How to Identify with Audiences in Persuasive Speeches

The point of a persuasive speech is to get the audience on your side, regardless of your topic or underlying idea. Even if your idea is contradictory to their own beliefs, they should learn something from the speech and begin to understand your feelings. To do that, you need to get the audience on your side and the way to do that is to identify with your speakers. To identify with your audience and get them to focus on your speech, you need to know who is out there.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Understand the backgrounds of those people in your audience. You might find yourself in front of a wealthy group of older people, or a younger group of liberal oriented people and each side has their own backgrounds and preconceived ideas.

2. Consider why those people are there in front of you. Are they part of your class, or are you giving a speech in front of a new client? Try to determine why they’re watching you and you can tailor your speech to them.

3. Maintain eye contact throughout your speech. It sounds like such a little thing, but people are more willing to watch you and listen to your words if you meet their eyes.

4. Show emotion when you give your persuasive speech. Audiences identify with speakers who show their passion for the topic, and tune out those who just go through the motions.

5. Keep an eye on the people in the audience to see how they react to your persuasive speech. When you see people rolling their eyes or falling asleep, you know that you need to change your attitude to keep their attention.

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