persuasive speech grade 8

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Delivering a Persuasive Speech Lesson Plan

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Lesson Plan #: AELP-SPH0200 Submitted by: Douglas Parker Email: [email protected] School/University/Affiliation: Albany Academy, Albany, NY Date: May 30, 2001

Grade Level: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Subject(s):

• Language Arts/Speech

Duration: Two 50-minute sessions

Description: Students need to understand that how they say something and how they physically present themselves are just as important as what they say. By understanding the dynamics involved in effective persuasive speaking, students will improve their overall confidence in communicating.

Goals: The goal of this lesson is to improve students’ speaking skills by understanding persuasion proficiencies.

Objectives: Students will be able to:

• Demonstrate the appropriate classroom public speaking and listening skills (e.g., body language, articulation, listening to be able to identify specific examples of the speaker’s coordination of talking and action) that would be necessary to influence or change someone’s mind or way of thinking about a topic.
• Define the elements of persuasion.
• Recognize the elements of personal credibility.
• Develop methods to analyze other students’ speeches.
• Understand outlining main ideas.
• Create a persuasive speech.
• teacher-prepared topics for persuasive speeches
• sample rubric (available in .pdf format)
• Sample Rubric

Procedure: During class discussion, define and explain how people make decisions based on what they see and hear. Explain that sometimes we have to use skills to convince others about our positions. Have the students recall and list their own experiences trying to convince their friends about something, and then ask them to share these with the class. Have the students pick a proposition that not everyone would agree with such as: nuclear power plants are superior energy sources. Have them write a 6-8 minute speech in outline form to persuade the class. Each student will then deliver this speech in front of the class while the rest of the students take notes and prepare to give the speaker feedback on the speech. 

The voice and the body are the best tools — every student is a natural persuader! They have done it all their lives. Every time someone enters a conversation, he or she engages in elementary persuasion techniques. It is true that any time students make a statement of fact, they are asserting its validity and assuming that their listener agrees. This speech goes further than a normal conversational assertion: now students have to assume that not everyone will agree with them from the start, and it is their job to make them see things their way. The goal of this speech is to change someone’s mind or way of thinking about a topic. This is not a speech to sell, as students do not ask that the listener do anything except to agree with them or to begin to listen to their way of thinking. Their message is, of course, very important in this speech, but their voice and body language are even more important. Here they will learn how their delivery can help. There are several important aspects of presentation to keep in mind; the academic elements of persuasion are:

• Body Language – Make sure that they have a proper posture. If their shoulders are sagging and their legs are crossed, they will not appear as being sincere, and people just will not accept their message.
• Articulation – Articulation means how their total vocal process works. There are several steps to this entire process. Students need to understand the process. First, they need air from the lungs, their vocal cords in their larynx must be working, their mouth and tongue must be in sync, and they have to make sure that they have got some saliva in their mouths to keep things oiled. They should be aware of their physical makeup to be able to understand how they speak.
• Pronunciation – Students need to pronounce each word. They must avoid slang, except to make a point, and not slur the words. They must avoid saying, you know.
• Pitch – Pitch refers to the highs and lows of the voice. Whatever they do, they must avoid a monotone!
• Speed – The speed, or pace, is an important variable to control. Between 140-160 words per minute is the normal pace for a persuasive speech. Any faster and they may appear to be glib; any slower and they sound like they are lecturing. If they are not sure about their speed, tape them for one minute and then replay it and count the number of words they used in the minute! The human ear and brain can compile and decode over 400 spoken words per minute, so if they are going too slow their listeners’ minds are going to start to wander as the brains finds other ways to keep themselves occupied.
• Pauses – The pause, or caesura, is a critical persuasive tool. When they want to emphasize a certain word, have them just pause for one second before; this highlights the word. If they really want to punch it, tell them to pause before and after the word!
• Volume – Volume is another good tool for a persuasive speech, but they should use it with caution. If they scream all the way through their speech, people will become accustomed to it and it will lose its effectiveness. On the other hand, a few well-timed shouts can liven up the speech! They must try to project or throw their voice out over the entire class – or speak to the last row.
• Quality – Quality of voice is gauged by the overall impact that their voice has on their listeners. Quality of voice is the net caliber of their voice, its character and attributes. They must try to keep the vocal quality high; it is what separates their voices from everyone else’s.
• Variance – Variance of vocal elements is the most important consideration of all! One of the most persuasive speakers in modern history was Winston Churchill. One of his most remarkable qualities was his ability to vary the elements of his voice. He would start with a slow, laconic voice and then switch gears to a more rapid pace. People were light-headed after listening to him! Even if they have no desire to run for political office, students can still use the tools of variance. Have them try to change their pitch, volume, and speed at least once every 30 seconds, if only for just one word. Never let them go more than one paragraph without a vocal variance. This keeps the class locked into the speech, if for no other reason than it sounds interesting! Let the students’ words speak for themselves; reflect their nature through their voices. If they use the word strangle, have them say it with a hint of menace in their voices. If they say the word heave, let the class feel the onomatopoeic force behind it. If they say the word bulldozer, make it sound like a titan earthmover, not like a baby with a shovel.

The Strategy: Appear Rational When students are trying to convince someone of something, they must first establish their credibility, or in other words, they must sell themselves before they sell their message. If people feel that they are not being reasonable or rational, they do not stand a chance. They must be committed to the ideals and goals of their speech and what they are saying. They should not use words such as maybe or might- the should use positive words such as will and must. Students must portray themselves as the authority figures in this speech, so they had better supply enough information to prove their points so that they can seem knowledgeable, and they had better know their material cold. People can usually spot someone who is trying to wing a speech. They should also appear to be truthful – even when they are really stretching a point. If they do not appear to be earnest, even if their message is the 100% truth, people will doubt their word and tune out their speech. Lastly, they must not be afraid to show a little emotion – this is not a sterile or static speech. Students’ bodies and voices must match the tone of their words. If their language is strong, they must present a physical force to go along with their deliveries.

The Class Reaction The class has two major criteria to consider after each member’s speech. First, the delivery. Were the speaker’s body, words, and actions in synchronization and harmony? Did one support the other or was there tension between the body and the voice? Secondly, were the students persuaded? Why or why not? Discuss what makes a persuasive speech work and how the intangibles effect a positive outcome. Assessment: The class will assess each speaker’s performance in terms of voice and body coordination and in terms of persuasiveness. Each class can develop performance assessments such as rubrics to facilitate this process (see sample rubric in Materials ).

Useful Internet Resource: * Basic Public Speaking, 2nd edition (written by the lesson plan author) http://www.capital.net/~bps2

Table of Contents

How to Write and Structure a Persuasive Speech

• Homework Tips
• Learning Styles & Skills
• Study Methods
• Time Management
• Private School
• College Admissions
• College Life
• Graduate School
• Business School
• Distance Learning
• M.Ed., Education Administration, University of Georgia
• B.A., History, Armstrong State University

The purpose of a persuasive speech is to convince your audience to agree with an idea or opinion that you present. First, you'll need to choose a side on a controversial topic, then you will write a speech to explain your position, and convince the audience to agree with you.

You can produce an effective persuasive speech if you structure your argument as a solution to a problem. Your first job as a speaker is to convince your audience that a particular problem is important to them, and then you must convince them that you have the solution to make things better.

Note: You don't have to address a real problem. Any need can work as the problem. For example, you could consider the lack of a pet, the need to wash one's hands, or the need to pick a particular sport to play as the "problem."

As an example, let's imagine that you have chosen "Getting Up Early" as your persuasion topic. Your goal will be to persuade classmates to get themselves out of bed an hour earlier every morning. In this instance, the problem could be summed up as "morning chaos."

A standard speech format has an introduction with a great hook statement, three main points, and a summary. Your persuasive speech will be a tailored version of this format.

Before you write the text of your speech, you should sketch an outline that includes your hook statement and three main points.

Writing the Text

The introduction of your speech must be compelling because your audience will make up their minds within a few minutes whether or not they are interested in your topic.

Before you write the full body you should come up with a greeting. Your greeting can be as simple as "Good morning everyone. My name is Frank."

After your greeting, you will offer a hook to capture attention. A hook sentence for the "morning chaos" speech could be a question:

• How many times have you been late for school?
• Does your day begin with shouts and arguments?
• Have you ever missed the bus?

Or your hook could be a statistic or surprising statement:

• More than 50 percent of high school students skip breakfast because they just don't have time to eat.
• Tardy kids drop out of school more often than punctual kids.

Once you have the attention of your audience, follow through to define the topic/problem and introduce your solution. Here's an example of what you might have so far:

Good afternoon, class. Some of you know me, but some of you may not. My name is Frank Godfrey, and I have a question for you. Does your day begin with shouts and arguments? Do you go to school in a bad mood because you've been yelled at, or because you argued with your parent? The chaos you experience in the morning can bring you down and affect your performance at school.

Add the solution:

You can improve your mood and your school performance by adding more time to your morning schedule. You can accomplish this by setting your alarm clock to go off one hour earlier.

Your next task will be to write the body, which will contain the three main points you've come up with to argue your position. Each point will be followed by supporting evidence or anecdotes, and each body paragraph will need to end with a transition statement that leads to the next segment. Here is a sample of three main statements:

• Bad moods caused by morning chaos will affect your workday performance.
• If you skip breakfast to buy time, you're making a harmful health decision.
• (Ending on a cheerful note) You'll enjoy a boost to your self-esteem when you reduce the morning chaos.

After you write three body paragraphs with strong transition statements that make your speech flow, you are ready to work on your summary.

Your summary will re-emphasize your argument and restate your points in slightly different language. This can be a little tricky. You don't want to sound repetitive but will need to repeat what you have said. Find a way to reword the same main points.

Finally, you must make sure to write a clear final sentence or passage to keep yourself from stammering at the end or fading off in an awkward moment. A few examples of graceful exits:

• We all like to sleep. It's hard to get up some mornings, but rest assured that the reward is well worth the effort.
• If you follow these guidelines and make the effort to get up a little bit earlier every day, you'll reap rewards in your home life and on your report card.

Tips for Writing Your Speech

• Don't be confrontational in your argument. You don't need to put down the other side; just convince your audience that your position is correct by using positive assertions.
• Use simple statistics. Don't overwhelm your audience with confusing numbers.
• Don't complicate your speech by going outside the standard "three points" format. While it might seem simplistic, it is a tried and true method for presenting to an audience who is listening as opposed to reading.
• 100 Persuasive Speech Topics for Students
• 100 Persuasive Essay Topics
• Examples of Great Introductory Paragraphs
• 50 Argumentative Essay Topics
• How to Write a Persuasive Essay
• 5 Tips on How to Write a Speech Essay
• How To Write an Essay
• Tips on How to Write an Argumentative Essay
• Writing an Opinion Essay
• How to Structure an Essay
• What Is Expository Writing?
• 5 Steps to Writing a Position Paper
• Ethos, Logos, Pathos for Persuasion
• Definition and Examples of Analysis in Composition
• Write an Attention-Grabbing Opening Sentence for an Essay
• How to Write a Graduation Speech as Valedictorian

Persuasive Speeches — Types, Topics, and Examples

What is a persuasive speech?

In a persuasive speech, the speaker aims to convince the audience to accept a particular perspective on a person, place, object, idea, etc. The speaker strives to cause the audience to accept the point of view presented in the speech.

The success of a persuasive speech often relies on the speaker’s use of ethos, pathos, and logos.

Ethos is the speaker’s credibility. Audiences are more likely to accept an argument if they find the speaker trustworthy. To establish credibility during a persuasive speech, speakers can do the following:

Use familiar language.

Select examples that connect to the specific audience.

Utilize credible and well-known sources.

Logically structure the speech in an audience-friendly way.

Use appropriate eye contact, volume, pacing, and inflection.

Pathos appeals to the audience’s emotions. Speakers who create an emotional bond with their audience are typically more convincing. Tapping into the audience’s emotions can be accomplished through the following:

Select evidence that can elicit an emotional response.

Use emotionally-charged words. (The city has a problem … vs. The city has a disease …)

Incorporate analogies and metaphors that connect to a specific emotion to draw a parallel between the reference and topic.

Utilize vivid imagery and sensory words, allowing the audience to visualize the information.

Employ an appropriate tone, inflection, and pace to reflect the emotion.

Logos appeals to the audience’s logic by offering supporting evidence. Speakers can improve their logical appeal in the following ways:

Use comprehensive evidence the audience can understand.

Confirm the evidence logically supports the argument’s claims and stems from credible sources.

Ensure that evidence is specific and avoid any vague or questionable information.

Types of persuasive speeches

The three main types of persuasive speeches are factual, value, and policy.

A factual persuasive speech focuses solely on factual information to prove the existence or absence of something through substantial proof. This is the only type of persuasive speech that exclusively uses objective information rather than subjective. As such, the argument does not rely on the speaker’s interpretation of the information. Essentially, a factual persuasive speech includes historical controversy, a question of current existence, or a prediction:

Historical controversy concerns whether an event happened or whether an object actually existed.

Questions of current existence involve the knowledge that something is currently happening.

Predictions incorporate the analysis of patterns to convince the audience that an event will happen again.

A value persuasive speech concerns the morality of a certain topic. Speakers incorporate facts within these speeches; however, the speaker’s interpretation of those facts creates the argument. These speeches are highly subjective, so the argument cannot be proven to be absolutely true or false.

A policy persuasive speech centers around the speaker’s support or rejection of a public policy, rule, or law. Much like a value speech, speakers provide evidence supporting their viewpoint; however, they provide subjective conclusions based on the facts they provide.

How to write a persuasive speech

Incorporate the following steps when writing a persuasive speech:

Step 1 – Identify the type of persuasive speech (factual, value, or policy) that will help accomplish the goal of the presentation.

Step 2 – Select a good persuasive speech topic to accomplish the goal and choose a position .

Step 3 – Locate credible and reliable sources and identify evidence in support of the topic/position. Revisit Step 2 if there is a lack of relevant resources.

Step 4 – Identify the audience and understand their baseline attitude about the topic.

Step 5 – When constructing an introduction , keep the following questions in mind:

What’s the topic of the speech?

What’s the occasion?

Who’s the audience?

What’s the purpose of the speech?

Step 6 – Utilize the evidence within the previously identified sources to construct the body of the speech. Keeping the audience in mind, determine which pieces of evidence can best help develop the argument. Discuss each point in detail, allowing the audience to understand how the facts support the perspective.

Step 7 – Addressing counterarguments can help speakers build their credibility, as it highlights their breadth of knowledge.

Step 8 – Conclude the speech with an overview of the central purpose and how the main ideas identified in the body support the overall argument.

Persuasive speech outline

One of the best ways to prepare a great persuasive speech is by using an outline. When structuring an outline, include an introduction, body, and conclusion:

Introduction

Attention Grabbers

Ask a question that allows the audience to respond in a non-verbal way; ask a rhetorical question that makes the audience think of the topic without requiring a response.

Incorporate a well-known quote that introduces the topic. Using the words of a celebrated individual gives credibility and authority to the information in the speech.

Offer a startling statement or information about the topic, typically done using data or statistics.

Provide a brief anecdote or story that relates to the topic.

Starting a speech with a humorous statement often makes the audience more comfortable with the speaker.

Provide information on how the selected topic may impact the audience .

Include any background information pertinent to the topic that the audience needs to know to understand the speech in its entirety.

Give the thesis statement in connection to the main topic and identify the main ideas that will help accomplish the central purpose.

Identify evidence

Summarize its meaning

Explain how it helps prove the support/main claim

Evidence 3 (Continue as needed)

Support 3 (Continue as needed)

Restate thesis

Review main supports

Concluding statement

Give the audience a call to action to do something specific.

Identify the overall importan ce of the topic and position.

Persuasive speech topics

The following table identifies some common or interesting persuasive speech topics for high school and college students:

Persuasive speech examples

The following list identifies some of history’s most famous persuasive speeches:

John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address: “Ask Not What Your Country Can Do for You”

Lyndon B. Johnson: “We Shall Overcome”

Marc Antony: “Friends, Romans, Countrymen…” in William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar

Ronald Reagan: “Tear Down this Wall”

Sojourner Truth: “Ain’t I a Woman?”

ELA  /  8th Grade  /  Unit 7: Making Change: Speeches, Essays, and Articles (2020)

Making Change: Speeches, Essays, and Articles (2020)

Students explore human nature through the stories of teenagers challenging the status quo and making real change in the world.

This unit has been archived. To view our updated curriculum, visit our 8th Grade English course.

• Text and Materials

Unit Summary

In this final 8th grade unit, students will embrace their own power as changemakers in the world. Throughout this year, students have read texts that explore some of the darkest moments in recent history and reveal harsh realities about the human capacity to be bigoted, violent, cruel, and oppressive. As young people enter adolescence and come to more fully understand the complexities and contradictions of human nature, it can feel truly overwhelming. What difference can anyone make, let alone a young person?

This unit is designed as a kind of antidote to the powerlessness that some students may be feeling. This two-week unit begins with several articles about the unique role young people can play and have played in making meaningful change in the world. Students will learn about specific teenage activists making a change in the world today and think critically about what makes different kinds of activism effective. Students will spend their final week writing a paper/essay about a social issue that matters to them personally. In order to demonstrate their writing growth, this project includes components written in three different genres: a research component, an argumentative component, and a short personal narrative. These papers will be a form of activism for students, as they share their work with classmates and build awareness around an issue that is personally significant to them.

Texts and Materials

Some of the links below are Amazon affiliate links. This means that if you click and make a purchase, we receive a small portion of the proceeds, which supports our non-profit mission.

Core Materials

Video:  “What Adults Can Learn from Kids” by Adora Svitak (TED)

Article:  “7 Times in History When Students Turned to Activism” by Maggie Astor (New York Times)

Article:  “Why Demonstrating is Good for Kids” by Lisa Damour (New York Times)

Supporting Materials

Article:  “Seven Young Activists to Watch Ahead of the 2020 Elections” by Rachel Janfaza (Teen Vogue)

Article:  “These Teenage Activists are Shaping Our Future” (Huck Magazine)

Article:  “Five Teens Who Changed the World” by Harvey Day (BBC)

Article:  “The Youth Activists Who Proved Critics Wrong in 2018” by Victoria Rodriguez (Mashable)

Article:  “7 Female Activists Under 23 Who Are Changing the World” by Courtney Connley (CNBC)

Article:  “TIME's 25 Most Influential Teens of 2018” by TIME Staff (TIME)

Article:  “'Young People are Angry': The Teenage Activists Shaping Our Future” by Candice Pires (The Guardian)

Essential Questions

The central thematic questions addressed in the unit or across units

• How will YOU make a difference in your community and in the world? 

Reading Enduring Understandings

What transferable understandings students should have as readers by the end of the unit

• Young people have been active in social movements throughout history and continue to play an important role today.
• Many young people around the world are standing up for what they believe in and are doing so in a variety of different ways.

Supporting All Students

In order to ensure that all students are able to access the texts and tasks in this unit, it is incredibly important to intellectually prepare to teach the unit prior to launching the unit. Use the intellectual preparation protocol and the Unit Launch to determine which support students will need. To learn more, visit the Supporting all Students teacher tool.

Notes for Teachers

Notes to help teachers prepare for this specific unit

• As with any topic related to politics, it is important that students remember to speak respectfully to one another and listen to opinions that may differ from their own. Because students are being asked to write about an issue that they feel personally connected to, it is particularly important to maintain a safe space in your classroom.
• The assigned articles discuss school shootings and other forms of violence. You may wish to inform families about the content covered in this unit.

Identify a speaker’s argument and the reasoning she uses to support that argument, and assess the relevance and sufficiency of her evidence. 

Determine the central idea of an article and explain how it is developed over the course of the text. 

Summarize an article and determine its central idea. 

Determine the meaning of unknown words through context clues and determine a speaker’s tone based on specific words and phrases used in the text. 

• “Five Teens...”
• “TIME's 25...”
• “7 Female...”
• “The Youth Activists...”
• “These Teenage Activists...”
• “Seven Young...”

Clearly present information to classmates and work collaboratively to draw conclusions based on research.

Research a topic of choice and gather appropriate evidence from reputable sources. 

W.8.1 W.8.2 W.8.2.a W.8.2.b W.8.3 W.8.7 W.8.8 W.8.9

Complete a draft of the informational section of an essay, incorporating sufficient evidence from multiple sources. 

Craft persuasive essays, including sufficient evidence and reasoning, as well as a strong counterclaim.

W.8.1 W.8.1.a W.8.1.b W.8.2 W.8.3

Structure personal narratives that clearly communicate a point of view. 

W.8.1 W.8.2 W.8.3 W.8.3.a W.8.3.d

Provide meaningful feedback to peers and incorporate feedback into own writing. 

W.8.1 W.8.2 W.8.3 W.8.5

Project  – 2 days

Present essay to peers.

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Common Core Standards

Core standards.

The content standards covered in this unit

Reading Standards for Informational Text

RI.8.2 — Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text.

RI.8.4 — Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.

RI.8.8 — Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; recognize when irrelevant evidence is introduced.

Speaking and Listening Standards

SL.8.4 — Present claims and findings, emphasizing salient points in a focused, coherent manner with relevant evidence, sound valid reasoning, and well-chosen details; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation.

Writing Standards

W.8.1 — Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.

W.8.1.a — Introduce claim(s), acknowledge and distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and organize the reasons and evidence logically.

W.8.1.b — Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant evidence, using accurate, credible sources and demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text.

W.8.2 — Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content

W.8.2.a — Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information into broader categories; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

W.8.2.b — Develop the topic with relevant, well-chosen facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.

W.8.3 — Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.

W.8.3.a — Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and point of view and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically.

W.8.3.d — Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events.

W.8.5 — With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed.

W.8.7 — Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.

W.8.8 — Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.

W.8.9 — Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

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11.2 Persuasive Speaking

Learning objectives.

• Explain how claims, evidence, and warrants function to create an argument.
• Identify strategies for choosing a persuasive speech topic.
• Identify strategies for adapting a persuasive speech based on an audience’s orientation to the proposition.
• Distinguish among propositions of fact, value, and policy.
• Choose an organizational pattern that is fitting for a persuasive speech topic.

We produce and receive persuasive messages daily, but we don’t often stop to think about how we make the arguments we do or the quality of the arguments that we receive. In this section, we’ll learn the components of an argument, how to choose a good persuasive speech topic, and how to adapt and organize a persuasive message.

Foundation of Persuasion

Persuasive speaking seeks to influence the beliefs, attitudes, values, or behaviors of audience members. In order to persuade, a speaker has to construct arguments that appeal to audience members. Arguments form around three components: claim, evidence, and warrant. The claim is the statement that will be supported by evidence. Your thesis statement is the overarching claim for your speech, but you will make other claims within the speech to support the larger thesis. Evidence , also called grounds, supports the claim. The main points of your persuasive speech and the supporting material you include serve as evidence. For example, a speaker may make the following claim: “There should be a national law against texting while driving.” The speaker could then support the claim by providing the following evidence: “Research from the US Department of Transportation has found that texting while driving creates a crash risk that is twenty-three times worse than driving while not distracted.” The warrant is the underlying justification that connects the claim and the evidence. One warrant for the claim and evidence cited in this example is that the US Department of Transportation is an institution that funds research conducted by credible experts. An additional and more implicit warrant is that people shouldn’t do things they know are unsafe.

Figure 11.2 Components of an Argument

The quality of your evidence often impacts the strength of your warrant, and some warrants are stronger than others. A speaker could also provide evidence to support their claim advocating for a national ban on texting and driving by saying, “I have personally seen people almost wreck while trying to text.” While this type of evidence can also be persuasive, it provides a different type and strength of warrant since it is based on personal experience. In general, the anecdotal evidence from personal experience would be given a weaker warrant than the evidence from the national research report. The same process works in our legal system when a judge evaluates the connection between a claim and evidence. If someone steals my car, I could say to the police, “I’m pretty sure Mario did it because when I said hi to him on campus the other day, he didn’t say hi back, which proves he’s mad at me.” A judge faced with that evidence is unlikely to issue a warrant for Mario’s arrest. Fingerprint evidence from the steering wheel that has been matched with a suspect is much more likely to warrant arrest.

As you put together a persuasive argument, you act as the judge. You can evaluate arguments that you come across in your research by analyzing the connection (the warrant) between the claim and the evidence. If the warrant is strong, you may want to highlight that argument in your speech. You may also be able to point out a weak warrant in an argument that goes against your position, which you could then include in your speech. Every argument starts by putting together a claim and evidence, but arguments grow to include many interrelated units.

Choosing a Persuasive Speech Topic

As with any speech, topic selection is important and is influenced by many factors. Good persuasive speech topics are current, controversial, and have important implications for society. If your topic is currently being discussed on television, in newspapers, in the lounges in your dorm, or around your family’s dinner table, then it’s a current topic. A persuasive speech aimed at getting audience members to wear seat belts in cars wouldn’t have much current relevance, given that statistics consistently show that most people wear seat belts. Giving the same speech would have been much more timely in the 1970s when there was a huge movement to increase seat-belt use.

Many topics that are current are also controversial, which is what gets them attention by the media and citizens. Current and controversial topics will be more engaging for your audience. A persuasive speech to encourage audience members to donate blood or recycle wouldn’t be very controversial, since the benefits of both practices are widely agreed on. However, arguing that the restrictions on blood donation by men who have had sexual relations with men be lifted would be controversial. I must caution here that controversial is not the same as inflammatory. An inflammatory topic is one that evokes strong reactions from an audience for the sake of provoking a reaction. Being provocative for no good reason or choosing a topic that is extremist will damage your credibility and prevent you from achieving your speech goals.

You should also choose a topic that is important to you and to society as a whole. As we have already discussed in this book, our voices are powerful, as it is through communication that we participate and make change in society. Therefore we should take seriously opportunities to use our voices to speak publicly. Choosing a speech topic that has implications for society is probably a better application of your public speaking skills than choosing to persuade the audience that Lebron James is the best basketball player in the world or that Superman is a better hero than Spiderman. Although those topics may be very important to you, they don’t carry the same social weight as many other topics you could choose to discuss. Remember that speakers have ethical obligations to the audience and should take the opportunity to speak seriously.

You will also want to choose a topic that connects to your own interests and passions. If you are an education major, it might make more sense to do a persuasive speech about funding for public education than the death penalty. If there are hot-button issues for you that make you get fired up and veins bulge out in your neck, then it may be a good idea to avoid those when speaking in an academic or professional context.

Choose a persuasive speech topic that you’re passionate about but still able to approach and deliver in an ethical manner.

Michael Vadon – Nigel Farage – CC BY-SA 2.0.

Choosing such topics may interfere with your ability to deliver a speech in a competent and ethical manner. You want to care about your topic, but you also want to be able to approach it in a way that’s going to make people want to listen to you. Most people tune out speakers they perceive to be too ideologically entrenched and write them off as extremists or zealots.

You also want to ensure that your topic is actually persuasive. Draft your thesis statement as an “I believe” statement so your stance on an issue is clear. Also, think of your main points as reasons to support your thesis. Students end up with speeches that aren’t very persuasive in nature if they don’t think of their main points as reasons. Identifying arguments that counter your thesis is also a good exercise to help ensure your topic is persuasive. If you can clearly and easily identify a competing thesis statement and supporting reasons, then your topic and approach are arguable.

Review of Tips for Choosing a Persuasive Speech Topic

• Not current. People should use seat belts.
• Current. People should not text while driving.
• Not controversial. People should recycle.
• Controversial. Recycling should be mandatory by law.
• Not as impactful. Superman is the best superhero.
• Impactful. Colleges and universities should adopt zero-tolerance bullying policies.
• Unclear thesis. Homeschooling is common in the United States.
• Clear, argumentative thesis with stance. Homeschooling does not provide the same benefits of traditional education and should be strictly monitored and limited.

Adapting Persuasive Messages

Competent speakers should consider their audience throughout the speech-making process. Given that persuasive messages seek to directly influence the audience in some way, audience adaptation becomes even more important. If possible, poll your audience to find out their orientation toward your thesis. I read my students’ thesis statements aloud and have the class indicate whether they agree with, disagree with, or are neutral in regards to the proposition. It is unlikely that you will have a homogenous audience, meaning that there will probably be some who agree, some who disagree, and some who are neutral. So you may employ all of the following strategies, in varying degrees, in your persuasive speech.

When you have audience members who already agree with your proposition, you should focus on intensifying their agreement. You can also assume that they have foundational background knowledge of the topic, which means you can take the time to inform them about lesser-known aspects of a topic or cause to further reinforce their agreement. Rather than move these audience members from disagreement to agreement, you can focus on moving them from agreement to action. Remember, calls to action should be as specific as possible to help you capitalize on audience members’ motivation in the moment so they are more likely to follow through on the action.

There are two main reasons audience members may be neutral in regards to your topic: (1) they are uninformed about the topic or (2) they do not think the topic affects them. In this case, you should focus on instilling a concern for the topic. Uninformed audiences may need background information before they can decide if they agree or disagree with your proposition. If the issue is familiar but audience members are neutral because they don’t see how the topic affects them, focus on getting the audience’s attention and demonstrating relevance. Remember that concrete and proxemic supporting materials will help an audience find relevance in a topic. Students who pick narrow or unfamiliar topics will have to work harder to persuade their audience, but neutral audiences often provide the most chance of achieving your speech goal since even a small change may move them into agreement.

When audience members disagree with your proposition, you should focus on changing their minds. To effectively persuade, you must be seen as a credible speaker. When an audience is hostile to your proposition, establishing credibility is even more important, as audience members may be quick to discount or discredit someone who doesn’t appear prepared or doesn’t present well-researched and supported information. Don’t give an audience a chance to write you off before you even get to share your best evidence. When facing a disagreeable audience, the goal should also be small change. You may not be able to switch someone’s position completely, but influencing him or her is still a success. Aside from establishing your credibility, you should also establish common ground with an audience.

Build common ground with disagreeable audiences and acknowledge areas of disagreement.

Chris-Havard Berge – Shaking Hands – CC BY-NC 2.0.

Acknowledging areas of disagreement and logically refuting counterarguments in your speech is also a way to approach persuading an audience in disagreement, as it shows that you are open-minded enough to engage with other perspectives.

Determining Your Proposition

The proposition of your speech is the overall direction of the content and how that relates to the speech goal. A persuasive speech will fall primarily into one of three categories: propositions of fact, value, or policy. A speech may have elements of any of the three propositions, but you can usually determine the overall proposition of a speech from the specific purpose and thesis statements.

Propositions of fact focus on beliefs and try to establish that something “is or isn’t.” Propositions of value focus on persuading audience members that something is “good or bad,” “right or wrong,” or “desirable or undesirable.” Propositions of policy advocate that something “should or shouldn’t” be done. Since most persuasive speech topics can be approached as propositions of fact, value, or policy, it is a good idea to start thinking about what kind of proposition you want to make, as it will influence how you go about your research and writing. As you can see in the following example using the topic of global warming, the type of proposition changes the types of supporting materials you would need:

• Proposition of fact. Global warming is caused by increased greenhouse gases related to human activity.
• Proposition of value. America’s disproportionately large amount of pollution relative to other countries is wrong .
• Proposition of policy. There should be stricter emission restrictions on individual cars.

To support propositions of fact, you would want to present a logical argument based on objective facts that can then be used to build persuasive arguments. Propositions of value may require you to appeal more to your audience’s emotions and cite expert and lay testimony. Persuasive speeches about policy usually require you to research existing and previous laws or procedures and determine if any relevant legislation or propositions are currently being considered.

“Getting Critical”

Persuasion and Masculinity

The traditional view of rhetoric that started in ancient Greece and still informs much of our views on persuasion today has been critiqued for containing Western and masculine biases. Traditional persuasion has been linked to Western and masculine values of domination, competition, and change, which have been critiqued as coercive and violent (Gearhart, 1979).

Communication scholars proposed an alternative to traditional persuasive rhetoric in the form of invitational rhetoric. Invitational rhetoric differs from a traditional view of persuasive rhetoric that “attempts to win over an opponent, or to advocate the correctness of a single position in a very complex issue” (Bone et al., 2008). Instead, invitational rhetoric proposes a model of reaching consensus through dialogue. The goal is to create a climate in which growth and change can occur but isn’t required for one person to “win” an argument over another. Each person in a communication situation is acknowledged to have a standpoint that is valid but can still be influenced through the offering of alternative perspectives and the invitation to engage with and discuss these standpoints (Ryan & Natalle, 2001). Safety, value, and freedom are three important parts of invitational rhetoric. Safety involves a feeling of security in which audience members and speakers feel like their ideas and contributions will not be denigrated. Value refers to the notion that each person in a communication encounter is worthy of recognition and that people are willing to step outside their own perspectives to better understand others. Last, freedom is present in communication when communicators do not limit the thinking or decisions of others, allowing all participants to speak up (Bone et al., 2008).

Invitational rhetoric doesn’t claim that all persuasive rhetoric is violent. Instead, it acknowledges that some persuasion is violent and that the connection between persuasion and violence is worth exploring. Invitational rhetoric has the potential to contribute to the civility of communication in our society. When we are civil, we are capable of engaging with and appreciating different perspectives while still understanding our own. People aren’t attacked or reviled because their views diverge from ours. Rather than reducing the world to “us against them, black or white, and right or wrong,” invitational rhetoric encourages us to acknowledge human perspectives in all their complexity (Bone et al., 2008).

• What is your reaction to the claim that persuasion includes Western and masculine biases?
• What are some strengths and weaknesses of the proposed alternatives to traditional persuasion?
• In what situations might an invitational approach to persuasion be useful? In what situations might you want to rely on traditional models of persuasion?

Organizing a Persuasive Speech

We have already discussed several patterns for organizing your speech, but some organization strategies are specific to persuasive speaking. Some persuasive speech topics lend themselves to a topical organization pattern, which breaks the larger topic up into logical divisions. Earlier, in Chapter 9 “Preparing a Speech” , we discussed recency and primacy, and in this chapter we discussed adapting a persuasive speech based on the audience’s orientation toward the proposition. These concepts can be connected when organizing a persuasive speech topically. Primacy means putting your strongest information first and is based on the idea that audience members put more weight on what they hear first. This strategy can be especially useful when addressing an audience that disagrees with your proposition, as you can try to win them over early. Recency means putting your strongest information last to leave a powerful impression. This can be useful when you are building to a climax in your speech, specifically if you include a call to action.

Putting your strongest argument last can help motivate an audience to action.

Celestine Chua – The Change – CC BY 2.0.

The problem-solution pattern is an organizational pattern that advocates for a particular approach to solve a problem. You would provide evidence to show that a problem exists and then propose a solution with additional evidence or reasoning to justify the course of action. One main point addressing the problem and one main point addressing the solution may be sufficient, but you are not limited to two. You could add a main point between the problem and solution that outlines other solutions that have failed. You can also combine the problem-solution pattern with the cause-effect pattern or expand the speech to fit with Monroe’s Motivated Sequence.

As was mentioned in Chapter 9 “Preparing a Speech” , the cause-effect pattern can be used for informative speaking when the relationship between the cause and effect is not contested. The pattern is more fitting for persuasive speeches when the relationship between the cause and effect is controversial or unclear. There are several ways to use causes and effects to structure a speech. You could have a two-point speech that argues from cause to effect or from effect to cause. You could also have more than one cause that lead to the same effect or a single cause that leads to multiple effects. The following are some examples of thesis statements that correspond to various organizational patterns. As you can see, the same general topic area, prison overcrowding, is used for each example. This illustrates the importance of considering your organizational options early in the speech-making process, since the pattern you choose will influence your researching and writing.

Persuasive Speech Thesis Statements by Organizational Pattern

• Problem-solution. Prison overcrowding is a serious problem that we can solve by finding alternative rehabilitation for nonviolent offenders.
• Problem–failed solution–proposed solution. Prison overcrowding is a serious problem that shouldn’t be solved by building more prisons; instead, we should support alternative rehabilitation for nonviolent offenders.
• Cause-effect. Prisons are overcrowded with nonviolent offenders, which leads to lesser sentences for violent criminals.
• Cause-cause-effect. State budgets are being slashed and prisons are overcrowded with nonviolent offenders, which leads to lesser sentences for violent criminals.
• Cause-effect-effect. Prisons are overcrowded with nonviolent offenders, which leads to increased behavioral problems among inmates and lesser sentences for violent criminals.
• Cause-effect-solution. Prisons are overcrowded with nonviolent offenders, which leads to lesser sentences for violent criminals; therefore we need to find alternative rehabilitation for nonviolent offenders.

Monroe’s Motivated Sequence is an organizational pattern designed for persuasive speaking that appeals to audience members’ needs and motivates them to action. If your persuasive speaking goals include a call to action, you may want to consider this organizational pattern. We already learned about the five steps of Monroe’s Motivated Sequence in Chapter 9 “Preparing a Speech” , but we will review them here with an example:

• Hook the audience by making the topic relevant to them.
• Imagine living a full life, retiring, and slipping into your golden years. As you get older you become more dependent on others and move into an assisted-living facility. Although you think life will be easier, things get worse as you experience abuse and mistreatment from the staff. You report the abuse to a nurse and wait, but nothing happens and the abuse continues. Elder abuse is a common occurrence, and unlike child abuse, there are no laws in our state that mandate complaints of elder abuse be reported or investigated.
• Cite evidence to support the fact that the issue needs to be addressed.
• According to the American Psychological Association, one to two million elderly US Americans have been abused by their caretakers. In our state, those in the medical, psychiatric, and social work field are required to report suspicion of child abuse but are not mandated to report suspicions of elder abuse.
• Offer a solution and persuade the audience that it is feasible and well thought out.
• There should be a federal law mandating that suspicion of elder abuse be reported and that all claims of elder abuse be investigated.
• Take the audience beyond your solution and help them visualize the positive results of implementing it or the negative consequences of not.
• Elderly people should not have to live in fear during their golden years. A mandatory reporting law for elderly abuse will help ensure that the voices of our elderly loved ones will be heard.
• Call your audience to action by giving them concrete steps to follow to engage in a particular action or to change a thought or behavior.
• I urge you to take action in two ways. First, raise awareness about this issue by talking to your own friends and family. Second, contact your representatives at the state and national level to let them know that elder abuse should be taken seriously and given the same level of importance as other forms of abuse. I brought cards with the contact information for our state and national representatives for this area. Please take one at the end of my speech. A short e-mail or phone call can help end the silence surrounding elder abuse.

Key Takeaways

• Arguments are formed by making claims that are supported by evidence. The underlying justification that connects the claim and evidence is the warrant. Arguments can have strong or weak warrants, which will make them more or less persuasive.
• Good persuasive speech topics are current, controversial (but not inflammatory), and important to the speaker and society.
• When audience members agree with the proposal, focus on intensifying their agreement and moving them to action.
• When audience members are neutral in regards to the proposition, provide background information to better inform them about the issue and present information that demonstrates the relevance of the topic to the audience.
• When audience members disagree with the proposal, focus on establishing your credibility, build common ground with the audience, and incorporate counterarguments and refute them.
• Propositions of fact focus on establishing that something “is or isn’t” or is “true or false.”
• Propositions of value focus on persuading an audience that something is “good or bad,” “right or wrong,” or “desirable or undesirable.”
• Propositions of policy advocate that something “should or shouldn’t” be done.
• Persuasive speeches can be organized using the following patterns: problem-solution, cause-effect, cause-effect-solution, or Monroe’s Motivated Sequence.
• Getting integrated: Give an example of persuasive messages that you might need to create in each of the following contexts: academic, professional, personal, and civic. Then do the same thing for persuasive messages you may receive.
• To help ensure that your persuasive speech topic is persuasive and not informative, identify the claims, evidence, and warrants you may use in your argument. In addition, write a thesis statement that refutes your topic idea and identify evidence and warrants that could support that counterargument.
• Determine if your speech is primarily a proposition of fact, value, or policy. How can you tell? Identify an organizational pattern that you think will work well for your speech topic, draft one sentence for each of your main points, and arrange them according to the pattern you chose.

Bone, J. E., Cindy L. Griffin, and T. M. Linda Scholz, “Beyond Traditional Conceptualizations of Rhetoric: Invitational Rhetoric and a Move toward Civility,” Western Journal of Communication 72 (2008): 436.

Gearhart, S. M., “The Womanization of Rhetoric,” Women’s Studies International Quarterly 2 (1979): 195–201.

Ryan, K. J., and Elizabeth J. Natalle, “Fusing Horizons: Standpoint Hermenutics and Invitational Rhetoric,” Rhetoric Society Quarterly 31 (2001): 69–90.

Communication in the Real World Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Series Persuasive Speeches: Persuasive Speeches: Teacher Reflection

Common core State Standards

• ELA:  English Language Arts
• SL:  Speaking and Listening Standards 6-\x80\x9312
• 8:  8th Grade
• 3:  Delineate a speaker's argument and specific claims, evaluating the soundness of the reasoning and relevance and sufficiency of the evidence and identifying when irrelevant evidence is introduced.

Download Common Core State Standards (PDF 1.2 MB)

• 4:  Present claims and findings, emphasizing salient points in a focused, coherent manner with relevant evidence, sound valid reasoning, and well-chosen details; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation.
• SL:  Speaking and Listening Standards 6â\x80\x9312
• 5:  Integrate multimedia and visual displays into presentations to clarify information, strengthen claims and evidence, and add interest.
• Share social media

Persuasive Speeches: Teacher Reflection

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Discussion and Supporting Materials

• Supporting Materials

Thought starters

• What measures does Ms. Manley use to evaluate her class?
• Notice how Ms. Manley reflects on how students did as both speakers and listeners. Ms. Manley remarks about how passionate her students were. What role did she play in sparking that passion?

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• Transcript: Persuasive Speeches: Teacher Reflection

Transcripts

TIMECODE SOT NOTES / TEXT ON SCREEN

TEXT: Common Core: ELA Reflections on Speech Presentations 00:00:06 JULIE MANLEY: Welcome to class. You guys, I want you to do a couple of things before we get going with our persuasive speeches today. 00:00:11 JULIE MANLEY: I just taught two lessons that asked students to work on the standard of both reading and then constructing their own argument where they used a clear claim that was supported with a sound line of reasoning and well-chosen evidence. TEXT: Julie Manley 8th Grade ELA Teacher Chinook Middle School, Bellevue, WA 00:00:30 BOY: Studies shown by Elizabeth Hartney, a specialist and consultant with gaming addictions, found 10% to 15% of video game players meet the criteria for addiction. TEXT: Speech Topic: Addicted to Video Games 00:00:39 JULIE MANLEY: I feel and saw that students achieved quite well and met the objectives that were set out at the beginning of the class period. The speakers, who delivered their speeches, did so successfully. 00:00:51 JULIE MANLEY: And they came prepared, and they were able to articulate their clear position through their claim, and defend that or support that with clear reasoning and evidence. 00:01:01 GIRL: In recent studies conducted by the Harris Interactive Teen Research Society, teenagers are spending close to eight hours a day using technology. TEXT: Speech Topic: We Need to Disconnect the Plug 00:01:10 GIRL: If we continue this pattern throughout the course of our lives, we will have spent forty-four years straight of waking hours just sitting behind a screen. 00:01:18 JULIE MANLEY: Equally, the students in the audience, as listeners, were able to evaluate the speaker's performance and I was able to see that by their ability to take notes. 00:01:30 BOY: When she was talking, she was, like, really confident in what she was saying. Like, she really believed it. I mean she brought that out by, like, using a lot of really good word choice. 00:01:39 JULIE MANLEY: I was pleasantly surprised at how passionate and well-focused they were. 00:01:46 GIRL: This is outrageous. Music should be free in the first place. I mean buying it is way too expensive. It takes more time to buy it. It prevents popularity to not well-known or new artists. And it decreases the percentage of people that can afford it. TEXT: Speech Topic: Downloading Music 00:02:00 BRYN: Well, I already had an idea in my head of what I wanted to do because I've always been passionate about music. But I was still kind of iffy on how I was going to write it because it was kind of confusing at first. TEXT: Bryn Hogenson 8th Grade Student Chinook Middle Schools, Bellevue, WA 00:02:12 BRYN: But Ms. Manley showed us a text, a really good example text that one of her past students had done and it really kind of helped me to get an idea of what this was going to be about and how this was going to go down. 00:02:24 JULIE MANLEY: Delivering a persuasive speech is a very sophisticated task. So I was very pleased to see that students were able to craft and write a text that included all of the persuasive components from claim reasoning, evidence that was logically organized. 00:02:40 GIRL: Not only is it scary to think that our teens are spending their valuable time with Facebook, video games, YouTube, texting, etc., the list goes on and on. But it's frightening for our future generations to come that teens are actually less interested in face-to-face conversing as UCLA has concluded in studies. 00:02:57 LINNEA: Today, I learned that I need to have more logos involved in my speech so people can't say I have faulty persuasion. And I need to be able to incorporate the studies in ways that is interesting and engaging to my peers, yet still backing up my claim. TEXT: Linnea Uyeno 8th Grade Student Chinook Middle Schools, Bellevue, WA 00:03:14 JULIE MANLEY: I would evaluate the class today as being very successful. The speakers that we heard we're all prepared. They had all of the components of argument. 00:03:25 JULIE MANLEY: And then, as audience members, I was pleased in all students' ability to formulate an evaluative response of feedback to give to their peers, both in writing and verbally. LOGO: Tch TeachingChannel

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Persuasive Speech Outline, with Examples

March 17, 2021 - Gini Beqiri

A persuasive speech is a speech that is given with the intention of convincing the audience to believe or do something. This could be virtually anything – voting, organ donation, recycling, and so on.

A successful persuasive speech effectively convinces the audience to your point of view, providing you come across as trustworthy and knowledgeable about the topic you’re discussing.

So, how do you start convincing a group of strangers to share your opinion? And how do you connect with them enough to earn their trust?

Topics for your persuasive speech

We’ve made a list of persuasive speech topics you could use next time you’re asked to give one. The topics are thought-provoking and things which many people have an opinion on.

When using any of our persuasive speech ideas, make sure you have a solid knowledge about the topic you’re speaking about – and make sure you discuss counter arguments too.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• All school children should wear a uniform
• Facebook is making people more socially anxious
• It should be illegal to drive over the age of 80
• Lying isn’t always wrong
• The case for organ donation

Read our full list of  75 persuasive speech topics and ideas .

Preparation: Consider your audience

As with any speech, preparation is crucial. Before you put pen to paper, think about what you want to achieve with your speech. This will help organise your thoughts as you realistically can only cover 2-4 main points before your  audience get bored .

It’s also useful to think about who your audience are at this point. If they are unlikely to know much about your topic then you’ll need to factor in context of your topic when planning the structure and length of your speech. You should also consider their:

• Cultural or religious backgrounds
• Shared concerns, attitudes and problems
• Shared interests, beliefs and hopes
• Baseline attitude – are they hostile, neutral, or open to change?

The factors above will all determine the approach you take to writing your speech. For example, if your topic is about childhood obesity, you could begin with a story about your own children or a shared concern every parent has. This would suit an audience who are more likely to be parents than young professionals who have only just left college.

Remember the 3 main approaches to persuade others

There are three main approaches used to persuade others:

The ethos approach appeals to the audience’s ethics and morals, such as what is the ‘right thing’ to do for humanity, saving the environment, etc.

Pathos persuasion is when you appeal to the audience’s emotions, such as when you  tell a story  that makes them the main character in a difficult situation.

The logos approach to giving a persuasive speech is when you appeal to the audience’s logic – ie. your speech is essentially more driven by facts and logic. The benefit of this technique is that your point of view becomes virtually indisputable because you make the audience feel that only your view is the logical one.

• Ethos, Pathos, Logos: 3 Pillars of Public Speaking and Persuasion

Ideas for your persuasive speech outline

1. structure of your persuasive speech.

The opening and closing of speech are the most important. Consider these carefully when thinking about your persuasive speech outline. A  strong opening  ensures you have the audience’s attention from the start and gives them a positive first impression of you.

You’ll want to  start with a strong opening  such as an attention grabbing statement, statistic of fact. These are usually dramatic or shocking, such as:

Sadly, in the next 18 minutes when I do our chat, four Americans that are alive will be dead from the food that they eat – Jamie Oliver

Another good way of starting a persuasive speech is to include your audience in the picture you’re trying to paint. By making them part of the story, you’re embedding an emotional connection between them and your speech.

You could do this in a more toned-down way by talking about something you know that your audience has in common with you. It’s also helpful at this point to include your credentials in a persuasive speech to gain your audience’s trust.

Obama would spend hours with his team working on the opening and closing statements of his speech.

2. Stating your argument

You should  pick between 2 and 4 themes  to discuss during your speech so that you have enough time to explain your viewpoint and convince your audience to the same way of thinking.

It’s important that each of your points transitions seamlessly into the next one so that your speech has a logical flow. Work on your  connecting sentences  between each of your themes so that your speech is easy to listen to.

Your argument should be backed up by objective research and not purely your subjective opinion. Use examples, analogies, and stories so that the audience can relate more easily to your topic, and therefore are more likely to be persuaded to your point of view.

3. Addressing counter-arguments

Any balanced theory or thought  addresses and disputes counter-arguments  made against it. By addressing these, you’ll strengthen your persuasive speech by refuting your audience’s objections and you’ll show that you are knowledgeable to other thoughts on the topic.

When describing an opposing point of view, don’t explain it in a bias way – explain it in the same way someone who holds that view would describe it. That way, you won’t irritate members of your audience who disagree with you and you’ll show that you’ve reached your point of view through reasoned judgement. Simply identify any counter-argument and pose explanations against them.

• Complete Guide to Debating

4. Closing your speech

Your closing line of your speech is your last chance to convince your audience about what you’re saying. It’s also most likely to be the sentence they remember most about your entire speech so make sure it’s a good one!

The most effective persuasive speeches end  with a  call to action . For example, if you’ve been speaking about organ donation, your call to action might be asking the audience to register as donors.

Practice answering AI questions on your speech and get  feedback on your performance .

If audience members ask you questions, make sure you listen carefully and respectfully to the full question. Don’t interject in the middle of a question or become defensive.

You should show that you have carefully considered their viewpoint and refute it in an objective way (if you have opposing opinions). Ensure you remain patient, friendly and polite at all times.

Example 1: Persuasive speech outline

This example is from the Kentucky Community and Technical College.

Specific purpose

To persuade my audience to start walking in order to improve their health.

Central idea

Regular walking can improve both your mental and physical health.

Introduction

Let’s be honest, we lead an easy life: automatic dishwashers, riding lawnmowers, T.V. remote controls, automatic garage door openers, power screwdrivers, bread machines, electric pencil sharpeners, etc., etc. etc. We live in a time-saving, energy-saving, convenient society. It’s a wonderful life. Or is it?

Continue reading

Example 2: Persuasive speech

Tips for delivering your persuasive speech

• Practice, practice, and practice some more . Record yourself speaking and listen for any nervous habits you have such as a nervous laugh, excessive use of filler words, or speaking too quickly.
• Show confident body language . Stand with your legs hip width apart with your shoulders centrally aligned. Ground your feet to the floor and place your hands beside your body so that hand gestures come freely. Your audience won’t be convinced about your argument if you don’t sound confident in it. Find out more about  confident body language here .
• Don’t memorise your speech word-for-word  or read off a script. If you memorise your persuasive speech, you’ll sound less authentic and panic if you lose your place. Similarly, if you read off a script you won’t sound genuine and you won’t be able to connect with the audience by  making eye contact . In turn, you’ll come across as less trustworthy and knowledgeable. You could simply remember your key points instead, or learn your opening and closing sentences.
• Remember to use facial expressions when storytelling  – they make you more relatable. By sharing a personal story you’ll more likely be speaking your truth which will help you build a connection with the audience too. Facial expressions help bring your story to life and transport the audience into your situation.
• Keep your speech as concise as possible . When practicing the delivery, see if you can edit it to have the same meaning but in a more succinct way. This will keep the audience engaged.

The best persuasive speech ideas are those that spark a level of controversy. However, a public speech is not the time to express an opinion that is considered outside the norm. If in doubt, play it safe and stick to topics that divide opinions about 50-50.

Bear in mind who your audience are and plan your persuasive speech outline accordingly, with researched evidence to support your argument. It’s important to consider counter-arguments to show that you are knowledgeable about the topic as a whole and not bias towards your own line of thought.

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101 Interesting Persuasive Essay Topics for Kids and Teens

Use your words to sway the reader.

Persuasive writing is one of those skills that can help students succeed in real life.  Persuasive essays are similar to argumentative , but they rely less on facts and more on emotion to sway the reader. It’s important to know your audience so you can anticipate any counterarguments they might make and try to overcome them. Try reading some mentor texts to show kids great examples of opinion writing. Then use these persuasive essay topics for practice.

School and Education Persuasive Essay Topics

Life and ethics persuasive essay topics, science and technology persuasive essay topics, sports and entertainment persuasive essay topics, just for fun persuasive essay topics.

• Do you think homework should be required, optional, or not given at all?

• Students should/should not be able to use their phones during the school day.
• Should schools have dress codes?
• If I could change one school rule, it would be …
• Is year-round school a good idea?
• Should we stop giving final exams?
• Is it better to be good at academics or good at sports?

• Which is better, private schools or public schools?
• Should every student have to participate in athletics?
• Do you think schools should ban junk food from their cafeterias?
• Should students be required to volunteer in their communities?
• What is the most important school subject?
• Are letter grades helpful, or should we replace them with something else?

• Is it ever OK to cheat on homework or a test?
• Should students get to grade their teachers?
• Do you think college should be free for anyone who wants to attend?
• Should schools be allowed to ban some books from their libraries?
• Which is better, book smarts or street smarts?

• Should all students have to learn a foreign language?
• Are single-gender schools better or worse for students?
• Is it OK to eat animals?
• What animal makes the best pet?
• Visit an animal shelter, choose an animal that needs a home, and write an essay persuading someone to adopt that animal.
• If you find money on the ground, should you try to find the person who lost it, or is it yours to keep?

• Who faces more peer pressure, girls or boys?
• Should all Americans be required to vote?
• Is it better to be kind or truthful?
• Which is better, giving or receiving?
• Is it OK to keep animals in zoos?
• Should we change the minimum driving age in the United States?

• Which is more important, happiness or success?
• Is democracy the best form of government?
• Is social media helpful or harmful?
• Should parents be punished for their children’s mistakes or crimes?
• Should kids have set bedtimes or just go to bed when they’re sleepy?
• Do you think the government should find a way to provide free health care for everyone?

• Is it better to save your allowance or spend it?
• Should we ban plastic bags and bottles?
• Which is better, living in the city or in the country?
• If I could make a new law, it would be …
• Is Pluto a planet?
• Should human cloning be legal?
• Should vaccines be mandatory?
• Is it right for countries to still maintain nuclear weapon arsenals?

• Should testing on animals be made illegal?
• Will expanded use of artificial intelligence be good for humanity?
• Should all people have free Internet access in their homes?
• Is there intelligent life on other planets?
• Does technology create more jobs than it eliminates?
• Should parents use their children’s cell phones to track where they are?
• Should scientists try to develop a way for people to live forever?

• What’s the best type of smartphone: Android or iPhone?
• Which is better, Macs or PCs?
• Do people rely too much on technology in the modern world?
• Should cryptocurrencies replace cash?
• Should there be a minimum age requirement to own a smartphone?
• Is it important to keep spending money on space exploration, or should we use the money for other things?

• Should kids under 13 be allowed to use social media sites?
• Should we ban cigarette smoking and vaping entirely?
• Is it better to be an animal that lives in the water or on land?
• Should kids be allowed to watch TV on school nights?
• Which is better, paper books or e-books?
• Is the current movie rating system (G, PG, PG-13, etc.) effective?
• Are video games better than board games?
• Should we allow little kids to play competitive sports?

• Which is better, reading books or watching TV?
• Does playing violent video games make people more violent in real life?
• Are graphic novels just as valuable as traditional fictional books?
• Should everyone play on the same sports teams, regardless of gender?
• Choose a book that’s been made into a movie. Which was better, the movie or the book?

• Who is the world’s best athlete, present or past?
• Are professional athletes/musicians/actors overpaid?
• Which is better, fiction or nonfiction?
• The best music genre is …
• What is one book that everyone should read?
• What new sport should be added to the Olympics?

• What’s the best video game system?
• Does playing video games make you smarter?
• Does reality TV actually depict real life?
• Should all neighborhoods have free parks and playgrounds?
• What’s the best holiday?
• The very best food of all time is …
• Which is better, artificial Christmas trees or real ones?

• What’s the best season of the year?
• Should you put ketchup on a hot dog?
• Is a taco a sandwich?
• Does fruit count as dessert?
• Should people have to go to school or work on their birthday?
• Are clowns scary or funny?
• Which is more dangerous, werewolves or vampires?

• The best pizza topping is …
• What would be the best superpower to have?
• Should everyone make their bed every day?
• Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
• Should you put pineapple on a pizza?
• Should you eat macaroni and cheese with a spoon or a fork?

• Describe the world’s best ice cream sundae.
• Is Monday the worst day of the week?
• Would you rather travel back in time or forward in time?
• Is it better to be too hot or too cold?
• Are there aliens living among us here on Earth?

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Plus, check out the big list of essay topics for high school (120+ ideas) ..

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General Education

Are you struggling to find good persuasive speech topics? It can be hard to find a topic that interests both you and your audience, but in this guide we've done the hard work and created a list of 105 great persuasive speech ideas. They're organized into ten categories and cover a variety of topics, so you're sure to find one that interests you.

In addition to our list, we also go over which factors make good persuasive speech topics and three tips you should follow when researching and writing your persuasive speech.

What Makes a Good Persuasive Speech Topic?

What makes certain persuasive speech topics better than others? There are numerous reasons, but in this section we discuss three of the most important factors of great topics for a persuasive speech.

It's Something You Know About or Are Interested in Learning About

The most important factor in choosing and creating a great persuasive speech is picking a topic you care about and are interested in. You'll need to do a lot of research on this topic, and if it's something you like learning about, that'll make the process much easier and more enjoyable. It'll also help you sound passionate and informed when you talk, both important factors in giving an excellent persuasive speech.

It's a Topic People Care About

In fourth grade, after being told I could give a persuasive speech on any topic I wanted to , I chose to discuss why the Saguaro cactus should be the United State's national plant. Even though I gave an impassioned talk and drew a life-size Saguaro cactus on butcher paper to hang behind me, I doubt anyone enjoyed the speech much.

I'd recently returned from a family vacation to Arizona where I'd seen Saguaro cacti for the first time and decided they were the coolest thing ever. However, most people don't care that much about Saguaro cacti, and most people don't care what our national plant is or if we even have one (for the record, the US has a national flower, and it's the rose).

Spare yourself the smattering of bored applause my nine-old self got at the end of my speech and choose something you think people will be interested in hearing about. This also ties into knowing your audience, which we discuss more in the final section.

It Isn't Overdone

When I was in high school, nearly every persuasive speech my classmates and I were assigned was the exact same topic: should the drinking age be lowered to 18? I got this prompt in English class, on standardized tests, in speech and debate class, etc. I've written and presented about it so often I could probably still rattle off all the main points of my old speeches word-for-word.

You can imagine that everyone's eyes glazed over whenever classmates gave their speeches on this topic. We'd heard about it so many times that, even if it was a topic we cared about, speeches on it just didn't interest us anymore.

The are many potential topics for a persuasive speech. Be wary of choosing one that's cliche or overdone. Even if you give a great speech, it'll be harder to keep your audience interested if they feel like they already know what you're going to say.

An exception to this rule is that if you feel you have a new viewpoint or facts about the topic that currently aren't common knowledge. Including them can make an overdone topic interesting. If you do this, be sure to make it clear early on in your speech that you have unique info or opinions on the topic so your audience knows to expect something new.

105 Topics for a Persuasive Speech

Here's our list of 105 great persuasive speech ideas. We made sure to choose topics that aren't overdone, yet that many people will have an interest in, and we also made a point of choosing topics with multiple viewpoints rather than simplistic topics that have a more obvious right answer (i.e. Is bullying bad?). The topics are organized into ten categories.

Arts/Culture

• Should art and music therapy be covered by health insurance?
• Should all students be required to learn an instrument in school?
• Should all national museums be free to citizens?
• Should graffiti be considered art?
• Should offensive language be removed from works of classic literature?
• Are paper books better than e-books?
• Should all interns be paid for their work?
• Should employees receive bonuses for walking or biking to work?
• Will Brexit hurt or help the UK's economy?
• Should all people over the age of 65 be able to ride the bus for free?
• Should the federal minimum wage be increased?
• Should tipping in restaurants be mandatory?
• Should Black Friday sales be allowed to start on Thanksgiving?
• Should students who bully others be expelled?
• Should all schools require students wear uniforms?
• Should boys and girls be taught in separate classrooms?
• Should students be allowed to listen to music during study hall?
• Should all elementary schools be required to teach a foreign language?
• Should schools include meditation or relaxation breaks during the day?
• Should grades in gym class affect students' GPAs?
• Should teachers get a bonus when their students score well on standardized tests?
• Should children of undocumented immigrants be allowed to attend public schools?
• Should students get paid for getting a certain GPA?
• Should students be allowed to have their cell phones with them during school?
• Should high school students be allowed to leave school during lunch breaks?
• Should Greek life at colleges be abolished?
• Should high school students be required to volunteer a certain number of hours before they can graduate?
• Should schools still teach cursive handwriting?
• What are the best ways for schools to stop bullying?
• Should prostitution be legalized?
• Should people with more than one DUI lose their driver's license?
• Should people be required to shovel snow from the sidewalks in front of their house?
• Should minors be able to drink alcohol in their home if they have their parent's consent?
• Should guns be allowed on college campuses?
• Should flag burning as a form of protest be illegal?
• Should welfare recipients be required to pass a drug test?
• Should white supremacist groups be allowed to hold rallies in public places?
• Should assault weapons be illegal?
• Should the death penalty be abolished?
• Should beauty pageants for children be banned?
• Is it OK to refuse to serve same-sex couples based on religious beliefs?
• Should transgender people be allowed to serve in the military?
• Is it better to live together before marriage or to wait?
• Should affirmative action be allowed?
• Should prisoners be allowed to vote?
• Should Columbus Day be replaced with Indigenous Peoples' Day?

Government/Politics

• Should the government spend more money on developing high-speed rail lines and less on building new roads?
• Should the government be allowed to censor internet content deemed inappropriate?
• Should Puerto Rico become the 51st state?
• Should Scotland declare independence from the United Kingdom?
• Whose face should be on the next new currency printed by the US?
• Should people convicted of drug possession be sent to recovery programs instead of jail?
• Should voting be made compulsory?
• Who was the best American president?
• Should the military budget be reduced?
• Should the President be allowed to serve more than two terms?
• Should a border fence be built between the United States and Mexico?
• Should countries pay ransom to terrorist groups in order to free hostages?
• Should minors be able to purchase birth control without their parent's consent?
• Should hiding or lying about your HIV status with someone you're sleeping with be illegal?
• Should governments tax soda and other sugary drinks and use the revenue for public health?
• Should high schools provide free condoms to students?
• Should the US switch to single-payer health care?
• Should healthy people be required to regularly donate blood?
• Should assisted suicide be legal?
• Should religious organizations be required to pay taxes?
• Should priests be allowed to get married?
• Should the religious slaughter of animals be banned?
• Should the Church of Scientology be exempt from paying taxes?
• Should women be allowed to be priests?
• Should countries be allowed to only accept refugees with certain religious beliefs?
• Should public prayer be allowed in schools?

Science/Environment

• Should human cloning be allowed?
• Should people be allowed to own exotic animals like tigers and monkeys?
• Should "animal selfies" in tourist locations with well-known animal species (like koalas and tigers) be allowed?
• Should genetically modified foods be sold in grocery stores?
• Should people be allowed to own pit bulls?
• Should parents be allowed to choose the sex of their unborn children?
• Should vaccinations be required for students to attend public school?
• What is the best type of renewable energy?
• Should plastic bags be banned in grocery stores?
• Should the United States rejoin the Paris Agreement?
• Should puppy mills be banned?
• Should fracking be legal?
• Should animal testing be illegal?
• Should offshore drilling be allowed in protected marine areas?
• Should the US government increase NASA's budget?
• Should Pluto still be considered a planet?
• Should college athletes be paid for being on a sports team?
• Should all athletes be required to pass regular drug tests?
• Should professional female athletes be paid the same as male athletes in the same sport?
• Are there any cases when athletes should be allowed to use steroids?
• Should college sports teams receive less funding?
• Should boxing be illegal?
• Should schools be required to teach all students how to swim?
• Should cheerleading be considered a sport?
• Should parents let their children play tackle football?
• Will robots reduce or increase human employment opportunities?
• What age should children be allowed to have a cell phone?
• Should libraries be replaced with unlimited access to e-books?
• Overall, has technology helped connect people or isolate them?
• Should self-driving cars be legal?
• Should all new buildings be energy efficient?
• Is Net Neutrality a good thing or a bad thing?
• Do violent video games encourage players to become violent in real life?

3 Bonus Tips for Crafting Your Persuasive Speech

Of course, giving a great persuasive speech requires more than just choosing a good topic. Follow the three tips below to create an outstanding speech that'll interest and impress your audience.

Do Your Research

For a persuasive speech, there's nothing worse than getting an audience question that shows you misunderstood the issue or left an important piece out. It makes your entire speech look weak and unconvincing.

Before you start writing a single word of your speech, be sure to do lots of research on all sides of the topic. Look at different sources and points of view to be sure you're getting the full picture, and if you know any experts on the topic, be sure to ask their opinion too.

Consider All the Angles

Persuasive speech topics are rarely black and white, which means there will be multiple sides and viewpoints on the topic. For example, for the topic "Should people be allowed to own pit bulls?" there are two obvious viewpoints: everyone should be allowed to own a pit bull if they want to, and no one should be allowed to own a pit bull. But there are other options you should also consider: people should only own a pit bull if they pass a dog training class, people should be able to own pit bulls, but only if it's the only dog they own, people should be able to own pi tbulls but only if they live a certain distance from schools, people should be able to own pit bulls only if the dog passes an obedience class, etc.

Thinking about all these angles and including them in your speech will make you seem well-informed on the topic, and it'll increase the quality of your speech by looking at difference nuances of the issue.

Know Your Audience

Whenever you give a speech, it's important to consider your audience, and this is especially true for persuasive speeches when you're trying to convince people to believe a certain viewpoint. When writing your speech, think about what your audience likely already knows about the topic, what they probably need explained, and what aspects of the topic they care about most. Also consider what the audience will be most concerned about for a certain topic, and be sure to address those concerns.

For example, if you're giving a speech to a Catholic organization on why you think priests should be allowed to marry, you don't need to go over the history of Catholicism or its core beliefs (which they probably already know), but you should mention any research or prominent opinions that support your view (which they likely don't know about). They may be concerned that priests who marry won't be as committed to God or their congregations, so be sure to address those concerns and why they shouldn't worry about them as much as they may think. Discussing your topic with people (ideally those with viewpoints similar to those of your future audience) before you give your speech is a good way to get a better understanding of how your audience thinks.

More Resources for Writing Persuasive Speeches

If you need more guidance or just want to check out some examples of great persuasive writing, consider checking out the following books:

• Lend Me Your Ears: Great Speeches in History by William Safire—This collection of great speeches throughout history will help you decide how to style your own argument.
• The Essentials of Persuasive Public Speaking by Sims Wyeth—For quick direct tips on public speaking, try this all-purpose guide.
• Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World's Top Minds by Carmine Gallo—This popular book breaks down what makes TED talks work and how you can employ those skills in your own presentations.
• We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Make Good Art by Neil Gaiman—These two recent speeches by contemporary writers offer stellar examples of how to craft a compelling (and engaging) argument.

Conclusion: Persuasive Speech Ideas

Good persuasive speech topics can be difficult to think of, but in this guide we've compiled a list of 105 interesting persuasive speech topics for you to look through.

The best persuasive speech ideas will be on a topic you're interested in, aren't overdone, and will be about something your audience cares about.

After you've chosen your topic, keep these three tips in mind when writing your persuasive speech:

• Do your research
• Consider all the angles
• Know your audience

What's Next?

Now that you have persuasive speech topics, it's time to hone your persuasive speech techniques. Find out what ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos are and how to use them here .

Looking to take your persuasive technique from speech to sheets (of paper)? Get our three key tips on how to write an argumentative essay , or learn by reading through our thorough breakdown of how to build an essay, step by step .

Want a great GPA? Check out our step-by-step guide to getting good grades in high school so you can have a stellar transcript.

Interested in learning about other great extracurricular opportunities? Learn more about job shadowing , community service , and volunteer abroad programs.

Still trying to figure out your courses? Check out our expert guide on which classes you should take in high school.

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

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How will I be able to check my work, when I print it out to work on them? Where are the answers?

I guess it depends on what you are working on. On what are you working?

Kareema Coles

Ummm the pdf version is not working…is the link still valid?

Which link?

This is an amazing website with fabulous ideas and printable ready to go lessons!!! Thank you so much! I wish I could meet you!!!

Thank you very much for this amazing resource and great ideas. They are extremely comprehensive and well designed. Thank you very much for your kind consideration and not adding a Price-tag to your valuable resources. Highly appreciated.

Sandra Conner

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and your work with us. As teachers, we are always in need of fresh material. I teach college level creative writing classes, and your worksheets help my students. Sometimes I change the essay topics to fit their particular age group or interest, but having these examples laid out for us and made available for use in our classrooms is wonderful.

Lifesaver! Thank you for the great ideas and guidance. I am a new teacher, and finding this site has made a true turn around in my instruction. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Thank you for these great step by step resources

Macca Malbrán

Despite all the negative comments above, you should keep up for the ones (like me) who are absolutely grateful for these material.

Thanks for sharing! Best.

I give this website 3stares only for the info but in general 1star

I give your comment 0 stars because your position lacks support or evidence of any kind. Complete some of these worksheets and begin your argument again.

that’s stupid from where do u get the worksheets

I wrote them.

I did not see any activities that required the student to write an entire essay.

https://www.ereadingworksheets.com/writing/persuasive-essay-topics/

Lamar Mohamed

Thank you for this information! They helped me in my exam so much!

These are fantastic resources! Thank you so much for sharing them. I only wish I had found them earlier in the school year!

There’s always next year…

Thank you so much for all you do for teachers. I love an use practically everything on your Website!

That’s awesome. Thanks for visiting my website.

I really like this website

Shenard McDougal

How can a teacher get the answers to the worksheets?

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Grade 8 English Language Arts: SDG Persuasive Speeches

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Useful Debate Websites

As with any public website, double-check the facts presented before you use them in your assignment.

• Newsela Get the class code from your teacher. This websites has lots of news articles which can be read a different reading levels.
• Procon.org Founded ProCon.org in 2004 with the following mission: to promote critical thinking, education, and informed citizenship by presenting the pro and con arguments to controversial issues in a straightforward, nonpartisan, freely accessible way.
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Homework Help

• 113 Perfect Persuasive Essay Topics for Any Assignment Loads of suggestions if you are struggling to identify a topic you're passionate about.
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Check Your Facts

Here are 10 great sites to help you check facts and identify bias. Most descriptions of these sites are from Jennifer Snelling at  ITSE

While not a fact-checking site, AllSides curates stories from right, center and left-leaning media so that readers can easily compare how bias influences reporting on each topic.

This nonpartisan, nonprofit project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania monitors the factual accuracy of what is said by U.S. political players, including politicians, TV ads, debates, interviews and news releases.

Know Your Meme is a website dedicated to documenting Internet phenomena: viral videos, image macros, catchphrases, web celebs and more.

Media Bias / Fact Check An independent online media outlet, MBFC is dedicated to educating the public on media bias and deceptive news practices. This website compiles fact checks from around the world using strict criteria. Extensive "About Us" information provides transparency and accountability.

This nonprofit and self-described liberal-leaning research center monitors and corrects conservative misinformation in the media.

A project of the conservative Media Research Center, NewsBusters is focused on “documenting, exposing and neutralizing liberal media bias.”

This nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit website run by the Center for Responsive Politics tracks how much and where candidates get their money.

This Pulitzer Prize winning website rates the accuracy of claims by elected officials. Run by editors and reporters from the independent newspaper Tampa Bay Times, Politicfact features the Truth-O-Meter that rates statements as “True,” “Mostly True,” “Half True,” “False,” and “Pants on Fire.”

This independent, nonprofit newsroom has won several Pulitzer Prizes, including the 2016 Prize for Explanatory Reporting. ProPublica produces investigative journalism in the public interest.

This independent, nonpartisan website run by professional researcher and writer David Mikkelson researches urban legends and other rumors. It is often the first to set the facts straight on wild fake news claims.

This nonpartisan, nonprofit organization uses public policy data-based journalism to make politics more transparent and accountable.

Although the Washington Post has a left-center bias, its checks are excellent and sourced. The bias shows up because they fact check conservative claims more than liberal ones.

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100 Persuasive Speech Topics for Kids

Michele is a writer who has been published both locally and internationally.

Learn about our Editorial Policy .

Kids' persuasive speech topics cover everything from current events to age old childhood milestones. If you've been assigned a persuasive writing speech, look for a topic you know a lot about and really stand behind.

Easy Persuasive Speech Topics for Beginners

Students in grades two and up who are just starting to learn about the different types of essays and writing can select easy topics about things they are very familiar with. These persuasive writing prompts work great for short speeches.

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Fun and Interesting Topics

• Kids should start every morning with yoga.
• Cereal is not a healthy breakfast.
• Showering every day isn't important.
• Kids' clothing should always be designed by kids.
• Being a YouTube star is a real job.
• Boredom is good for kids.
• Borrowing books from the library is better than buying them from a store.
• Hamsters are the best first pet for kids.
• Every person is completely unique.
• My town is the best place for families with young children to live.
• Being an only child is better than having siblings.
• Kids should have TVs in their bedrooms.
• Jeans are the most uncomfortable article of clothing.

Educational Topics

• Cursive writing shouldn't be taught in schools.
• Lunch periods should be longer for younger kids and shorter for older kids.
• Kids shouldn't be allowed to bring homemade treats to share at school.
• Homework should be optional for kids.
• Schools should mandate that all kids learn about all holidays celebrated around the world.
• All schools should have outdoor classrooms available.
• All foods should be grown or raised by small farmers.
• Playing video games is a good hobby for kids.
• Gardening is an easy way to eat healthier.
• Reading is more important than math.
• Kids should get to choose what classes they take in elementary school.

Global Topics

• People's differences make the world a more interesting place.
• Kids under age 13 shouldn't be allowed to have jobs anywhere in the world.
• The world is round.
• Dinosaurs really did exist and go extinct.
• People should only be allowed to eat food that grows or lives in their country.
• International pen pals are good for kids.
• Learning a second language is helpful for everyone.
• There should be one form of money that every country uses.
• Every country should have its own kind of schools.
• Governments should offer free travel to other countries for educational purposes.

Intermediate Persuasive Speech Topics for Children

Kids in upper elementary grades who have some practice in writing persuasive speeches can choose topics that might be a little more controversial. These unique speech topics leave room for longer arguments and feature more interesting subjects.

• Kids should have cell phones.
• Kids, not adults, should decide how much screen time to have each day.
• Every town should be required to have a playground.
• Waffle cones are better than regular ice cream cones.
• Dogs are better companions than cats.
• Wearing pajamas in public is inappropriate.
• Short hair is for boys and long hair is for girls.
• Kids should have fewer toys and more cardboard boxes to play with.
• Girls like to play with action figures.
• Pokemon are cooler than Yo Kai.
• Mosquitos are the most annoying of all bugs.
• Zoos are unsafe for young children.
• Kids under age 13 should be banned from having social media accounts.
• Classrooms shouldn't have traditional desks.
• School lunches should include some junk food options.
• Every school should have child representatives on their hiring committee.
• Naps are important for kids of all ages, not just babies and toddlers.
• The government should stop making paper money and only use coins.
• Robots make life easier for humans.
• Children's books should be written by children.
• Field trips and real-world experiences are more useful than classroom lectures.
• Columbus discovered America.
• Kids should be allowed to skip high school and go to college early if they want.
• Dancing in public should be outlawed.
• Voice recognition locks are safer than fingerprint recognition locks.
• People should only eat foods they grow or catch.
• All people in the world should speak English.
• All countries should have the same rules about weapons.
• Every child should spend a year living in another country with their family.
• Men and women should have the same rights no matter what country they live in.
• Adults should encourage child participation in strikes and marches for important causes.
• The current U.S. President represents the country well.
• Global competition is good for everyone.

Advanced Persuasive Speech Topics for Kids

Upper elementary and lower middle grade students with lots of speech writing experience can pick more complex topics that elicit bigger emotional reactions.

• TV shows and movies for kids should have stronger content guidelines.
• Real life heroes like police officers and firefighters would be more approachable if they dressed like Power Rangers and other super heroes.
• Virtual reality games are better than 3D games.
• Parents of bullies should be punished for their child's actions.
• "Crap" and "Heck" are bad words.
• Riding a bike is not that easy.
• Funny cat videos are funnier than funny baby videos.
• There's no such thing as too many stuffed animals.
• Goats say "maa," not "baa."
• Kids sports are safe.
• Holidays shouldn't be celebrated in schools.
• Kids should rate their teachers at the start and end of every school year.
• Recess and classroom physical activity breaks help kids focus in school.
• School buses should have a driver and at least two aides.
• Classes should be grouped by ability levels rather than ages.
• Technology makes people's lives better.
• Middle school is still elementary school.
• Schools should mandate classes where kids teach each other.
• No one, teachers or students, should be allowed to bring cell phones into the school.
• Kids should be allowed to take off their shoes in their classroom.
• Students should not have to ask permission to take drinks and bathroom breaks.
• Global warming isn't real.
• Every country can have its own guidelines for who is allowed to leave or enter.
• Kids can help combat climate change.
• Astronauts will find life on other planets.
• Daylight Savings Time should be eliminated.
• Aquariums and zoos help with wildlife conservation.
• People should be allowed to clone animals.
• Sugar should be outlawed.
• McDonald's is better than Burger King.
• Tribal cultures should be preserved.
• Companies should not be allowed to build their products in other countries.
• People should call countries by their native name, not a translated name.

More Speech Topics for Kids

Speech topic examples and ideas from other types of speeches can be adapted to persuasive writing with a few minor wording changes.

• Get students started with motivational speech topics for kids that are uplifting and less controversial.
• Beginning writers can select simple kids speech topics for their first persuasive essays.
• Some of the most interesting speech topics for kids include subjects they haven't encountered in real life.
• Use examples of funny speeches for kids to show how students can inject humor into any kind of speech.

State Your Case

Most people agree that writing in elementary school is important because it gives kids a way to express their thoughts and feelings in a way others can understand. Persuasive writing is all about stating your case, or point, and all the facts that support this opinion. Choose a topic you believe in or are passionate about to create the best persuasive speech.

• Prep–Year 10
• Australian Curriculum

Australian Curriculum Version 8.4 in Queensland

• Frequently used resources
• Sample assessments
• Previous versions of Australian Curriculum
• P–10 English
• Year 7: Persuasive speech

Year 7 English sample assessment - Persuasive speech

Image source: Microphone by Juan_Alvaro / CC BY 2.0

This sample assessment is based on previous versions of the Australian Curriculum.

Persuasive speech

Description.

Students are able to develop an awareness of how everyday texts seek to position them. Applying this awareness to their own writing and speaking will help students evaluate how best to position readers or listeners. Continued practice of writing and speaking formally in a familiar context will encourage students to feel more confident and interact successfully in different situations.

• plan and draft a persuasive speech where they attempt to convince their class to agree with their point of view
• analyse their persuasive speech
• present their persuasive speech.

Spoken/signed: Persuasive text

Year 7 English – Persuasive speech (PDF, 633  kB )

• Teacher guidelines (includes cover page)
• Student booklet
• Task-specific standards: Continua
• Task-specific standards: Matrix
• Assessment resource: Sample response
• Assessment resource: Persuasive devices
• Assessment resource: Note-taking and cue cards
• Assessment resource: Presentation feedback

Download the full assessment (contains the documents as Word files):

Year 7 English – Persuasive speech (ZIP, 9386  kB )

Australian Curriculum sample assessments

Learning area/s

Year level/s

• Mathematics
• Civics and Citizenship
• Economics and Business
• Design and Technologies
• Digital Technologies
• Health and Physical Education
• Visual Arts
• Work Studies
• Advice and resources
• Reading and viewing
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• P–10 Science
• P–10 Technologies
• P–10 The Arts
• P–10 Health & Physical Education
• P–10 Humanities & Social Sciences
• P–10 Languages
• P–6 English sample assessments
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• Year 1: Come read with me
• Year 2: Making damper on Australia Day
• Year 3: Let's go on an adventure!
• Year 4: Wordplay in Poetry
• Year 4: Telling stories (2012 QCAT)
• Year 5: Exploring points of view
• Year 6: Making the headlines
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Summer Boarding Courses

100 Persuasive Writing Prompts for Writers aged 8 to 18

Being able to state your ideas and offer evidence for your arguments is an excellent skill to have! If you can convince people that you are right, you will be able to achieve so much more within your job, with your friends and new people that you meet.

Persuasive writing is about trying to get the reader to agree with your opinion or ideas. To be able to express what you want and what you believe to be true, we at Summer Boarding Courses have put together these 100 persuasive writing prompts to help you exercise your tactics!

Persuasive Writing Prompts for Writers

We have 25 fun writing prompts for each age group below that we teach at Summer Boarding Courses in the UK.

Present your arguments like a pro, build upon your critical thinking skills and communicate seamlessly through your writing with these opinion writing prompts.

But first, before you begin to write, you must consider the following…

Which audience are you trying to persuade?

Who are your trying to persuade? Is it your friends, your teachers, the manager of a company or the whole community that you live within? Different groups of people have different wishes, ideas, needs and wants. Think carefully about what appeals to the group you are trying to convince.

For example, if you are student arguing that school break times should be longer to your student friends, they may be easier to persuade than the teachers!

Students love to hang out with their friends, go outside, do sport and eat delicious food.

However, if you are trying to convince the teachers at your school that break times should be longer, they may feel stressed and unsure about this. They have lessons that they need to deliver to you, work goals to meet, and your education and learning is at the forefront of their minds.

If you can convince them that you can complete your learning is less time, they might just agree that longer break times are a good idea!

Always try and appeal to each person’s perspective so that you can convince as best as you can.

Be kind and respectful

We can all have different ideas about what is right, wrong, correct and unusual. Be respectful and kind when arguing in your speech or writing about what you are standing for. We are all entitled to our opinion, and for many issues, there are pros and cons for each side that we take.

Here are some key phrases that you can use to help yourself get your point across clearly and politely:

‘In my opinion…’

‘I feel that…’

‘Others must agree that…’

‘It seems to me that…’

‘Some people believe that…’

‘For this reason…’

‘I agree that…’

‘On the other hand…’

Firstly…Secondly….’

Introduce your argument in the first paragraph

Start your piece with an introductory paragraph that states your argument. This paragraph will clearly tell the reader what your opinion is and what you are standing for.

Support your argument with at least three pieces of evidence

Most people will not be convinced of your ideas unless you can show them evidence. This evidence can be qualitative or quantitative.

Qualitative evidence

Qualitative evidence is descriptive information that can come from a personal story, an interview, a drawing or a photograph. You can find this information from personally talking to people about their experiences.

Quantitative evidence

Quantitative evidence is about numbers, statistics and concrete data. This information can come from surveys, official records and experiments which carefully follow methods to try and ensure accurate information. Many people prefer to see quantitative evidence, as personal stories collected for qualitative evidence can sometimes be inaccurate.

Show that you understand the different sides to your argument

A clear and coherent writer who is putting their argument forward will have taken the time to consider other points of view different to their own. Show the reader that you understand and can see what else people may argue. Try and have a good answer back to these thoughts.

If you have evidence to support your counterargument, even better!

Ask questions

Ask your reader questions to get them to think about what you are arguing. This way, you can challenge their point of view.

They will start thinking about other perspectives that they may not have considered before.

If you’re stuck: think about a time where you did convince someone

Has there been a time in the past where you did successfully manage to persuade someone to see your point of view? Think about this time carefully.

How did you manage to convince the person? What strategies and language did you use?

Has there been a time where you were persuaded by someone?

Channel these techniques into your writing to put forward the best argument you can.

Finish your argument with a strong closing statement

Summarise your ideas and reinforce your argument so that readers are reminded about why your argument is valid. This is your last chance to sway their opinion!

Find below our 100 essay writing prompts to help you practice your persuasive skills.

25 Persuasive Young Kids Writing Prompts

Are you looking for 4th grade and 5th grade writing prompts? Or prompts for ages a little younger or older for kids? Here are our 20 writing persuasive prompts for students aged 8 to 12!

I should be able to go to bed when I want.

All classrooms should have a class pet.

There needs to a be a non-school uniform day every week.

You can only eat apples or oranges for the next week. Which one will you eat? Why?

I should be allowed to stay home alone.

There should be no homework at school.

Break times at school should be longer.

People should be fined for dropping litter.

I should be allowed to eat ice cream every day.

All students should learn how to cook.

Persuade your family to let you open a birthday present the day before your birthday.

Persuade your family to give you twice as much pocket money.

If you could have any pet, what would it be? Convince your family why you should care for it.

Convince your friend to swap their packed lunch with yours.

Students should be allowed to pick their own seats in class.

Persuade your family to watch the film you want to watch.

Dogs are better than cats.

School holidays should be longer.

Imagine in the future, you can live on land or underwater. Which one would you choose? Why?

You have to live in another country. Which one do you choose? Why?

Convince your family to let you watch your favourite TV programme.

Students should be allowed to choose their teacher.

Students should have 3-day weekends.

You can only play one sport for the next month. What is it? Why?

Students who are late to school should do a chore for their class.

You can choose one superhero power to help others: fly or stop time. Which one do you choose? Why?

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25 Prompts for Persuasive Writing for Older Kids

Here are 25 writing persuasive prompts for students aged 11 to 15. If you’re looking for 7th grade and 8th grade writing prompts particularly, these are for you!

Mobile phones should be allowed to be used in the classroom.

It should be made mandatory to eat vegetables every day at school.

The school day should start later and end later in the day.

There should be a computer game room at school.

All students should learn at least 2 languages in school.

Students should be able to wear whatever they want at school.

Students should be taught only how to type; not write with pen and paper.

The first lesson of school every day should be exercise.

Facebook states that you must be at least 13 years old to have a Facebook account. Is this fair?

Persuade your brother/sister to do your house chores for one week.

Smoking should be banned in all public areas.

Teachers must wear a uniform to school. What is the uniform? Why?

Family should only give pocket money if chores are completed.

Persuade your teacher to let you eat your favourite snacks in class.

We should all learn how to grow our own fruit and vegetables.

Persuade your family to take you on holiday to a destination you want to go to.

Persuade your friend who doesn’t like sports to play your favourite sport with you.

Fast food like chips and pizza should be served everyday in the school canteen. Yes or no?

Persuade your family to let you stay at your friend’s house.

Teachers should not be allowed to have their cell phone in the classroom.

There should be one day per week where the whole nation must be vegetarian.

Fizzy drinks should be banned from school.

Students should be paid for getting good grades.

Is it better to have enough money, or too much money?

I should decide what time my bedtime is.

25 Ideas for Argumentative Writing Prompts for Teenagers

These writing prompts are great for students aged 13 to 16!

Teenagers should not do any chores at home.

All students should teach one lesson to their class each term.

Students should be allowed to use their mobile phones at any time in school.

All students should volunteer in their community once every week.

Persuade your friend to help you with your homework.

Imagine you can create a new class to be taught in your school. What subject would it be? Why should it be taught?

Students who commit cyber-bullying should be suspended from school. Yes or no? Why?

The voting age should be lowered to age 13.

Persuade your teacher to have their lessons outside in the Summer.

Persuade your family to let you redecorate your bedroom.

Imagine that you have been granted a ticket to live on Mars. If you go, you are not allowed to come back to Earth. Would you go? Why?

Textbooks should be replaced by tablets or e-readers.

Persuade your teacher to end their class 10 minutes early.

Persuade your teacher to let your class have a party.

Imagine that you are given 1 million pounds to improve your neighbourhood. What would you do with the money? Why are your ideas the right thing to do?

Persuade your teacher to not set your class homework for the next month.

Everyone under the age of 17 should have to stay in after 9pm.

People should only be allowed to drive their cars 4 days a week to minimise pollution.

Country life is better than city life.

All students should be allowed to study abroad once per year.

Teenagers under the age of 15 should not be allowed to have a Facebook page.

The internet should be free for everyone.

Everyone should eat vegan food one day per week.

All school classes should be outdoors in the forest.

25 Young Adult Persuasive Essay Prompts

These quick writing prompts for students aged 15 to 17 will have you scribbling away to get your point across!

All students should learn how to make YouTube videos.

People should pay extra tax when they buy drinks in plastic bottles.

Humans are living longer, to the point where we may become immortal in the future. Would living forever be a good? Argue your point of view.

Students should be allowed to listen to their own music on headphones when working in class. Argue your viewpoint.

Teenagers around the world should not be allowed to drive until they are 18.

You have been given money to hold a major event in your hometown. What would the event be about or for? Why should people come?

Imagine you want to be the next president of your country. Why should people vote for you?

Convince your friend to lend you something special of theirs.

Persuade your family to let you study overseas at a Summer School next year.

Imagine that you have been given the chance to interview for your dream job. Convince the boss that you are the person they should choose.

Persuade your family to watch a movie on Netflix that you want to watch.

You have just started a new business making a phone better than the iPhone. Explain what features your phone has, that makes it much better than Apple’s.

Persuade a friend to come to a new activity group with you that they are feeling anxious about.

Aliens exist. True or false? Argue your point of view.

All young adults should be required by law to volunteer in their community once every week. Yes or no?

Mathematics class is more important than music class. Yes or no? Why?

City life is better than country life.

Driving tests should be mandatory every year after you are 65 years old.

Students who bully others should be suspended from school.

There should be one currency for the whole world.

Recycling should be a legal requirement for every household.

Life is better than it was 10 years ago.

Girls and boys should study separately in school.

You can choose to put one celebrity on your country’s highest-value banknote. Who is the celebrity? Why should they be placed on the note?

Life is better without a computer.

Are you ready to improve your persuasive writing?

We hope you have enjoyed these free writing prompts! This is your chance to change the world in which we live through your thoughts!

If you want to work on your writing in English, try and aim to make these your daily writing prompts! We also recommend using pictures as writing prompts. Looking at pictures with writing prompts, rather than just seeing a sentence, can help you create your arguments and ideas if you are a  visual learner .

And if you are ready to fully immerse yourself in a thriving and educational setting, come and study with us this Summer!

At Summer Boarding Courses, we run many courses for all international students aged 8 to 17 years old and would love for you to join us. We can help you improve your ESL writing as well as your English speaking, listening and reading skills with many other nationalities.