Persuasive Topics

A persuasive topic must be one that can sway the opinion of the audience in one direction.  You want the audience to adopt your point of view.  Sales presentations and political campaign presentations are such examples.

After you introduce your speech you should relate the problem to the audience. Remember the audience only cares about their pain points and their problems. Thus, a persuasive topic should be chosen with that in mind.

Usually in the first third of a persuasive topic you will describe the problem and tell the audience what it means for them. Often times, you might spend 60% of your speech simply describing the gravity of the problem for the audience. You are setting them up for the proposed solution.

For example, if you were delivering a speech about the Gulf Oil Spill of 2010 you would describe the broad problem but you must relate the problem to the people in the audience. If you were speaking to homeowners on the Gulf Coast you might talk about the effects of the oil spill on their property prices. If you were speaking to small business people you might relate the oil spill to reduced tourism and less sales for their business.

A persuasive topic will usually involve your proposed solution. The solution to the problem is what you are trying to persuade the audience about.

In the example above, suppose your solution is that homeowners should invest $500/each in order to clean up the beaches from tar balls.This will benefit tourism and land values.  In the last third of your speech you will use statistics and anecdotes to prove your point. You might have statistics about how Alaska businesses pooled money after the Exxon spill in the 80′s.

You must leave your audience with a potential action plan. The course of action that you want your listeners to take is to invest $500 in your proposed solution.

You can watch a sample persuasive speech and read more about great topics for persuasive speeches in the tutorial on persuasive speeches.