30/09/2020 Simple Steps to Write a Persuasive Speech :: Reader View

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www.thoughtco.com /how-to-write-a-persuasive-speech-1857488

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Simple Steps to Write a Persuasive Speech
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5-6 minutes

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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.
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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
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