Persuasive speeches are meant to convince a particular audience to follow a certain advice. Most successful politicians and corporate entities rely on persuasive speech to lure their target audience to support them and increase awareness on new products in the market respectively (Petty & John 2). The outline of a persuasive speech follows three steps namely introduction, body and conclusion.
Part 1: Introduction
This part is very crucial in persuasive speech because it is the starting point for the speaker. The audience would listen to the beginning of a speech before they determine if they can continue listening. In this regard, a proper introductory statement should encompass the following components.
Attention
The attention of the audience must be arrested in the opening remarks. The speaker can use statements that invoke the emotions of the audience to ensure that they pay attention to the speech. For example, the opening statement in President Obama’s Super Tuesday speech in Chicago Illinois invoked the emotions of the audience. He began by extending his condolences to the victims of storms that had hit Tennessee and Arkansas (Obama 1).
Thesis Statement
Thesis statement comes immediately after attention of the audience has been arrested. This part introduces the main subject of the speech (Petty & John 5). For president Obama, the speech was about the polls that were closing in the states that had voted in the Super Tuesday primary.
Authority
Here, the speaker presents himself to an audience that presumably does not know anything about him. He must, therefore, exude authority and establish credibility in order to convince an already curious and attentive audience. The audience should get the feeling that the speaker can be trusted with the theme.
Part 2: Body
This section highlights the main content of the speech. It contains a transitory statement that reminds the audience that the main speech is beginning. The body contains the following important components.
Need
Any persuasive speech must establish a need. The speech must seek to address an existing problem. In the Super Tuesday Speech, Barack Obama takes his audience through the rough journey that America had walked under President Bush. He laments about a political system that places greed and irresponsibility before hard work and sacrifice. In this regard, the audience is persuaded to believe that the Bush administration has meant good for Americans. The audience is encouraged to consider the ideologies of the opposing political divide. Obama emphasizes the need to come out of a costly war that has led to the loss of billions of shillings and weakened the American economy (Obama 1). While establishing a problem, a persuasive speech should rely on existing facts which are easily accessible to audience to enable them ascertain the credibility.
Satisfaction
This part outlines a solution to the problem. Any persuasive speech describes the process of finding a solution to a problem that has been highlighted in the above part. Taking the speech by Barack Obama on Super Tuesday, he persuades Americans that if elected president, he would be the president that would ends tax breaks and empower Americans who work at home (Obama 1). He also mentioned that he would unite Republicans and Democrats together around a common purpose such as defeating the threat of terrorism.
Visualization
In this section, the speaker must show his audience the benefits of his speech. In this regard, the benefits must be realistic to achieve because failure to realize any benefits would reduce the confidence of the audience and make the speaker untrusted. For example, Obama reminds his audience that his presidency would bring unity to Americans and create millions of jobs (Obama 1). But these benefits can only be achieved if Americans make a decision to reject the prevailing administration and vote him. Again, it is interesting to notice the interrelationship between the anticipated benefits and the decision that must be made prior to realization of the benefits. A persuasive speaker must find a point at which he politely compels the audience to do his bidding (Petty & John 8). A persuasive speech must put responsibility on the shoulders of the audience. The speaker must dangle carrots to the audience and leave them to decide their next options.
Action
This part offers the impetus to act. The speaker must present his call to act. Such an action can be in the form of a quotation, a challenge or a summary. In his call of action, Barack Obama reminds his audience that “we are the ones we have been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” In this call, the audience feels part of the movement that can change America and are motivated to take part in the change process.
Part 3: Conclusion
A conclusion brings the speech to an end. It contains a transitory statement that signals the audience to the end of the speech. The speaker must restate the main points of the speech and appeal to the audience to consider their viewpoint. In political persuasion, speakers often call upon everyone to join them in seeking the change they need. In his speech, Barack Obama ends by reminding the cynics that American will reject the politics of division and come together to remake a world that is divided by hate. The concluding statement must inspire hope among the audience.
Work Cited
Obama, Barack. “Super Tuesday Speech.” Illinois. 2008, February 5. Web. Available at
http://obamaspeeches.com/E02-Barack-Obama-Super-Tuesday-Chicago-IL-February-5-2008.htm
Petty, Richard, and John T. Cacioppo. Communication and persuasion: Central and
peripheral routes to attitude change. Springer Science & Business Media, 2012.
