What are the three main purposes of any speech?
The purpose of a speech is to somehow change the audience you are talking to. There must be some reaction. You are expecting a response. It could be "Oh, that was interesting, I've learned something", or "Yes, I'll go and vote for you". There are three major purposes and each has a different audience outcome.
The three main purposes of a speech are: to inform (informative), to persuade(persuasive) or to entertain (entertaining). In this session, we will discuss the speech to persuade.
What does it mean to persuade?
What is the main purpose of a persuasive speech?
To persuade someone involves one of three outcomes from your listener:
you confirm their beliefs about something
you change their beliefs about something
you get them to do something
A persuasive speech revolves around a topic. A topic that means something to you. Something that you are enthusiastic about. Your aim is to get your audience :
to agree with you mentally and do something to confirm their beliefs OR
to change their beliefs and hopefully change their behaviour OR
to accept your reasoning and do something for you physically
For example, You may want to persuade others to vote for you - you want them to tick your name on the ballot form. You may want them to agree that plastic is bad for the environment.
How do you create a persuasive speech?
To create a persuasive speech, you need a topic that you are enthusiastic about. It may be a hobby, or a cause or a belief. Your aim is to convince your listener that your ideas are correct and that your listeners should agree with you. Your intention is to change or to confirm their beliefs or to get them to do something.
You need:
A topic or thesis that sounds controversial depending on your title - you know some people will agree with you and others will not. It must be debatable.
You phrase your topic or thesis and your title so that is a QUESTION - the only answers will be Yes AND No, Agree AND disagree, True AND False eg "Does Climate Change have many benefits?" It gets your audience's attention.
(Your topic or thesis and your title can also be in the form of a STARTLING STATEMENT eg "Climate change has many benefits!" It still also gets your audience's attention.)
Take a stance on your question - do you agree OR disagree?
Research evidence to support your stance - examples, statistics, short stories, facts
Organise your findings into a logical order
Add an introduction
Add a conclusion
When you are happy with the written speech, start rehearsing it as a spoken speech.
Conclusion
I hope this session on Persuasive Speeches has been useful. We investigated what 'persuasion' is. How to find a controversial topic for a persuasive speech. How to structure the speech. How to get content that supports your stance on the topic. How to prepare for delivering your speech. Every success. Paul.
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