Persuasive Speeches
Types
- Sales presentations
Persuade others to buy - Proposals
Plans for new projects, requests for resources, changes in polices and procedures - Motivational speeches
Persuade others to action - Goodwill speeches
Promote interest in a particular organization or concept
Techniques
- Appeal to a variety of the needs of your audience
- Sell yourself as well as your idea—establish your credibility through your
- Competence—audience is persuaded by someone they believe qualified in the subject. Demonstrate your credentials, ability, and knowledge.
- Trustworthiness—be honest, audience more willing to accept an unbiased speaker than one who has a vested interest in the subject. Cite outside sources to add credibility.
- Similarity—audiences are more willing to accept your arguments in your attitude and behavior are similar to their own.
- Sincerity—speakers viewed as truly caring about their appeal are more persuasive
- Attraction—listeners are persuaded by people they find attractive. Dress for the occasion, show respect to the audience, and consider their viewpoints.
- Have a realistic purpose.
- Focus your appeal on the critical audience segment—identify the leaders, the decision makers in the audience before preparing your speech. Be sure to anticipate their needs and questions.
Organizing Your Persuasive Speech
- Defer the thesis with a hostile audience? If your topic is controversial, or you anticipate a hostile audience, your speech might be more effective if you delay stating your thesis until near the end of your speech. Not stating your thesis in the beginning to a hostile audience may keep them interested and allow you to persuade them with your speech. Stating your thesis up front may make audience defensive and cause them to "tune out."
- Use the best organizational pattern for the situation
- Problem-Solution—state the problem and then show audience how it can be solved, how your solution will provide them with benefits. Stating problem helps motivate audience to find a solution. This is especially helpful in sales presentations.
- Criteria Satisfaction—set up common criteria based on audience's needs, then show how criteria will be met, how your proposal will provide benefits to audience
- Comparative Advantage—compare benefits of several proposals and then suggest the best possible solution (sometimes in a deferred thesis statement). This approach good when audience is considering another proposal but comparing it to yours.
- Consider the use of opposing ideas—should you give only one or both sides of your argument? Should the other side be considered at all? f the audience disagrees with your position, if the audience knows both sides of the situation, or if your audience is intelligent and you have reason to believe that they may be made award of an opposing view, supply a weakened version of the opposition's argument and then refute it before the opposition has a chance to present their case. This is called the "inoculation effect" and has the effect of protecting your audience against the opposition views. Research indicates that the first communicator has the advantage. Take advantage of your advantage.