Page 183 - Between One and Many The Art and Science of Public Speaking

150 Part 2 Between Audience and Speaker

est of well-informed audience members. In any event, you want to be sure you
are the best-informed person in the room. It’s embarrassing, to say the least, to
be corrected on the facts by a member of your audience.

Beliefs

We all hold certain beliefs about a wide variety of topics. A belief is “an asser-
belief 21
tion about the properties or characteristics of an object.” Some beliefs are rela-
An assertion about the
tively obvious and undeniable. For example, we all (presumably) share a belief
properties or characteris-
that the earth is round and revolves around the sun. On the other hand, some
tics of an object.
beliefs are controversial—for instance, those concerning life after death, abor-
tion, and, as you can see in Exhibit 6.2, evolution. When you are dealing with
matters on which people hold beliefs different from yours, you face a serious
obstacle. You must either change their relevant beliefs or convince them that
such beliefs are not relevant and not necessarily in opposition to your own point
of view.
Convincing her congressman, who had strong beliefs on the subject, to
change his anti-gun control stand proved impossible for Carolyn McCarthy. So,
rather than trying to move his position through speech, she used her newfound
public voice to move him out of offi ce. Simply put, all speakers must carefully
choose their battles. That requires that you learn as soon as possible whether
you have even the slightest chance to engage your audience positively on your
topic.
Social psychologist Milton Rokeach pointed out that some beliefs are more
22
primitive beliefs resistant to change than others. Primitive beliefs, also known as type A
Those beliefs learned beliefs, are learned by direct contact with the object of belief and reinforced by
by direct contact with unanimous social consensus. A primitive belief would be that “death is inevi-
the object of belief and table.” Type B, or zero consensus, beliefs are based on direct experience but do
reinforced by unanimous not require social support. These beliefs are also very resistant to change. For
social consensus (also example, “I like myself” is a type B belief; it is not reinforceable by social con-
known as type A beliefs). sensus. Together, type A and B beliefs are core beliefs, which are very resistant
to change.
central beliefs
The next two types of beliefs are known as central beliefs and are still
Beliefs based directly or
diffi cult to change. Type C beliefs are authority beliefs. For example, beliefs in
indirectly on authority.
the truth of the Bible or Torah or Qur’an would be a type C belief. Type Ds are
derived beliefs, based on authorities’ beliefs. For example, Muslims who believe
they should abstain from drinking alcohol and eating pork are said to hold de-

rived beliefs. Changing a type D belief requires an understanding of the type
C belief from which it is derived. Thus a speaker might point to scripture to try
to change a believer’s views on a religious matter, but such an argument would
have no impact on an atheist or a practitioner of a different religion.
The least central type of beliefs, type E, are called peripheral beliefs. For
peripheral beliefs
example, someone might like rap music, whereas another detests it. These are
The least central type
the most inconsequential of beliefs. Exhibit 6.3 illustrates the relationship among
of beliefs, the easiest to
these levels of belief. Clearly, your chances of changing an audience member’s
change.
core beliefs are far less than changing central or peripheral beliefs.
How can you learn what people believe? One way is simply to ask. In a speech
about cell phone safety, for example, one student asked for a show of hands on
how many of her classmates owned cell phones and how many used them while