How do audience members make a decision to accept or reject a speaker’s persuasive message? Richard Petty and John Cacioppo’s elaboration likelihood model1 provides a well-respected explanation.2 This model shows two ways that audience members may evaluate a persuasive speaker’s message—the central and peripheral routes. The central route denotes a high level of elaboration—a mental process that involves actively processing a speaker’s argument. Audience members reflect on the message and consider it in light of their preexisting ideas about the issue.3 Central route listeners are more likely to develop a positive attitude when the speaker’s arguments are strong. After considering your points, they may view your arguments favorably: in other words, if you’ve argued well enough, they are more likely to agree with you.4 We provide a detailed discussion of how to develop strong arguments in Chapter 18.

Audience members who follow the peripheral route do not actively process your message (low elaboration). Instead, they’re more easily influenced by cues that are tangential, or peripheral, to the message’s content.5 Such cues may include the likeability or attractiveness of the speaker, flashy presentation aids that add little to the message, or aspects of the speaker’s delivery. These peripheral factors allow receivers to take an easier path to agreement or disagreement without carefully considering the speaker’s arguments.