Your Persuasive
Speech
You have to write one, so
make it a good one.
Introductions
and
Conclusions
Purposes of Introductions
In the first 10% of your speech, you must:





Get the Audience’s Attention
Introduce the Subject
Give the Audience a Reason to Listen
Establish Your Credibility
Preview Your Main Points
Methods for Developing
Introductions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Use Illustrations or Anecdotes
Provide Startling Facts or Statistics
Use Quotations
Use Humor
Ask Questions
Refer to Historical Events
Use Personal References
Purposes of Conclusions
1.
2.
3.
Summarize the Speech
Reemphasize the Central Idea in a Memorable
Way
Motivate the Audience to Respond

4.
Persuasive: encourage audience to think a
certain way or take action
Provide Closure
Methods for Developing
Conclusions
 Can
use the same techniques used for the
introduction (illustrations, quotations, etc.)
 Very
Important: Refer to the Introduction!
 Issue
an Inspirational Appeal or Challenge

Appropriate for persuasive speeches
Developing
Your Speech
Writing the Speech
 Select
Organizational Pattern
 Select Main Points
 Subdivide Main Points into Subpoints
Developing Your Speech
 Topic
Selection
 General Purpose: To Persuade
 Specific Purpose


Behavioral objective—the specific behavior you expect
from your audience
i
“At the end of my speech, the audience will be able
to…”
 Explain,
list, describe, write (not understand, believe, know,
feel, etc.)
Central Idea (a.k.a. Thesis)
 One-sentence


summary of speech
Focuses on the content of the speech
Should communicate a single idea
 Look
for logical divisions (main points)
 Look for multiple reasons why central idea is true or
false
 Look for a series of steps that supports the central
idea (chronological progression)
Example
Topic: Boycotting Bluth’s Original Frozen Banana Stand
General Purpose: To persuade
Specific Purpose: At the end of my speech, the
audience will be able to list the reasons why they
should boycott Bluth’s Original Frozen Banana Stand
Central Idea: Bluth’s Original Frozen Banana Stand
poses a hazard for the residents of Orange County
and should be boycotted
Develop Signposts
 Transitions


Verbal—In addition to; Not only/as well; In other
words; Therefore; In summary
Nonverbal—A change in facial expression, a pause,
an altered vocal pitch or rate; can be used with or
without a verbal transition
Signposts, cont.
 Previews


Initial Previews—Preview statements of what
the main points will be
Internal Previews—These introduce and
outline ideas or points that will be
developed as the speech progresses
 Can
be used as a transition
Signposts, cont
 Summaries


Final Summary—Serves as a transition
between body and conclusion, and
summarizes the main points of speech
Internal Summary—Occur within speech;
can act as a transition. Are often used with
internal previews.
Supporting Material
 Smoothly




Incorporate Sources
State the point
Cite the source
Present the supporting material
Explain how is substantiates the point
Organizational
Patterns
Chronological
 Good
for step-by-step process or
historical events
 Begin with a specific point in time,
move ahead or back from there
 The principle of recency—the event
discussed last is the one that the
audience will remember best
Spatial
 Organizes
according to space or
physical relationship
Arranges ideas according to their
location and direction
 Can progress up or down, east or west,
forward or backward
 Ideas must be developed in logical order

Categorical


Arrange by distinct topics
Addresses





types
forms
qualities
aspects
Can organize in a variety of ways



Recency—highlights one point more than the
others
Primacy—puts the most important or convincing
point first
Complexity—moves from simple to complex
Climactic
 Simple
to difficult, least to most,
neutral to intense
 Effective for gaining audience
agreement or action
 Can also reverse the pattern, from
most to least
Cause & Effect
 Moves
from cause to effect, or effect to
cause
 Good to explain how an event unfolded
 Chronology does not equal cause
 Guard against over-simplification
 Must be able to demonstrate that one
event actually caused something else
to occur
Problem-Solution

Typically used in persuasive speaking
Speaker usually proposes a best solution

Reflective Thinking Sequence








Causes & extent of problem?
Effects of problem?
Criteria by which solutions should be judged?
Possible solutions (strengths & weaknesses)
Best solution?
Put into effect how?
Definition & limits of problems
Motivated Sequence
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Attention—get listeners’ attention
Need—establish problem or issue and convince
audience of the need for change; demonstrate
that this need affects audience directly
Satisfaction—identify how your plan will satisfy
the need and explain solution
Visualization—use positive visualization to explain
how great life will be after your solution is
implemented, or use negative visualization to
show how terrible life will be if it is not
Action—tell audience the specific action(s) they
must take to implement solution
Visual Aids
Visual Aid: PowerPoint
 Be
careful when using sensitive images
(9/11, natural disasters, etc.)
 Do not use images that are too small or
distorted
 Be sure to label charts and graphs
 Only use relevant images and/or visual
representations of data
 Avoid the use of sound effects and
animations
Typeface
Serif = includes small flourishes or
strokes at the tops and bottoms of
each letter.

Examples:
New Roman, Courier New,
Garamond, Book Antiqua.
 Times
Typeface
San
Serif = more block like and
linear do not have the small flourishes or
strokes.
Examples:
(Arial
Narrow, Verdana, Century
Gothic).
Font
 The

size of the typeface.
12 pt.
 24
pt
36
pt
48
 For
pt
PowerPoint presentation you want to use
a font of 24 or larger.
8 x 8 Rule
 No
more than eight words across.
 No
more than eight lines down.
Backgrounds

Keep the background color constant

If you use color, limit the number of
colors you use to two or three (4
max)
Colors



Bold/ bright colors emphasize
important points (yellow, red and
orange)
Soft colors de-emphasize less
important areas of the presentation
(for example background colors)
It is easier to read dark colors on a
light background