ABSTRACT
The strongest power that public speaking possesses is the power to persuade. Persuasion in many ways is one of the most powerful tools of life. Persuasion, at its root, is the reason that tanks, machine guns, and aircraft carriers are in existence. Over 2,000 years ago, the Greek philosopher Aristotle said that no other factor was more important to success in persuasion than the audience's perception of a persuader as having good sense, good moral character, and goodwill. In persuasion, the term image refers to a mental picture that a customer has of the product that the persuader is selling. That product can be political candidates, a company, a brand of wine, and so on. There is a positive relationship between image and credibility: the better the image, the better the credibility. The strength of personal proof can clearly be demonstrated by examining the image, credibility relationship of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
