How to Construct a Persuasive Speech

Know the demographics of your audience.

Persuasive speeches intend to persuade individuals to act. They touch a listener's emotion and move him closer to the presenter's beliefs. A speaker's goal in delivering a persuasive speech is to influence the audience. To do this, the speaker must believe in his message. Hand gestures, facial expressions and tone of voice are used to persuade.

Instructions

1. 

   Construct your speech according to your objective.

   Determine your objective. Are you trying to convince, inspire or actuate your audience?

   Convincing speeches affect listeners' attitudes and establish the speaker's viewpoint. A speech meant to actuate calls for the audience to act. For example, the speaker persuades listeners to donate time or money. Inspiring speeches change how the listener feels about a topic. Commemorative speeches and eulogies are inspirational.

2. 

   Writing speeches takes time and effort.

   Know your audience. Gather the audience's gender, ages and educational backgrounds from the individual who arranged the speaking engagement. Or send a questionnaire to the sponsoring organization.

3. 

   Persuasive speeches evoke emotion.

   Introduce your topic. State your position by providing a purpose statement. If you were constructing a speech about children's reading habits, the sentence "I believe that reading is important to a child's development" would be the purpose statement.

4. 

   Be sure to organize your ideas.

   Organize your ideas. Present examples that illustrate and support your argument. If you were trying to persuade children to read more, provide examples showing how reading affected your life.

5. 

   Videotape your speech to evaluate your performance.

   Write a closing. Conclude your speech with a summary of your ideas. Offer a final statement that links your ideas to the purpose statement.

References

• George L. Grice & John F. Skinner: Master Public Speaking; 2004