Paper Instructions
In life we may find ourselves holding points of view that are different from, stronger than, or similar to those around us. When this happens and we have an opportunity, we will seek to convince them to change (if they hold different views), reinforce (if they are not as strong as ours), or encourage them to maintain (if they are already similar to our own) their views so that they are similar to our own.
It may be that we want them to change their attitude (how they feel about things), beliefs (what they hold to be true/or not), or behaviors (how they do things/act) or even their values (what they consider to be important or right/wrong). This could be for our own, their own, or society’s benefits. Our task is to have them listen to us and be challenged enough to accept or move towards our way of seeing the world or our perspective of reality.
think of 3 issues – factual (why something is true (or not) the way it is), value (why something is important and morally worthy), or policy (why something should be in a particular way) – that’s often debatable (where reasonable people have disagreements on or perhaps have reluctance to engage with) and build a case for why your audience should think, feel, or act they way you implore them to do.
N/B: As I said in the syllabus, stay clear of the beaten-to-death topics such abortion, climate change, gun control, COVID-19, racism. Some of these are grander topics that deserve a deeper conversation, and 5 minutes can’t do it. Also, avoid some topics that border on truisms (money can/can’t buy love/happiness, falling in love is a great feeling, etc.) or cliches.
Choose a persuasive topic based of what said above to outline the speech. You audience are between the age of 18 – 26. Please do the best choice of what you think they can interested and persuaded in.
You need to develop an outline for your speech – a blueprint that will guide you in your presentation.
This will need to be at least 5-7 pages long and have your sources (your researched information) cited.
At the end of the outline have your sources referenced.
Your speech outline needs to have at least 3 and no more than 5 main points – aspects of your topic that you will address.
You are to research your topic – find information about your topic from credible sources that will help you make your case. You will have no less than 3 sources.
You will prepare a PowerPoint to go along with your speech. The PowerPoint should act as a visual “aid,” meaning that it:
a) shouldn’t contain your speech word for word, but images/graphs/statistics/quotations that would help make your point
b) shouldn’t be more than 12 slides (for a 8-10 minute speech), and
c) shouldn’t have more than 20 words per slide.
After that please do a topic analysis
Directions: On the topic recommended for your speech, as a group, discuss and write your
answers (in complete sentences) to these questions. Be as specific as possible and provide as
specific of instances as possible. Each question should have at least 100 words.
1. What are the opposing views of your topic? What effect did these ideas have on your
speech? i.e. How did you use the opposing views to prepare/research your information?
2. What makes the opposing view SOMEWHAT wrong or unreasonable in your opinion?
3. What are the thoughts/beliefs in society about the problem/issue you discussed? What made
you believe/think it is unreasonable while others believe/think it is not?
4. For the solutions/course of action you prescribe, how did you determine what was the best or
most appropriate? Be sure to explain what makes this solution more right than others.
5. What examples did you describe of where this problem was alleviated through action or
altogether eradicated by people willing to act upon it?
6. What are the likely consequences if what you identify as a problem/issue is NOT corrected?
Be sure to explain the scope, complexity, and magnitude of the consequences. Give examples
when appropriate.
7. What are the consequences if the problem/issue IS corrected? Be sure to explain th
