Download Technique: Bandwagon

Technique: Bandwagon
"You're either with us, or against us,” appeals to an audience to join a ground swell of
public opinion and activity because everybody else is joining. The "bandwagon"
technique appeals to feelings of loyalty and nationalism, as well as the desire to be on the
winning side. The technique tends to obscure the ethics of the activity at the expense of
victory: better to belong to the winning side than be too concerned with the rightness of
the means to achieve it.
The "4 out of 5 doctors recommend..." slogan uses both the bandwagon technique and the
argument to authority to promote an action. (The two techniques are commonly found
linked.) The bandwagon technique appeals most strongly to the group called belongers,
those who make decisions because that's what everyone else is doing.
Technique: Doublespeak
Doublespeak is language deliberately constructed to disguise its actual meaning, such as
euphemisms.
Examples:
 collateral damage: the killing of innocent bystanders, ecological destruction and
environmental contamination.
 downsize, rightsize, RIF (reduction in force): fire employees. "Downsize" at first
applied to products, meaning to supply less product for the same price, e.g. 14 oz.
instead of a full pound of coffee.
 negative patient care outcome: death
Technique: Fear
Fear is one of the most primordial human emotions and therefore lends itself to effective
use by propagandists. Fear is essentially the survival instinct kicking in: "I'd better watch
out because you can harm me." Fear being fundamentally irrational, it is one of the
techniques most widely used by propagandists.
Technique: Glittering Generalities
Glittering generalities are words that have different positive meaning for individual
subjects, but are linked to highly valued concepts. When these words are used, they
demand approval without thinking, simply because such an important concept is
involved.
For example, when a person is asked to do something in 'defense of democracy' they are
more likely to agree. The concept of democracy has a positive connotation to them
because it is linked to a concept that they value. Words often used as glittering
generalities are honor, glory, love of country, and especially in the United States,
freedom.
Technique: Name-calling
Name-calling links the person or idea being attacked to a negative symbol; the
propagandist hopes that the audience will reject the person or the idea on the basis of the
symbol, instead of looking at the available evidence.
Examples of name calling include:

commie; fascist; pig; yuppie, bum; terrorist
Technique: Plain folks
By using plain folks rhetoric, speakers attempt to convince their audience that they, and
their ideas, are "of the people."
Testimonial
Testimonial is the use of personal experience to convince the buyer to purchase the
product. By describing the successes or failures of one’s own experience lends credibility
to the pitch. " I tried doing that exactly the way you did, but it didn’t work because..." or
" I followed this path and got this result..."