UNIVERSITY OF THE CORDILLERAS
Governor Pack Road, Baguio City
College of Arts and Sciences
Language-Communication Department
ENGLISH 100 (Purposive Communication)
MODULE 8
LESSONS: COMMUNICATION IN VARIOUS PURPOSES
Sub-topics: a. Informative Communication
b. Persuasive Communication
c. Argumentative Communication
TOPIC LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the module, you are expected to:
1. Define the three communication in Various Purposes
2. Differentiate Informative, Persuasive, and Argumentative Communication
3. Apply the different Communication in Various Purposes
LESSON
Communication is made for numerous purposes
Communication vary depending on the purposes and the way the message are crafted
on the intention of the sender.
For example:
A sales agent make sure that the product they are selling will be promoted in
a way that it will click to the customers.
A news anchor delivers information carefully that all the important news and
facts stated clearly to avoid misunderstanding and confusion to the audience.
A lawyer designs his arguments in a manner supported by facts in order to
convince the jury.
The purpose of communication can be informative, persuasive, and argumentative.
INFORMATIVE COMMUNICATION
This type of communication involves more giving than asking. As an informative speaker,
your goal is to make your receiver pay attention and understand your stand without
changing their behavior. Informative communication means a pro-active approach,
rather than a reactive or ad hoc response as issues crop up. Being proactive can avoid
problems that arise from an “Information Vacuum”.
The informative value of a message is measured by how and relevant the information is
or the kind of understanding it provides to the receivers.
Osborn (2009) supports that informative communication arises out of three deep
impulses:
1. We seek to expand our awareness of the world around us;
2. We seek to be more competent; and
3. We have an abiding curiosity about how things work and how they are made.
When preparing for an informative exchange, ask yourself the following questions:
1. Is my topic noteworthy to be considered informative?
2. What do my recipients already know about my topic?
3. What more do they have to know?
4. Am I knowledgeable enough of my topic to help my receivers understand it?
Examples of Informative Speeches: Reports, lectures, training seminars, and
demonstrations.
PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATION
Persuasion is the process through which attitudes and behaviors are changed. Persuasion
can be divided into high elaboration processes that require effortful thinking, and low
elaboration processes that require relatively little thought.
Persuasive communication is the art of gaining fair and favorable considerations for a
receiver’s point of view:
1. It provides a choice among options.
2. Advocates something through a speaker.
3. Uses supporting material to justify advice.
4. Turns the audience into agents of change.
5. Ask for a strong audience commitment.
Principles Common to Persuasive Communication
Social psychologist Robert Cialdini mentions six principles of persuasion that are impactful
and effective:
Reciprocity – is the expectation for the exchange of services or value mutually. You build
in a moment making people feel urged from social norms and standards to reciprocate
once you take the lead and give.
Scarcity – People are generally attracted to something rare and exclusive. Scarcity is the
idea of limited supply or inadequate resources.
Authority – Trust is the most important virtue to the decision making. Your expertise needs
to be known for you to gain credibility. Referencing experts and expertise involve the
principle of authority.
Commitment and Consistency – It is difficult to recall oral communication at all times. The
principle of commitment and consistency brings the social standard of respecting ones
words to bear during decision making.
Consensus – People tend to look at each other while making a purchase or a decision.
The herd mentality prevails among humans at a higher level across humanity. When we
don’t have enough information about something, we tend to follow others’ paths. The
tendency of individuals to follow the leader of the group is the principle of consensus.
Liking – Effective communication goes hand in hand with safety. We are more likely to
make a conversation or interact only when we feel safe. We are drawn to people who
like us and communicate to us. It is quite effective. We are also attracted to people who
are like us irrespective of caste, race and other socio-economic backgrounds.
The Three Pillars of Persuasive Communication according to Aristotle
ETHOS
Ethos, or the appeal to ethics, refers to the effort to convince your audience of your
credibility or character. Before you can convince an audience to accept anything you
say, they have to accept you. Whether you are creating a flier, giving a presentation,
applying for a job, or teaching a workshop, people won’t be persuaded by you unless
they trust you. When it comes to communication, trust can be built in a number of ways.
It is up to you to understand how you need to respond in each situation and adapt
accordingly.
Ethos can be promoted by choosing appropriate language & vocabulary (dependent
on the audience and topic), by making yourself look honest, by paying attention to your
movements and the way you dress (for your digital presence pay attention to design
details, functionality, content, etc.) and by documenting on the areas of your expertise.
Ethos finally, may be hard to acquire and maintain, sometimes it may take years to build
a strong, credible reputation which can be lost in minute.
LOGOS
Logos, or the appeal to logic, refers to the effort to convince your audience by using
logic and reason. Effective arguments should include testimonials, surveys and other
supporting details to back up your claims/positions. Logos means to document your point
through storytelling, logical arguments, facts, recorded evidence, historical data and
literal analogies.
When using logos to persuade, you need to ensure that you have found facts, stories and
information that ‘matter’ to your audience and that you will present them in a way that
makes sense (to them).
PATHOS
Pathos, or the appeal to emotions, refers to the effort to persuade your audience by
making an appeal to their feelings. Your audience is more receptive to being persuaded
by someone with whom they can identify. Pathos can be used in a variety of ways (to
promote positive and negative feelings) as it is the Greek word for referring both to
“suffering” and “experience”. When you use pathos to persuade your audience, you
need to make them feel an emotion in order to act. Any emotion can cause people to
act, (happiness, compassion, nostalgia, anger etc.) even in a ‘small scale’.
Pathos can be promoted by using simple & meaningful language, emotional tone of
voice (oral or written), pauses and emotional metaphors or stories. Remember however,
most people are aware of when we are trying to touch their emotions and we need to
do it cautiously and responsibly. Generally, pathos is most effective when used in the
introduction and conclusion. You want to grab readers' attention in the beginning and
to leave them with conviction at the end and emotion is a useful tool for those purposes.
ARGUMENTATIVE COMMUNICATION
This type of communication relies heavily on sound proof and reasoning.
Argumentative Personality
If you enter an argument, always remember the following:
Some people:
Argue out of habit
Always need to be right
Make a fuss about most trivial things, just to cause a conflict
Always on the defensive
Modern approach to making decisions considers real argumentations where rational
communicators do the best they can to justify their standpoints in a certain context. This
is considered argumentative communication, the art of persuading based on reason, on
facts, and not emotions.
Debate, argument, and audience
DEBATE – explaining reasons (thesis) why a certain theory or motion can or cannot be
considered persuading.
ARGUMENT – persuading the audience to support the speaker’s thesis and standpoints.
AUDIENCE – it’s the core focus around which an effective debate is considered and
formulated.
The argumentation theory
While communicating, the sender will information and the receiver will listen to it. Here,
the receiver must be able to differentiate trustworthy and reliable information with lies,
biases, and treachery. The receiver must be able to filter the messages and he must have
a vigilant attitude towards the information that he gets.
Stephen’s Toulmin’s structure of Argumentation
Elements of arguments which generate categories through which an argument can be
evaluated:
1. Claim (e.g. Women make excellent administrators)
2. Ground (e.g. Women are multitasking and are good organizers)
3. Warrant (e.g. Women mostly are good listeners and are more sensitive in
approaching problems. This helps in the smooth functioning of the organization)
4. Backing (e.g. Women today are well-educated)
5. Qualifier (e.g. Women are home makers so most of them will have the ability to
manage any organization or country, in a better way)
6. Rebuttal (e.g. Women cannot be good administrators unless they are given good
education and exposure)
Argumentative VS. Persuasive
ARGUMENTATIVE PERSUASIVE
The author uses facts to back up their The author focuses mostly on using
claim. Argumentative discussions does not emotions to convince the audience of
mean that the author is angry. There is no their claim.
anger in an argumentative discussion.
References:
Cathlene Grace, P. (2022). Communication in Various Purposes. Retrieved 9 February
2022, from [Link]
various-purposes/
Ethos, Pathos, Logos: The three pillars of persuasive communication – Persona Global
Greece. (2022). Retrieved 15 February 2022, from [Link]
logos-the-three-pillars-of-persuasive-communication/#:~:text=10.11.2017-
,Ethos%2C%20Pathos%2C%20Logos%3A%20The%20three%20pillars%20of%20persuasive%
20communication,persuasion%20used%20to%20convince%20audiences.
Skola, F. (2022). Argumentative communication. Retrieved 9 February 2022, from
[Link]
communication#:~:text=Argumentative%20communication%20%EF%82%97%20Modern
%20approach,facts%20and%20not%20emotions%20%EF%82%97