Page 415 - Between One and Many The Art and Science of Public Speaking

382 Part 4 Contexts for Public Speaking

Organization

Given the preceding framework, we need to talk about the overall framework
you decide on for organizing the content of your persuasive message. Your orga-
nization needs to be suitable to your persuasive purpose and the rhetorical situa-
tion you face. Audience make-up, for example, may suggest some organizational
patterns as more suitable than others.
In Chapter 9 we introduced a number of ways to organize a speech. Four or-
ganizational patterns described there are particularly suited to your persuasive
speeches. The fi rst is the problem–solution pattern, the second is called stock
issues, the third is Monroe’s motivated-sequence pattern, and the fourth is com-
parative advantage.
The problem–solution pattern of organization analyzes a problem in terms of
harm, signifi cance, and cause and proposes a solution that is described, feasible,
and advantageous. Many persuasive topics are about problems we face individu-
ally or as a society. By beginning with a discussion of the problem, the speaker
heightens the audience’s interest but avoids turning off a hostile audience with
a solution they might initially reject. A speech on trying juveniles as adults that
begins with a discussion of the growing gang problem is far more likely to re-
ceive a hearing from a parent’s group than a speech that begins by calling for
locking up 14-year-olds as if they were 18.
The stock issues pattern uses ill, blame, cure, and cost to encourage people to
make changes either in governmental policies or in their own lives. For example,
a speech about cellular phones might identify an ill in terms of the greater risk of
an auto accident when driving while using a cell phone. The blame might be due
to the driver’s divided attention, not just the use of one hand on the phone. Thus
the cure wouldn’t simply be a law requiring the use of hands-free phones (such
as was passed in New York and California), but rather a law that banned use of
phones while driving. The costs of this proposal might be higher law enforce-
ment costs and some inconvenience to the drivers, but the lives saved would be
well worth it.
The third pattern useful for persuasive speaking is Monroe’s motivated-
sequence, a fi ve-step organizational scheme including attention, need, satisfac-
tion, visualization, and action. Because the fi nal step is action, this pattern is
particularly well suited to speeches calling for your audience to act. As should all
good speeches, this type begins by capturing the audience’s attention. Like the
problem–solution pattern, this speech focuses on a problem (called a need) before
proposing its solution (satisfaction). But this pattern goes further by asking the
audience to visualize the satisfaction of the need and then calling on them to act.
Finally, the comparative advantage pattern of organization may best suit your

persuasive purpose. Recall that it is very difficult to persuade people to engage
in wholesale change. Rather than trying to persuade people to completely aban-
don behavior X in favor of behavior Y, you may want to simply show them the
comparative advantage that will accrue from simple and easily implemented
modifi cations in behavior X. Quitting smoking cold turkey is one thing, for ex-
ample, gradually freeing oneself from the addiction is another. The comparative
advantages of the gradual approach include less dramatic symptoms from nico-
tine withdrawal and improved sleep. Thus, a speaker may be more successful
using the comparative advantage organization than the stock issues pattern of
organization.