Adapting Your Research to a

Persuasive Speech

Step One

Your introduction needs to state your stance on the issue and interest your audience.

The hook must be interesting and grab everyone’s attention.

Statistics, bold quotations, anecdotes…Your thesis (statement of belief) can be

anywhere in the introduction and must be clear.

Avoid easy statements like, “I think stem cell research is bad.”

Juice it up some, like, “Stem cell research is blatant abuse of the human body, something akin to the rape of Mother Nature.”◦Have a strong opinion!

Step Two

Let the audience know WHY they need to join your stance.

You are more likely to persuade an audience when your language motivates them.◦Most people’s interest is determined by whether

they believe the information pertains to them.

So—relate the information to the audience◦Stress the timeliness of the information◦Stress the impact on the audience’s personal space◦Stress the seriousness of the personal impact

Example: Persuading audience to install fire extinguishers

Timeliness—Fires do not discriminate. They can happen at any time. You cannot wait for graduation or your own home to become safe.

Personal Space—Use local statistics of fires and houses with fire extinguishers. Explain mental and time burdens after the fire.

Seriousness—Fires can be fatal. Fires can cost a lot and insurance may not cover everything. Some things cannot be replaced.

Sample Intro: Deforestation

According to TheRainforestSite.com, a web site dedicated to saving the rainforest, its people and its resources, more than an acre of rainforest is lost every second. Let me repeat that – more than an acre of rainforest is lost every second. So, in the time it took for me to say these first few sentences, 10 acres were lost. For many of us the magnitude of this loss is hard to imagine. So think about it this way – the equivalent of about 4 football fields are destroyed every second of every minute of every day.

You may also be wondering why this affects you. The rainforest contains important resources and environmental factors that affect many aspects of our daily lives, including our weather, the air we breathe, and the medicine we take. By better understanding the importance of rainforests on a global and local level, you will understand why it is vital that each person in this room dedicate himself or herself, in some simple ways, to protecting these majestic resources.

Step Three: The Body

Depending on how much work you did in preparation of the research project, this could be simple.

Organize the strongest information you can find that supports your topic. While speaking, give the audience a combination of logos, ethos, and pathos to build support for your side. Always explain your data.

There are three things you cannot go without: evidence and citation and refutation.

Evidence

You are more likely to persuade when the body of your speech contains LOGICAL REASONS AND GOOD EVIDENCE to support your proposition/goal.◦Facts—verifiable and proven◦Expert Opinion—verifiable and proven◦Statistics—verifiable and proven◦Testimony—verifiable and proven◦Anything else—verifiable and proven

Citation

You are more likely to persuade an audience when you have established yourself as credible.

This means the audience feels that it can trust and believe you.◦Established through

Preparation—sources checked, practiced Verbal/Nonverbal cues—posture, eyes, wording Enthusiasm—vocal range, effort Ethos – citing your sources throughout the speech

Concession/Refutation

At some point in your speech you will acknowledge the opposition’s side of the argument.

When refuting, you are explaining why those reasons/statements are false, doubtful, or simply not as strong as those that promote your goal/proposition.

If this is done well and respectfully, your audience will increase its trust and belief in you.

Shows the audience how prepared and knowledgeable you are because you have anticipated and evaluated the oppositions reasoning

Allows you to strengthen your position while weakening the oppositions

Stuff you’ve seen…changed

According to Dr. Randell Hansen, opponents of distance learning believe that students’ social lives suffer due to the failure of students to experience personal relationships. For example, Hansen states that students may miss out on parties or online get-togethers. However, in an article from Issues and Controversies, supporters of distance learning state that for a shy student who might sit silently in a classroom, distance learning could facilitate participation and self-expression. In other words, students who fail to participate while in class may be more confident and more expressive in other environments, like an online chat room or discussion board.

Sure, students may miss a few parties if they use distance learning, but a logical argument would be that a student who refuses to speak to others in a social environment would probably not be invited to those parties anyway! Clearly shy students have a better chance to participate in education through distance learning, and that is worth the sacrifice of missing a few parties.

Analysis of what that was

Logos: logical arguments…shy students would not get invited to parties because they are shy…simple, case closed.

Pathos: Appeals to sympathy for the shy student getting a better education instead of being all lonely an’ stuff

Ethos: Hurting Hansen’s source’s credibility improves my own.

Avoid these things

Threatening – never bully an audienceDictating – don’t tell audience what they MUST

do…instead, offer suggestions of what they could do

Begging – Plead for support…you’ll lose respectSarcasm – May anger some, may seem

ambiguousPlaying on Prejudice – Never assume that the

audience is biased toward something… this could viciously backfire!

Comedy Hour – While some topics can be joked about, many cannot, so stick to being professional

The Conclusion

Conclusion◦ Discuss best solution to the argument◦ Leave audience with something specific to think about or

do

Each of us has the power to help the rainforest and it does not have to cost us any money. We can visit, daily, sites like threrainforestsite.com and click your mouse to save the environment. We can reduce, reuse, and recycle. We can compost. On a broader scale we can become involved at the local and national level in political efforts to sustain the rainforest; we can buy rainforest friendly products and try walking instead of driving.

Whatever it is that we as individuals choose to do, we must start now and continue into the future. Our air, and therefore our lives, depends on it.