Speech 1315: Speech of Persuasion Parameters and Guidelines Your Speech of Persuasion should be 4-6 minutes in length, have a minimum of 4 sources, be presented in a professional and rehearsed manner, while following the structural guidelines below. All speeches will be given must be properly uploaded to YouTube, and its link and transcript be uploaded via the assignments drop box on D2L in a WORD document. Your speech must follow this outline format: Introduction: Attention Step Your introduction should start with some kind of attention getting material that begins to inform us on the problem you will be discussing in your speech. Main Idea Statement This is essentially your thesis statement and should inform your audience what you will be discussing in the speech. For instance, you may do a persuasion on the hidden hazards of elementary school playgrounds. If so, you’re main idea statement would be something like: Today, I want to discuss with you the underlying issues of unsafe playgrounds so that we can once and for all remove this tiger from our jungle gyms. Preview The last sentence of your introduction should preview the 3 main points of your persuasion which are problems, causes, and solutions. If we use the example from above, your preview might be: In order to remove this tiger from our jungle gyms we will first explore the problems associated with unsafe playgrounds, second, discuss the underlying causes, before third and finally offer tangible solutions on the Federal, state, and personal level. Body: Point 1: Problem Point one should outline the nature, scope, details, and even history of the problem. This will vary depending on the topic and may choose to discuss any issue of social significance. Just remember, you should be able to narrow and focus your speech to a manageable issue. Obviously, in 4-6 minutes you would not be able to thoroughly discuss the problem, causes, and solutions for an issue as big as say global warming. But you could do a speech on an issue like the current ‘Cap and Trade’ legislation, or harnessing solar power. If you need any help choosing a topic please feel free to call me and we can discuss possibilities. Point 2: Causes Point two should thoroughly discuss the causes of your speech topic. These would obviously vary depending on your topic but typically include issues of state or national policy, lack of funding, lack of awareness, lack of regulation, etc. Refer to the 2 sample A+ speeches for an excellent example of how to properly outline the causes for your point two. Try to focus this portion of the speech as well. While there may be 10-20 actual causes of your problem you should essentially narrow that down to no more than 3 primary causes. Point 3: Solutions Your point 3 should outline 3 solutions to the problem you are discussing in your speech. You should discuss a solution on the large (“Grand”), local, and personal scale. A. “Grand” Solution Outline the solution to this problem on a large scale. B. Local Solution What is the solution to this problem on a local scale? C. Personal or “I” Solution What is the personal solution to this problem? What can I do to help? Conclusion: Review Your conclusion should review your 3 major points Restatement of thesis Your conclusion should restate the thesis, or Main Idea Statement of your speech