What is Persuasive Writing?
• Argumentative writing
• Used to convince the reader to believe the
writer’s view point on a debatable issue
• Want to convince the reader to do something
or believe something
Persuasive Writing Must…
• Know both sides of an argument
• Present both different sides then TAKE A
STAND
• Give evidence to back up your position
• Offer more than one reason
• Save the best argument for last
• Tone is important for this type of writing
Where do we see it?
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Essays
Debates
Informational writing
Articles
Court cases
Studies or investigations (science)
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Where else do we see persuasive
language?
Commercials
Documentaries
Political speeches
Protests and demonstrations
Interviews on the news
Watch Severn Suzuki’s Speech
• David Suzuki’s daughter at 12 years old
• Spoke to the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio
de Janeiro in 1992
• She and 3 classmates from Vancouver fundraised
to attend the conference
• Watch, try to pick out some reasons her speech is
effective
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1I6ljzaY9k&index=4
&list=PLYe9yW1cgGG1ifpSkv6K3ZzgDzmMQ-sg0
(5 min)
Using Rhetoric and Effective
Speech Delivery
Adapted from Dr. Lisa Watson
Persuasive Appeals
“People buy on emotion and justify with facts”
-Bert Decker
• Ethos
– the credibility or character (ethic) of the speaker
• Speaker’s own expertise, pedigree, objectivity, intelligence, etc.
– The appeal to authority
• Credibility of expert sources as support
• Pathos
– The emotional appeal
• Striking an emotional chord with audience (e.g., empathy, indignation, etc.)
• story telling, evocative examples, analogies, choice of language
• Logos
– The appeal to logic & listeners’ rational side
• Statistics, facts and analogous examples (e.g., historical, literal) as support
The 5 Canons of Rhetoric
• Invention: Developing and refining arguments
– Consider your audience, evidence, types of appeal, order, format
• Arrangement: Organizing arguments for maximum impact
– Introduction & establishing credibility, establishing context as necessary,
constructive arguments, addressing weaknesses, memorable conclusion
• Memory: Not needing notes increases credibility
– Leave your audience with something memorable
– Build a treasury of quotes, facts & anecdotes to include in speeches
• Style: Using language to make people want to listen
– correctness, clarity (simple, strong, short), vivid description, propriety
(context), clever use (using double meanings, alliteration, metaphor, etc.)
• Delivery: Strategic choices around how to deliver a speech
– body language, eye contact, enunciation, use of gestures, pausing, match
pace to emotion, varying force, tone & inflection of voice, etc.
Rhetorical Devices: Structural
• Epigraph
– Quote set at the beginning of a work or section of a
work to set a tone or suggest a theme
• May also take the form of a rhetorical question or statement
• Theme
– Central or dominant idea or concern of a work
• Your core message (e.g., impact, benefit, paradigm shift)
• Foreshadowing
– Hinting at or presenting things to come in a story
• Various forms of the recommendation first approach
• Juxtaposition
– Placing two items side by side for effect
Rhetorical Devices: Linguistic
• Anaphora
– regular repetition of the same word of phrase at the
beginning of successive sentences or clauses
• e.g., We are thorough. We are driven. We are right.
• Alliteration
– repetition of same initial consonant (or any vowel) in
proximal words
• e.g., this solution is practical, principled and profitable
• Asyndeton
– removing conjunctions (often replaced with pauses)
• This man was negligent, thoughtless, unethical.
• Parallel structure
– Using syntactically similar grammatical structure
• e.g., “I once was lost, but now I’m found”, the costs far outweigh
the benefits
Rhetorical Devices: Substantive
• Analogy
– A comparison of two different things to make a point about their
similarity (can include metaphor and simile)
– Used to communicate new, complex or controversial ideas
• e.g., business and war, “band-aid” solutions, throwing a monkey wrench in the
system
• Personification/animism
– Giving something inanimate human or animal characteristics
• e.g., numbers don’t lie, profits will soar
• Axiom
– Statement that is regarded as true or self evident
• e.g., “He who fails to plan, plans to fail”
• Aphorism
– Short memorable philosophical statements designed to illustrate a
commonly held belief
• e.g., “Hire slowly, fire quickly”, “A business that makes nothing but money is a
poor kind of business”
– Adage: an aphorism that has gained credibility through longevity
• e.g., “Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched”
Vocabulary & Phrasing Examples
• Maintain an appropriate level of formality to be
taken seriously
– You or your firm instead of you guys
• Enunciate clearly and finish all words
– Going to instead of gonna
• Use strong language
– Recommend, demonstrate and prove instead of feel
– Will do instead of kinda, maybe, sorta, like
• Use active voice
– Somebody killed him instead of he was killed
Analyze Severn Suzuki’s Speech
• We’ll watch it one more time
– How does she use Ethos, Pathos, and Logos?
– Pick out some examples of rhetorical devices
• Structural
• Linguistic
• Substantive
• Then you’ll work in your groups to fill out the
analysis worksheet, using a transcript of the
speech
– Find specific examples
Passion & Conviction
• Show conviction in everything you say, even
if you don’t believe it
– It has to sound like you prepared your own
speech and are speaking straight from the heart
• Makes you memorable
– What is going to make judges remember what
you had to say instead of your competitors?
Style & Delivery Reminders
• Vocabulary
– Short, simple, strong
– Correct, clear, clever
– Vividness
• Voice modulation
• Gestures
• Develop a rapport with the audience
– Eye contact, humour, etc.
Use of Voice
• Modulation (volume and pitch)
– project without yelling
– use inflection or tone to emphasize key points
• The poignant pause
– Not just to gather thoughts, but to drive points home
• Pace
– persuasive speeches generally average about 150 words per minute
(25 words per 10 seconds)
• more sounds glib, less sound preachy
– Slow down to make serious, controversial, or complex points
– Speed up slightly to inspire and incite emotional response
• Knowing how to combine all of these techniques for full emotional
impact is an art form
– Variance is necessary, but it really has to be the right type
Gestures & Body Language
• Stance
– Don’t cross anything (including legs) when speaking
• Posture
– Generally stand tall with head up
– Can slouch (deflate) to make a point
• Eye contact
– This may mean getting very good at looking at tops of heads
• Gestures
– Hand gestures to reinforce key points
– Inclination or shaking of head
– Active use versus nervous ticks
• Facial Expressions
– turn a plain speech into an emotional and convincing one
– confusion, disappointment, enthusiasm, conviction, etc.
Presidential Debate Speeches
Persuasive techniques in action
First presidential debate 2012