Persuasive Speeches Outline Template (Page 3 of 6) in pdf

audiences see through it and interpret it as being disrespectful to them. For that reason alone, you should take care to develop and

deliver the best speech possible.

Terminal Credibility

Once the speech concludes you will have a new level of credibility on the subject and with the audience, known as your terminal

credibility. This level is the initial credibility you walked in with plus the credibility you derived during your remarks. Obviously, you

hope you finish with more credibility than you began with due to your efforts within the speech. The level of trustworthiness you finish

with is referred to as terminal credibility, and it also becomes your initial credibility the next time you speak to a similar audience about

the same topic.

It is important to note that if you finish a speech and are less credible with an audience, it is a significant challenge to recover that

lost trustworthiness and believability. This can significantly hinder any future attempts at persuasion with that audience and possibly

others as well. Suffice it to say, no matter what you plan to persuade an audience about, being perceived as credible is essential to

your success. In the next section, we will discuss the different types of persuasive speeches and presentations you might find yourself

delivering at some point. As we cover them, think about ways you might enhance your credibility in each situation.

Types of Persuasive Speeches

We are surrounded by persuasive messages that try to get us to believe something, feel something, or do something. There is so much

information available today that you can find information to support almost any claim. There are four forms of persuasive speech we

will cover in this section. Some persuasive speeches make claims about fact, others argue values, some suggest policies, and the final

group refutes the positions of others.

Questions of Fact

Facts are not really the stubborn things people think they are. In actuality, facts are very hard to prove, just ask a lawyer, judge, or jury.

Trying to convince someone of a fact is simply an exercise in persuasion, not science. Typically, persuasive speeches of fact occur

when the speaker argues that something did or did not happen. Whenever there is a question about the occurrence or existence of

something, then we see a persuasive message regarding a question of fact. Often, things we take for granted can be disputed. For

instance, look at the lunar landing by Neil Armstrong and his crew. There are people who argue this whole occurrence was faked, and

they have data that supports their argument, thus calling this “fact” into question. Whether or not Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in

killing President Kennedy is another example of a question of fact.

Facts are called into question more than we might realize. In court, juries are asked to listen to two different interpretations of an event

and try to decide what the facts are. This is a very difficult task, especially when both sides know how to effectively research and wield

information. So, facts are not stubborn things, but rather they are more often determinations of which interpretations are the most

accurate. This leaves the door open to persuasion on questions of fact.

Questions of Value

Sometimes facts are not in dispute, but rather we wish to try and convince people to place value on a belief or object. This topic

represents a second type of persuasive speech, one that deals with questions of value. People place value on almost everything.

We value money, time, freedom, choice, family, friendship, and a whole host of other things, but when people try to get us to value

something more than something else, or to value it more than we already do, they are providing an argument in response to a question

of value.

Questions of value come into play in a variety of different contexts. In sports, teams trade players, but in order to be persuaded to do

so they need to be convinced they are receiving value in return. In politics, pro-life and pro-choice supporters clash over differences of

value. In business, companies often must answer questions of value when staff members receive contract offers from rival companies

and must ask themselves how much they value keeping that employee. As you can see, we place value on a great many things in life,

and people try to convince us to value things in the same order and way they do, thus creating an opening for persuasive messages

about the value of objects, people, and positions.

Questions of Policy

Another common area in which persuasion comes into play is in policy, or decisions on how to act in the future. While questions of fact

in the courtroom deal most often with what has happened already, and values are how we feel now or in the moment, questions of

policy refer to persuasive efforts about how we should act in the future. Questions of policy advocate a course of action. Again, these

types of questions come up in many different settings, from home life to governmental affairs.

Persuasive Speeches Outline Template Page 3

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