Chapter 16: Persuasive Speaking
Persuade my audience that hate speech should/should not be protected by the First
Amendment
Persuade my audience that the legal drinking age or voting age should be raised/lowered
Persuade my audience that universal health care for all Americans shoud/should not be a
priority
Persuade my audience that voting is/is not an important obligation for American citizens
Persuade my audience that it is/is not necessary to participate in a recycling or
conservation program
Persuade my audience that it is/is not crucial for people to develop a career before
marriage
Persuade my audience that the death penalty is/is not an ethical punishment
Persuade my audience that Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO’s) should/should
not be more strictly regulated at the federal level
Persuade my audience that Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, or any other
U.S. president was the best president
Persuade college students that they should/should not join a particular campus political
organization
Persuade my audience that large federal budget deficits are/are not an economic disaster
Persuade my audience that marijuana should/should not be legalized in the U.S.
Persuade my audience that Americans should/should not make sacrifices in order to
lessen the country’s dependence on foreign oil
Persuade my audience that college students should/should not be required to take a
multicultural education class
Persuade my audience that elementary and high schools should/should not post the Ten
Commandments in every classroom
Persuade my audience that they should/should not be concerned about global warming
Persuade my audience that torture is/is not an acceptable means of getting information
from suspected terrorists
Persuade my audience that drug offenders should/should not receive mandatory prison
sentences
Persuade my audience that Title IX has/has not been good for high school and college
athletics programs
Persuade my audience that human life begins/does not begin at conception
Persuade my audience that creationism should/should not be taught in the classroom
Persuade my audience not to buy clothes from manufacturers that use sweatshop labor
Persuade my audience that solar power is/is not a realistic alternative to fossil fuels
Persuade my audience that we should/should not drill for gas and oil in natural wildlife
preserves
Persuade my audience that clean needles should/should not be given to drug addicts to
prevent the spread of AIDS and other diseases
Persuade an audience of Americans that they should/should not switch to the metric
system
Persuade my audience that a U.S. strategy of military pre-emption will/will not encourage
other countries to follow suit
Persuade my audience that the president of the U.S. should/should not sign a national
hate crimes bill
Persuade my audience that grade school students should/should not have to wear
uniforms
Persuade my audience that the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is/is not
relevant to today’s society
Persuade my audience that the Cleveland Indians or other teams should/should not
replace their ethnic mascots
Persuade my audience that U.S. colleges should/should not be allowed to consider race
and ethnicity when making admissions decisions
Persuade my audience that the government should/should not fund school vouchers for
parents who want to send their children to private schools
Persuade my audience that prostitution should/should not be legalized
Persuade my audience that third-party presidential candidates should/should not be
allowed to participate in televised debates
Persuade my audience that citizens should/should not be notified if a former sexual
offender moves into their neighborhood
Persuade my audience that the Ku Klux Klan or neo-Nazi groups should/should not be
allowed to march in African American or Jewish neighborhoods
Persuade my audience that campaign finance reform is a good/bad idea
Persuade my audience that the U.S. should/should not continue to have an embargo
against Cuba
Persuade my audience that the space shuttle program should/should not be discontinued
Persuade my audience that there should/should not be a constitutional amendment to
outlaw flag-burning
Persuade my audience that a culture of greed is/is not pervasive at major American
corporations
Persuade my audience that constitutional rights and liberties have/have not been
threatened by measures designed to increase American security
Persuade my audience that increasing teachers’ pay would/would not attract the best
candidates to the teaching profession
Persuade my audience that there is/is not a liberal bias to stories reported by major U.S.
media
Persuade my audience that tenure for teachers is a good/bad practice
Persuade my audience that they should attend a particular college or university