Presentation Outline

·         Introduce the topic

·         Address the idea that good food seems to cost lots of money

o   Tell story of eating out at Red Lobster

o   Briefly mention of ex-girlfriend

·         We are aware that it is usually cheaper to eat at home

·         Report survey results

o   Dillard University: (http://www.ducourtbouillon.com/2.6142/college-students-spending-habits-cause-problems-for-pocket-books-1.900107#.UeRT3NJJMtg)

o   Canadian students survey: http://www.studentawardsinc.com/thelatest/news/~/media/StudentAwardsInc/Documents/SAC%20Feb%202010/SAC-Wallet-Feb-2010.ashx

·         Other reasons we tend to eat out so often are lack of skills and time

·         Examples of foods that don’t take much skills and time (and are cheaper to buy at the grocery store)

o   Lobster

o   Steak

o   Omelets

·         These are just some of my favorites. Try out some of your own.

POLITICAL APPEAL

The following is a quote by Mitt Romney, extracted from the second presidential debate of 2012. At this point in the debate, Romney and President Obama were quarreling over issues regarding energy production and expenses:

"I will fight for oil, coal and natural gas. And the proof, the proof of whether a strategy is working or not is what the price is that you're paying at the pump. If you're paying less than you paid a year or two ago, why, then, the strategy is working. But you're paying more. When the president took office, the price of gasoline here in Nassau County was about $1.86 a gallon. Now, it's $4.00 a gallon... If the president's energy policies are working, you're going to see the cost of energy come down."
(http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/10/16/transcript-second-presidential-debate/)

 Here Romney makes an argument that is easy to follow: if production is up, prices are down- prices are high, therefore, President Obama's energy policies are to blame. He uses very plain logic, reasons that seem simple enough to persuade the audience that the answer to this problem is not complicated at all. He uses imagery that the public at large can relate with: filling up a tank of gas. Nearly every American does that regularly. He attributes the price difference between when the President took office and the present time, asserting that it was the sole cause of the price increase. Romney does not include other factors that may be relevant to the cause of this jump in cost, but rather asserts that it is the President's policies alone that caused it. By utilizing a single and very simple cause-and-effect dialectic approach, he makes a strong persuasive argument.

THEOLOGICAL APPEAL

I happened to have a few minutes of free time this Friday morning and I decided to briefly attend a large meeting being held at the Burns Arena for the Jehovah's Witnesses. It took me a while to catch on to what the sermon was about. At first all it seemed like the preacher talked about was a list of changes being made through out their church presently and in the near future. This did not seem like it was much of a sermon.

After listening further, it occurred to me: this was the real subject of the sermon. The preacher turned to the topic of truth. "We support the truth," he said, "and we do it by upholding organizational changes." He then turned to some scripture passages (I wasn't quick enough to catch the references) in order to support his point. He continued, "We need to accept changes wholeheartedly, we don't want to get left behind as the church adapts to better suit its needs." After expounding on changes that are being made to increase their missionary efforts, he concluded this part of his speech by saying, "God's congregation will continue to support the truth".

The epistemic approach applies with this situation very well, mainly because in this case the very topic covered by the preacher was on truth and change. The preacher called for the members to accept these changes and asserted that in doing so they uphold the truth. His last statement was perhaps the strongest of all in his appeal. He implied that if they are God's people (and who among them doesn't believe or want to believe this?) then they will endorse change and put up no protests.

PSYCOLOGICAL APPEAL

This video clip, What Most Schools Don't Teach, is comprised of the stories of several successful people, namely Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg. The narrative approach to persuasion is most evident right from the start of this persuasive message. They begin this video by briefly telling some of their stories- and many of us love to hear the stories of successful people, especially if these stories have any relevance to how these people became successful. We see that several of them mention their humbler beginnings prior to their knowledge and practice of coding. Later, we may easily be captivated when they explain that coding played a significant role in their lives as they became more successful in their jobs or careers.
Perhaps if they had simply crafted a message with a lone and basic thesis such as, 'You should learn coding. Coding is very useful in every field of work- no matter what career path you choose,' we might not find it as appealing or compelling. This would be even more likely for many of us are not already computer gurus. However, because they begin with the narrative in their message, this message is a very persuasive one.
Accessed from the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKIu9yen5nc