Skill: Writing a Persuasive Speech

Issue: Kneeling During the National Anthem—What do you believe?

Instruction:

1) Choose an audience who would be interested in this topic. This could be an organization, family member, or friend.

2) Address them in the speech. Remember, this is a speech, so you will be directly speaking to them through writing.

3) Follow the outline below in creating your speech:

a) Offer a salutation and introduce yourself (less formal if a friend or family member). (1st paragraph)

b) State the issue and its relevance to you. (1st relevance)

c) State your position on the issue and your 3 reasons for believing as you do. (1st paragraph)

d) Then, take each of your reasons and dedicate a paragraph to each reason and explain why this reason is valid through examples, ideas, personal stories, etc… (Paragraphs 2-4)

e) Acknowledge the opposition. This is called a COUNTERARGUMENT. It is where you say that the opposition has value (give an example) and should have some respect but there are flaws in its reasoning. You are actually giving the opposition its “time in court” but only briefly, then you move on. (Paragraph 5)

f) Restate the issue and your position. Then offer a plan of action, a compromise, or a call for justice. (Paragraph 6)

4) Some tips for your speech: Don’t lose focus on the fact that this is a speech and not a traditionally written text. Thoroughly support your position. Don’t forget your audience. Use paragraphs and indent your paragraphs. 300-350+words.