PRES. Nov 21

Persuasion speeches

Related links:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=KYtm8uEo5vU&feature=related
(PS: How to be a super hero?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4yCDopp86mM&feature=related
(PS: Smoking Kills)
http://www.speech-topics-help.com/
(Thousands of speech topics for those who lack inspiration)

How to be a super hero?

Notice gimmicks he uses? The cape and the shield. (hook)
Gives the structure of the speech, saying (I am going to talk about… )
1st Gives a definition of superhero
Let’s see what a super hero is…
So, who are these superheroes?
2nd Teaches what everyone needs to be a superhero
What does he claim you need to have to be a superhero?
Opportunity, initiative
Why do we need to be heros?
It benefits society and ourselves in the process.

In conclusion: So to sum up
Who is a hero? Someone that touches our lives in a profound way but doesn’t do so for themselves but doesn’t do so for themselves?

Smoking kills

How does the speaker draw attention?
Uses strong words that work on emotions: "smoking kills"
Uses a map of Virginia Beach, pop. 450,000, to show that a whole city gets killed by smoke-related diseases.
Personal anecdote (aunt with lung cancer)
Works on audience’s emotions by using more emotionally charged words like dying, killing

How does he try to persuade that smoking is very harmful?
1. talks about bad effects of smoking, quoting some statistics

-for every 8 smokers 1 non-smoker dies due to second hand smoke
-smoking is a leading cause of cancer in the us (lungs, throat, mouth, larynx, esophagus, bladder, even problems with reproductive organs
-cigarettes kill more Americans than alcohol, car accidents, suicide, homicide, aids, illegal drugs
-In 2000, 8.6 million Americans suffering from one chronic disease due to cigarette smoking (bronchitis, emphysema, strokes, heart attacks)


2. Talks about addictive properties of nicotine

-Nicotine creates physical and psychological dependence
-Difficult to stop. The process of quitting seems more difficult to deal with than the long term bad effects of smoking

3. Talks about second hand smoke

-People exposed to it in social settings but also at home.
-Only 30 minutes of exposure to 2nd hand smoke starts hardening your arteries

4. What can be done about the troublesome situation?

-smokers must be courteous to others
-we must safeguard our homes and keep children away from smoke
-we must demand legislative action (smoke-free air laws, higher taxes, barring the access to tobacco to young people)
-seriously work on find ways to quit if you are a smoker

Summary:

"Again, it is a killer." 41000 children are left fatherless/motherless due to related issues
(works on audience's emotions)

Weaknesses: in the introductions, he doesn’t give the structure of the presentation.
In the body, weakness in organization. He should have talked about the harmful effects of second-hand smoke immediately after talking about harmful effects of 1st hand smoking.
Weak conclusion: no summary of major points.
___________________________________________________________________


SPEAKING TO PERSUADE

We use persuasion in everyday situations: persuading your teacher to delay the due date of your assignment, persuading someone to date you, persuading your parents to increase your pocket money or send you abroad to study, persuading a vendor to give you a discount, an employer to give you a job or a raise, etc. Persuasion is necessary in business, law practice, politics, etc.
The purpose of a persuasive speech is to convince your audience of the validity of your opinion about your topic. In supporting your opinion, you will use opinions of others. Whenever possible, base these opinions on facts. You must recognize the difference between a fact and an opinion. A fact can be verified; opinion is a conclusion you draw based on the information available to you.

Any persuasive speech has one of the four purposes in mind:

to reinforce the belief held by an audience
to establish a belief
to change a belief held by an audience
to move an audience to act

To give a good persuasive speech you need to decide what is your purpose: e.g.
To get the audience to agree that too early English education is useless and potentially harmful to the intellectual development of children. When you decide what your purpose is, you will select appropriate arguments to support your opinion.
You must use logical reasoning when choosing your arguments. Also, you must quote credible sources to increase your own credibility. E.g. , “According to Korea Statistics office, …” Or, “as is stated in the Korea Times in an article of November 19th, …”

How do you appeal to your audience?
Aside from having a great content (well-researched and organized), you must solicit the audience’s support in a variety of ways:
Bring up the things you have in common with your audience (“We all have weaknesses and addictions, don’t we? I can’t live without chocolate…” )
Appeal to shared values (‘we all love our family and want to protect them”
You may mention how disagreeing with you might have dangerous effects (‘smoking will jeopardize your health and your work ability’)
Show how agreeing with you position will be beneficial (“you can save a lot of money if you quit cigarettes and go on a great vacation’)
Appeal to their emotions as well as their intellect (“smoking kills”, “children are orphaned because of smoking”)

YOUR PERSUASIVE SPEECH – Submit:

1. an outline of your speech with all the major points
2. a list of reference you turned to (English-language source!)
TOPIC
Please, choose a topic that is dear to your heart ( you feel strongly about it). The topic has to be important for the society in general. In other words, it has to be a social/political issue, such as gun control, abortion, cloning, entrance exams, nuclear power, reunification of Korea, American troops in Korea, etc. I will not accept any frivolous topics, such as (“You must brush your teeth before going to bed” or “You must have kimchi at every meal.”). If you lack inspiration for the topic, refer to the website
http://www.speech-topics-help.com/

Naturally, the same rules apply to this presentation: you must have a proper greeting, hook, introduction of your topic, clearly stating the structure of your topic; middle part with transitions between your major points; a conclusion in which you will summarize your major points and make a final/additional comment. Make sure that you leave a minute for questioning at the end of your presentation.