How to Coach Yourself and Others How to Influence, Persuade and Motivate | Page 377

(even though some of those were intended to be logical). It seemed that
whether a speech was considered logical or emotional depended on the
listener. Researchers also concluded that, as a general rule, people seem
unable to consistently distinguish between logical and emotional
appeals.[2]
The logical side of an argument appeals to our reason. Reasoning is the
process of drawing a conclusion based on evidence. For an argument to be
legitimate, it has to be true and valid, and logical reasoning must be used
to back it up. Many persuaders and marketers use faulty forms of logic,
leaving gaping holes that require the audience to make assumptions and
fill in the blanks. These are called logical fallacies. A fallacy is, very
generally, an error in reasoning. It differs from a factual error, which is
simply being wrong about the facts. In other words, a fallacy is an
"argument" in which the premises don't completely support the
conclusion. In the next section, some of the most common logical
fallacies are outlined.
[1]Arthur Lefford, "The Influence of Emotional Subject Matter on Logical
Reading," Journal of General Psychology 34 (1946): 127–151.
[2]Randall Reuchelle, "An Experimental Study of Audience Recognition of
Emotional and Intellectual Appeals in Persuasion," Speech Monographs 25, 1
(1958): 49–57.

Common Logical Fallacies
1. Faulty Cause: assumes that because one thing follows another, the
second thing was definitively caused by the first — also known as
the post hoc, ergo propter hoc fallacy. Example: Shawn broke his
mother's mirror, and sure enough, he was in a car wreck the next
week.
2. Sweeping Generalization: assumes that what is true in most cases
must be true in all cases. Example: We can't hire this candidate
because he's an ex-felon, and studies show that most ex-felons
experience relapses.
3. Hasty Generalization: assumes that a small piece of information is
soundly representative of the whole situation. Example: I don't
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