Speech Writing
The Power of Persuasive Speeches
The Power of Persuasive Speeches contains valuable advice for anyone interested in public speaking. Whether you are delivering an end-of-year speech to your students, presenting research findings to your colleagues or speaking at a charity fundraiser, the speech making principles touched on in this book are relevant. From novice to seasoned speakers, there is something to be learned from the good example speeches and the many practical ideas shared in the different sections of the book. This text is a valuable resource for students who are learning to write speeches, as it contains many fruitful ideas and tips for writing and delivering different types of speeches. However, this book is not just a theoretical discussion about public speaking. Each principle set out in this book is brought to life with a real example speech. In order to demonstrate how persuasive techniques and speech writing principles have been put into practice, I have included a number of annotated speech extracts which not only highlight the methods used by the speaker, but also demonstrate how to transfer theory into effective speech writing and delivery. This book provides a comprehensive overview of speaking and also explains how to critically evaluate both the rhetor and the message using the rhetorical triangle. The rhetorical triangle is a systematized way of constructing effective arguments according to Aristotle and so by exploring this concept, students and experienced speakers alike can gain an insight into the ways in which speakers attempt to persuade their audiences. Overall, this text is designed to be a ‘one-stop-shop’ for speakers from all levels of experience. With a focus on the application of speech writing and the provision of real examples, The Power of Persuasive Speeches offers a meaningful insight into the world of speech making and is set to empower all those who are willing to step up to the lectern.
Understanding the audience: The main factor that influences the effect of a persuasive speech is whether the audience is persuaded by it. So, what are characteristics of a critical audience that’s persuaded by a speech? Ethnic and cultural diversity in the audience is likely to demand speaker adaptability. A crowd that holds neutral, undecided opinions can be the easiest to persuade, while a crowd that strongly opposes the topic would be the hardest to persuade. Also, an audience is only likely to change in favor of a speaker’s message if the audience hasn’t made a decision about the topic or hasn’t committed to an action before. For example, a speaker on environmental conservation isn’t likely to persuade an audience of the benefits of conservation while they’re in the middle of using paper and plastic products. But then again, being able to identify and understand these characteristics of the audience doesn’t mean a speaker will be able to persuade all audience members at all times. Rather, it’s about being able to assess and respond to the different feelings, thoughts and reactions that audience members may have. Overall, a critical audience that’s persuaded by a speech is one that hasn’t committed to an ongoing action. By identifying such characteristics and using strategies to respond to varying reactions, it is more likely a speaker will be able to identify with and eventually persuade a majority of the audience. This is directly relevant to the study of the art of persuasion, as learning to persuade requires the ability to understand the critical audience. Using and recognizing different techniques and practices of being persuasive is important. The art of persuasion is complex and encompasses far more than the basic strategies that are often talked about. It is important to understand different audience’s and their receptiveness to particular types of persuasion but it can lead to more effective and successful practice of being able to persuade. And there should be a strong emphasis in learning and teaching the art of persuasion. By guiding students to explore and build upon their ability to understand and perform effective, ethical persuasion, there is potential malleable learning that can enhance their ability to acknowledge and utilize tactics and strategies as they encounter them in social interactions. All these show how important of being able to persuade, and how the ability to identify the critical audience and different techniques of persuasion can be used to increase the effectiveness of persuasion. These provide great implications for how rhetoric can be critiqued and used as a mode of persuasion and also dictate how rhetoric should be taught and utilized. These shed light on the potential of the power of persuading a critical audience towards a speech.
But most of all, remember the importance of practicing different methods and techniques. What may work well for one person may not work as well for someone else. Take the time to figure out the most comfortable and effective ways of conveying our message. Master vocal variety, practice the story, and keep our desired outcome in mind. And little by little, we will be able to create messages that keep audiences captivated and driven to that end we have in mind.
Crafting the story itself is another step in the process. We must remember that we not only want to gain the audience’s attention, but we want to keep it captive throughout the entire speech. One way to help gain attention is to use vocal variety where appropriate. This will add intonation and emphasis on the important parts of the speech as well as help in playing to the audience’s emotions. Keeping the story structured will aid in a well thought-out and presentable speech. There needs to be a logical beginning, middle, and end. Express relevant information for each part and give a compelling reason as to why it is important.
One of the first things we have to consider is what we want to accomplish with our message. What are we trying to convey to our audience? More importantly, how do we want our audience to respond? Having a clear focus in mind is important in composing the message. We want to be able to “see” the ending before we even begin. And often, when we can do that, we can tailor everything within our message to achieve a particular outcome. This will also help with the organization and delivery of the speech because we can then work towards that end.
Crafting a compelling message is not easy. Sometimes it can take days or weeks to come up with the perfect thing to say. We all know the feeling of frustration when the words just don’t seem to come out right. None of us like that feeling. But we have to remember that we are our own best editors. There is no instant method to having something incredibly profound just fall out of our mouths. It takes time and it takes diligent effort.
Before reviewing the key points of using effective delivery in oral presentations, it is important to go over some general considerations for the delivery of oral presentations. Effectiveness of the delivery, as we have discussed, a message is an important aspect of the fashion. It brings effectiveness on the presentation. A poorly delivered presentation can leave an audience feeling confused and unimpressed, where properly presented content is more likely to be absorbs and understood. However, several factors can influence the delivery, and it involves knowing your audience, means how to communicate your message to them, and getting your message across i.e. not primarily focus on memorization, but rather through the confreres to the audience. Then the presenter and the visual aids are also important aspect of the effective presentation. Therefore, the following components of the delivery process are especially important for those presentations whose purpose is to persuade the audience or to affect some sort of quality in the audience or close the audience as the eight step of a successful oral presentation. So we can say that, the effective delivery of a message is a key. And the effectiveness can be obtained by considering the all the important keys of delivering the message. The keys include controlling the contents, practice methods and the environmental flexibility and the most important is the control over the visual aids. Every presentation is something more than the simple transfer of information from one person to another. The significant of the rich hidden in effective delivery. Every time you make a presentation, you are not only sending your words but at the same time you are send your behavior, your body language, your organisation. And the most important, you are sending your sense of confident to your audience. Every delivery is a risk as people expect now a days the good and well preparation before getting any presentation, where on the other hand they’re too nerves.
One might argue that in a typical mass media outlet, changes need to be tried to be instigated from bottom up with vocal public opinion and consumer protection groups buying into a new way. Yet the senior management is motivated by the status quo and anxieties over change that might reduce efficiency. How the resources are allocated will also be a main factor impacting the decision-making process. All infers a continued and structural call for public opinion and bottom-level changes. Such impacts and strategies have been well advocated.
Organization is another key to making consistent and sustainable changes. This includes having a very clear step-by-step plan; specifically laying out the details of what needs to be done and delegating the tasks so that it is manageable for everyone. Also, influence and targets have been well illustrated to be important in the process of change. Clearly, if a speaker could prove that by taking the direction proposed, a significant improvement and benefit could be achieved, it is a clever way to grab the audience’s attention and create a buy-in from them. Influence is also about identifying changes at different levels and matching the right strategies to the right level and providing adequate resources to support it. Such a description perfectly corresponds to the later modern world and the way that different powers that affect speeches are distributed and dynamized, turning to the new concept of a multi-level influence. It evolves from a very directive connotation to a more trimmed or logistics-based meaning with technological or financial facilitated allegories nowadays. We could expect students of speeches and even political experts to use this as a basis to analyze consensus and operative efficiency in a large organization among many different levels of power.
Lastly, the knack of creating lasting impact relates to how a speaker goes about inspiring action. The chapter has explored a series of points to note such as ensuring that calls to action are clear, concise, and realistic. For example, it is no point asking an audience to raise £2 million in two days if they have not already bought into the vision you have proposed! After all, Master or Disaster, the speaker’s goal is to show the “promised land” and show the audience how to get there. Furthermore, the audience must feel they can trust the speaker and do not want to let him or her down. Subconsciously, a common course and leader have been set. This can be done via inspiring trust and confidence from the audience or leading a way in which the audience truly feels involved in what the speaker is saying and take ownership of the ideas.
