As part of AOS 3 - Using Language to Persuade, you will most likely be asked to present a persuasive oral to your class and teachers. Whilst your oral presentation should be persuasive it is not the same as a persuasive essay. If they are reading, your audience have an opportunity to go back and re-read if they need to. When they are listening your audience do not have this opportunity so it is even more important that you present your arguments in a clear and logical way so that the audience can follow.
The best way to do this is to have a clear structure and to take note of the points below.
Key elements of a persuasive oral:
Introduction
Introduce the issue you will be discussing. What is it? How did it come about? Why are people arguing about it?
Contention/Main Argument
Clearly define your opinion on the issue - what are you arguing? The contention should be introduced as part of your introduction, as should your supporting arguments. This way you are signposting to your audience what you think and why you think it and what you are going to talk about so that they can follow what you are saying more easily.
Supporting Arguments
Your oral presentation should have 2-3 supporting arguments. To work out what your supporting arguments should be, ask yourself these questions: What do I think about this issue (what is my opinion) and why do I think it (what are the main reasons I think the way I do)?
You should clearly list your 2-3 supporting arguments and each of these should be discussed in detail in your presentation.
Rebuttal
Your rebuttal is an opportunity to pre-empt what people might say to disagree with your opinion and then explain to your audience why they are wrong if they disagree with you. For example, if you are arguing for the death penalty then in your rebuttal you might pick the most common argument against the death penalty and explain to your audience why it is wrong. For example: People think that the death penalty is not a deterrent, however...
Conclusion
Don't forget to conclude your presentation with something interesting that reinforces your opinion. A great way to leave a lasting impact on your audience is to get them to feel personally involved in the issue. You might finish your oral presentation by presenting to your audience what you think needs to be done about the issue and how they can all be involved in the solution.
Some tips for an engaging presentation:
Use eye contact
This means no reading from your cue cards or from a PowerPoint.
Only write the main points or a topic sentence on your cue cards and make the font big enough that you can glance at it and still read it. If you put the whole presentation on there you might be tempted to read it. You can write it out in full at home to try to remember it and practice, practice, practice - in front of the mirror or to your parents and/or siblings. This is a good way to help you remember your presentation but also to check out how long it goes for to see if you need to cut it short or make it a bit longer.
Make your points clear and repeat them often
Remember that your audience will benefit from repetition when they are listening. If your points are not clear enough they will be confused and tune out.
Don't over-use PowerPoint
You should never put more than a couple of words on a PowerPoint slide and it is better if you use them for visual prompts - relevant images or small embedded video snippets could be used to help engage your audience and prompt you as to your next point.
Try to get the audience involved in the subject matter
The best way to do this is to ask your audience some relevant questions, get a show of hands, give them surprising statistics that will make them think or explain to them how they are involved in the issue and what they should do about it.
You might like to take on a persona
Think about who you could pretend to be in your presentation. For example, could you be a concerned parent? Could you be a school principal? If you take on the persona of a person who is personally involved with the issue somehow then it helps you to argue something that you might not even actually agree with and it might make your presentation stand out a bit from the crowd. A persona can be interesting because it allows you to think a little bit differently. Make sure you introduce your persona at the start of the presentation so people know who you are pretending to be.
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