Persuasive Speech Outline

Depending on the aim of your speech, there are a number of persuasion techniques that you can use to ensure your speech gets the desired result.

The following are some of the ways you can enhance your persuasion skills, so that you will know how to persuade people successfully when making your speech.

How To Persuade By Presenting A Solution In Your Speech

The most basic and also the most common way to use the art of persuasion in your speech, is to present a problem to your listener and then solve it by presenting a convincing solution.

Ideally this should also be backed up with supporting evidence to make the solution seem more valid.

This persuasion technique works extremely well when your listener is unaware that a problem exists, because the solution you present will seem more valid and persuasive.

When your listener knows that a problem exists, they may also be aware of other possible solutions. This may make your solution and overall speech appear less persuasive.

How To Persuade With Refutation In Your Speech

This persuasion technique is a similar method to inoculating yourself against an opponents attack. It involves disproving your opponents points, by challenging their arguments and providing evidence to the contrary throughout your speech.

Using refutation in your speech is most effective when you know your position is going to be under attack, and you have anticipated in advance what those attacks are likely to be.

To conclude your persuasive speech, allow the person or people you are trying to persuade to ask you follow up questions to deal with any remaining objections or uncertainties.

By providing the opportunity to be asked, and then answering questions, you will increase your perceived level of credibility and the overall persuasiveness of your speech.

The Cause And Effect Persuasion Technique

This persuasion skill is similar to the problem-solution pattern, and can be done in 2 ways when speaking.

If you want to emphasise the causes of a situation (i.e. what factors made something happen), start your speech by talking about the effect first and then examine the causes.

For example, if you are speaking about obesity and how it is caused by eating too much junk food, start by speaking about the effect (obesity) and why it is a problem. Then speak about the causes (junk food) and how they relate to obesity later on in your speech. 

If by contrast you want to emphasise the effects of a situation, first present the present the problem at the beginning of your speech and then move onto a discussion of the effects.

So using the same example as above, if your speech was about the effects of obesity on health, first discuss the problem of obesity, and then talk about the various effects it has on health and society.

Persuasive Speech Outline – The Motivated Sequence

The following persuasion technique can be used when trying to motivate, or inspire people when speaking. It is commonly used by many motivational speakers, or salespeople when giving speeches to large audiences.

Speeches Should Grab Attention

The first step when speaking to anyone is to gain their attention. There are many ways you can do this, such as by using shocking imagery, interesting facts or a joke throughout your speech.

Speeches Should Address Needs

The next step to follow when speaking is to think about the needs of your audience. What do they want? And how does your information directly relate to them? In other words, why should they care what your speech is about?

This is an important area of your speech, because the art of persuasion is really just about giving people what they want, or, what they think they want.

Speeches Should Satisfy Needs

After addressing the audiences needs, your speech now needs to explain how your proposal or plan will satisfy that need.

How are you going to make things better, or change things for them? Think of your audience having an itch, and you can satisfy them by scratching that itch through the message you convey in your speech.

The greater your persuasion skills are, the more you will be able to scratch that itch and the more persuasive your speech will appear.

Speeches Should Be Visual

Now your speech needs to paint a picture of how bright the future will be if they adopt your solution. Alternatively you could use negative visualisation, and paint a picture of how bad things will be if they don’t adopt your solution.

A good example of negative visualisation can be seen with a phrase George Bush used in one of his speeches when trying to persuade the American public to support a war in Iraq:

“…we cannot wait for the final proof — the smoking gun — that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.”

Speeches Should Have A Call To Action

At the end of your speech tell your audience what specific action you want them to take. Be specific and clear, tell them exactly what you want them to do.

If this call of action is not specific, the audience may come to their own conclusions which may be different from what you intended.