Once you've understood the key traits of a persuasive speech, it's time to choose a format. Always check your syllabus or assignment sheet to determine whether or not your professor would like you to use a certain persuasive structure.
Types of Persuasive Speaking Formats
There are three key methods for organizing a persuasive speech. Different types, topics, and arguments will call for different formats.
- Cause-and-effect: This format is used to illustrate a situation's causes and subsequent effects.
- Problem-and-solution: This format is used to illustrate an existing problem and propose a potential solution(s).
- Monroe's Motivated Sequence: This five-step format may seem overwhelming at first, but it is designed to grab the audience's attention, describe an existing problem, propose a solution, explain how the solution would fix the problem, and urge the audience to take action. For a more detailed explanation of MMS, click here (hyperlink to FAQ on Monroe's).
