how to make a presentation persuasive

How to Give a Persuasive Presentation [+ Examples]

Published: December 29, 2020

A presentation aimed at persuading an audience to take a specific action can be the most difficult type to deliver, even if you’re not shy of public speaking.

Creating a presentation that effectively achieves your objective requires time, lots of practice, and most importantly, a focused message.

With the right approach, you can create a presentation that leaves a skeptical audience enthusiastic to get on board with your project.

In this post, we'll cover the basics of building a persuasive presentation. Let's dive in.

What is a persuasive presentation?

In its most basic form, a persuasive presentation features a speaker who tries to influence an audience to accept certain positions and engage in actions in support of them. A good persuasive presentation uses a mixture of facts, logic, and empathy to help an audience see an issue from a perspective they previously discounted or hadn’t considered.

How to Plan a Persuasive Presentation

Want to make a persuasive presentation that connects with your audience? Follow these steps to win friends and influence people within your audience.

1. Decide on a single ask.

The key to convincing your audience is to first identify the singular point you want to make. A good persuasive presentation will focus on one specific and easy-to-understand proposition. Even if that point is part of a broader initiative, it ideally needs to be presented as something your audience can say "yes" or "no" to easily.

A message that isn’t well-defined or which covers too much can cause the audience to lose interest or reject it outright. A more focused topic can also help your delivery sound more confident, which (for better or worse) is an important factor in convincing people.

2. Focus on fewer (but more relevant ) facts.

Remember: You are (in the vast majority of cases) not the target audience for your presentation. To make your presentation a success, you’ll need to know who your audience is so you can shape your message to resonate with them.

When crafting your messaging, put yourself in your audience's headspace and attempt to deeply understand their position, needs, and concerns. Focus on arguments and facts that speak specifically to your audience's unique position.

As we wrote in our post on How to Present a Compelling Argument When You're Not Naturally Persuasive , "just because a fact technically lends support to your claim doesn't mean it will sway your audience. The best evidence needs to not only support your claim but also have a connection to your audience."

What are the target audience's pain points that you can use to make a connection between their needs and your goals? Focus on those aspects, and cut any excess information. Fewer relevant facts are always more impactful than an abundance of unfocused pieces of evidence.

3. Build a narrative around your evidence.

If you want to persuade someone of something, it’s not enough to win their brain -- you need their heart in it, too. Try to make an emotional connection with your audience throughout your presentation to better sell them on the facts you’re presenting. Your audience is human, after all, so some emotional tug will go a long way to shaking up how they view the issue you’re talking about. A little bit of emotion could be just what your audience needs to make your facts “click.”

The easiest way to incorporate an emotional pull into your presentation is through the use of narrative elements. As we wrote in our guide to crafting pitch decks , "When our brains are given a story instead of a list of information, things change -- big time. Stories engage more parts of our brains, including our sensory cortex, which is responsible for processing visual, auditory, and tactile stimuli. If you want to keep people engaged during a presentation, tell them a story."

4. Confidence matters.

Practice makes perfect (it's a cliche because it's true, sorry!), and this is especially true for presentation delivery. Rehearse your presentation several times before you give it to your audience so you can develop a natural flow and move from each section without stopping.

Remember, you're not giving a speech here, so you don't want your delivery to come across like you're reading fully off of cue cards. Use tools like notes and cue cards as ways to keep you on track, not as scripts.

Finally, if you can, try to practice your presentation in front of another human. Getting a trusted co-worker to give you feedback in advance can help strengthen your delivery and identify areas you might need to change or bulk up.

5. Prepare for common objections.

The last thing you want to say when someone in your audience expresses a concern or an outright objection during your presentation's question section is “umm, let me get back to you on that.”

Carefully research the subject of your presentation to make the best case possible for it -- but also prepare in advance for common objections or questions you know your stakeholders are going to ask. The stronger your command of the facts -- and the more prepared you are to proactively address concerns -- the more convincing your presentation will be. When you appear confident fielding any rebuttals during a question and answer session after your presentation, it can go a long way towards making your case seem more convincing.

Persuasive Presentation Outline

Like any writing project, you’ll want to create an outline for your presentation, which can act as both a prompt and a framework. With an outline, you’ll have an easier time organizing your thoughts and creating the actual content you will present. While you can adjust the outline to your needs, your presentation will most likely follow this basic framework.

I. Introduction

Every persuasive presentation needs an introduction that gets the listener’s attention, identifies a problem, and relates it to them.

• The Hook: Just like a catchy song, your presentation needs a good hook to draw the listener in. Think of an unusual fact, anecdote, or framing that can grab the listener’s attention. Choose something that also establishes your credibility on the issue.
• The Tie: Tie your hook back to your audience to garner buy-in from your audience, as this issue impacts them personally.
• The Thesis: This is where you state the position to which you are trying to persuade your audience and forms the focal point for your presentation.

II. The Body

The body forms the bulk of your presentation and can be roughly divided into two parts. In the first half, you will build your case, and in the second you will address potential rebuttals.

• Your Case: This is where you will present supporting points for your argument and the evidence you’ve gathered through research. This will likely have several different subsections in which you present the relevant evidence for each supporting point.
• Rebuttals: Consider potential rebuttals to your case and address them individually with supporting evidence for your counterarguments.
• Benefits: Outline the benefits of the audience adopting your position. Use smooth, conversational transitions to get to these.
• Drawbacks: Outline what drawbacks of the audience rejecting your position. Be sure to remain conversational and avoid alarmism.

III. Conclusion

In your conclusion, you will wrap up your argument, summarize your key points, and relate them back to the decisions your audience makes.

• Transition: Write a transition that emphasizes the key point you are trying to make.
• Summary: Summarize your arguments, their benefits, and the key pieces of evidence supporting your position.
• Tie-back: Tie back your summary to the actions of your audience and how their decisions will impact the subject of your presentation.
• Final word: Try to end on a last emotional thought that can inspire your audience to adopt your position and act in support of it.

IV. Citations

Include a section at the end of your presentation with citations for your sources. This will make independent fact-checking easier for your audience and will make your overall presentation more persuasive.

Persuasive Presentation Examples

Check out some of these examples of persuasive presentations to get inspiration for your own. Seeing how someone else made their presentation could help you create one that strikes home with your audience. While the structure of your presentation is entirely up to you, here are some outlines that are typically used for different subjects.

Introducing a Concept

One common type of persuasive presentation is one that introduces a new concept to an audience and tries to get them to accept it. This presentation introduces audience members to the dangers of secondhand smoke and encourages them to take steps to avoid it. Persuasive presentations can also be a good format to introduce marco issues, such as this presentation on the benefits of renewable energy .

Changing Personal Habits

Want to change the personal habits of your audience? Check out this presentation on how to adopt healthy eating habits . Or this presentation which encourages the audience to get more exercise in their daily lives.

Making a Commitment to an Action

Is your goal to get your audience to commit to a specific action? This presentation encouraging audience memes to become organ donors could provide inspiration. Trying to make a big sale? Check out this presentation outline that can encourage someone to buy a home .

Remember: You Can Do This

Anyone can craft a persuasive presentation once they know the basic framework for creating one. Once you get the process down, you’ll be in a better position to bring in sales, attract donors or funding, and even advance your career. The skills you learn can also benefit you in other areas of your personal and professional life as you know how to make a case and influence people toward it.

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How to Make a Persuasive Presentation (+ Examples)

See persuasive presentation examples that show you how to make highly engaging, effective, and converting presentations with persuasive writing and design.

Dominika Krukowska

7 minute read

Short answer

How to make a presentation persuasive?

If you want to make a presentation persuasive, you need to:

Start with a strong hook

Show relevance on the get-go, make it clear who you cannot help, demonstrate value early, showcase your authority, assume your audience’s voice, tell a story, use the rule of three, use the power of repetition, personalize your presentation, tell them what to do next, if your presentation doesn’t persuade, you’re just wasting your time.

Crafting a presentation can be a lot of work. And there's nothing more frustrating than feeling like your message just didn't land, despite all the effort you put in.

The hard truth is that even the most beautifully designed presentation slide can fail to persuade.

What is a message good for if it doesn’t hit home and doesn’t drive action?

Unless you’re satisfied with simply getting in front of an audience, you probably want to bring some sort of transformation to people’s lives , no?

Well, your message is not gonna go past the exit door if it’s not persuasive.

Stick with me for a few minutes and you’ll learn how to write and design persuasive presentations.

Let’s look at some real-life examples that delivered great results, and I’ll even throw in a few templates to get you a good start.

Let’s dive in!

What makes a presentation persuasive?

Let's dive straight into the heart of what makes a presentation truly persuasive. Each element plays a crucial role in ensuring your message not only reaches your audience but deeply resonates with them.

11 weopons of of persuasive presentations:

1) Credibility

People need to believe you in order to agree with you. Just as you'd trust a friend's recommendation, your audience needs to trust what you're sharing.

It's about authenticity and integrity and ensuring they feel you're genuine and have their best interests at heart.

2) Authority

People respect authority figures. Flaunt your credentials subtly. If you're an expert, let it show - use slides that highlight your expertise and experience in the field.

3) Social Proof

People follow the crowd. Include in your presentation testimonials, user statistics, and stories of people like your audience who took you on your offer and experienced success. If everyone's using your product, it must be good, right?

4) Familiarity

If you or your topic are familiar then you’re intuitively less threatening and therefore acceptable. It's that warm feeling that makes you feel at home and among friends.

When your audience sees their own experiences and challenges reflected in your content, it creates an instant bond. It's like recognizing a familiar face in a crowd.

Incorporate names, places, and topics familiar to your audience into your presentation to get into their inner circle.

We say 'yes' to people we like. Be likable. Smile, make jokes, and show enthusiasm. If they like you, they'll like what you're selling. Use humor and storytelling to make yourself more relatable.

When making a reading presentation, include a personal video of you in a casual environment talking directly to your audience as you would a colleague you like and feel comfortable with.

To make people like you want to align your presentation with the 7-38-55 rule which guides you on what contributes to likability.

According to the rule:

“Total Liking = 7% Verbal Liking + 38% Vocal Liking + 55% Facial Liking”

So make sure to write what you feel and feel what you say. Or otherwise learn acting.

6) Reciprocity

People feel obliged to return favors. To use this to your advantage start a physical presentation with a small handout. To make it easy use a QR code slide (you can use a free QR code generator )to give your audience a digital handout.

If you’re creating a digital reading presentation you can offer a coupon with a small taste of what you offer (like a short consultancy, a free audit, studio design time, or a small taste of your product).

Do this and they'll feel like you've given them something, and they'll pay closer attention and be more inclined to 'return the favor.'

7) Relevance

People listen intently when you’re talking about them. Ever heard someone talk about a topic you were concerned about, and your ears perked up? It got your attention like a 3-year-old seeing a chocolate cake, didn’t it?

Tailor your message to your audience's current needs or challenges to ensure they feel you're speaking directly to them.

8) Memorability

People make decisions based on what they remember. You will only ever persuade people of something they remember you said.

To make your presentation memorable give it substance - show what you offer in images or videos, provide concrete examples of your key concepts in action, and tell detailed stories about you, your team, your solution, and the audience you serve.

9) Consistency

Once people commit, they like to stay consistent. Get your audience to agree with you early on.

Maybe ask them to raise their hand if they've ever experienced a problem that you solve. Maybe tell them a story of someone in their situation and ask if it resonates with them.

In reading presentations, use rhetorical questions or interactive slides to get early commitments.

10) Scarcity

Limited availability increases appeal. Create a sense of urgency. Maybe offer a limited number of seats in an event.

Maybe offer a discount for the first 100 subscribers. Maybe tell them they can schedule a meeting with you for 2 weeks before you leave for another destination.

For a reading presentation use a countdown timer or "limited seats available" to create this sense of urgency.

11) Feasibility

The harder a thing is to do the less likely people will do it. Whatever you decide to ask from your audience, keep it simple to do.

Ask for small concessions rather than big commitments. You only need them to take the first step, and then you’ve got a relationship going, which positions you to ask for the next step, and the next after that, till you reach your goal.

Note: Reciprocity, Consistency, Social Proof, Liking, Authority, and Scarcity were taken from Robert Cialdini’s seminal book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.

Here’s a summary of the book.

How to write your presentation persuasively?

Writing persuasively is all about connecting with your audience on a deeper level. With these techniques in your toolkit, you're all set to craft presentations that not only inform but inspire and motivate.

Beginnings matter. Think of your opening as the first impression. You want to grab your audience's attention right from the get-go.

Whether it's a surprising fact, a thought-provoking question, or a relatable story, make sure it's something that makes your audience lean in and think, "Tell me more!"

Here's a presentation that hooks people in right from the start:

Don’t beat around the bush. Get to the point fast. Give your audience a quick overview of what you have in store for them and how you can change their life for the better.

Make sure to be clear about who you are talking to. Define your target audience the way they would describe themselves and let them know you are speaking to them on a topic they care about.

Don’t take a one-shoe-fits-all approach. You can’t serve everyone well. Do everyone a favor and tell them who your message, solution, or advice (or whatever it is you offer) is not meant for.

They won’t resent it. They will appreciate it, and it will lend you integrity, credibility, and persuasive power.

Don’t let people guess what you can do for them. Introduce the value you offer as soon as you can. Give your value shape and concrete detail.

If it’s a product - show it in action, if it’s an intangible prize like money - show them what they can do with it, and if it’s an emotional outcome - tell them the story of someone you’ve helped.

Most of us get our information through authority figures. If you demonstrate your authority your words will encounter less skepticism and less push-back.

Show what you or your team have achieved in your field, and show some acknowledgment of your achievements by established and well-known authorities, whether people or organizations.

Just be very careful not to come off as boastful or cocky, unless these traits resonate with your target audience (yes, I am talking about you - sales crowd).

Talk to your audience in their own words, use the phrases they use, and tell stories and allegories that appeal to them and fit into their life.

Do the research. Hang out where they hang out, physically or on the web, listen and read what they say and who they say it to.

I know you’ve heard this one too many times before, so let me be clear: tell stories, plural. Short anecdotes or examples that give substance to what you’re talking about.

Fill your little stories with details about who did something where, when, what, and why. Make it mostly familiar but at the same time a bit surprising and unexpected.

If it’s too outlandish it’s not credible, and if it’s too familiar it's not interesting.

There's something satisfying about things that come in threes. "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness", "of the people, by the people, for the people"... you get the point.

This is called the rule of tree . Simply put it means grouping your points or ideas in threes which makes your message more rhythmic, elegant, and sticky.

Repetition can be a powerful tool to emphasize your key points. Just think about Martin Luther King Jr's " I have a dream ".

By repeating key phrases, you not only drive your message home but also give it a predictable structure that lets your audience unconsciously chant the words with you .

Everyone loves feeling special. Tailor your content to resonate with your particular audience. Whether it's addressing their unique challenges or using examples they can relate to, personalization builds a deeper connection and rapport.

In this case, personalize more thoroughly. Use their name, and their specific details, like their company, city, product, or (if you met each other) where you met.

Just don’t overdo it and cross into creep-land. Keep any personalization unmistakably within the context of your presentation. (Unless you’re selling a bed, don’t reference how beautiful they look when they sleep 😜).

Here's an example of a personalized sales pitch presentation:

Note: Notice the dynamic variables they’ve added in their Storydoc deck. WiseStamp actually shows a ready-made email signature with the prospect’s name, image, and company logo in it. They personalized their product demo! How crazy is that?

Check out their full deck here.

Finish strong! After sharing your insights, guide your audience on what to do next. Whether it's trying out a new tool, adopting a mindset, or simply reflecting on what they've learned, a clear call to action gives direction and purpose.

Here's what it should look like:

How to design a presentation for persuasion?

While words are the heart of your presentation, design is its soul. A well-designed presentation not only captivates but also amplifies your message.

Let's dive into the world of persuasive design and uncover the secrets that make a presentation truly stand out:

Visual hook

First impressions count. Start with a captivating visual that immediately grabs attention. This could be a bold graphic, a striking image, or even an intriguing layout. It's like the cover of a book; it invites the audience to delve deeper.

Here's a great example of a presentation with a visual hook:

Social proof

As humans, we often look to others to validate our choices. Dr. Robert Cialdini defines social proof as people doing what they observe others doing. It's the idea that if other people are doing it, it must be good.

In the context of your presentation, this could mean showcasing testimonials, endorsements, or even user reviews. It's a nod to the audience that others have been here and found value.

Here's an example of a social proof slide:

Recognized people and places

Including familiar faces or landmarks can be a game-changer. When your audience sees someone they recognize or a place they relate to, it builds an instant connection and trust. It's like seeing a friend in a crowd; it feels familiar and safe.

Original visuals lend you credibility and status. They show that you put in the effort. They show that you can afford to invest in your content and that you’re not some shmo working from his mom’s basement.

Quality original visuals

Stock photos have their place, but nothing beats original, high-quality visuals. Whether it's custom graphics, original photographs, or tailored illustrations, unique visuals make your presentation memorable and authentic.

Here's a great example of a presentation with high-quality visuals:

Emotion-driven imagery

Think about those commercials that tug at your heartstrings or make you laugh. They stay with you, right? Using images that evoke emotions can make your message resonate more deeply with your audience.

Consistency

Just like a catchy jingle in a commercial, maintaining a consistent design theme throughout your presentation creates a rhythm and flow. It ensures your audience remains hooked and can easily follow along.

Here's a great example of a visually cohesive presentation:

End with a call to action

After taking your audience on a journey, guide them on the next steps. Whether it's trying a new product, exploring a concept further, or simply reflecting on the insights shared, a clear call to action gives direction.

More importantly, make your call-to-action super easy to act on. Make it something they can do immediately with as little friction as possible.

Note: In Storydoc, there’s a handy little design feature that lets you embed your calendar app direction into your presentation. This way whenever you share it, your reader can simply access your calendar and set a meeting.

Here's an example of a calendar slide:

Persuasive presentation templates

When it comes to persuasive presentations, having a structure that's been tried and tested can be a game-changer.

We built our persuasive presentation templates based on insights from more than 100,000 presentation sessions and the world of neuroscience. They’re all designed with storytelling in mind and tested to look flawless on every device.

It's like having a seasoned presenter whispering tips in your ear, guiding your content to truly resonate.

Pick a template from our library and use it to create your presentation.

Hi, I'm Dominika, Content Specialist at Storydoc. As a creative professional with experience in fashion, I'm here to show you how to amplify your brand message through the power of storytelling and eye-catching visuals.

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9 Essential Elements Of A Persuasive Presentation

Key takeaways:.

– Start strong: Begin your presentation with a catchy hook and clearly state your main point within 30 seconds to capture your audience’s attention and set the tone.

– Establish the purpose or objective: Clearly define your aim and ensure your message revolves around a single, understandable proposition to maintain focus and clarity.

– Know and connect with your audience: Tailor your message to resonate with your audience’s interests and emotions, fostering a deeper connection and enhancing relatability.

– Organize your content: Structure your presentation logically, employing frameworks like problem-solution-benefit or storytelling to maintain coherence and engagement.

– Tell stories. Make them count: Utilize storytelling to captivate your audience, appeal to their emotions, and make your message more memorable and impactful.

– Visual and design elements: Use visuals thoughtfully , adhere to design principles, and ensure your presentation design complements rather than distracts from your content.

– Practice. Practice. Practice: Rehearse your delivery to boost confidence and fluency, embracing feedback to refine your presentation skills.

– Build credibility with evidence: Support your claims with credible evidence, maintaining honesty and integrity to establish trust with your audience.

– Conclude with a call to action: Energize your audience with a clear and compelling call to action, guiding them toward meaningful next steps based on the information you’ve shared.

Persuasive Presentation: What is it?

A persuasive presentation is when someone speaks to a group and tries to make them agree with their ideas. It’s about convincing people to think like you and do what you suggest. This type of presentation is hard because you have to get people to approve of your thoughts and take action based on them. You can see examples of persuasive presentations from prominent business leaders worldwide.

In today’s world, being good at persuasive presenting is essential. Whether you’re trying to get a job or win over customers, being persuasive shows that you know your stuff and can be trusted. It might be easier to convince your friends at work, but how do you get a bunch of strangers to believe you? 

Persuasive presenting means clearly and convincingly sharing your ideas with others. It’s about making a strong emotional and intellectual connection with your audience. This skill will be helpful throughout your life and help you and your audience learn more deeply.

In a persuasive presentation, the speaker tries to make the audience agree with them and take action. A good persuasive presentation uses a mix of facts, logic, and understanding to help the audience see things from a new perspective.

Keep reading to learn strategies to get really good at persuasive presenting.

Start Strong

The initial moments of your presentation are pivotal, shaping your audience’s receptiveness to your message. Within the first 30 seconds, seize attention by stating a compelling headline message that succinctly encapsulates your big idea. This sets the tone and expectations for your talk.

Craft a hook, be it a surprising fact, anecdote, or personal story, to draw in your audience and establish credibility. Ensure this hook resonates with your listeners, demonstrating relevance to their lives.

Your introduction should captivate, identify a problem, and connect it to your audience. Open with a catchy hook, then swiftly tie it to your audience’s concerns. Clearly state what you aim to persuade your audience of, setting the stage for your presentation’s focal point.

Define your target audience clearly and address them directly, showing how your presentation addresses their interests and needs. Immediately introduce the value you offer, whether tangible or emotional, providing concrete examples to illustrate its impact.

In essence, start strong to capture attention, establish relevance, and set the tone for a persuasive presentation.

Establish the Purpose or Objective

Before crafting a persuasive presentation, it’s crucial to pinpoint your aim. What do you hope your audience will do, think, or feel afterward? Your objective must be precise, measurable, and feasible, tailored to meet your audience’s needs. For instance, if you aim to convince customers to purchase your new product, demonstrate how it solves their problems, stands out from competitors, and benefits them.

Identify your presentation’s goal—whether it’s making a sale, swaying a vote, or altering perspectives on a topic. This clarity helps you refine your focus.

The essence of persuasion lies in articulating a single, clear point. Keep your presentation centered around one easily understood proposition, as a complex or vague message risks losing your audience’s interest. Additionally, a focused topic lends confidence to your delivery, a vital ingredient in persuasion.

Every persuasive speech needs a distinct objective, whether securing investment or garnering support for an idea. Ensure your speech concludes with a compelling call to action, directing your audience on what steps to take next.

Lastly, distill your message down to one key takeaway. Keep it concise and supported by evidence, avoiding the temptation to cover too much ground. Honing in on a single point makes your presentation more memorable and impactful.

Know and Connect with Your Audience

Understanding your audience members is paramount in crafting a persuasive presentation. Analyze who they are, what they care about, and what they expect from you. Tailor your message, tone, and style accordingly. For instance, if your audience comprises experts, use technical language and provide evidence. If they’re laypeople, simplify language and appeal to emotions.

Put yourself in their shoes. What are their concerns, values, and needs? Shape your message to resonate with them, focusing on relevant facts that address their unique position. To be persuasive, think from their perspective, considering their demographics, beliefs, and motivations.

Building a connection with your audience is critical. Show empathy, understanding, and awareness of their perspective. Engage them through eye contact, smiles, and gestures. Adapt your delivery to their energy and environment. Connect emotionally to help them empathize with your argument. Knowing and connecting with your audience can make your presentation more relatable and compelling, increasing its persuasive impact.

Organize your Content

Organizing your content is essential to ensure your persuasive presentation hits the mark. Structure it logically to support your purpose and maintain a smooth flow. One effective framework is the problem-solution-benefit structure, where you highlight the problem, offer your solution, and outline its benefits. Alternatively, employ storytelling, analogies, or comparisons to enhance engagement and memorability.

Keep slide presentations concise and relevant to your audience’s interests. Focus on key points that address their needs, presented creatively through storytelling or analogies to maintain engagement.

Arrange your content into coherent sections or subsections for a logical flow. Begin with an introduction, setting the stage, and then progress through each point systematically.

Tell Stories. Make them Count.

Storytelling is a potent tool for effective communication and persuasion. Whether you aim to build relationships, make a sales pitch , or deliver a persuasive speech, stories can mesmerize your audience and drive your message home.

Craft your stories strategically, starting with a hook to grab attention and setting up the stakes to create intrigue. Conclude with a clear moral or message to leave a lasting impression.

To persuade effectively, it’s crucial to appeal to the audience’s brains as well as their hearts. Emotional connections foster deeper engagement with your message, making the facts more compelling and memorable.

Incorporate multiple short anecdotes or examples into your presentation, filled with vivid details to make them relatable and engaging. Strike a balance between familiarity and novelty to keep your audience interested and credible.

Remember, humans are primarily emotional beings; storytelling taps into this aspect of our nature. Start your presentation with an emotional story that resonates with your audience’s experiences and concerns. Presenting the narrative from the audience’s viewpoint enhances relatability and increases its impact.

Utilize storytelling techniques to transform abstract concepts into tangible scenarios, taking your audience on a journey they can relate to. Whether through case studies, success stories, or personal anecdotes, weaving narratives into your presentation enhances engagement and retention.

Storytelling is a powerful tool in persuasive presentations, making your message more relatable, memorable, and emotionally engaging. Craft your stories thoughtfully, appeal to your audience’s hearts and minds, and watch as your message resonates and inspires action.

Nail the Visual and Design Elements

Effective visual design is pivotal in crafting a persuasive presentation. Choose visuals that complement your content, reinforce your message, and resonate with your audience. Utilize slides, charts, images, videos, or animations thoughtfully, adhering to basic design principles like contrast, alignment, repetition, and proximity for clarity and consistency. Avoid clutter and distractions while selecting colors, fonts, and icons that align with your topic and tone.

Your presentation’s design should amplify rather than overshadow your content. Opt for high-quality visuals and coherent color schemes, minimizing text to emphasize key points. Remember, visuals should support storytelling, not dominate it.

Incorporating visual aids like charts, diagrams, photographs, or videos can enhance the clarity and effectiveness of your presentation, aiding in illustrating your points persuasively.

Practice, practice, practice.

Practicing your delivery is one of the most crucial steps in preparing a persuasive presentation. Rehearse multiple times, whether in front of a mirror, with a friend, or recording yourself, to boost confidence, fluency, and clarity. Pay attention to your body language, voice, and eye contact to enhance credibility and rapport with your audience. Anticipate potential questions or objections and strategize how to handle them gracefully.

Repetition is key to mastering your delivery. Practice until your presentation flows naturally, avoiding the pitfall of sounding like you’re reading from cue cards. Use notes and cue cards sparingly as guides, not scripts. Seeking feedback from trusted colleagues can refine your delivery and highlight areas for improvement.

Confidence grows with each practice session. Whether in front of a mirror or with an audience, the more you rehearse, the more polished and persuasive your presentation will become. Embrace practice as the pathway to proficiency in delivering a compelling message.

Build Credibility with Evidence

Ensuring accuracy and providing evidence are essential to building credibility in your persuasive presentation. Your credibility, or trustworthiness, directly influences how your audience responds to your message. Just as you trust a friend’s recommendation, your audience must trust what you share, valuing authenticity and integrity.

Supporting your claims with credible evidence is crucial for persuasiveness. Utilize sources, statistics, and real-world examples to bolster your arguments. Concrete evidence reassures your audience about the feasibility and effectiveness of your solutions, fostering trust and confidence.

During Q&A sessions, seize the opportunity to demonstrate knowledge and expertise, maintaining concise responses to sustain audience interest. Avoid bluffing if uncertain, as honesty preserves credibility. Credibility is paramount in persuasive presentations, so always back up your claims with evidence, be it facts, data, or expert testimony.

Conclude with a Call to Action

Avoid the common pitfall of ending your presentation with a dull summary. Instead, energize your audience with a clear call to action (CTA), prompting them to take meaningful steps based on the information you’ve shared.

Guide your audience on the next steps after the journey you’ve taken them on. A straightforward CTA provides direction, whether trying a new product, delving deeper into a concept, or reflecting on insights.

Make your call to action easy to act on, reducing friction for immediate engagement. Specify action steps clearly, infuse urgency to motivate prompt action, and remind your audience of the benefits they’ll gain by acting.

Be explicit about what you want your audience to do next, whether making a purchase, supporting a cause, or changing a behavior. Avoid ambiguity and make the desired action straightforward.

Create a sense of urgency by explaining why immediate action is necessary and encouraging prompt responses. Remind your audience of the positive outcomes awaiting them, reinforcing their motivation to act.

Tell your audience precisely what action you want them to take after your presentation. Clarity in your call to action is key, whether it’s signing a petition, donating money, or simply pondering your message.

Crafting an Effective Persuasive Presentation: A Guide to Winning Over Your Audience

As you embark on the journey of persuasive presenting, armed with strategies to captivate and influence your audience, remember that the power lies in your ability to connect authentically, deliver compelling content, and inspire action. From the impactful outset to the conclusive call to action, each component plays a vital role in shaping a persuasive narrative.

Start Strong:   Seize attention, establish relevance, and set the tone for your presentation with a compelling opening.

Establish the Purpose or Objective:   Clarify your aim, craft a focused message, and conclude with a compelling call to action.\

Know and Connect with Your Audience:   Tailor your message, empathize with their perspective, and engage them emotionally to enhance relatability and persuasion.

Organize Your Content:  Structure your presentation logically, focusing on a single, clear point supported by evidence, and guide your audience through a coherent narrative.

Tell Stories. Make Them Count:

• Leverage the power of storytelling to mesmerize your audience.
• Appeal to their emotions.
• Make your message more memorable and impactful.

Visual and Design Elements:

• Utilize visuals thoughtfully.
• Adhere to design principles.
• Ensure your presentation design amplifies rather than overshadows your content.

Practice, practice, practice: Rehearse your delivery, refine your speaking skills, and embrace feedback to enhance confidence and fluency.

Build Credibility with Evidence:

• Support your claims with credible evidence.
• Maintain honesty and integrity.
• Back up your assertions to establish trust with your audience.

Conclude with a Call to Action: Energize your audience with a clear and compelling call to action, guiding them toward meaningful next steps based on the information you’ve shared.

By incorporating these elements into your persuasive presentations, you’ll engage and inspire your audience and cultivate a lasting impact that extends far beyond the confines of your speech. Master the art of persuasive presenting, and watch as your ideas transform into action and change.

Frequently-Asked-Questions (FAQs)

1. What is a persuasive presentation? A persuasive presentation is when someone talks to a group and tries to make them agree with their ideas. It’s about convincing people to think like you and do what you suggest. This type of presentation is hard because you have to get people to approve of your thoughts and take action based on them.

2. Why is persuasive presenting essential in today’s world?

Persuasive presenting is vital because it helps you stand out in the workplace. Whether you’re trying to get a job or win over customers, being persuasive shows that you know your stuff and can be trusted. It might be easier to convince your friends at work, but knowing how to persuade strangers is a valuable skill.

3. How do you start a persuasive presentation?

Start strong by capturing attention within the first 30 seconds. Use a compelling headline message and a catchy hook, like a surprising fact or personal story, to draw in your audience and establish credibility. Make sure to connect with your audience by identifying a problem that resonates with them and clearly stating what you aim to persuade them of.

4. How do you structure a persuasive presentation?

To structure a persuasive presentation effectively, establish a clear objective tailored to meet your audience’s needs. Focus on a single, clear point supported by evidence, and guide your audience through a coherent narrative. Use storytelling, visuals, and design elements to enhance engagement and clarity. Finally, conclude with a compelling call to action, prompting your audience to take meaningful next steps based on your message.

Transform Your Presentations with Prezentium: Crafting Persuasive Narratives Made Easy!

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Overnight Presentations : Tight deadline? No problem! Email us your requirements by 5:30 pm PST, and we’ll work magic. Our expert team combines business savvy, visual design, and data science to deliver a stellar presentation to your inbox by 9:30 am PST the following business day.

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Zenith Learning :  Elevate your communication skills with our interactive workshops and training programs. We blend structured problem-solving with visual storytelling techniques to ensure your message resonates and inspires action.

Don’t let lackluster presentations hold you back. With Prezentium, crafting persuasive narratives has never been easier. Start captivating your audience and driving results today!

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How To Make a Good Presentation [A Complete Guide]

By Krystle Wong , Jul 20, 2023

A top-notch presentation possesses the power to drive action. From winning stakeholders over and conveying a powerful message to securing funding — your secret weapon lies within the realm of creating an effective presentation .  

Being an excellent presenter isn’t confined to the boardroom. Whether you’re delivering a presentation at work, pursuing an academic career, involved in a non-profit organization or even a student, nailing the presentation game is a game-changer.

In this article, I’ll cover the top qualities of compelling presentations and walk you through a step-by-step guide on how to give a good presentation. Here’s a little tip to kick things off: for a headstart, check out Venngage’s collection of free presentation templates . They are fully customizable, and the best part is you don’t need professional design skills to make them shine!

These valuable presentation tips cater to individuals from diverse professional backgrounds, encompassing business professionals, sales and marketing teams, educators, trainers, students, researchers, non-profit organizations, public speakers and presenters. 

No matter your field or role, these tips for presenting will equip you with the skills to deliver effective presentations that leave a lasting impression on any audience.

Click to jump ahead:

What are the 10 qualities of a good presentation?

Step-by-step guide on how to prepare an effective presentation, 9 effective techniques to deliver a memorable presentation, faqs on making a good presentation, how to create a presentation with venngage in 5 steps.

When it comes to giving an engaging presentation that leaves a lasting impression, it’s not just about the content — it’s also about how you deliver it. Wondering what makes a good presentation? Well, the best presentations I’ve seen consistently exhibit these 10 qualities:

1. Clear structure

No one likes to get lost in a maze of information. Organize your thoughts into a logical flow, complete with an introduction, main points and a solid conclusion. A structured presentation helps your audience follow along effortlessly, leaving them with a sense of satisfaction at the end.

Regardless of your presentation style , a quality presentation starts with a clear roadmap. Browse through Venngage’s template library and select a presentation template that aligns with your content and presentation goals. Here’s a good presentation example template with a logical layout that includes sections for the introduction, main points, supporting information and a conclusion: 

2. Engaging opening

Hook your audience right from the start with an attention-grabbing statement, a fascinating question or maybe even a captivating anecdote. Set the stage for a killer presentation!

The opening moments of your presentation hold immense power – check out these 15 ways to start a presentation to set the stage and captivate your audience.

3. Relevant content

Make sure your content aligns with their interests and needs. Your audience is there for a reason, and that’s to get valuable insights. Avoid fluff and get straight to the point, your audience will be genuinely excited.

4. Effective visual aids

Picture this: a slide with walls of text and tiny charts, yawn! Visual aids should be just that—aiding your presentation. Opt for clear and visually appealing slides, engaging images and informative charts that add value and help reinforce your message.

With Venngage, visualizing data takes no effort at all. You can import data from CSV or Google Sheets seamlessly and create stunning charts, graphs and icon stories effortlessly to showcase your data in a captivating and impactful way.

5. Clear and concise communication

Keep your language simple, and avoid jargon or complicated terms. Communicate your ideas clearly, so your audience can easily grasp and retain the information being conveyed. This can prevent confusion and enhance the overall effectiveness of the message. 

6. Engaging delivery

Spice up your presentation with a sprinkle of enthusiasm! Maintain eye contact, use expressive gestures and vary your tone of voice to keep your audience glued to the edge of their seats. A touch of charisma goes a long way!

7. Interaction and audience engagement

Turn your presentation into an interactive experience — encourage questions, foster discussions and maybe even throw in a fun activity. Engaged audiences are more likely to remember and embrace your message.

Transform your slides into an interactive presentation with Venngage’s dynamic features like pop-ups, clickable icons and animated elements. Engage your audience with interactive content that lets them explore and interact with your presentation for a truly immersive experience.

8. Effective storytelling

Who doesn’t love a good story? Weaving relevant anecdotes, case studies or even a personal story into your presentation can captivate your audience and create a lasting impact. Stories build connections and make your message memorable.

A great presentation background is also essential as it sets the tone, creates visual interest and reinforces your message. Enhance the overall aesthetics of your presentation with these 15 presentation background examples and captivate your audience’s attention.

9. Well-timed pacing

Pace your presentation thoughtfully with well-designed presentation slides, neither rushing through nor dragging it out. Respect your audience’s time and ensure you cover all the essential points without losing their interest.

10. Strong conclusion

Last impressions linger! Summarize your main points and leave your audience with a clear takeaway. End your presentation with a bang , a call to action or an inspiring thought that resonates long after the conclusion.

In-person presentations aside, acing a virtual presentation is of paramount importance in today’s digital world. Check out this guide to learn how you can adapt your in-person presentations into virtual presentations . 

Preparing an effective presentation starts with laying a strong foundation that goes beyond just creating slides and notes. One of the quickest and best ways to make a presentation would be with the help of a good presentation software . 

Otherwise, let me walk you to how to prepare for a presentation step by step and unlock the secrets of crafting a professional presentation that sets you apart.

1. Understand the audience and their needs

Before you dive into preparing your masterpiece, take a moment to get to know your target audience. Tailor your presentation to meet their needs and expectations , and you’ll have them hooked from the start!

2. Conduct thorough research on the topic

Time to hit the books (or the internet)! Don’t skimp on the research with your presentation materials — dive deep into the subject matter and gather valuable insights . The more you know, the more confident you’ll feel in delivering your presentation.

3. Organize the content with a clear structure

No one wants to stumble through a chaotic mess of information. Outline your presentation with a clear and logical flow. Start with a captivating introduction, follow up with main points that build on each other and wrap it up with a powerful conclusion that leaves a lasting impression.

Delivering an effective business presentation hinges on captivating your audience, and Venngage’s professionally designed business presentation templates are tailor-made for this purpose. With thoughtfully structured layouts, these templates enhance your message’s clarity and coherence, ensuring a memorable and engaging experience for your audience members.

Don’t want to build your presentation layout from scratch? pick from these 5 foolproof presentation layout ideas that won’t go wrong. 

4. Develop visually appealing and supportive visual aids

Spice up your presentation with eye-catching visuals! Create slides that complement your message, not overshadow it. Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words, but that doesn’t mean you need to overload your slides with text.

Well-chosen designs create a cohesive and professional look, capturing your audience’s attention and enhancing the overall effectiveness of your message. Here’s a list of carefully curated PowerPoint presentation templates and great background graphics that will significantly influence the visual appeal and engagement of your presentation.

5. Practice, practice and practice

Practice makes perfect — rehearse your presentation and arrive early to your presentation to help overcome stage fright. Familiarity with your material will boost your presentation skills and help you handle curveballs with ease.

6. Seek feedback and make necessary adjustments

Don’t be afraid to ask for help and seek feedback from friends and colleagues. Constructive criticism can help you identify blind spots and fine-tune your presentation to perfection.

With Venngage’s real-time collaboration feature , receiving feedback and editing your presentation is a seamless process. Group members can access and work on the presentation simultaneously and edit content side by side in real-time. Changes will be reflected immediately to the entire team, promoting seamless teamwork.

7. Prepare for potential technical or logistical issues

Prepare for the unexpected by checking your equipment, internet connection and any other potential hiccups. If you’re worried that you’ll miss out on any important points, you could always have note cards prepared. Remember to remain focused and rehearse potential answers to anticipated questions.

8. Fine-tune and polish your presentation

As the big day approaches, give your presentation one last shine. Review your talking points, practice how to present a presentation and make any final tweaks. Deep breaths — you’re on the brink of delivering a successful presentation!

In competitive environments, persuasive presentations set individuals and organizations apart. To brush up on your presentation skills, read these guides on how to make a persuasive presentation and tips to presenting effectively . 

Whether you’re an experienced presenter or a novice, the right techniques will let your presentation skills soar to new heights!

From public speaking hacks to interactive elements and storytelling prowess, these 9 effective presentation techniques will empower you to leave a lasting impression on your audience and make your presentations unforgettable.

1. Confidence and positive body language

Positive body language instantly captivates your audience, making them believe in your message as much as you do. Strengthen your stage presence and own that stage like it’s your second home! Stand tall, shoulders back and exude confidence. 

2. Eye contact with the audience

Break down that invisible barrier and connect with your audience through their eyes. Maintaining eye contact when giving a presentation builds trust and shows that you’re present and engaged with them.

3. Effective use of hand gestures and movement

A little movement goes a long way! Emphasize key points with purposeful gestures and don’t be afraid to walk around the stage. Your energy will be contagious!

4. Utilize storytelling techniques

Weave the magic of storytelling into your presentation. Share relatable anecdotes, inspiring success stories or even personal experiences that tug at the heartstrings of your audience. Adjust your pitch, pace and volume to match the emotions and intensity of the story. Varying your speaking voice adds depth and enhances your stage presence.

5. Incorporate multimedia elements

Spice up your presentation with a dash of visual pizzazz! Use slides, images and video clips to add depth and clarity to your message. Just remember, less is more—don’t overwhelm them with information overload. 

Turn your presentations into an interactive party! Involve your audience with questions, polls or group activities. When they actively participate, they become invested in your presentation’s success. Bring your design to life with animated elements. Venngage allows you to apply animations to icons, images and text to create dynamic and engaging visual content.

6. Utilize humor strategically

Laughter is the best medicine—and a fantastic presentation enhancer! A well-placed joke or lighthearted moment can break the ice and create a warm atmosphere , making your audience more receptive to your message.

7. Practice active listening and respond to feedback

Be attentive to your audience’s reactions and feedback. If they have questions or concerns, address them with genuine interest and respect. Your responsiveness builds rapport and shows that you genuinely care about their experience.

8. Apply the 10-20-30 rule

Apply the 10-20-30 presentation rule and keep it short, sweet and impactful! Stick to ten slides, deliver your presentation within 20 minutes and use a 30-point font to ensure clarity and focus. Less is more, and your audience will thank you for it!

9. Implement the 5-5-5 rule

Simplicity is key. Limit each slide to five bullet points, with only five words per bullet point and allow each slide to remain visible for about five seconds. This rule keeps your presentation concise and prevents information overload.

Simple presentations are more engaging because they are easier to follow. Summarize your presentations and keep them simple with Venngage’s gallery of simple presentation templates and ensure that your message is delivered effectively across your audience.

1. How to start a presentation?

To kick off your presentation effectively, begin with an attention-grabbing statement or a powerful quote. Introduce yourself, establish credibility and clearly state the purpose and relevance of your presentation.

2. How to end a presentation?

For a strong conclusion, summarize your talking points and key takeaways. End with a compelling call to action or a thought-provoking question and remember to thank your audience and invite any final questions or interactions.

3. How to make a presentation interactive?

To make your presentation interactive, encourage questions and discussion throughout your talk. Utilize multimedia elements like videos or images and consider including polls, quizzes or group activities to actively involve your audience.

In need of inspiration for your next presentation? I’ve got your back! Pick from these 120+ presentation ideas, topics and examples to get started. 

Creating a stunning presentation with Venngage is a breeze with our user-friendly drag-and-drop editor and professionally designed templates for all your communication needs. 

Here’s how to make a presentation in just 5 simple steps with the help of Venngage:

Step 1: Sign up for Venngage for free using your email, Gmail or Facebook account or simply log in to access your account. 

Step 2: Pick a design from our selection of free presentation templates (they’re all created by our expert in-house designers).

Step 3: Make the template your own by customizing it to fit your content and branding. With Venngage’s intuitive drag-and-drop editor, you can easily modify text, change colors and adjust the layout to create a unique and eye-catching design.

Step 4: Elevate your presentation by incorporating captivating visuals. You can upload your images or choose from Venngage’s vast library of high-quality photos, icons and illustrations. 

Step 5: Upgrade to a premium or business account to export your presentation in PDF and print it for in-person presentations or share it digitally for free!

By following these five simple steps, you’ll have a professionally designed and visually engaging presentation ready in no time. With Venngage’s user-friendly platform, your presentation is sure to make a lasting impression. So, let your creativity flow and get ready to shine in your next presentation!

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10 tips for making an effective persuasive speech

Get your team on prezi – watch this on demand video.

Chelsi Nakano May 20, 2016

An effective, persuasive speech can completely change the trajectory of your career. Maybe you’re an entrepreneur trying to convince a group of venture capitalists to fund your new company, or maybe you’d like your board to approve an expansion overseas.

It’s easier said than done, of course—but far from impossible, with the right preparation. With that in mind, here are 10 tips to help bring any audience over to your side.

1. Research your audience. Who will be attending your presentation? What are their goals? What motivates them? What values do they most care about? Tailor the content of your presentation to your audience. Speak in a way that makes them feel like you are addressing them individually. This will raise your credibility and show that you’ve done your homework in advance.

2. Choose 1-3 goals . A good persuasive speech focuses on a handful of things—and that’s it. You may have a slew of other ideas that relate to the point you want to get across, but if you talk about too many things, you will confuse your audience. Write your speech in a way that guides them through the most important ones.

3. Incorporate obstacles . Think hard about the challenges to your idea that are likely to come from members of your audience. Instead of dismissing them (this can hurt feelings of goodwill), proactively acknowledge these points in your speech and then carefully address how your solution will meet the goals of all involved.

4. Create an attention-grabbing story . You want to capture the attention of your attendees with your very first words. Do this by telling a short story to illustrate the goal of your speech. Make the story relatable to everyone involved. This can help soften the mood in the room, especially if you are dealing with a group that may be fundamentally opposed to your idea.

5. Practice like crazy . Conviction is the key to giving a solid persuasive speech. It is vital that you do not waver while speaking or lose your train of thought. Start your speech not with a friendly “thank you for coming,” but instead with a story to grab everyone’s attention. Keep your intensity high to help sustain the attention of attendees throughout—do this by practicing over and over and over again. Ask friends to listen to your speech and give you feedback. Then, incorporate their comments.

6. Memorize . Reading off a card will just distract your audience. Practice enough that you know your speech inside and out. Don’t focus on memorizing every word—instead, focus on memorizing the flow of your key points and the examples you use to illustrate them. Check out our blog on a simple trick that will help you memorize any speech .

7. Make eye contact . Ann effective persuasive speech happens when you are able to connect with another person. Do this by making eye contact throughout your speech. Don’t just stare at one person—scan the room and focus on various people for short bursts.

8. Use repetition . Don’t rush through your presentation. Speak in a slow and measured way. After explaining each of your handful of primary points, go back and explain them again. Repetition will help drive home your goals.

9. Finish strong . Think of yourself as an attorney arguing a case in front of the jury. Structure your closing statements the way a lawyer would—with flair and gravity. Once you’ve delivered your final, impactful line, don’t say “thank you” right away. Instead, wait six or seven seconds and then say, “I’m happy to take questions.”

10. Take feedback, graciously . Listen intently to audience questions. Spend time with each one and don’t exaggerate or pounce on ideas that vigorously challenge your thesis. Staying calm and in control will help your case.

Examples of effective persuasive speeches

Some of the most common persuasive presentations that you’ll come into contact with are sales pitches. It’s essential for sales reps to craft effective persuasive speeches because it helps them connect with their prospects on an emotional level and appeal to their sensibilities.

Prezi features many great sales presentation examples in the Presentation Gallery . Check out this splashy product pitch for Drops. Notice how streamlined and focused it is, and the use of color to make an eye-catching design.

For an example of an effective persuasive speech, watch this video by Thriftplan. Here you can see the presenter starting off her presentation with a compelling issue that the audience may identify with and making great eye contact with the camera.

To learn more about effective persuasive speeches and other common presentations, check out our article on presentation types .

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How to give more persuasive presentations: A Q&A with Nancy Duarte

Stepping onto the TED or TEDx stage — or speaking in front of any group of people, for that matter — is truly nerve-wracking. Will you remember everything you wanted to say, or get so discombobulated that you skip over major points? Will the audience be receptive to your ideas, or will you notice a guy in row three nodding off to sleep?

Presentation expert Nancy Duarte , who gave the TED Talk “ The secret structure of great talks ,” has built her career helping people express their ideas in presentations. The author of  Slide:ology  and  Resonate , Duarte has just released a new book through the Harvard Business Review:  The HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations .

What would you say are the three keys to giving a great presentation?

The number one thing, I think, is to be audience-centric. To take the time to think through who the audience is and develop all your material from a place of empathy toward them. You’re asking them to adopt your idea, which means they may have to abandon a belief they hold as true — and that’s hard. So, know your audience — take a walk in their shoes. What keeps them up at night? How are they wired to resist your message? Most presenters are consumed with preparing their content rapidly, which makes the material about their own narrow perspective. By flipping that paradigm to an audience-centric approach, your material will resonate and the audience can feel a deeper connection to you and your material.

Number two, you need to understand your role in the presentation. So many people feel like they’re the central figure — kind of like the hero of the story — because they’re the one talking the most. But in reality, your role is that of a mentor — you should be giving the audience a magical gift or a special tool, or helping them get unstuck in some way. You have to defer to your audience. When you put your idea out there for an audience to contend with — if they reject your idea, your idea will die. You have to think of it as, “The speaker needs the audience more than the audience needs the speaker.” Then you’ll start to approach a material with your audience in mind – you’ll have more of a stance of humility than one of arrogance. That will help you create the kind of movement needed to get your idea to spread.

And then the third thing — wrap your content in story. A story serves like the sugarcoating on the outside of a pill in some ways — it just makes it go down easier. If you look at preliterate generations for thousands and thousands of years, stories would pass down for generation after generation after generation — and stay almost completely intact. Yet, a lot of people can’t remember the last presentation they sat through. So, using principles of story — the tension and release that happens in a story — that’s what will help persuade the audience toward your idea.

What do you feel like you learned from giving your own TED Talk?

I learned so much. Being the “Presentation Lady,” I knew I couldn’t suck at it. The hardest part was getting [my talk] to fit within this finite amount of time. So I trimmed and trimmed, keeping in mind that you still have to nail why this is important to the audience. I had a person coach me and point out places where I could trim. “You took too long here, and that made this part of emphasis too long.” I worked with the timer counting up until I knew I was within the time window — then what I did was work with the timer counting down so I’d know, “When I’m a fourth of the way through, I should be on this slide. When I’m halfway through, I need to be on this slide.” I created markers in my mind so I would know how I was running on time. Sure enough, I finished the talk and I had six seconds left on the clock.

It was a great experience for me because I hadn’t gone through it myself. I’d coached people through it but — wow — to actually be a victim was interesting. I learned the power of rehearsing. If you rehearse really, really, really well — it looks improvisational. Some people rehearse to a point where they’re robotic, and they sound like they have memorized their presentation and didn’t take it to the next level. Going from sounding memorized and canned to sounding natural is a lot of work.

So, the classic advice for stage fright is to imagine the audience in their underwear. What do you recommend people do to calm their nerves?

I don’t usually get nervous, but when I got on [the TED] stage, I was nervous because it’s pretty high stakes. I recommend doing some breathing exercises — breathe in as deep as you can, and then take a couple more big gasps. Then, release it really slowly. That calms my heart down. But my favorite piece of advice isn’t my own — it’s from a guy named Nick Morgan. He said, “What you need to do right before you walk on stage is think of someone that you love dearly.” Doing that, I felt the chemistry in my whole body change. My shoulders relaxed and my heart melted. That feeling of affection makes your body calm itself down. That’s a really great way to stop stage fright.

What is the best way to start creating a presentation?

My best advice is to not start in PowerPoint. Presentation tools force you to think through information linearly, and you really need to start by thinking of the whole instead of the individual lines. I encourage people to use 3×5 note cards or sticky notes — write one idea per note. I tape mine up on the wall and then study them. Then I arrange them and rearrange them — just work and work until the structure feels sound. And from that sound structure, you start to fill it in using a presentation tool.

[For visuals], I think people tend to go with the easiest, fastest idea. Like, “I’m going to put a handshake in front of a globe to mean partnership!” Well, how many handshakes in front of a globe do we have to look at before we realize it’s a total cliche? Another common one — the arrow in the middle of a bullseye. Really? Everyone else is thinking that way. The slides themselves are supposed to be a mnemonic device for the audience so they can remember what you had to say. They’re not just a teleprompter for the speaker. A bullseye isn’t going to make anyone remember anything. Don’t go for the first idea. Think about the point you’re trying to make and brainstorm individual moments that you’re trying to emphasize. Think to the second, the third, the fourth idea — and by the time you get to about the tenth idea, those will be the more clever memorable things for the audience.

One thing that is really different about giving a TED Talk is the fact that you know it will be filmed. How do you think about the difference between live presentations and ones that will exist on video?

On stage, it feels really awkward to do large movements because — normally in life — we’re talking to someone in a more intimate setting and moving your arms really big feels melodramatic. But on the stage, you have to move your body in really big gestures. It feels awkward at first if you’re not used to it, so you have to kind of close your eyes and get used to it. Say things and move largely. Take big bold steps forward, big bold steps backward. You have this grand stage and people don’t use the space enough. I think one of the great things that Jill Bolte Taylor did was how she used her body. Her arms stretched all the way up when she talked about nirvana. Then she when she talks about her whole soul feeling constricted, she brings her hands down and folds her arms down in front of her. She’s using her body as a prop. That’s an important way to create meaning.

Also, with video, a tech rehearsal is important. Your audience on video is exponentially larger than the people in the room. So by familiarizing yourself with the cameras, you can at least look in that general direction. You know how you’re supposed to look around the audience — look and hold for five seconds, look and hold for five seconds? You should look at the camera as if it’s a human. Get used to seeing that circular lens as a face. Feel like it’s a person you’re talking to, because that audience on camera needs to feel like they’re there and that you’re looking right at them.

To me, presentations are the most powerful device. You can’t really name a movement that didn’t start with the spoken word. TED was once this exclusive, amazing event where ideas were exchanged, but you’ve moved to treating presentations as a media type. You guys have been so refined at it, that what it’s done is created a movement. What TED has done is made a platform for introverts, for scientists, for inventors — to share their ideas in a way that’s clear and appeals to a broad audience so that their ideas spread and get adopted. It’s completely changed how people present. It’s created this desire to be excellent in communication.

When you look at even how businesses communicated in the ’30’s, ’40’s and ’50’s — they were so much clearer and well-crafted. I recently went to the Stanford Library and I got a bunch of old GE Board meetings from, like, 1957. And I thought, “These are so beautiful!” Their presentations referenced history, they quoted things, they crafted their words in such a beautiful way. Then PowerPoint entered into the mix and suddenly there wasn’t any desire to craft anymore. I think TED Talks have brought the desire for the craft back.

Your new book is from the Harvard Business Review. Is it intended for someone who is in business, or for anyone?

All of my books are for anyone who has an idea that they need to communicate! I loved working with Harvard Business Review and I think because of the publisher, business professionals may be more interested in this book. But anyone with an idea can benefit from it. It’s a guidebook, so that people can think, “Oh, I need to know how to do this specific thing. I’m going to go get this book and find that one thing.”

Want more advice on giving talks? Our curator Chris Anderson is writing the official TED guide to public speaking —to be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in spring 2016. Titled Talk This Way! , it will be packed with insights on what makes talks work.

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Persuasive Speech: How to Write an Effective Persuasive Speech

Most often, it actually causes the other person to want to play “Devil’s advocate” and argue with you. In this article, we are going to show you a simple way to win people to your way of thinking without raising resentment. If you use this technique, your audience will actually WANT to agree with you! The process starts with putting yourself in the shoes of your listener and looking at things from their point of view.

Background About How to Write a Persuasive Speech. Facts Aren’t Very Persuasive.

Most people think that a single fact is good, additional facts are better, and too many facts are just right. So, the more facts you can use to prove your point, the better chance you have of convincing the other person that you are right. The HUGE error in this logic, though, is that if you prove that you are right, you are also proving that the other person is wrong. People don’t like it when someone proves that they are wrong. So, we prove our point, the other person is likely to feel resentment. When resentment builds, it leads to anger. Once anger enters the equation, logic goes right out the window.

In addition, when people use a “fact” or “Statistic” to prove a point, the audience has a natural reaction to take a contrary side of the argument. For instance, if I started a statement with, “I can prove to you beyond a doubt that…” before I even finish the statement, there is a good chance that you are already trying to think of a single instance where the statement is NOT true. This is a natural response. As a result, the thing that we need to realize about being persuasive is that the best way to persuade another person is to make the person want to agree with us. We do this by showing the audience how they can get what they want if they do what we want.

You may also like How to Design and Deliver a Memorable Speech .

A Simple 3-Step Process to Create a Persuasive Presentation

The process below is a good way to do both.

Step One: Start Your Persuasive Speech with an Example or Story

When you write an effective persuasive speech, stories are vital. Stories and examples have a powerful way to capture an audience’s attention and set them at ease. They get the audience interested in the presentation. Stories also help your audience see the concepts you are trying to explain in a visual way and make an emotional connection. The more details that you put into your story, the more vivid the images being created in the minds of your audience members.

This concept isn’t mystical or anything. It is science. When we communicate effectively with another person, the purpose is to help the listener picture a concept in his/her mind that is similar to the concept in the speaker’s mind. The old adage is that a “picture is worth 1000 words.” Well, an example or a story is a series of moving pictures. So, a well-told story is worth thousands of words (facts).

By the way, there are a few additional benefits of telling a story. Stories help you reduce nervousness, make better eye contact, and make for a strong opening. For additional details, see Storytelling in Speeches .

I’ll give you an example.

Factual Argument: Seatbelts Save Lives

• 53% of all motor vehicle fatalities from last years were people who weren’t wearing seatbelts.
• People not wearing seatbelts are 30 times more likely to be ejected from the vehicle.
• In a single year, crash deaths and injuries cost us over $70 billion dollars.

These are actual statistics. However, when you read each bullet point, you are likely to be a little skeptical. For instance, when you see the 53% statistic, you might have had the same reaction that I did. You might be thinking something like, “Isn’t that right at half? Doesn’t that mean that the other half WERE wearing seatbelts?” When you see the “30 times more likely” statistic, you might be thinking, “That sounds a little exaggerated. What are the actual numbers?” Looking at the last statistic, we’d likely want to know exactly how the reporter came to that conclusion.

As you can see, if you are a believer that seatbelts save lives, you will likely take the numbers at face value. If you don’t like seatbelts, you will likely nitpick the finer points of each statistic. The facts will not likely persuade you.

Example Argument: Seatbelts Save Lives

When I came to, I tried to open my door. The accident sealed it shut. The windshield was gone. So I took my seatbelt off and scrambled out the hole. The driver of the truck was a bloody mess. His leg was pinned under the steering wheel.

The firefighters came a few minutes later, and it took them over 30 minutes to cut the metal from around his body to free him.

A Sheriff’s Deputy saw a cut on my face and asked if I had been in the accident. I pointed to my truck. His eyes became like saucers. “You were in that vehicle?”

I nodded. He rushed me to an ambulance. I had actually ruptured my colon, and I had to have surgery. I was down for a month or so, but I survived. In fact, I survived with very few long-term challenges from the accident.

The guy who hit me wasn’t so lucky. He wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. The initial impact of the accident was his head on the steering wheel and then the windshield. He had to have a number of facial surgeries. The only reason he remained in the truck was his pinned leg. For me, the accident was a temporary trauma. For him, it was a life-long tragedy.

The Emotional Difference is the Key

As you can see, there are major differences between the two techniques. The story gives lots of memorable details along with an emotion that captures the audience. If you read both examples, let me ask you a couple of questions. Without looking back up higher on the page, how long did it take the firefighters to cut the other driver from the car? How many CDs did I have? There is a good chance that these two pieces of data came to you really quickly. You likely remembered this data, even though, the data wasn’t exactly important to the story.

However, if I asked you how much money was lost last year as a result of traffic accidents, you might struggle to remember that statistic. The CDs and the firefighters were a part of a compelling story that made you pay attention. The money lost to accidents was just a statistic thrown at you to try to prove that a point was true.

The main benefit of using a story, though, is that when we give statistics (without a story to back them up,) the audience becomes argumentative. However, when we tell a story, the audience can’t argue with us. The audience can’t come to me after I told that story and say, “It didn’t take 30 minutes to cut the guy out of the car. He didn’t have to have a bunch of reconstructive surgeries. The Deputy didn’t say those things to you! The audience can’t argue with the details of the story, because they weren’t there.

Step 2: After the Story, Now, Give Your Advice

When most people write a persuasive presentation, they start with their opinion. Again, this makes the listener want to play Devil’s advocate. By starting with the example, we give the listener a simple way to agree with us. They can agree that the story that we told was true. So, now, finish the story with your point or your opinion. “So, in my opinion, if you wear a seatbelt, you’re more likely to avoid serious injury in a severe crash.”

By the way, this technique is not new. It has been around for thousands of years. Aesop was a Greek slave over 500 years before Christ. His stories were passed down verbally for hundreds of years before anyone ever wrote them down in a collection. Today, when you read an Aesop fable, you will get 30 seconds to two minutes of the story first. Then, at the conclusion, almost as a post-script, you will get the advice. Most often, this advice comes in the form of, “The moral of the story is…” You want to do the same in your persuasive presentations. Spend most of the time on the details of the story. Then, spend just a few seconds in the end with your morale.

Step 3: End with the Benefit to the Audience

So, the moral of the story is to wear your seatbelt. If you do that, you will avoid being cut out of your car and endless reconstructive surgeries .

Now, instead of leaving your audience wanting to argue with you, they are more likely to be thinking, “Man, I don’t want to be cut out of my car or have a bunch of facial surgeries.”

The process is very simple. However, it is also very powerful.

How to Write a Successful Persuasive Speech Using the “Breadcrumb” Approach

Once you understand the concept above, you can create very powerful persuasive speeches by linking a series of these persuasive stories together. I call this the breadcrumb strategy. Basically, you use each story as a way to move the audience closer to the ultimate conclusion that you want them to draw. Each story gains a little more agreement.

So, first, just give a simple story about an easy to agree with concept. You will gain agreement fairly easily and begin to also create an emotional appeal. Next, use an additional story to gain additional agreement. If you use this process three to five times, you are more likely to get the audience to agree with your final conclusion. If this is a formal presentation, just make your main points into the persuasive statements and use stories to reinforce the points.

Here are a few persuasive speech examples using this approach.

An Example of a Persuasive Public Speaking Using Breadcrumbs

Marijuana Legalization is Causing Huge Problems in Our Biggest Cities Homelessness is Out of Control in First States to Legalize Marijuana Last year, my family and I took a mini-vacation to Colorado Springs. I had spent a summer in Colorado when I was in college, so I wanted my family to experience the great time that I had had there as a youth. We were only there for four days, but we noticed something dramatic had happened. There were homeless people everywhere. Keep in mind, this wasn’t Denver, this was Colorado City. The picturesque landscape was clouded by ripped sleeping bags on street corners, and trash spread everywhere. We were downtown, and my wife and daughter wanted to do some shopping. My son and I found a comic book store across the street to browse in. As we came out, we almost bumped into a dirty man in torn close. He smiled at us, walked a few feet away from the door, and lit up a joint. He sat on the corner smoking it. As my son and I walked the 1/4 mile back to the store where we left my wife and daughter, we stepped over and walked around over a dozen homeless people camped out right in the middle of the town. This was not the Colorado that I remembered. From what I’ve heard, it has gotten even worse in the last year. So, if you don’t want to dramatically increase your homelessness population, don’t make marijuana legal in your state. DUI Instances and Traffic Accidents Have Increased in Marijuana States I was at the airport waiting for a flight last week, and the guy next to me offered me his newspaper. I haven’t read a newspaper in years, but he seemed so nice that I accepted. It was a copy of the USA Today, and it was open to an article about the rise in unintended consequences from legalizing marijuana. Safety officials and police in Colorado, Nevada, Washington, and Oregon, the first four state to legalize recreational marijuana, have reported a 6% increase in traffic accidents in the last few years. Although the increase (6%) doesn’t seem very dramatic, it was notable because the rate of accidents had been decreasing in each of the states for decades prior to the law change. Assuming that only one of the two parties involved in these new accidents was under the influence, that means that people who aren’t smoking marijuana are being negatively affected by the legalization. So, if you don’t want to increase your chances of being involved in a DUI incident, don’t legalize marijuana. (Notice how I just used an article as my evidence, but to make it more memorable, I told the story about how I came across the article. It is also easier to deliver this type of data because you are just relating what you remember about the data, not trying to be an expert on the data itself.) Marijuana is Still Largely Unregulated Just before my dad went into hospice care, he was in a lot of pain. He would take a prescription painkiller before bed to sleep. One night, my mom called frantically. Dad was in a catatonic state and wasn’t responsive. I rushed over. The hospital found that Dad had an unusually high amount of painkillers in his bloodstream. His regular doctor had been on vacation, and the fill-in doctor had prescribed a much higher dosage of the painkiller by accident. His original prescription was 2.5 mg, and the new prescription was 10 mg. Since dad was in a lot of pain most nights, he almost always took two tablets. He was also on dialysis, so his kidneys weren’t filtering out the excess narcotic each day. He had actually taken 20 MG (instead of 5 MG) on Friday night and another 20 mg on Saturday. Ordinarily, he would have had, at max, 15 mg of the narcotic in his system. Because of the mistake, though, he had 60 MGs. My point is that the narcotics that my dad was prescribed were highly regulated medicines under a doctor’s care, and a mistake was still made that almost killed him. With marijuana, there is really no way of knowing how much narcotic is in each dosage. So, mistakes like this are much more likely. So, in conclusion, legalizing marijuana can increase homelessness, increase the number of impaired drivers, and cause accidental overdoses.

If you use this breadcrumb approach, you are more likely to get at least some agreement. Even if the person disagrees with your conclusion, they are still likely to at least see your side. So, the person may say something like, I still disagree with you, but I totally see your point. That is still a step in the right direction.

For Real-World Practice in How to Design Persuasive Presentations Join Us for a Class

Our instructors are experts at helping presenters design persuasive speeches. We offer the Fearless Presentations ® classes in cities all over the world about every three to four months. In addition to helping you reduce nervousness, your instructor will also show you secrets to creating a great speech. For details about any of the classes, go to our Presentation Skills Class web page.

For additional details, see Persuasive Speech Outline Example .

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What It Takes to Give a Great Presentation

• Carmine Gallo

Five tips to set yourself apart.

Never underestimate the power of great communication. It can help you land the job of your dreams, attract investors to back your idea, or elevate your stature within your organization. But while there are plenty of good speakers in the world, you can set yourself apart out by being the person who can deliver something great over and over. Here are a few tips for business professionals who want to move from being good speakers to great ones: be concise (the fewer words, the better); never use bullet points (photos and images paired together are more memorable); don’t underestimate the power of your voice (raise and lower it for emphasis); give your audience something extra (unexpected moments will grab their attention); rehearse (the best speakers are the best because they practice — a lot).

I was sitting across the table from a Silicon Valley CEO who had pioneered a technology that touches many of our lives — the flash memory that stores data on smartphones, digital cameras, and computers. He was a frequent guest on CNBC and had been delivering business presentations for at least 20 years before we met. And yet, the CEO wanted to sharpen his public speaking skills.

• Carmine Gallo is a Harvard University instructor, keynote speaker, and author of 10 books translated into 40 languages. Gallo is the author of The Bezos Blueprint: Communication Secrets of the World’s Greatest Salesman  (St. Martin’s Press).

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10 Must-Do Tips for Persuasive Presentations

Prepping for an important presentation? As you’re purposefully planning, think about the following 10 criteria of a successful presentation. These are best practice strategies that can help you turn any presentation into a great conversation, and get what you want in record time.

1. Frame communication

Discuss the purpose of communication up front

2. Be audience focused

Communicate with your audience in mind

Demonstrate you understand your audience’s mindset

3. Know the Content

Demonstrate understanding of the content you're presenting, including understanding an of the business and the case for change

4. Thoughtfully organize

Present in a clear and well-organized fashion

Build in breaks/pauses to check for understanding in a purposeful way (questions are purposefully built-into presentation organization to check for understanding and create dialogue)

5. Use handouts/tools

Use visuals appropriately to support your messages

6. Have clear messages

Cover core messages clearly and tailor them to the audience

7. Provide context

Discuss and emphasize rationale to add meaning

8. Be relevant

Customize and make messages relevant to the team (how the team contributes/fits in)

9. Have a dialogue and check for understanding

Ask questions to clarify others’ point of view

Ask questions to ensure messages were understood

Support honest expression of others’ points of view

Express reactions and opinions without intimidating others

10. Presentation style

When you practice your presentation, have several colleagues listen and give you feedback on the Top 10 criteria above, and how you did. Then, incorporate their feedback, knowing that practice makes perfect!

What strategies do you use to give winning presentations?

—David Grossman

Click below to download your free infographic of 10 Must-Do Tips for Persuasive Presentations:

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Microsoft 365 Life Hacks > Presentations > How to Deliver a Persuasive Presentation

How to Deliver a Persuasive Presentation

A persuasive presentation can make or break the purpose of your project. If your presentation is successful, you’ll be able to convince your clients and investors to join your endeavors.

Know Your Audience

Before you design your presentation deck, conduct research on your audience. Research the roles and positions they hold at their organizations. Learn about each audience member on a personal level so that you know what they’re passionate about. If you know what they value, you can lightly touch on these topics in your persuasive presentation to engage each audience member individually.

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Make the First 30 Seconds Count

First impressions are everything. Start your presentation off strong to get your audience excited about the rest of the presentation. Don’t waste the beginning of your presentation discussing your agenda. Give a brief introduction of who you are and go right into discussing your big ideas. You might also have one strong headline to state at the start of your presentation, and your audience can absorb and internalize it. Project confidence in the first 30 seconds of your presentation to show your audience that you’re an expert in what you’re presenting.

Incorporate Visual Aids

Visual aids are engaging ways to summarize complex ideas in your presentations. Your audience probably won’t remember a slide filled with text, but a colorful image or well-organized chart can leave a lasting impression. Use visual aids like tables, charts, and infographics to summarize data and major talking points. Label everything on the visual aids to ensure your audience can follow along.

Memorize & Practice Your Presentation

Memorizing your main talking points can help you present in a natural and more connected way. If you read off a card or sheet of paper, it can distract your audience and prevent you from building trust and rapport with them. You don’t have to remember your presentation word for word, but you should be able to deliver it without reading from a script. Practice your presentation repeatedly until you feel confident in presenting it.

Engage Your Audience

Your audience should feel like you’re speaking with them instead of speaking at them. Engage your audience in a conversation that helps them retain the information you’re presenting. You’ve already researched what they’re passionate about, so relate your main topics to their values. Ask them questions about things that matter to them and explain how the purpose of your presentation can benefit those things. Engaging your audience keeps them entertained and interested in your presentation from start to finish.

Emphasize the Call-to-Action

One of the final slides in your deck should talk about what next steps the audience should take. Pose a question or a statement that tells them what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. If they can use the topics you’ve discussed to take the next steps, emphasize that. Persuade them by letting them know how they can use the information you’ve given them in the presentation.

Finish Strong

You should end your presentation as strong and as confident as you began it. Use strong closing statements that summarize the purpose of your presentation and the ways the audience can benefit from the talking points. Make eye contact with each of your audience members to create one final connection. Thank them for their time and leave time for them to ask you any questions.

Ask for Feedback from Your Peers

Once your persuasive presentation is over, reach out to your coworkers and peers who might’ve caught glimpses of it. Ask them for feedback on what they thought you did well and on any parts you can improve. Take notes on their feedback and refer to the notes when preparing for your next presentation.

A persuasive presentation not only convinces the audience to take next steps, but it also educates them on the main topic. Your audience should feel more knowledgeable about the topic and about how your goods or services can help them by the end of your presentation.

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Persuasive Speech Outline, with Examples

March 17, 2021 - Gini Beqiri

A persuasive speech is a speech that is given with the intention of convincing the audience to believe or do something. This could be virtually anything – voting, organ donation, recycling, and so on.

A successful persuasive speech effectively convinces the audience to your point of view, providing you come across as trustworthy and knowledgeable about the topic you’re discussing.

So, how do you start convincing a group of strangers to share your opinion? And how do you connect with them enough to earn their trust?

Topics for your persuasive speech

We’ve made a list of persuasive speech topics you could use next time you’re asked to give one. The topics are thought-provoking and things which many people have an opinion on.

When using any of our persuasive speech ideas, make sure you have a solid knowledge about the topic you’re speaking about – and make sure you discuss counter arguments too.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• All school children should wear a uniform
• Facebook is making people more socially anxious
• It should be illegal to drive over the age of 80
• Lying isn’t always wrong
• The case for organ donation

Read our full list of  75 persuasive speech topics and ideas .

Preparation: Consider your audience

As with any speech, preparation is crucial. Before you put pen to paper, think about what you want to achieve with your speech. This will help organise your thoughts as you realistically can only cover 2-4 main points before your  audience get bored .

It’s also useful to think about who your audience are at this point. If they are unlikely to know much about your topic then you’ll need to factor in context of your topic when planning the structure and length of your speech. You should also consider their:

• Cultural or religious backgrounds
• Shared concerns, attitudes and problems
• Shared interests, beliefs and hopes
• Baseline attitude – are they hostile, neutral, or open to change?

The factors above will all determine the approach you take to writing your speech. For example, if your topic is about childhood obesity, you could begin with a story about your own children or a shared concern every parent has. This would suit an audience who are more likely to be parents than young professionals who have only just left college.

Remember the 3 main approaches to persuade others

There are three main approaches used to persuade others:

The ethos approach appeals to the audience’s ethics and morals, such as what is the ‘right thing’ to do for humanity, saving the environment, etc.

Pathos persuasion is when you appeal to the audience’s emotions, such as when you  tell a story  that makes them the main character in a difficult situation.

The logos approach to giving a persuasive speech is when you appeal to the audience’s logic – ie. your speech is essentially more driven by facts and logic. The benefit of this technique is that your point of view becomes virtually indisputable because you make the audience feel that only your view is the logical one.

• Ethos, Pathos, Logos: 3 Pillars of Public Speaking and Persuasion

Ideas for your persuasive speech outline

1. structure of your persuasive speech.

The opening and closing of speech are the most important. Consider these carefully when thinking about your persuasive speech outline. A  strong opening  ensures you have the audience’s attention from the start and gives them a positive first impression of you.

You’ll want to  start with a strong opening  such as an attention grabbing statement, statistic of fact. These are usually dramatic or shocking, such as:

Sadly, in the next 18 minutes when I do our chat, four Americans that are alive will be dead from the food that they eat – Jamie Oliver

Another good way of starting a persuasive speech is to include your audience in the picture you’re trying to paint. By making them part of the story, you’re embedding an emotional connection between them and your speech.

You could do this in a more toned-down way by talking about something you know that your audience has in common with you. It’s also helpful at this point to include your credentials in a persuasive speech to gain your audience’s trust.

Obama would spend hours with his team working on the opening and closing statements of his speech.

2. Stating your argument

You should  pick between 2 and 4 themes  to discuss during your speech so that you have enough time to explain your viewpoint and convince your audience to the same way of thinking.

It’s important that each of your points transitions seamlessly into the next one so that your speech has a logical flow. Work on your  connecting sentences  between each of your themes so that your speech is easy to listen to.

Your argument should be backed up by objective research and not purely your subjective opinion. Use examples, analogies, and stories so that the audience can relate more easily to your topic, and therefore are more likely to be persuaded to your point of view.

3. Addressing counter-arguments

Any balanced theory or thought  addresses and disputes counter-arguments  made against it. By addressing these, you’ll strengthen your persuasive speech by refuting your audience’s objections and you’ll show that you are knowledgeable to other thoughts on the topic.

When describing an opposing point of view, don’t explain it in a bias way – explain it in the same way someone who holds that view would describe it. That way, you won’t irritate members of your audience who disagree with you and you’ll show that you’ve reached your point of view through reasoned judgement. Simply identify any counter-argument and pose explanations against them.

• Complete Guide to Debating

4. Closing your speech

Your closing line of your speech is your last chance to convince your audience about what you’re saying. It’s also most likely to be the sentence they remember most about your entire speech so make sure it’s a good one!

The most effective persuasive speeches end  with a  call to action . For example, if you’ve been speaking about organ donation, your call to action might be asking the audience to register as donors.

Practice answering AI questions on your speech and get  feedback on your performance .

If audience members ask you questions, make sure you listen carefully and respectfully to the full question. Don’t interject in the middle of a question or become defensive.

You should show that you have carefully considered their viewpoint and refute it in an objective way (if you have opposing opinions). Ensure you remain patient, friendly and polite at all times.

Example 1: Persuasive speech outline

This example is from the Kentucky Community and Technical College.

Specific purpose

To persuade my audience to start walking in order to improve their health.

Central idea

Regular walking can improve both your mental and physical health.

Introduction

Let’s be honest, we lead an easy life: automatic dishwashers, riding lawnmowers, T.V. remote controls, automatic garage door openers, power screwdrivers, bread machines, electric pencil sharpeners, etc., etc. etc. We live in a time-saving, energy-saving, convenient society. It’s a wonderful life. Or is it?

Continue reading

Example 2: Persuasive speech

Tips for delivering your persuasive speech

• Practice, practice, and practice some more . Record yourself speaking and listen for any nervous habits you have such as a nervous laugh, excessive use of filler words, or speaking too quickly.
• Show confident body language . Stand with your legs hip width apart with your shoulders centrally aligned. Ground your feet to the floor and place your hands beside your body so that hand gestures come freely. Your audience won’t be convinced about your argument if you don’t sound confident in it. Find out more about  confident body language here .
• Don’t memorise your speech word-for-word  or read off a script. If you memorise your persuasive speech, you’ll sound less authentic and panic if you lose your place. Similarly, if you read off a script you won’t sound genuine and you won’t be able to connect with the audience by  making eye contact . In turn, you’ll come across as less trustworthy and knowledgeable. You could simply remember your key points instead, or learn your opening and closing sentences.
• Remember to use facial expressions when storytelling  – they make you more relatable. By sharing a personal story you’ll more likely be speaking your truth which will help you build a connection with the audience too. Facial expressions help bring your story to life and transport the audience into your situation.
• Keep your speech as concise as possible . When practicing the delivery, see if you can edit it to have the same meaning but in a more succinct way. This will keep the audience engaged.

The best persuasive speech ideas are those that spark a level of controversy. However, a public speech is not the time to express an opinion that is considered outside the norm. If in doubt, play it safe and stick to topics that divide opinions about 50-50.

Bear in mind who your audience are and plan your persuasive speech outline accordingly, with researched evidence to support your argument. It’s important to consider counter-arguments to show that you are knowledgeable about the topic as a whole and not bias towards your own line of thought.

How to Write and Structure a Persuasive Speech

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The purpose of a persuasive speech is to convince your audience to agree with an idea or opinion that you present. First, you'll need to choose a side on a controversial topic, then you will write a speech to explain your position, and convince the audience to agree with you.

You can produce an effective persuasive speech if you structure your argument as a solution to a problem. Your first job as a speaker is to convince your audience that a particular problem is important to them, and then you must convince them that you have the solution to make things better.

Note: You don't have to address a real problem. Any need can work as the problem. For example, you could consider the lack of a pet, the need to wash one's hands, or the need to pick a particular sport to play as the "problem."

As an example, let's imagine that you have chosen "Getting Up Early" as your persuasion topic. Your goal will be to persuade classmates to get themselves out of bed an hour earlier every morning. In this instance, the problem could be summed up as "morning chaos."

A standard speech format has an introduction with a great hook statement, three main points, and a summary. Your persuasive speech will be a tailored version of this format.

Before you write the text of your speech, you should sketch an outline that includes your hook statement and three main points.

Writing the Text

The introduction of your speech must be compelling because your audience will make up their minds within a few minutes whether or not they are interested in your topic.

Before you write the full body you should come up with a greeting. Your greeting can be as simple as "Good morning everyone. My name is Frank."

After your greeting, you will offer a hook to capture attention. A hook sentence for the "morning chaos" speech could be a question:

• How many times have you been late for school?
• Does your day begin with shouts and arguments?
• Have you ever missed the bus?

Or your hook could be a statistic or surprising statement:

• More than 50 percent of high school students skip breakfast because they just don't have time to eat.
• Tardy kids drop out of school more often than punctual kids.

Once you have the attention of your audience, follow through to define the topic/problem and introduce your solution. Here's an example of what you might have so far:

Good afternoon, class. Some of you know me, but some of you may not. My name is Frank Godfrey, and I have a question for you. Does your day begin with shouts and arguments? Do you go to school in a bad mood because you've been yelled at, or because you argued with your parent? The chaos you experience in the morning can bring you down and affect your performance at school.

Add the solution:

You can improve your mood and your school performance by adding more time to your morning schedule. You can accomplish this by setting your alarm clock to go off one hour earlier.

Your next task will be to write the body, which will contain the three main points you've come up with to argue your position. Each point will be followed by supporting evidence or anecdotes, and each body paragraph will need to end with a transition statement that leads to the next segment. Here is a sample of three main statements:

• Bad moods caused by morning chaos will affect your workday performance.
• If you skip breakfast to buy time, you're making a harmful health decision.
• (Ending on a cheerful note) You'll enjoy a boost to your self-esteem when you reduce the morning chaos.

After you write three body paragraphs with strong transition statements that make your speech flow, you are ready to work on your summary.

Your summary will re-emphasize your argument and restate your points in slightly different language. This can be a little tricky. You don't want to sound repetitive but will need to repeat what you have said. Find a way to reword the same main points.

Finally, you must make sure to write a clear final sentence or passage to keep yourself from stammering at the end or fading off in an awkward moment. A few examples of graceful exits:

• We all like to sleep. It's hard to get up some mornings, but rest assured that the reward is well worth the effort.
• If you follow these guidelines and make the effort to get up a little bit earlier every day, you'll reap rewards in your home life and on your report card.

Tips for Writing Your Speech

• Don't be confrontational in your argument. You don't need to put down the other side; just convince your audience that your position is correct by using positive assertions.
• Use simple statistics. Don't overwhelm your audience with confusing numbers.
• Don't complicate your speech by going outside the standard "three points" format. While it might seem simplistic, it is a tried and true method for presenting to an audience who is listening as opposed to reading.
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How To Give A Persuasive Presentation

Sofia has an important client meeting at the end of the week. She spends the entire week planning and preparing…

Sofia has an important client meeting at the end of the week. She spends the entire week planning and preparing her pitch. Her manager is really happy with the deck and she feels confident about the meeting. The day finally arrives but the clients leave the room unimpressed.

Sofia’s presentation stood out but she was unable to convince the clients of her ideas. This isn’t uncommon; many of us fail to impress our audience because they’re unable to get on board with our viewpoints. This is why persuasive presentation skills are important to master. Let’s explore the secrets to successful presentations in detail.

What Is Persuasive Presentation?

Skills needed for persuasive presentation, how to make a persuasive presentation, how aristotle’s three appeals can help.

As the name suggests, a persuasive presentation involves a speaker who manages to influence an audience with their thoughts, ideas and viewpoints. It can be the most challenging form of presentation as you need to convince your audience to approve your suggestions and take necessary actions. If we follow the talks of famous business leaders around the world, we can see examples of persuasive presentations in real life.

Mastering persuasive presentation skills in today’s workplace has become essential. Whether it’s convincing a recruiter to hire you or earning customers’ trust—persuasive speech shows that you’re trustworthy and knowledgeable about your subject. While converting your peers and coworkers may be easier, how do you convince a group of strangers of your opinions? Read on to explore strategies that’ll help you master the art of persuasive presentation.

There is a common misconception that the more the amount of information on your slide, the more impressive it becomes. Business presentations need not be stuffed with information. You can enhance the quality of your slide by presenting clear, short and direct points. A well-structured speech has a greater impact. Consider the following persuasive presentation skills if you want to present a balanced and powerful presentation:

Speaking effectively, where you’re articulate, compelling and confident about your delivery

Active listening, where you pay attention to what your audience asks

Empathy, where you adjust your tone and behavior based on how your audience reacts

With the right approach, you can put these skills to practice and create an effective presentation that leaves a lasting impression on your audience.

The primary motivation behind presentations is to encourage a business change. Therefore, delivering it in the most effective way becomes crucial. A successful, persuasive presentation has the power to influence and change. Here are some tips that’ll help you deliver presentations so persuasive that even the most skeptical person in the room will get on board:

Do Your Research

It’s useful to understand who your audience will be and what their needs and expectations are. Tailoring your content to the audience will not only pique their interest but keep them engaged throughout. This will also show that you’ve done your groundwork before your presentation.

Create Some Goals

Limit the amount of information you share with your audience. A great way to go about it is by creating a list of a few goals (ideally less than five) that you want to address during your presentation. Keeping it short and to the point will avoid any unnecessary confusion.

Use Storytelling Technique

Who doesn’t love a story? One of the most effective ways of capturing the audience’s attention is to use a short story (like an anecdote) at the beginning of your presentation. Make the story as relatable as possible. Not only does it help set the tone but also lightens the mood in the room.

Use Appropriate Body Language

Paying attention to nonverbal cues is extremely important. Appropriate facial expressions, gestures and hand movements are necessary to capture the audience’s attention. Make sure that you maintain eye contact with everyone and smile at appropriate moments. An open body language is welcoming and engages people better.

Finish Strong

You can either entertain questions during your presentation or reserve them for the end. It’s important to listen attentively so that you can respond appropriately. If the audience wants to raise some points or make statements, be open to feedback and pay attention. Making them a part of your presentation will help them feel engaged and valued.

While the aforementioned strategies are helpful in delivering a persuasive presentation, Aristotle’s Three Appeals Approach is also instrumental. The Greek philosopher proposed three rhetorical appeals or modes of persuasion in the form of:

Ethos, which appeals to the audience’s ethics and morals

Pathos, which appeals to the audience’s emotions

Logos, which appeals to the audience’s logic (reasoning capacity)

If you want to learn more about Aristotle’s Appeals and other powerful frameworks that’ll help you strengthen your public speaking skills, turn to Harappa’s  Speaking Effectively course. It will help you deliver ideas with precision, use empathy and logic to connect with others and stand out as an effective speaker everyone wants to listen to. Ace your next presentation with Harappa!

Explore topics such as  Self-Introduction  for Various Situations,  Presentation Techniques , How To Give A  Persuasive Presentation  & Most Effective  Presentation Skills  And Its Techniques  from Harappa Diaries to build a personal brand that inspires, motivates and guides others.

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How to Write a Persuasive Speech

Last Updated: December 10, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Patrick Muñoz . Patrick is an internationally recognized Voice & Speech Coach, focusing on public speaking, vocal power, accent and dialects, accent reduction, voiceover, acting and speech therapy. He has worked with clients such as Penelope Cruz, Eva Longoria, and Roselyn Sanchez. He was voted LA's Favorite Voice and Dialect Coach by BACKSTAGE, is the voice and speech coach for Disney and Turner Classic Movies, and is a member of Voice and Speech Trainers Association. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 1,526,413 times.

A persuasive speech is a speech intended to convince the audience to do something. Whether you want to get people to vote, stop littering, or change their minds about an important issue, persuasive speeches are an effective way to sway an audience. There are many elements that go into a successful persuasive speech. But, with some preparation and practice, you can deliver a powerful speech.

Preparing to Write

• Especially if your topic is a controversial one, it's a good idea to know the arguments on all sides of the issue. [1] X Research source Whatever argument you are making, you'll be more persuasive if you can address the views of the opposing side.
• Spend some time reading books or articles about your topic. You can go to the library and ask a librarian for help finding books, or just go online and find some articles. Make sure to use reliable sources, like major news organizations, or academic books or articles.
• Opinion-oriented sources, like editorials, talk radio, or partisan cable news, can be valuable for finding out what other people think about your topic. But, don't rely on them as your only source of information. They can be very biased. If you use them at all, make sure to read a variety of viewpoints on the matter, not just one side.

• For example, if your topic is recycling, it's important to know a lot about recycling. But, your speech will need to reflect exactly what you hope the audience will do. Are you trying to get people to vote in favor of a citywide recycling program? Or are you trying to convince them to sort out their glass and cans and put them in a separate bin? These will be different speeches, so having the goal spelled out early will help you craft your message.

• An audience that knows little about your topic will need more background information and simpler language. An audience made up of experts on the topic would likely find such a simple speech boring.
• Likewise, an audience that already supports your view on a topic will be easier to persuade to take some action. You won't need to convince them you are right, but only that they need to do something. By contrast, an audience that does not agree with you will need persuasion to even consider your point of view.
• For example, imagine you want to convince your audience to support a city-wide recycling program. If they already think recycling is important, you only need to convince them of the value of this specific program. But, if they don't care about recycling or oppose it, you will need to first convince them that recycling is worthwhile.

• Ethos. These are appeals to the audience's ethics or morals. For example: "Recycling is the right thing to do. Wasting our limited resources steals from future generations, which is immoral."
• Pathos. These are appeals to the audience's emotions. For example: "Think of the animals that lose their homes every day because of trees being chopped down. If we recycled more, we could save these beautiful forests."
• Logos. These are appeals to the audiences logic or intellect. For example: "We know that there is a limited supply of natural resources. We can make this supply last longer by recycling."
• You can rely on any one or some combination.

• The number of points you can make to support your position will be determined by how much time you have to speak.
• As a rule of thumb, three to four supporting points is usually a good number. [2] X Research source
• For example, in the speech about recycling, your three main points might be: 1. Recycling saves resources, 2. Recycling reduces the amount of garbage, and 3. Recycling is cost-effective.

Writing your Speech

• An attention grabber. This could be a statement (or sometimes a visual) that gets your audience's attention. It can be a good idea to be a little startling or dramatic at the opening of your speech. For example, you might start with information (or pictures) showing how a nearby landfill is nearly full to capacity.
• A link to the audience. This is a means of showing that you have something in common with the audience. Show that you have a similar background or share an emotional connection of some kind. This will really depend on knowing your audience. For example, if you are a parent, speaking to other parents, you might emphasize the concern for your own children's future. If you share a common interest or ideological position with your audience, you can emphasize that.
• Your credentials. This is a means of showing that you are knowledgeable or an authority on the topic of the speech. Highlight the research you've done on your topic. If you have any personal or professional experience with the topic, be sure to emphasize that, too. In the recycling example, you might say "I've invested many hours studying the recycling issue and the types of programs available in other cities."
• Your goal. Explain to the audience what you hope the speech will accomplish. For example: "I hope by the end of my talk that you will agree that we need a city wide recycling program."
• A road map. Finally, tell the audience what the main points of the speech will be. For example, "I believe we must start a recycling program for these three reasons...."

• Arrange these points logically. Don't jump from one point to the next, and then back again. Instead, complete an argument, then move on to another that flows logically from it. [4] X Research source
• Use credible sources from your research to back the points you are making. Even if your point is more emotional (pathos), introducing some factual information will make your argument stronger. For example "Each year, 40,000 acres of beautiful forests are destroyed to make paper, according to a study from the American Recycling Institute."
• Use real life examples that the audience can relate to. Even an argument based on facts and logic (logos) should relate to the audience's lives and interests. For example: "In these hard economic times, I know many of you are afraid that a recycling program will mean a costly increase in taxes. But, the city of Springfield started a program like this one three years ago. So far they've seen an increase in revenue as a result of the program. Many residents have seen a decrease in their taxes as a result."

• Make sure that you describe opposing views fairly and objectively. Consider whether someone who actually holds that view would approve of the way you are describing their position. If you aren't sure, find someone who thinks that way and ask!
• For example, you would not want to say: "opponents of recycling just don't care if we waste our precious resources, or our money." That's not a fair description of their opinion.
• Instead, you might say: "opponents of recycling are concerned that the cost might be much higher than just using new materials," and then go on to offer an argument about why recycling might be the more cost-effective option.

• Don't just restate, verbatim, what you've already said. Instead, use this as an opportunity to reinforce the way your main points support your call to action. For example: "To sum up, I've shown you (points a, b, and c). These three undeniable facts point to a city-wide recycling program as the most sensible and ethical step we can take in helping create a more sustainable future. Please, join me in voting 'yes' on this program in November."

Delivering your Speech

• Try practicing in front of a mirror, so that you can see how you are delivering the speech. This can help you notice your facial expressions and body language. These can help or hinder your ability to get your message across.
• For example, you might notice you are slouching, or that that you fidget with your collar. These actions suggest to an audience that you aren't confident.
• Better still, record yourself with a video camera and watch the tape afterwards. This can help you see (and hear) where your delivery needs improvement. [5] X Research source It has the benefit of providing audio, and also won't distract you as much as a mirror when you're speaking.
• Once you've practiced on your own a few times, try giving the speech to a small group of friends or family members. Ask for their feedback on your message and delivery.

• Generally speaking, this will mean dressing professionally. But, the degree of formality will vary. A speech to a film club to convince them to show your film won't require the same degree of formality as speaking to the executives of a movie distribution company. For the executives, you would want to wear a suit. For the film club, that might be overdoing it.

• Be friendly and make eye contact with the audience.
• Move around, where appropriate, but don't fidget or pick at your clothes or hair.
• Don't read the speech. It's okay to use a few notes to keep yourself on track, but your speech should be mostly memorized.
• Roll with the punches. If you make a mistake, don't let it derail your whole speech. This might be an opportunity to use a little humor. Then, move on.

• For example, if you want them to contact the mayor, demanding a recycling program, don't just ask them to do it. Give them stamped, addressed envelopes to send a letter, or cards with the mayor's phone number and email address. If you do this, many more people are likely to follow through.

Patrick Muñoz

Speak from your heart and connect with your audience. Look them in the eyes and really talk to them. Make sure you're comfortable delivering your speech and that you use a warm, confident tone.

Sample Template

Community Q&A

• Look around at the audience, making eye contact, especially during pauses in your speech. If you're feeling nervous about this, pick out a single person in the audience and pretend you are speaking only to them. After a little while, pick someone else, and repeat. [6] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Speak forward, projecting your voice toward the audience with confidence. Do not speak down toward the floor. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Try to cite sources for statistics and use credible, non-biased sources. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

• Avoid being confrontational, when possible. Don't be sarcastic or mocking when discussing viewpoints other than your own. This can be alienating to your audience, even those who may agree with you. Thanks Helpful 55 Not Helpful 17
• Don't be pompous or arrogant during your speech. Be humble, and be open to questions, suggestions, and feedback. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 1

You Might Also Like

• ↑ http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/style-and-usage/steps-for-writing-a-persuasive-speech.html
• ↑ http://www.best-speech-topics.com/writing-a-persuasive-speech.html
• ↑ https://www.speechanddebate.org/wp-content/uploads/Tips-for-Writing-a-Persuasive-Speech.pdf
• ↑ https://www.comm.pitt.edu/structuring-speech
• ↑ https://www.leonardoenglish.com/blog/recording-yourself-in-english
• ↑ https://www.zenbusiness.com/blog/eyecontact/

About This Article

To write a persuasive speech, start with a strong opening that will make your reader want to pay attention, including an attention grabber, your credentials, the essay's goal, and a road map for the essay. Next, offer persuasive evidence or reasons why the reader should support your viewpoint. Arrange these points logically, use credible sources, and employ some real life examples. Additionally, address counter-arguments to show that you’re looking at the topic from all sides. Finally, conclude by clearly letting the audience know how to put your ideas into action. To learn how to involve your audience when you deliver your speech, keep reading. Did this summary help you? Yes No

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11.2 Persuasive Speaking

Learning objectives.

• Explain how claims, evidence, and warrants function to create an argument.
• Identify strategies for choosing a persuasive speech topic.
• Identify strategies for adapting a persuasive speech based on an audience’s orientation to the proposition.
• Distinguish among propositions of fact, value, and policy.
• Choose an organizational pattern that is fitting for a persuasive speech topic.

We produce and receive persuasive messages daily, but we don’t often stop to think about how we make the arguments we do or the quality of the arguments that we receive. In this section, we’ll learn the components of an argument, how to choose a good persuasive speech topic, and how to adapt and organize a persuasive message.

Foundation of Persuasion

Persuasive speaking seeks to influence the beliefs, attitudes, values, or behaviors of audience members. In order to persuade, a speaker has to construct arguments that appeal to audience members. Arguments form around three components: claim, evidence, and warrant. The claim is the statement that will be supported by evidence. Your thesis statement is the overarching claim for your speech, but you will make other claims within the speech to support the larger thesis. Evidence , also called grounds, supports the claim. The main points of your persuasive speech and the supporting material you include serve as evidence. For example, a speaker may make the following claim: “There should be a national law against texting while driving.” The speaker could then support the claim by providing the following evidence: “Research from the US Department of Transportation has found that texting while driving creates a crash risk that is twenty-three times worse than driving while not distracted.” The warrant is the underlying justification that connects the claim and the evidence. One warrant for the claim and evidence cited in this example is that the US Department of Transportation is an institution that funds research conducted by credible experts. An additional and more implicit warrant is that people shouldn’t do things they know are unsafe.

Figure 11.2 Components of an Argument

The quality of your evidence often impacts the strength of your warrant, and some warrants are stronger than others. A speaker could also provide evidence to support their claim advocating for a national ban on texting and driving by saying, “I have personally seen people almost wreck while trying to text.” While this type of evidence can also be persuasive, it provides a different type and strength of warrant since it is based on personal experience. In general, the anecdotal evidence from personal experience would be given a weaker warrant than the evidence from the national research report. The same process works in our legal system when a judge evaluates the connection between a claim and evidence. If someone steals my car, I could say to the police, “I’m pretty sure Mario did it because when I said hi to him on campus the other day, he didn’t say hi back, which proves he’s mad at me.” A judge faced with that evidence is unlikely to issue a warrant for Mario’s arrest. Fingerprint evidence from the steering wheel that has been matched with a suspect is much more likely to warrant arrest.

As you put together a persuasive argument, you act as the judge. You can evaluate arguments that you come across in your research by analyzing the connection (the warrant) between the claim and the evidence. If the warrant is strong, you may want to highlight that argument in your speech. You may also be able to point out a weak warrant in an argument that goes against your position, which you could then include in your speech. Every argument starts by putting together a claim and evidence, but arguments grow to include many interrelated units.

Choosing a Persuasive Speech Topic

As with any speech, topic selection is important and is influenced by many factors. Good persuasive speech topics are current, controversial, and have important implications for society. If your topic is currently being discussed on television, in newspapers, in the lounges in your dorm, or around your family’s dinner table, then it’s a current topic. A persuasive speech aimed at getting audience members to wear seat belts in cars wouldn’t have much current relevance, given that statistics consistently show that most people wear seat belts. Giving the same speech would have been much more timely in the 1970s when there was a huge movement to increase seat-belt use.

Many topics that are current are also controversial, which is what gets them attention by the media and citizens. Current and controversial topics will be more engaging for your audience. A persuasive speech to encourage audience members to donate blood or recycle wouldn’t be very controversial, since the benefits of both practices are widely agreed on. However, arguing that the restrictions on blood donation by men who have had sexual relations with men be lifted would be controversial. I must caution here that controversial is not the same as inflammatory. An inflammatory topic is one that evokes strong reactions from an audience for the sake of provoking a reaction. Being provocative for no good reason or choosing a topic that is extremist will damage your credibility and prevent you from achieving your speech goals.

You should also choose a topic that is important to you and to society as a whole. As we have already discussed in this book, our voices are powerful, as it is through communication that we participate and make change in society. Therefore we should take seriously opportunities to use our voices to speak publicly. Choosing a speech topic that has implications for society is probably a better application of your public speaking skills than choosing to persuade the audience that Lebron James is the best basketball player in the world or that Superman is a better hero than Spiderman. Although those topics may be very important to you, they don’t carry the same social weight as many other topics you could choose to discuss. Remember that speakers have ethical obligations to the audience and should take the opportunity to speak seriously.

You will also want to choose a topic that connects to your own interests and passions. If you are an education major, it might make more sense to do a persuasive speech about funding for public education than the death penalty. If there are hot-button issues for you that make you get fired up and veins bulge out in your neck, then it may be a good idea to avoid those when speaking in an academic or professional context.

Choose a persuasive speech topic that you’re passionate about but still able to approach and deliver in an ethical manner.

Michael Vadon – Nigel Farage – CC BY-SA 2.0.

Choosing such topics may interfere with your ability to deliver a speech in a competent and ethical manner. You want to care about your topic, but you also want to be able to approach it in a way that’s going to make people want to listen to you. Most people tune out speakers they perceive to be too ideologically entrenched and write them off as extremists or zealots.

You also want to ensure that your topic is actually persuasive. Draft your thesis statement as an “I believe” statement so your stance on an issue is clear. Also, think of your main points as reasons to support your thesis. Students end up with speeches that aren’t very persuasive in nature if they don’t think of their main points as reasons. Identifying arguments that counter your thesis is also a good exercise to help ensure your topic is persuasive. If you can clearly and easily identify a competing thesis statement and supporting reasons, then your topic and approach are arguable.

Review of Tips for Choosing a Persuasive Speech Topic

• Not current. People should use seat belts.
• Current. People should not text while driving.
• Not controversial. People should recycle.
• Controversial. Recycling should be mandatory by law.
• Not as impactful. Superman is the best superhero.
• Impactful. Colleges and universities should adopt zero-tolerance bullying policies.
• Unclear thesis. Homeschooling is common in the United States.
• Clear, argumentative thesis with stance. Homeschooling does not provide the same benefits of traditional education and should be strictly monitored and limited.

Adapting Persuasive Messages

Competent speakers should consider their audience throughout the speech-making process. Given that persuasive messages seek to directly influence the audience in some way, audience adaptation becomes even more important. If possible, poll your audience to find out their orientation toward your thesis. I read my students’ thesis statements aloud and have the class indicate whether they agree with, disagree with, or are neutral in regards to the proposition. It is unlikely that you will have a homogenous audience, meaning that there will probably be some who agree, some who disagree, and some who are neutral. So you may employ all of the following strategies, in varying degrees, in your persuasive speech.

When you have audience members who already agree with your proposition, you should focus on intensifying their agreement. You can also assume that they have foundational background knowledge of the topic, which means you can take the time to inform them about lesser-known aspects of a topic or cause to further reinforce their agreement. Rather than move these audience members from disagreement to agreement, you can focus on moving them from agreement to action. Remember, calls to action should be as specific as possible to help you capitalize on audience members’ motivation in the moment so they are more likely to follow through on the action.

There are two main reasons audience members may be neutral in regards to your topic: (1) they are uninformed about the topic or (2) they do not think the topic affects them. In this case, you should focus on instilling a concern for the topic. Uninformed audiences may need background information before they can decide if they agree or disagree with your proposition. If the issue is familiar but audience members are neutral because they don’t see how the topic affects them, focus on getting the audience’s attention and demonstrating relevance. Remember that concrete and proxemic supporting materials will help an audience find relevance in a topic. Students who pick narrow or unfamiliar topics will have to work harder to persuade their audience, but neutral audiences often provide the most chance of achieving your speech goal since even a small change may move them into agreement.

When audience members disagree with your proposition, you should focus on changing their minds. To effectively persuade, you must be seen as a credible speaker. When an audience is hostile to your proposition, establishing credibility is even more important, as audience members may be quick to discount or discredit someone who doesn’t appear prepared or doesn’t present well-researched and supported information. Don’t give an audience a chance to write you off before you even get to share your best evidence. When facing a disagreeable audience, the goal should also be small change. You may not be able to switch someone’s position completely, but influencing him or her is still a success. Aside from establishing your credibility, you should also establish common ground with an audience.

Build common ground with disagreeable audiences and acknowledge areas of disagreement.

Chris-Havard Berge – Shaking Hands – CC BY-NC 2.0.

Acknowledging areas of disagreement and logically refuting counterarguments in your speech is also a way to approach persuading an audience in disagreement, as it shows that you are open-minded enough to engage with other perspectives.

Determining Your Proposition

The proposition of your speech is the overall direction of the content and how that relates to the speech goal. A persuasive speech will fall primarily into one of three categories: propositions of fact, value, or policy. A speech may have elements of any of the three propositions, but you can usually determine the overall proposition of a speech from the specific purpose and thesis statements.

Propositions of fact focus on beliefs and try to establish that something “is or isn’t.” Propositions of value focus on persuading audience members that something is “good or bad,” “right or wrong,” or “desirable or undesirable.” Propositions of policy advocate that something “should or shouldn’t” be done. Since most persuasive speech topics can be approached as propositions of fact, value, or policy, it is a good idea to start thinking about what kind of proposition you want to make, as it will influence how you go about your research and writing. As you can see in the following example using the topic of global warming, the type of proposition changes the types of supporting materials you would need:

• Proposition of fact. Global warming is caused by increased greenhouse gases related to human activity.
• Proposition of value. America’s disproportionately large amount of pollution relative to other countries is wrong .
• Proposition of policy. There should be stricter emission restrictions on individual cars.

To support propositions of fact, you would want to present a logical argument based on objective facts that can then be used to build persuasive arguments. Propositions of value may require you to appeal more to your audience’s emotions and cite expert and lay testimony. Persuasive speeches about policy usually require you to research existing and previous laws or procedures and determine if any relevant legislation or propositions are currently being considered.

“Getting Critical”

Persuasion and Masculinity

The traditional view of rhetoric that started in ancient Greece and still informs much of our views on persuasion today has been critiqued for containing Western and masculine biases. Traditional persuasion has been linked to Western and masculine values of domination, competition, and change, which have been critiqued as coercive and violent (Gearhart, 1979).

Communication scholars proposed an alternative to traditional persuasive rhetoric in the form of invitational rhetoric. Invitational rhetoric differs from a traditional view of persuasive rhetoric that “attempts to win over an opponent, or to advocate the correctness of a single position in a very complex issue” (Bone et al., 2008). Instead, invitational rhetoric proposes a model of reaching consensus through dialogue. The goal is to create a climate in which growth and change can occur but isn’t required for one person to “win” an argument over another. Each person in a communication situation is acknowledged to have a standpoint that is valid but can still be influenced through the offering of alternative perspectives and the invitation to engage with and discuss these standpoints (Ryan & Natalle, 2001). Safety, value, and freedom are three important parts of invitational rhetoric. Safety involves a feeling of security in which audience members and speakers feel like their ideas and contributions will not be denigrated. Value refers to the notion that each person in a communication encounter is worthy of recognition and that people are willing to step outside their own perspectives to better understand others. Last, freedom is present in communication when communicators do not limit the thinking or decisions of others, allowing all participants to speak up (Bone et al., 2008).

Invitational rhetoric doesn’t claim that all persuasive rhetoric is violent. Instead, it acknowledges that some persuasion is violent and that the connection between persuasion and violence is worth exploring. Invitational rhetoric has the potential to contribute to the civility of communication in our society. When we are civil, we are capable of engaging with and appreciating different perspectives while still understanding our own. People aren’t attacked or reviled because their views diverge from ours. Rather than reducing the world to “us against them, black or white, and right or wrong,” invitational rhetoric encourages us to acknowledge human perspectives in all their complexity (Bone et al., 2008).

• What is your reaction to the claim that persuasion includes Western and masculine biases?
• What are some strengths and weaknesses of the proposed alternatives to traditional persuasion?
• In what situations might an invitational approach to persuasion be useful? In what situations might you want to rely on traditional models of persuasion?

Organizing a Persuasive Speech

We have already discussed several patterns for organizing your speech, but some organization strategies are specific to persuasive speaking. Some persuasive speech topics lend themselves to a topical organization pattern, which breaks the larger topic up into logical divisions. Earlier, in Chapter 9 “Preparing a Speech” , we discussed recency and primacy, and in this chapter we discussed adapting a persuasive speech based on the audience’s orientation toward the proposition. These concepts can be connected when organizing a persuasive speech topically. Primacy means putting your strongest information first and is based on the idea that audience members put more weight on what they hear first. This strategy can be especially useful when addressing an audience that disagrees with your proposition, as you can try to win them over early. Recency means putting your strongest information last to leave a powerful impression. This can be useful when you are building to a climax in your speech, specifically if you include a call to action.

Putting your strongest argument last can help motivate an audience to action.

Celestine Chua – The Change – CC BY 2.0.

The problem-solution pattern is an organizational pattern that advocates for a particular approach to solve a problem. You would provide evidence to show that a problem exists and then propose a solution with additional evidence or reasoning to justify the course of action. One main point addressing the problem and one main point addressing the solution may be sufficient, but you are not limited to two. You could add a main point between the problem and solution that outlines other solutions that have failed. You can also combine the problem-solution pattern with the cause-effect pattern or expand the speech to fit with Monroe’s Motivated Sequence.

As was mentioned in Chapter 9 “Preparing a Speech” , the cause-effect pattern can be used for informative speaking when the relationship between the cause and effect is not contested. The pattern is more fitting for persuasive speeches when the relationship between the cause and effect is controversial or unclear. There are several ways to use causes and effects to structure a speech. You could have a two-point speech that argues from cause to effect or from effect to cause. You could also have more than one cause that lead to the same effect or a single cause that leads to multiple effects. The following are some examples of thesis statements that correspond to various organizational patterns. As you can see, the same general topic area, prison overcrowding, is used for each example. This illustrates the importance of considering your organizational options early in the speech-making process, since the pattern you choose will influence your researching and writing.

Persuasive Speech Thesis Statements by Organizational Pattern

• Problem-solution. Prison overcrowding is a serious problem that we can solve by finding alternative rehabilitation for nonviolent offenders.
• Problem–failed solution–proposed solution. Prison overcrowding is a serious problem that shouldn’t be solved by building more prisons; instead, we should support alternative rehabilitation for nonviolent offenders.
• Cause-effect. Prisons are overcrowded with nonviolent offenders, which leads to lesser sentences for violent criminals.
• Cause-cause-effect. State budgets are being slashed and prisons are overcrowded with nonviolent offenders, which leads to lesser sentences for violent criminals.
• Cause-effect-effect. Prisons are overcrowded with nonviolent offenders, which leads to increased behavioral problems among inmates and lesser sentences for violent criminals.
• Cause-effect-solution. Prisons are overcrowded with nonviolent offenders, which leads to lesser sentences for violent criminals; therefore we need to find alternative rehabilitation for nonviolent offenders.

Monroe’s Motivated Sequence is an organizational pattern designed for persuasive speaking that appeals to audience members’ needs and motivates them to action. If your persuasive speaking goals include a call to action, you may want to consider this organizational pattern. We already learned about the five steps of Monroe’s Motivated Sequence in Chapter 9 “Preparing a Speech” , but we will review them here with an example:

• Hook the audience by making the topic relevant to them.
• Imagine living a full life, retiring, and slipping into your golden years. As you get older you become more dependent on others and move into an assisted-living facility. Although you think life will be easier, things get worse as you experience abuse and mistreatment from the staff. You report the abuse to a nurse and wait, but nothing happens and the abuse continues. Elder abuse is a common occurrence, and unlike child abuse, there are no laws in our state that mandate complaints of elder abuse be reported or investigated.
• Cite evidence to support the fact that the issue needs to be addressed.
• According to the American Psychological Association, one to two million elderly US Americans have been abused by their caretakers. In our state, those in the medical, psychiatric, and social work field are required to report suspicion of child abuse but are not mandated to report suspicions of elder abuse.
• Offer a solution and persuade the audience that it is feasible and well thought out.
• There should be a federal law mandating that suspicion of elder abuse be reported and that all claims of elder abuse be investigated.
• Take the audience beyond your solution and help them visualize the positive results of implementing it or the negative consequences of not.
• Elderly people should not have to live in fear during their golden years. A mandatory reporting law for elderly abuse will help ensure that the voices of our elderly loved ones will be heard.
• Call your audience to action by giving them concrete steps to follow to engage in a particular action or to change a thought or behavior.
• I urge you to take action in two ways. First, raise awareness about this issue by talking to your own friends and family. Second, contact your representatives at the state and national level to let them know that elder abuse should be taken seriously and given the same level of importance as other forms of abuse. I brought cards with the contact information for our state and national representatives for this area. Please take one at the end of my speech. A short e-mail or phone call can help end the silence surrounding elder abuse.

Key Takeaways

• Arguments are formed by making claims that are supported by evidence. The underlying justification that connects the claim and evidence is the warrant. Arguments can have strong or weak warrants, which will make them more or less persuasive.
• Good persuasive speech topics are current, controversial (but not inflammatory), and important to the speaker and society.
• When audience members agree with the proposal, focus on intensifying their agreement and moving them to action.
• When audience members are neutral in regards to the proposition, provide background information to better inform them about the issue and present information that demonstrates the relevance of the topic to the audience.
• When audience members disagree with the proposal, focus on establishing your credibility, build common ground with the audience, and incorporate counterarguments and refute them.
• Propositions of fact focus on establishing that something “is or isn’t” or is “true or false.”
• Propositions of value focus on persuading an audience that something is “good or bad,” “right or wrong,” or “desirable or undesirable.”
• Propositions of policy advocate that something “should or shouldn’t” be done.
• Persuasive speeches can be organized using the following patterns: problem-solution, cause-effect, cause-effect-solution, or Monroe’s Motivated Sequence.
• Getting integrated: Give an example of persuasive messages that you might need to create in each of the following contexts: academic, professional, personal, and civic. Then do the same thing for persuasive messages you may receive.
• To help ensure that your persuasive speech topic is persuasive and not informative, identify the claims, evidence, and warrants you may use in your argument. In addition, write a thesis statement that refutes your topic idea and identify evidence and warrants that could support that counterargument.
• Determine if your speech is primarily a proposition of fact, value, or policy. How can you tell? Identify an organizational pattern that you think will work well for your speech topic, draft one sentence for each of your main points, and arrange them according to the pattern you chose.

Bone, J. E., Cindy L. Griffin, and T. M. Linda Scholz, “Beyond Traditional Conceptualizations of Rhetoric: Invitational Rhetoric and a Move toward Civility,” Western Journal of Communication 72 (2008): 436.

Gearhart, S. M., “The Womanization of Rhetoric,” Women’s Studies International Quarterly 2 (1979): 195–201.

Ryan, K. J., and Elizabeth J. Natalle, “Fusing Horizons: Standpoint Hermenutics and Invitational Rhetoric,” Rhetoric Society Quarterly 31 (2001): 69–90.

Communication in the Real World Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Practical ways to ease presentation nerves

One way to offset public-speaking anxiety is to have confidence in your presentation. Brandi Quesenberry shares the keys to making your presentation shine and ensuring that it is memorable, impactful and successful

Brandi Quesenberry

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A public speaking class changed the course of my life. As a business major, I was required to take public speaking, and that was the only reason I enrolled in the class. I believed talented speakers were born that way and that, by extension, I’d never be good at it. But I was mistaken. I had a supportive instructor. I saw my peers in class grow and improve. I learned that you can learn to be a better speaker. And I decided to major in – and make a career of – communication. 

Crafting a good presentation is a skill that combines both art and science. At Virginia Tech, I direct the public speaking resource centre, known as the Comm Lab . Comm Lab provides a host of resources for creating presentations, including peer coaching by undergraduate students.

• Ten smart ways to ace your next academic presentation
• Conference presentations 101: master the art of speaking to an audience
• Do we need to grade students’ presentation skills?

Research shows that employers want college graduates who can communicate effectively. A National Association of Colleges and Employers’  survey earlier this year noted that communication skills – written and verbal – are among the most important soft skills employers are seeking. 

So, based on my experience, what makes a successful presentation?

What are the ingredients of a compelling presentation?

First, you need to understand the rhetorical situation of your speaking engagement. This includes the purpose, audience, context and speaker, which all influence your messaging. Let’s break them down:

• Purpose: a strong presentation starts with a clear and compelling purpose. Why are you speaking in front of an audience? Is your intention to inform, persuade or inspire? 
• Audience: make your presentation audience-centred. Know the demographics and psychographics of your audience so you can tailor your message. Understand what they already know and what they are hoping to learn or achieve by attending your presentation. Consider their values, attitudes and beliefs surrounding your topic; this allows you to craft your presentation carefully and consider language, examples and experiences that might best resonate with them. 
• Context: pay attention to what your listeners might be experiencing. Are you talking to college students in an 8am Monday class? Are you speaking to conference attendees right before the dinner break? Are you presenting to experts in your field? Not understanding the context can make your presentation less impactful or even uninformative.
• Speaker: assess yourself. Why have you been chosen to present? What are the motivations, biases and experiences that you bring to the table?

Then follow the rule of three, which refers to the use of planned repetition in the general speech structure of introduction, body and conclusion. Tell the audience what you’re going to say, say it, then summarise it. Learning theories indicate that we’re more likely to remember the first and last things we’re told. A concept called the primacy effect dictates that you open with an impactful statement and express your purpose for being there, so your listeners’ interests are piqued. The recency effect suggests that when you summarise your main points at the conclusion of your presentation, you should state your call to action. 

Leverage the power of storytelling

Storytelling is often overlooked as a key ingredient in effective presentations. And yet sharing authentic human experiences through stories is extremely compelling. Stories help you connect with your audience ; they make your topic relatable, which ultimately increases the power, relevance and retention of your presentation. 

Be aware of non-verbal communications

Imagine the incongruence of a speaker announcing how happy he is to be there while speaking with a monotone voice and lack of eye contact, and with his arms crossed at his chest. Pay attention to non-verbal communication: facial expressions, body language, eye contact, vocal inflection. Most experts agree that 70 to 93 per cent of all communication is non-verbal. Effective presenters match their non-verbal delivery to the tone of their content and use that to engage with their audience. Show enthusiasm through gestures and use of calculated movement when you discuss an innovative concept or product, slow down your speech rate to draw attention to changes in patterns, or use vocal tones and facial expressions to express concern or care that reflects a sobering statistic. 

Avoid information overload

If you’re speaking on a complex topic, your listeners will need time to process what you’re presenting. Try to avoid covering too much. A tidal wave of information will only overwhelm the audience. Instead, consider narrowing the topic and digging deeper, using a variety of supporting evidence to connect with your listeners. Some consumers want to hear the latest statistics, while others want to know what experts have to say on the topic. Consider using presentational aids to showcase information visually and help with information processing and retention.

Strategic pauses can also help listeners process what you’ve said. If you’re allowing for questions, pauses give audience members a chance to formulate their enquiries. Rushing through a presentation is a missed opportunity for audience reflection and true engagement.

Use visual aids when appropriate

If you’re giving a presentation to a few people around a table, you might not need visual aids – but if you’re standing in front of an audience, consider using slides. We live in a visual society and are accustomed to seeing images and infographics. Visual aids can clarify and simplify complex or abstract concepts, enhance retention of information and get the audience more involved in your presentation.

Think of visual aids not as a substitute for your content, delivery or skills, but rather as a complement that amplifies your presentation. Make sure your visual aids are clear and consistent, integrate them smoothly with your speech and check them for errors.

I also recommend using blank slides or basic animation effects to avoid showcasing visuals that are not yet relevant or have already been covered. As catchy as they are, avoid overusing gifs or memes because they might distract from the purpose of your presentation. Many high-quality images are available free or at minimal cost. 

Practise, practise, practise

Practise your presentation out loud. When you articulate your ideas, you might find that you stumble over certain words or your speech is much shorter than you thought. Ideally, record yourself and practise in front of someone who will be honest with you. At Comm Lab, we offer recording services to hone presentations. 

These elements contribute to creating strong, compelling presentations. Having confidence in your presentation should serve to reduce at least some of the anxiety associated with public speaking, allowing you to leave a lasting impression on your audience that drives meaningful action.

Brandi A. Quesenberry is the director of undergraduate programmes and a senior instructor in the School of Communication at Virginia Tech. She also runs Virginia Tech’s Comm Lab.

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