Page 129 - Between One and Many The Art and Science of Public Speaking

96 Part 1 Foundations

Basically, it says if you can fool enough of the people, no need to worry about
fooling all of them.
The authors have never thought much of the recommendation to present only
one side of an issue. What’s more, we now have research on our side. This re-
search, which combined the fi ndings of more than 25 studies done over the past
four decades, suggests that speakers should use a two-sided persuasive message
regardless of the audience’s level of education. Specifi cally, the most effective
persuasive strategy is to present both sides of a controversial issue along with
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a refutation of the opposing point of view. If you think about it, this makes
good sense. In general, your audience will have heard or will eventually hear
the other side of the story. What does it do to the audience’s perception of your
credibility if they believe they’ve not been told the whole truth? Two-sided pre-
sentations are not only more ethical, they are also more effective. We discuss the
issue of “message sidedness” in more detail in Chapter 14.

Inducing Fear

Speakers have used fear as a motivational tool throughout history. When used
in moderation by a credible source, contemporary research tells us that fear ap-
peals can influence what people think and how they behave. There is nothing
wrong with using reasonable fear to infl uence people. For example, raising the
specter of skin cancer to encourage sun-safe behavior uses fear to save lives. Used
ethically, fear appeals are simply another rhetorical device speakers can build
into their messages.
The research also shows, however, that when people are excessively fearful
they do not always think clearly or reason critically. Thus they are more suscep-
tible to believing false claims and half-truths spoken by speakers who know they
are vulnerable in this regard. Such behavior is clearly unethical, but the practice
of inducing fear to make people compliant is also quite common.
As Professor Barry Glassner documents in his remarkable book, The Culture
of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things, we are being made unneces-
sarily fearful for our personal safety by two primary sources: news media and
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politicians. Local TV news media devote far more coverage to violent crimes
and accidents than to any other topic. This trend gives rise to the impression
that our local communities pose a greater threat to our personal safety than they
actually do. During election cycles, politicians exploit this false impression by
emphasizing the promise to be “tough on crime.”
We think speakers should use fear appeals only when there is a genuine risk
of harm. What constitutes a genuine risk may be debatable, but speakers should
build fear appeals into their messages only after a legitimate, evidence-based
debate has been held. To do otherwise is unethical.

Tips and Tactics
Ethical Guidelines for Speakers 30

• Provide truthful, relevant, and suffi cient information to allow audience mem-
bers to make informed choices.
• Present “good reasons,” not just those that may work. Appeal to the best, not
the worst, in people.