Sometimes the most powerful way
to make a difference is to change
people’s minds.
Persuasive Speech
An issue is something about which people have opposing
opinions. Choose an issue about which you feel strongly.
To find an issue,
• watch television news
shows for information about
current issues
• brainstorm with classmates
about issues that affect your
school or community
• Refer to assignment sheet for
websites
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Persuasive Speech
Prewriting: State Your Position
Write a focused opinion statement that names the issue
and states your position on it.
Issue
Position
Software for sharing personal files
across the internet should remain
legal.
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Persuasive Speech
Prewriting: Consider Your Purpose and Audience
Purpose
To convince others to share your opinion or to take the
action you recommend
Persuasive Speech
Prewriting: Support Your Opinion
Give strong reasons to support your opinion statement.
Include these rhetorical devices also called persuasive
techniques.
Rhetorical Devices
Logical Appeals
appeal to reason and speak to
readers’ common sense
Emotional Appeals speak to readers’ emotions, such
as sympathy, fear, and hope
Ethical Appeals
appeal to readers’ ethics, or
moral values
Writing a Persuasive Speech
Prewriting: Support Your Opinion
Ethical appeals rely on commonly accepted beliefs or
values. For example, honesty and fairness are values that
most people accept as worthwhile.
• Writers often use ethical appeals to establish that
they are credible, or trustworthy.
Persuasive Speech
Prewriting: Support Your Opinion
Provide evidence to support your reasons.
Kinds of Evidence
Facts
information that can be proven true;
some facts are in the form of statistics,
or numerical information
Examples
specific instances of an idea or situation
Expert
opinions
statements (either quotations or
paraphrases) by people who are
considered experts on the issue
Persuasive Speech
Prewriting: Support Your Opinion
Kinds of Evidence
Analogies
comparisons that show the similarities
between two otherwise unrelated facts
or ideas
Case
studies
examples from scientific studies
Anecdotes
brief, personal stories that illustrate a
point
Gathering evidence
Persuasive Speech
Prewriting: Support Your Opinion
Make sure all of your evidence has the three R’s. It should
be
• relevant—closely tied to your issue
• reliable—from trustworthy sources
• representative—not all from one or two
sources
“Motivated Sequence Pattern”
Attention – “Pay attention. This is important to you.”
Need – “Something is wrong and something must be done
about it.”
Satisfaction – “What I have to offer is the way to solve the
problem.”
Visualization – “This is how my plan will work to solve the
problem; and if you accept my solution, things will be much
better.”
Action – “Take action!”
Persuasive Speech Outline
I. Begin with an Attention Step that is an
- Opening statement of interest
(use one or more of the following):
A rhetorical question
A startling statement
A quotation
An illustration or story
A reference to the subject
A reference to the occasion
- Motivate audience interest in your subject by
alluding to: (use one or more of the following):
The practical value of the information for your audience
A reason to listen
The audience’s sense of curiosity
Establish your credibility by:
Alluding to any first-hand experience you may have had
Alluding to sources of information you have consulted
II. Show there is a need
To urge a change-point out what’s wrong with present conditions
To demand preservation of present conditions-point out the danger
of a change
The Need Step is developed by:
Illustration: Tell of one or more incidents to illustrate the need
Ramifications: Employ as many additional facts, examples, and quotations
as are required to make the need convincingly impressive.
Pointing: Show its importance to the individuals in the audience.
III. Present a solution
The Solution is developed by: (use one or more of the following):
Statement of solution: a brief statement of the attitude, belief, or
action you wish the audience to adopt.
Explanation: Make sure that your proposal is understood.
Theoretical demonstration: show how the solution logically
and adequately meets the need pointed out in the need step, point-bypoint!
Practical experience: actual examples showing where this
proposal has worked effectively or where the belief has proven correct.
Meeting objections: forestall opposition by showing how your
proposal overcomes any objections which might be raised.
IV. Help your audience visualize the future
The visualization step must stand the test of reality. The conditions you describe
must be at least realistic. The more vividly you make the situation seem, the
stronger will be the reaction of the audience.
There are three methods of visualizing the future (use
one or more of the following):
Positive: Describe the conditions if your solution is actually carried out. Picture
the listeners in that situation actually enjoying the safety, pleasure, or pride that
your proposal will produce.
Negative: Describe conditions if your solution is not carried out. Picture the
audience feeling the bad effects or unpleasantness that the failure to effect your
solution will produce.
Contrast: Combination of 1 and 2. Begin with the negative method (undesirable
situation) and conclude with the positive method (desirable solution).
V. Conclude with the Action Step
developed by (use one or more of the following):
•Restatement of main idea and summary of main points.
•Statement of specific action or attitude change you want from
the audience.
•A statement of your personal intent to take the course of
action or attitude recommended.
•A concluding statement to recapture interest (a reason to
remember).
General Presentation Skills
Finding the right register:
Getting the right balance between formality and informality
in a presentation is very tricky.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Avoid colloquialisms (“sort of” or “kinda”)
Try to avoid erms and ums
You want your audience to respect you, not like you.
Try to speak more slowly than you would normally.
Use pauses for emphasis (as opposed to raising your
voice)
Don’t let your voice fade away at the end of sentences.
General Presentation Skills
Reduce Anxiety
The easiest way to reduce anxiety is to have a well prepared and well
rehearsed presentation.
However, if nerves are still a problem, try the following…
• Visualisation: Imagine yourself giving a brilliant presentation.
• Breath deeply.
• Relax muscles / Release tension.
• Take a script which you can read if all else fails.
• Do something else really stressful just before…(drastic, but
works!)
General Presentation Skills
Know your audience:
Ensure you tailor your presentation appropriately, depending
on the audience makeup. Do they know a lot or a little about
the issue, do they generally support or oppose the issue.
A good general rule is that it pays to keep things simple.
Practice
• Practice
giving the presentation to a friendly audience and ask
them for honest and constructive criticism.
• Finishing on time is very important, and requires practice.
• So practice out loud on your own with a clock.
Some general tips
• Make
eye contact.
• Talk clearly to the back of the audience.
• Don’t mumble the ends of sentences.
• Be enthusiastic (or pretend…)
• Ask someone in the audience to warn you when you have two
minutes left or wear a watch and pay attention to the time.
• The only way it gets better is to give more talks.
Tips for handling questions
• Repeat questions for the benefit of the audience (and to give
yourself extra thinking time).
• Be honest when answering questions, especially if you have
no idea of the answer.
• Don’t be afraid to ask the questioner to be clearer.
• Don’t be afraid or ashamed to let someone else in the room
answer the question.
Seek first to understand, then to be understood.
Stephen Covey
History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this
period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the
bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.
Martin Luther King, Jr.