deliver a successful speech

Title - Delivering a Persuasive Speech

By - Douglas Parker

Primary Subject - Language Arts

Secondary Subjects - Social Studies, Art

Grade Level - 7-12

Title: Delivering a Persuasive Speech

Concept:

By

understanding

appropriate

public

speaking

techniques,

students

will

learn

how

to

prepare and deliver a persuasive speech.

Standards:

Standards

for

Public

Speaking

have

not

been

set

yet;

however,

this

lesson

does

address listening and speaking criteria for most states' Language Arts and ESL curricula.

Goals:

Students

need

to

understand

that

how

they

say

something

and

how

they

physically

present

themselves

are

just

as

important

as

what

they

say.

By

understanding

the

dynamics

involved

in

effective

persuasive

speaking,

students

will

improve

their

overall

confidence

in

communicating.

Objectives: Students will be able to:

1)

Demonstrate

the

appropriate

classroom

public

speaking

and

listening

skills

(e.g.,

body

language,

articulation,

listening

to

be

able

to

identify

specific

examples

of

the

speaker's

coordination

of

talking

and

action)

that

would

be

necessary

to

influence

or

change

someone's

mind or way of thinking about a topic.

2) Define the elements of persuasion.

3) Recognize the elements of personal credibility.

4) Develop methods to analyze other students' speeches.

5) Understand outlining main ideas.

6) Create a persuasive speech.

Resources/Materials: Teacher-prepared topics for persuasive speeches.

Teacher's Anticipatory Set:

During class

discussion, define and explain how people make

decisions based on what they see

and hear. Explain that sometimes we

have to

use skills to convince others about our positions.

Have

the

students

recall

and

list

their

own

experiences

trying

to

convince

their

friends

about

something, and then ask them to share these with the class.

Activities and Procedures: Delivering a Persuasive Speech

The Procedure

Have the students pick a proposition that not everyone would agree with such as:

plants are superior energy sources.

persuade the class. Each student will then deliver this

speech in front of the class while the rest

of the students take notes and prepare to give the speaker feedback on the speech.

The Lesson: The Voice and Body are the Best Tools

Every student is a natural persuader! They have done it all their lives. Every time someone enters

a conversation, he or she engages in elementary persuasion techniques. It is true, that any time

students make a statement of fact, they are asserting its validity and assuming that their listener

agrees.

This

speech goes further than a

normal conversational assertion: now students

have to assume

that not everyone will agree with them from the start, and it is their job to make them see things

their way. The goal of this speech is to change someone's mind or way of thinking about a topic.

This is not a

speech to

sell, as students

do not ask that the listener

do anything except to agree

with

them

or

to

begin

to

listen

to

their

way

of

thinking.

Their

message

is,

of

course,

very

important in this speech, but their voice and body language are even more important. Here they

will learn how their delivery can help.

There are several important aspects of presentation to keep in mind; the academic elements

of

persuasion are:

1) Body language - make sure that they have a proper posture. If their shoulders are sagging and

their legs are crossed, they will not appear as being sincere and people just

will

not accept their

message.

2) Articulation - articulation means how their total vocal process works. There are several steps to

this entire process. Students need to understand the process. First, they need air from the lungs,

their vocal cords in their larynx must be working, their mouth and tongue must be in sync, and

they have to make sure that they have got some saliva in their mouths to keep things oiled. They

should be aware of their physical makeup to be able to understand how they speak.

3) Pronunciation - students need to pronounce each word. They must avoid slang, except to make

a point, and not slur the words. They must avoid saying,

4) Pitch - pitch refers to the highs and lows of the voice.

Whatever they do, they must avoid a

monotone!

5) Speed

- the speed, or pace, is an important variable to control. Between 140

-160 words per

minute is the normal pace for a

persuasive

speech. Any faster and they may appear to be glib;

any slower and they

sound like they are

lecturing. If the

y are

not

sure about their

speed, tape

them for one minute and then replay it and count the number of words they used in the minute!

The human ear and brain can compile and decode over 400

spoken words per minute, so if they

are going too slow their listeners' minds are going to

start to wander as the brains

finds other