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Of all the academic writing assignments you will ever receive, the persuasive speech will probably be the most familiar one for you. From commercials to campaign speeches, you have heard thousands of persuasive speeches in your lifetime. In fact, even if you have never taken a speech class in your lifetime, you have probably given a few persuasive speeches of your own.
What is a persuasive speech? A persuasive speech is a speech that tries to convince the audience to adopt the speaker’s position. A persuasive speech uses logic and reasoning to convince the audience that your position is right. However, while great persuasive essays rely primarily on logic and reasoning, a persuasive speech often employs emotion to convince a group to embrace the speaker’s position.
While writing speeches is always different from writing essays, nowhere is the difference as important as it is when comparing a persuasive essay with a persuasive speech. To capture an audience’s attention, you will need to use rhetorical devices that encourage the audience to like you. After all, it is much easier to get an audience to agree with a position if they like the person giving the speech. Therefore, you want to make sure that the speech is engaging, personal to the audience, and portrays both them and you in a positive light.
The best way to master the persuasive speech is to learn by example. We offer a wide variety of sample persuasive speeches for you to examine. Try reading them out loud and see how they are structured to appeal to listeners, rather than readers!