A memorable statistic has no supporting source

A fictional speaker prepares a persuasive presentation asking a community group to support a new programme. The draft includes a dramatic percentage copied from an unattributed social-media image. Its original population, time period and method are unknown, but a colleague says the number should stay because it makes the introduction memorable. Another searches for suitable supporting evidence and considers narrowing or removing the claim if it cannot be justified. This written exercise presents no speech and publishes no statistic. It asks how ethical persuasion connects credibility, relevance and verification, and why audience adaptation does not justify inventing certainty or presenting an attractive unsupported number as established fact.