Persuading our Peers

The art of persuasion must be in sync with the type of audience we are persuading. If I made a five minute speech on why pink is a better colour than grey, I bet that I would leave with almost all the females on my side. However, no matter how hard I tried, I'm not sure I could completely persuade the males. Unless, that is, I knew how to pitch a perfect persuasive speech.

That's what we started covering in class this week. Our next assessment is to write a five minute persuasive speech about anything in the world. Sounds pretty simple, right? That's what I thought too, until I realized there are quite a few elements to consider.

There are four questions we should ask ourselves before constructing a speech.

1. Why am I giving this speech?
2. What do I want them to know?
3. How will I know I have achieved this?
4. How much time do I have?

The layout of a persuasive speech is much like the inverted pyramid, in my opinion. 

Firstly, there are the "must-know" facts - the most important aspects of the speech, and if you had to choose, these would be the facts the audience must know. 

Secondly, there are the "could know" facts - the interesting aspects that provide additional understanding.

Lastly, there are the "if time permits-maybe" facts - all elements in this category should be add on's that you won't mind being cut.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do my speech on yet; the opportunities really are endless. At least I am going into this aware of difference elements I need to consider.