Persuasive Speech text (about 1000 words)

Persuasive Speech Assignment

What I want you to do:

Craft and deliver a 9-minute speech that develops a message designed to persuade your audience to act- either for or against a question of policy. (Questions of policy deal with specific courses of action and consider whether something should be done.)

Why I want you to do it:

1) The ability to speak persuasively is hugely important in all areas of life

2) To more fully understand the art of persuasion

3) To practice applying the principles of persuasive speaking

How I want you to do it:

 Begin work on your speech early

 Focus the topic of the speech carefully- Spend some time finding a topic that is interesting to you, narrow enough to cover adequately in 9 minutes, and which lends itself well to persuasion

 After you choose a topic, you will need to develop a purpose statement following the format: “To persuade my audience that X should do Y.”

 You will then need to analyze the need, plan, and practicality issues for your subject. In other words, is there actually a problem, does the plan address the problem and is the plan possible?

 Once you have decided which issues you will have to prove to convince the audience of your position, you will need to gather evidence to support your claims

 Find your research early, and start by compiling more than 6 credible sources- this lets you focus your research, know that you will be able to meet the source requirement, decide if you need to gather additional materials

 Use of at least six credible sources is required. (You can always use more!)

o At least two of these sources must be scholarly (librarians can help with this).

o You may not count dictionary or encyclopedia sources toward the minimum.

o Remember to cite your sources orally as you use them in your speech and to list them in your bibliography/works cited that you turn in with your speech.

 Organize your ideas carefully- Make sure your speech has an introduction, body, and conclusion

 Use the working outline template to get your ideas organized- you will submit this outline as part of the grade- don’t forget the reference list of your sources

 Express your ideas clearly and concisely

 Since you want them to act, you will also have to appeal to your audience on the levels of credibility and emotion

 Address the counterarguments the members of your audience might have

 Begin work on the speech early and rehearse it out loud several times (maybe with an audience of friends)- This will help you leave the audience with a good impression of yourself

 Strive for as much eye contact as possible

 Time your speech carefully

 Use the grading criteria below to help you construct your speech

Grading Criteria:

1. Your speech will be graded on its content, including the extent to which you develop ideas, the integration and quality of the research on which you rely, and the organization of your speech.

2. You will be evaluated on your ability to make eye contact with the audience/camera (aim for 80%), on how well you maintain a conversational tone, and on your use of gestures. You will lose credit if your speech exceeds the time limit or is too short.

The average speech (grade C) should meet the following criteria:

1. Conform to the requirements of the persuasive speech

2. Deal with an issue of policy

3. Conform to the time limit (no more than 30 seconds under or over the “target” time)

4. Use 6 credible sources, 2 of which are scholarly

5. Correctly cite the sources in the speech and the working outline

6. Have a clear specific purpose and central idea

7. Have an identifiable introduction, clear body organization, and conclusion

8. Show reasonable directness and competence in delivery

9. Be free of serious errors in grammar, pronunciation, and word usage

10. Be correctly uploaded to Moodle by the due date

11. Have the working outline submitted on time to the correct two dropboxes

12. Follow all requirements in the format and content of the working outline

The above average speech (grade B) should meet the preceding criteria and also:

1. Deal with a challenging, focused issue of policy

2. Addresses need for policy

3. Addresses practicality of policy

4. Uses more than one kind of appeal to the audience (while avoiding all fallacies)

5. Successfully conform to the requirements of the speech, including the time limit

6. Fulfill all major functions of a speech introduction and conclusion

7. Display clear organization of main points and supporting materials, appropriate for a persuasive speech

8. Support main points with evidence that meets the tests of accuracy, relevance, objectivity, and sufficiency

9. Effectively incorporate and cite at least 6 credible sources (2 of which are scholarly) that substantially add to the effectiveness of your persuasive speech.

10. Exhibit proficient use of connectives—transitions, internal previews, internal summaries, and signposts

11. Be delivered skillfully enough so as not to distract attention from the speaker’s message

12. Have a thorough and correctly formatted working outline of the speech submitted on time to the correct 2 dropboxes

13. Follow all requirements in the format and content of the working outline.

The superior speech (grade A) should meet all the preceding criteria and also:

1. Constitute a genuine contribution by the speaker to the knowledge or beliefs of the audience

2. Successfully deals with a challenging topic of policy

3. Convincingly demonstrates need for policy

4. Convincingly demonstrates practicality of policy

5. Uses a variety of appeals to audience (while avoiding all fallacies)

6. Successfully incorporates ample credible research (at least 6 sources, 2 of which are scholarly) to support the claims in the speech

7. Seamlessly cites all sources in the verbal delivery of the speech, and accurately cites in the working outline (including a reference page)

8. Sustain positive interest, feeling, and/or commitment among the audience

9. Contain elements of vividness and special interest in the use of language

10. Reveals a thorough understanding of the form and organization issues covered in the textbook, and successfully applies them to this speech.

11. Is well focused, with abundant detail.

12. Speech is adapted to the audience

13. Be delivered in a fluent, polished manner that strengthens the impact of the speaker’s message

The below average speech (grade D or F) is deficient in the criteria required for the C speech.