Great Tips & Styles for Writing a Persuasive Speech

Writing involves practice, dedication, and, most importantly, experimentation. While there are various styles to write a persuasive speech, you need to figure out what works for you.

The most important thing to note is that when presenting arguments or making speeches, it is essential to grab people’s attention immediately. And that is where styles of writing a persuasive speech come into play.

This article focuses on basic writing styles and how to structure a persuasive speech. But, what’s a persuasive speech?

What Is a Persuasive Speech?

A persuasive speech attempts to persuade listeners to adopt a concept or point of view that the speaker believes in.

It involves appealing to their emotions and logic by presenting evidence, facts, and arguments supporting the presented opinion. It must have the right balance between emotion and truth to be effective. So, how do we write persuasively?

3 Fundamental Styles to Write a Persuasive Speech

“Actions speak louder than words.” But this adage doesn’t always hold true when it comes to persuasion. With ethos, logos, and pathos writing styles, persuasive writing can become powerful.

1. Ethos

This method focuses on establishing trustworthiness by presenting oneself as reliable and credible. Here, one uses language to express experiences that reinforce their credibility. This can include tangible examples or other evidence, like quotes from prominent people or organizations. By relying on facts rather than opinions, we can form a foundation for our argument, which is more likely to be accepted.

2. Logos

Logos deals with using reason and logic to make sense of the arguments presented. To do so, writers rely on evidence and explain cause-and-effect relationships. Facts, figures, statistics, and research studies are also used here to help persuade your audience.

Furthermore, logical reasoning enables writers to connect ideas while avoiding leaps of faith or assumptions.

3. Pathos

Pathos is a form of persuasion that relies on emotions. Emotions such as fear, anger, joy, and excitement engage readers’ attention and draw them closer to a specific view. Writers often use anecdotes and stories to show how they want to make their points. It makes their readers feel connected or like they know them.

These approaches are essential building blocks that will hit listeners hard and convince them of an idea.

How to Structure a Persuasive Speech

The critical difference between a persuasive speech and others is its emphasis on persuasion. It has to do with using facts, logic, and emotion to convince your listeners of the validity of your point.

Here’s how to structure your speech to create a well-balanced, audience-friendly speech that makes an impact.

1. Organize the Body of Your Argument

The most vital parts of any speech are the introduction and the conclusion. Take them into account when crafting the structure of your persuasive speech. If you want to make a good impression on your audience, you need to make sure you capture their attention right away.

To get people interested, you should start with a powerful opener, like a statement or statistic that stands out. These are frequently surprising or tense.

Making the audience a part of the scene you’re setting is another effective opening strategy for a persuasive speech. Include them in a story to create an emotional connection between your audience and your words.

A more subtle approach would be to focus on a shared interest or experience with the audience. This is the time in a persuasive speech that it helps to include your credentials.

Obama would put in a lot of time with his staff crafting the perfect introduction and conclusion to his speeches.

2. Make Your Case

Choose up to four topics to cover in your speech so that you may fully explain your position and win over your audience.

For your argument to make sense, each of your ideas must flow naturally into the next. Do what you can to make your speech flow smoothly by working on the transition sentences between each theme.

Relying on personal experience or intuition alone will not suffice as evidence; you must back up your claim with facts. By providing concrete illustrations, analogies, and anecdotes, you may help your listeners see things from your perspective and more readily accept your argument.

3. Rebuttal of Opposing Views

Any well-rounded line of thinking will deal with the objections raised to it and refute them. By addressing these, you demonstrate your knowledge of the topic and improve your ability to persuade your audience by addressing their concerns.

Explain the other side’s viewpoint in the same terms as someone who shares that perspective rather than trying to discredit it by seeming biased. By doing this, you’ll show that you came to your conclusion through logical thought and won’t turn off people who disagree with you. It’s sufficient to single out the objection and provide rebuttals.

4. Wrap up your talk

If you want to leave a lasting impression on your listeners, save your most persuasive argument for your speech’s final sentence. Make sure it’s a good one because that’s the sentence people will remember most from your address.

Truly persuasive speeches will conclude with a call to action. If you’ve been talking about organ donation, a call to action could encourage listeners to sign up as donors.

Wrapping Up

Want to know how long these styles of writing persuasive speeches have been in use? Throughout history! And, more often than not, they are what make an argument successful.

Classifying a persuasive speech into the styles mentioned above and structure makes your argument indisputable and very effective.