Page 429 - Between One and Many The Art and Science of Public Speaking

lying on the road one day helpless, comatose. The cops would not care. The people in the
emergency room that pick you up will not care. They will just know that you are a patient for
them. The people from the insurance companies, assuming that they even give you a check,
they won’t care. But I will. Because the facts are here, the truth is here, the knowledge is here!
All I ask is, let’s get together—let’s make that informed decision. Because the only true high,
the only true buzz is what we get by the power of choice, the power of the informed decision.
Think about it. Choose well, choose wisely. Thank you.

Note: This speech was transcribed from a videotape of the speech, delivered on December 1, 2006, at
California State University, Chico.

Audience and Context

Arjun lets his audience know from the outset that he isn’t going to recommend
abstinence from alcohol, a persuasive goal he knows is unrealistic. Instead, he
wants his audience to think about the rewards and punishments typically associ-
ated with drinking. Thus, he describes why people like to drink, even though
they may suffer physically and psychologically afterwards. Knowing that he
cannot convince people to avoid drinking altogether, his purpose is to persuade
the audience that they should choose to drink or not drink based on whether the
reward truly exceeds the punishment.

Management of Audience Perceptions

If you watch Arjun speak, you cannot help but be impressed by the delivery of
his content. The text alone, however, shows that Arjun used a variety of means
to establish credibility and similarity with his audience. Arjun used each of the
types of evidence we discussed in this chapter. He used his personal experience
and that of friends, fi rst-order data, to show that he had fi rsthand knowledge
about his topic. He also quoted experts, second-order data, to support the claims
he made about alcohol’s positive and negative sides. Finally, he used statistics on
the subject, third-order data, to further bolster his credibility.
Arjun also didn’t simply assume that he would be perceived as similar to
his audience. As a result, his speech is peppered with anecdotal information
that suggests without directly telling his audience that he is personally famil-
iar with hangovers and the feelings of guilt that can follow a night of drinking.
This technique not only establishes similarity with the audience but also implies
trustworthiness.

Organization

Although it could be made more explicit in this regard, Arjun’s speech is two-
sided. For example, he is quite frank about the fact that at least initially, the do-
pamine and endorphins alcohol stimulates do produce feelings of well-being. In
other words, he gets “why people drink.” Of course, he questions whether these
temporary feelings of well-being are worth the damage that alcohol causes to the
396 body both in the short and long term.