Persuasive speech aims to influence or change the attitudes and actions of the audience. It differs from informative speech in that persuasive speech tries to convince or "sell" an idea or choice, while informative speech simply provides information without pushing a specific option. There are four main types of persuasive speech: speech to convince and change attitudes, speech to motivate action, speech to inspire shared beliefs, and debates that discuss issues from multiple perspectives. Effective persuasion involves gaining the audience's attention, helping them understand the message, yielding to the idea, retaining it over time, and potentially altering their behavior.

1. C
DEVELOPING AND
DELIVERING A
PERSUASIVE SPEECH

2. What is persuasive speech?
Persuasive speech has the primary purpose of
influencing the attitudes or actions of the audience. It
is different from informative speech in many ways as
shown in the following table (Osborn & Osborn, 2006).
It is different from informative speech. Informative
speech is more about telling while persuasive speech
is more about selling.

3. Informative Speech
TELLING
Persuasive Speech
SELLING
Presents options Pushes for a choice among options
Speaker acts as the teacher Speaker acts as an advocate
Uses supporting materials to enlighten the audience Uses supporting materials to justify advice
Asks for little audience commitment Asks for strong audience commitment
Speaker’s credibility is relevant Speaker’s credibility is even more important
Fewer appeals to emotions Strong appeals to emotions
High ethical obligation Higher ethical obligation

4. C
FOUR TYPES OF
PERSUASIVE SPEECH

5. Speech to Convince
Speech to Convince: In this type of speech, no direct action is
needed from the audience. Its focus is to change attitude and
perception. For example, when a president of one country asks
or persuades you to believe that there are fewer incidences of
corruption in the government, he is delivering a speech to
convince.

6. Speech to Actuate
Speech to Actuate: In this type of speech, an action is needed
from the audience. A good example of speeches to actuate are
those of the sales agents convincing you to buy their products
or politicians who ask for your vote during the elections.

7. Speech to Inspire
Speech to Inspire: In this type of speech, the audience usually
shares the same beliefs and thoughts as the speaker. Its
purpose is to make the audience more enthusiastic about
something. An example of this is when a team leader
motivates her/his members to never give up and continue on
doing their job no matter how hard it is. Speaking during
commencement exercises, award ceremonies, and tribute have
the purpose to inspire the audience.

8. Debates and Public Argumentation
Debates and Public Argumentation: In this type of speech, two
groups of people or two individuals discuss a certain
proposition; one is ‘for’ and the other one is ‘against.’ This can
also be in a form of a meeting or panel with members giving
their own points of view.

9. The Persuasion Process
• Understanding the process of persuasion will further develop
your persuasion skills. According to William J. McGuire,
persuasion, through the Information Processing Model,
involves six steps: Presentation, Attention, Comprehension,
Yielding, Retention, and Behaviour. This model assumes that
the receiver in a persuasive communication is a problem
solver or information processor.