Persuasive Speech
Purpose: To PERSUADE your audience about a given fact, belief, or policy. Your speech will be on
TOPIC: You are going to choose your topic and propose it to me by _________. The topic must be
appropriate and must persuade about a chosen fact, belief, or policy. You might want to steer away
from the more controversial topics for now, such as, “Gay marriage should/shouldn’t be legalized.”
In the same way, make sure it is not about a trivial issue, like, “Which detergent is better: Tide or
Gain? I’m rollin’ with the Tide!”
For this speech, you will speak for 5-7 minutes. Like the informative speech, you will have an
attention grabber and a thesis statement that clearly indicates the specific purpose (ex: recycling
can save local communities money). You will organize your reasons in a way that is logical and
identifiable. Support your reasons with evidence. Make sure you give enough information to make
the key points of your speech understandable.
Remember your appeals. You must include at least one ethical (ethos), logical (logos), and
emotional (pathos) appeal. You will need to identify them in different colors in your speech outline.
I want you to be invested in this speech. I want you to believe in what you are talking about.
Remember, you are persuading your audience. You’re not looking for us to persuade you or to
validate you with our response. Know what you are talking about. Speak with confidence and
enthusiasm. Move around.
Remember: your purpose is not to bash other’s beliefs, feelings, ideals, etc. You MUST remain
respectful and mindful of others throughout your speech. Build credibility and be relatable. Avoid
generalizations and thoughtless comments. Avoid logical fallacies. With speaking comes great
responsibility! If you make a comment that directly goes against any particular group of people,
culture, race, etc., you will receive no points for your speech.
Questions? Concerns?
Looking forward to your creations,
Ms. Whitaker
Oral Presentation Rubric : Persuasive Writing Rubric
Teacher Name: Ms. Whitaker
Student Name:
CATEGORY
________________________________________
4
3
2
1
Time-Limit
Presentation is 5-7
minutes long.
Presentation is 4
minutes long.
Presentation is 3
minutes long.
Presentation is less
than 3 minutes OR
more than 7 minutes.
Preparedness
Student is completely
prepared and has
obviously rehearsed.
Student speaks
clearly and projects
voice. Has outline and
works cited (MLA)
Student seems pretty
prepared but might
have needed a couple
more rehearsals.
Student speaks
somewhat clearly and
projects voice.
Outline and WC
The student is
somewhat prepared,
but it is clear that
rehearsal was lacking.
Student speaks
somewhat clearly but
does not project
voice. Has outline, no
WC page
Student does not
seem at all prepared
to present. Student
does not speak
clearly or project
voice. Does not have
WC page or outline
Appeals
Appeals to emotion,
logic, and ethics. All
are labeled/
highlighted.
Only two appeals
highlighted.
Only one appeal
identified and
highlighted.
No appeals in speech
identified.
Organization
Student presents a
well-organized
speech with logical
transitions. The
speech is easy to
follow. The reasons
are well-supported.
Most of the speech is
well-organized and
easy to follow. The
reasons are
supported.
Some of the speech is The speech is not
easy to follow. The
easy to follow. There
reasons are
are no transitions.
somewhat supported.
Appearance
Stands up straight,
looks relaxed and
confident. Establishes
eye contact with
everyone in the room
during the
presentation.
Stands up straight
and establishes eye
contact with
everyone in the room
during the
presentation.
Sometimes stands up
straight and
establishes eye
contact.
Slouches and/or does
not look at people
during the
presentation.
Content
Shows a full
understanding of the
topic. Attention
Grabber, Thesis;
Persuasive
Shows a good
understanding of the
topic. No Attention
Grabber
Shows a good
understanding of
parts of the topic. No
Attention Grabber or
Thesis.
Does not seem to
understand the topic
very well. no
Attention Grabber,
Thesis; not
Persuasive
Logical Fallacies____ -5
Lost Rubric____ -10