Televised Entrepreneurial Discourse: Conversational Structure and Compliance Gaining Strategies

Abstract

Discourse analysis has focused extensively on argumentative and manipulative discourse. In particular, this present paper considers the different information-processing constraints at play in comprehending elicitations and responses and their role in the persuasive success of arguments. I use both a quantitative and qualitative method to examine in detail the pragma-discursive strategies employed by a panel of English and Spanish business experts in negotiating a business proposal with an entrepreneur in a media driven event. My data suggest that both British and Spanish panels of experts exploit a specific number of social influence tactics, mainly based on the use of elicit: agree, that makes it possible to identify why the interaction is successful. It is further suggested that the study of the basic unit of conversational organisation may throw light on the effectiveness of positioning oneself and others in discourse and show how British and Spanish business experts attempt to exert social influence.