Persuasive Speaking Outline and Strategies

1. Persuasive Speaking Outline and Strategies

2. Introduction • Attention Getter • Anecdote • Quotation (be sure to say who said it) • Rhetorical question • Startling fact or statistic (be sure to cite it: “According to . . .”)

3. Introduction • Explain the significance of the attention getter/comment on it in order to transition into your quotation or main idea. • Introduce and provide your quotation. • Explain your quotation. What does it mean? • Provide your thesis. • Thesis should include a preview of your main ideas (e.g. “Wiesel is correct when he says this because , , and .” • You only give a preview of main ideas in the thesis when you are presenting a speech. Do not do this when writing an essay.

4. Body • You already know how to do this—it is just like an essay. • Each main point needs to start with a clear topic sentence. • Follow P.E.E. structure. • Cite your sources, e.g. “According to . . .” or “says, ‘. . . . .’” or some variation of this • Make sure that you clearly explain how each piece of evidence supports your thesis.

5. Research • Use credible sources that you learned about first semester. • Do not use wikipedia. • Do not use Google searches (or other internet search engine searches).

6. Conclusion • Restate your quotation and your thesis • Summarize your main ideas • Leave the audience thinking. • Explain what you want the audience to do now that it agrees with you. • Explain how the audience should act now that it agrees with you. • Explain why it is important for the audience to realize what you have just persuaded it of. • Something else? • Essentially, answer the question “So what?” Why should your audience care about what you have just convinced it of?

7. Preparing • Write down as little as possible. • Things you might want to write in complete sentences: • Thesis • Topic sentences • Quotations For explanations (which will be the majority of the speech), only write down key words that you want to remember to say or that will clue you in on what you want to say.

8. Preparing • Do not write an entire manuscript and try to memorize it. • Do not write an entire manuscript and bring it to the front with you. • Do practice a lot so that you are able to deliver the speech with minimum dependence on your notes/outline.

9. Rhetorical Strategies • The following strategies can be very effective in public speaking. • Repetition of important ideas • Emphasizes importance • Helps audience remember ideas • Rhetorical questions • Engage audience and make people think • Increases audience curiosity • Vary your syntax (length, type, etc.) • Variety keeps listeners interested • Short sentences to emphasize key ideas or things you want listeners to remember