3.31.14 - Building your argument

Daniel Goldstein's TED Talk

• You are the product. You, feeling something. That’s what sells. http://www.amctv.com/mad-men/videos/mad-men-rules-you-are-the-product
• Daniel make three types of appeals in his speech:
• Rational 
• Illustrative/Narrative 
• Emotional 
• Critique - let's get used to critiquing everything, even if we "like" it:
• How does Daniel balance the conversational, scripted and performative styles of speech?
• Where are his strengths/weaknesses?

Outlining Basics

• Outlines serve the purpose of a roadmap for your argument; I only need to see the roads, I don’t need a satellite-view of all of the details. Just like it’s harder to plot out directions on Google Earth rather than Google maps.
• No outline that look like you took a script and bulleted it.
• That said, your outline should be specific to YOUR speech. It shouldn’t be so general that I can’t tell your outline apart from your classmates’.
• Thesis Statement Writing/Outline Creation
• Thesis = crux of argument
• Supporting argument 1
• Illustrative Example
• Supporting argument 2
• Illustrative Example
• Supporting argument 3
• Illustrative Example
• Logic/Reasoning
• Inductive versus deductive
• Inductive starts with a set of examples/observations/data that lead to a general conclusion (theory)
• Relies on general-enough examples that your audience won’t think of your data as an anomaly
• Deductive starts with general rules or theories and uses it to say something about specific examples or data
• This is the part where generalizing assumptions are dangerous - make sure you aren’t taking for granted a premise upon which your whole argument is based without making sure your audience supports it
• Exercise: Working backwards and translating Lewis Black's rant into an organized outline:
• http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/dpx0tn/back-in-black---education-crisis 
• What is his thesis?
• What are his supporting arguments?
• What are his illustrative examples?

The power of Vulnerability

• As we watch this video please be prepared to discuss:
• the strengths of this speech in relation to the three approaches to public speaking. 
• the ways in which the content of her speech is complemented to her style of speech making.
• how the message of her speech can be applied to the upcoming Past/Present/Future speech assignment.

Listening and Ethics

• No decision a speaker makes is politically or morally neutral. When you speak, you are by default editing by choosing what to say and what not to say; you are therefore issuing value and importance to various topics.
• Be aware of your own personal/cultural/political biases. We all have frameworks that we use to make sense of the world. 

Linda Alcoff’s “The Problem of Speaking for Others.”

• Determine your intentions: are your intentions to teach, or to learn?
• Determine your vantage point: where does your cultural perspective differ from the perspective you are performing?
• Be open to criticism
• Predict what, if any, outcomes may be harmful, or perceived as harmful by members of the cultural perspective you are presenting