1. Understand the demographics of your listeners. Each of these will have an appropriate way of approaching your subject.


2. Choose a subject and do some research on it. Cite any works as needed.


3. Know your audience. If you are writing for a group of middle-age, middle-class housewives, you'll understand a better way to come across to them. It's important to understand these so that you can grasp the listeners' attention and hold it.


4. Open strongly. You'll need something to grab them from the get-go. There are several ways to do this. Depending on your audience, choose an opening that will win them within the first 10 or 15 seconds. You can ask a question, especially one that gets them thinking. You can make a joke. You can play on statistics, but have something to back you up on those (research, research, research).


5. Use props. Now that you've chosen a way to zing your audience, a demonstrative speech works wonderfully with props, assuming your audience will be able to see them. A display, slide-show, a magic trick, or whatever works in your situation, is very attention-grabbing.


6. Ask the audience questions pertaining to your speech. This is demonstrative in itself. For example, if your speech were about how certain habits in our life cause health problems, asking the audience how cigarettes have affected them or their family will 1)make the audience feel like a part of your speech, 2)show true-to-life examples, and 3)make people eager to hear more.


7. Write in a way that is reflective to you as a speaker. Do not write Shakespearean speeches if you cannot effectively speak in that way. If you're bored, unsure, or have negative feelings about your speech, how will your audience feel?


8. Be sure that in the end of your speech, you have left the audience with useful information, a good understanding of what you were talking about, and something to remember.

TIPS:

• Practice makes perfect. Even in the mirror.


• Memorize!


• Most people speak a lot faster in front of an audience or when feeling anxious and nervous. Prepare for that!

LINK

1. Think about your audience. Who are you speaking to? What do they care about? The first thing you should always do is put yourself in your audience's shoes and consider what they would like to hear and why.


2. Connect. If you have an idea for a topic, look for a way to relate it to your audience. Don't just talk about a topic in general -- try to help your audience understand and care about it.


3. Consider your own knowledge and background. What do you care about? The easiest speeches to deliver are ones on a topic that you know inside and out. Your own passion and knowledge about a subject will come through in your presentation with very little effort.


4. Look for timely topics. Pick up a newspaper or check the headlines on the Internet. Sometimes an interesting story can spark your creativity. Plus, it gives you a great way to open your speech.


5. Consider what actions you would like your audience to take when you finish speaking. How should they feel after hearing you? What would you like them to do? Instead of just speaking about a topic, think instead about trying to persuade your audience to take a certain action or change a belief or behavior.

TIPS:

• A great resource for public speaking is Toastmasters International. There are clubs all over the world and for very little money you can develop outstanding speaking skills in a helpful, friendly atmosphere.


• Another helpful sources are the how-to guides and lists of ideas of Speech Topics Help.

LINK

1. Determine who your listeners are. Because the more controversial persuasive speech topics you choose the harder you have to convince them. Figure out the social-economic status of your audience. How old are they? Males, females, ethnicity? What is their political, educational, religious status? What are their needs and interests?


2. Note down why the topic of your choice interests you and what your clear opinion is.


3. Answer these questions: What is attitude of your public towards your persuasive speech topic? Why do they have to agree or act? Can you make the topic more relevant to them?


4. Provide evidence, hard facts, statistics, new figures, illustrations, quotations, definitions. Ask yourself, why do I think something is true or false?


5. Appeal to the morality and values of your listeners. Why do you like or dislike something? Why do your listeners have to agree that something is right or wrong, moral or immoral, valuable or worthless? Why do you want to convince them? Offer examples the public will recognize, try to find common ground on related subjects and expert testimonies, and compare your idea with oppositional ideas. If you suggest a change of policy then persuade that there is a problem and get the audience to agree with your solution. Appeal to human needs, to reason and to emotion. Summarize the present situation, the causes and the negative effects everybody will recognize. Then present your solution to solve the problem.


6. Set the goal of your persuasive speech topic. Formulate it in a single phrase. Examples: Fact claim: I want to persuade that the aging population has negative effects on the economy. Value claim: I want to persuade that metal detectors in schools violate the rights of students. Policy claim: I want to persuade the public that arranged marriages should be outlawed.


7. Turn your goal into an effective persuasive speech topic statement that is clearly identifying your message. The Aging Population Hurts The Economy, Metal Detectors In Schools Violate Students' Rights and Arranged Marriages Should Be Outlawed are examples of a catchy persuasive speech topic statements.

LINK

1. Know the definition of audience analysis: determining the important characteristics of an audience in order to chose the best style, format and information/arguments when writing or speaking. Understanding the identity, personality and characteristics brought to a situation by the specific type of audience.


2. Know the purpose of audience analysis: Having knowledge of a specific audience allows the writer or speaker to understand the social situation in which he or she writes. It allows the writer to come up with a strategy to adapt arguments to best suit an audience. Conducting audience analysis informs a speaker or writer about the people he or she is talking to. This is important because based on what is found out in the audience analysis a writer/speaker can adjust his work to relate to an audience in the best way possible. It allows a writer/speaker to be able to succeed in their goal of writing or speaking whatever that may be. If a speaker/writer wants to persuade, inform, motivate, excite, scare, warn or cheer up an audience, then analyzing those people to which he/she is talking can allow them to pick the best words, stories, tone, style and delivery to use when writing or talking to that specific group of people.


3. Follow this acronym and answer the resulting questions. Just remember the AUDIENCE.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   • Analysis- Who is the audience?
   
   
   • Understanding- What is the audience's knowledge of the subject?
   
   
   • Demographics- What is their age, sex, education background etc.?
   
   
   • Interest- Why are they reading your document?
   
   
   • Environment- Where will this document be sent/viewed?
   
   
   • Needs- What are the audience's needs associated with your document topic?
   
   
   • Customization- What specific needs/interests should you the writer address relating to the specific audience?
   
   
   • Expectations- What does the audience expect to learn from your document? The audience should walk away having their initial questions answered and explained.
   
   
   
   

TIPS:

• Analysis/Understanding: Defining the background of the audience aids the writer in determining what information is already understood and what information needs to be included. More information may need to be included so that the audience can understand and reach the conclusion that your document intends.


• Demographics/Interest/Environment: Demographic characteristics of the audience can help determine the style and content of a document. Age groups, areas of residence, gender, and political preferences for example, are some of the characteristics to focus on. Paying attention to these aspects of the audience can also help sidestep any offensive remarks or topics that the audience would not relate to or appreciate.


• Needs/Customization: If there is more than one audience, you can write sections specifically pertaining to the corresponding audiences, or write in one particular fashion that applies across the board. Similarly, if there is a wide variability in the audience, cater to the majority--write to the majority of the people that will be reading the document. References to other sources with alternative information may need to be included to aid the minority of the readers.

LINK

1. Make a short list of your interests. Answer these questions: Is there something you love to talk about? Do you have developed special skills in your personal or professional life?


2. Determine the interests and needs of your audience. What do they want to learn?


3. Review the short list of your interests and make a decision. Choose the topic that is also interesting to your audience.


4. Research just one new single aspect of that topic. Look for new information that surprises your listeners.


5. Demonstrate the steps, stages, pros and cons, and effects by the use of visual aids.

Tips:

• To help you determining your interests: think about your favorite objects, products, people, animals, events, places, processes, procedures, concepts, policies or theories.


• To help you researching: look for new facts, figures, stories, statistics, surveys, personal experiences, professional experiences, quotations, comparisons and contrasts.

LINK