The document describes 15 oral persuasion techniques: bandwagon, explicitly stated facts, humor, repetition, rule of three, warm and fuzzy, charisma, extrapolation, flattery, generalities, brand new, nostalgia, rhetorical questions, analogy, and scapegoating. It provides a brief definition and example of each technique to explain how it can be an effective persuasive method in oral presentations.

1. Oral Persuasion
Technique #1
Bandwagon

2. Bandwagon
 No one likes to be left out or left behind. This
technique involves making comments that urge
the audience to “jump on the bandwagon”
because everyone else is doing it. Politicians use
this technique when they say “The Canadian
people want…” Wait a minute. How do they know
what the Canadian people want? They don’t. But
the technique still works.
 People don’t want to feel out of touch. That’s the
power of persuading using the Bandwagon
Technique

3. Oral Persuasion
Technique #2
Explicitly
Stated Facts

4. Explicitly Stated Facts
 Something is "explicit" if it is directly stated. It
can be surprising to learn how few oral
presentations make explicit claims. Why not?
Because if the explicit or direct claim is stated
as a fact and the fact isn’t exactly a fact then
the speaker is in trouble.
 The audience knows this, which is why the
use of Explicitly Stated Facts can be so
persuasive.

5. Oral Persuasion
Technique #3
Humour

6. Humour
 When we laugh, we feel good. When we feel
good we smile. This makes the speaker
sound even better and more convincing.
 Humour grabs our attention and, therefore,
it’s a powerful persuasion technique.

7. Oral Persuasion
Technique #4
Repetition

8. Repetition
 Words, sounds or images may be repeated to
reinforce the main point. How many times a
phrase, a word, an image, or an idea should
be repeated is up to the speaker but
repetition is very convincing.

9. Oral Persuasion
Technique #5
Rule of
Three

10. Rule of Three
 Saying something three times carries weight.
You can say it in slightly different ways each
time. Three times is the sign of the powerful
speaker. Using the Rule of Three allows you
to express concepts more completely,
emphasize your points, and increase the
memorability of your message. (“That’s the
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth”)

11. Oral Persuasion
Technique #6
Warm and
Fuzzy

12. Warm and Fuzzy
 Thistechnique uses sentimental images to
stimulate feelings of comfort combined with
the use of a pleasant tone of voice. What is
the result? The audience feels warm and
fuzzy all over and who doesn’t like that?

13. Oral Persuasion
Technique #7
Charisma

14. Charisma
 Sometimes, persuaders can be effective
simply by appearing firm, bold, strong, and
confident. This is especially true in political
messages. People often follow charismatic
leaders even when they disagree with their
positions on issues. You are probably too
young to remember but Canada fell in love
with a man named Pierre Trudeau several
decades ago because he had so much
charisma as an oral presenter.

15. Oral Persuasion
Technique #8
Extrapolation

16. Extrapolation
 Persuaders sometimes draw huge
conclusions on the basis of a few small facts.
Extrapolation works by ignoring how
complex something actually is. It’s most
persuasive when it predicts something we
hope will be true because the people want to
believe it.

17. Oral Persuasion
Technique #9
Flattery

18. Flattery
 Persuaders love to flatter us. They say things
like "You work hard for a living and you
deserve to be treated better." Flattery works
because audiences like to be praised. (We’re
sure that someone as clever as you will easily
understand this technique!)

19. Oral Persuasion
Technique #10
Generalities

20. Generalities
 Words like democracy, freedom, equality or
progress are often used in vague ways to
persuade people. That’s because they are
positive concepts that almost everyone can
support. Inserting generalities into an oral
presentation helps the audience to accept
your argument.

21. Oral Persuasion
Technique #11
Brand New

22. Brand New
 People are attracted to brand new, shiny
ideas. Even if the idea is not new, it pays to
make it sound as if it’s new. Maybe it’s an old
idea you are applying in a brand new way or
to a new audience.

23. Oral Persuasion
Technique #12
Nostalgia

24. Nostalgia
 Some speakers use a technique that makes
their audience look back to a better time in
history. They remind their audience of a time
when life was simpler and better. The
nostalgia technique appeals to a lot of people
who can actually remember a better time. It
often works best on older audiences.

25. Oral Persuasion
Technique #13
Rhetorical
Questions

26. Rhetorical Questions
 Rhetoricalquestions don’t require an
answer. The answer is implied and it is one
the audience agrees with of course!

27. Oral Persuasion
Technique #14
Analogy

28. Analogy
 An analogy compares two situations.
Persuasive speakers use analogy to make a
comparison between what they are proposing
and something simple and clear the audience
is already familiar with.
 The advantage of using an analogy is that
several ideas can be captured in a short
phrase or fewer words.

29. Oral Persuasion
Technique #15
Scapegoating

30. Scapegoating
 Thistechnique finds someone or something to
blame the current problems on.
Scapegoating is often used in politics when,
for example, the party out of power blames all
the problems on the party in power.