed and early to rise; makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”“A penny saved is a penny earned.” Slide15
Gain the High Ground
“Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.”
“A friend in need is a friend indeed!”
“Speak little, do much.”
“Fish and Visitors stink in 3 days.”Slide16
Gain the High Ground
Filmmakers use commonplaces to communicate information about characters without excess dialog…
For example, stubble and a glass of whiskey connote an alcoholic.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpvQoXFtWqwhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htRHj3tyYyohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJR1H5tf5wEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jZiKFLL6MISlide17
Gain the High Ground
“Rhetorical labeling is all about commonplaces. If you can define an issue in language that is familiar and comfortable to your audience, you will capture the higher ground.”
Remember—commonplaces are rooted in specific contexts. They are not universal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_CWBjyIERYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTuClB9Xh6w
http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/anyone-lived-pretty-how-townSlide18
Gain the High Ground
Politicians use commonplaces in naming legislation…for political purposes.
“No Child Left Behind” “Operation Iraqi Freedom” “Healthy Forces Initiative” Slide19
Gain the High Ground
“Commonplaces help define our peculiar culture and our identity as enlightened twenty-first century citizens.”
The Spartans would have balked at “No child left behind.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v97o90bnUVsSlide20
Gain the High Ground
Consider the commonplaces “pro-life” and “pro-choice”.
“Commonplaces are powerful weapons. Do not aim them at your foot.”Slide21
Gain the High Ground
“To persuade an audience, it helps to know the commonplaces it already uses.”
“Listen for the commonplaces.”
For example, if volunteer work is referred to as a ‘journey’.Slide22
Gain the High Ground
***TERM***
Anadiplosis— a rhetorical device in which a writer or speaker uses a word near the end of the clause and then repeats that word to begin the next clause. Anadiplosis is used to bring attention to a specific thing or concept.“She will stand her ground, and that ground is...” It builds one thought on top of another by taking the last word of a clause and using it to begin the next clause.Slide23
Gain the High Ground
For example,
“For want of a shoe the horse was lost; for want of a rider the battle was lost…”
“It turns your argument into an unstoppable juggernaut of logic.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91_G8iaokk8Slide24
Gain the High Ground…
Try this before a job interview—
When you do your research on a prospective employer, don’t just delve into facts and history. Google the CEO and write down the catchwords he or she uses.Slide25
Gain the High Ground…
“Commonplaces are the sorts of things everybody knows.”
“When you stop hearing one, you know that the common ground of public opinion is beginning to shift.”
“Don’t switch horses midstream” and the second Gulf War.Slide26
Gain the High Ground…
“Starting with the Renaissance, students kept commonplace books—collections of practical wisdom that they could use in arguments.”
“Rhetoricians taught how to organize and use the material”Thomas Jefferson kept one all his life.Slide27
Gain the High Ground…
In the 1960s, the ethos was “It’s your thing…do what you want to do!”
But, as time wore on, it became about values…again.
“When commonplaces clash, arguments begin.”Slide28
Gain the High Ground…
The Advantageous –what is best for the audience
The Commonplace—boiled-down public opinionBabbling—Repetition is probably a commonplaceThe Commonplace Label—Apply a ‘commonplace’ label. Establish ‘Us’ and ‘Them’.The Rejection—Listen to the language of rejection; spot the commonplace; use it laterSlide29
Lost in Translation…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiQnH450hPM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gjiQwh1p6Mhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i86FbeyKK1Uhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGvDCmuDKKE