Idea Ripper // ArchiveCards: 1555 [Live] | Updated: 2026-10-14
Card #c1111IR // #c1111Synthesis

"Notice how at the last the pleader sweeps on to the highest ground he can take." "This is a notable example of progressive appeal, beginning with a low motive and ending with a high one in such a way as to carry all the force of prejudice yet gain all the value of patriotic fervor."

— In our words · Source: The Art of Public Speaking (J. Berg Esenwein & Dale Carnegie)

[Use when]

Your audience cares about their own costs and you need them to care about the larger cause.

[Why it matters]

The authors use a Kipling war speech that opens on self-interest and ends on patriotism. They call the appeal to prejudice rarely justifiable and still show the sequence: meet people at the motive they already feel, then climb.

Filed under situations:When you need a yes and they’re not there yet

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