Persuasive techniques in writing and speech

Six resources to aid teaching persuasive writing and speaking suitable for secondary school students.

1. Persuasive techniques: This PowerPoint file asks students to identify fourteen different techniques in examples. It is to be used after the students know what the techniques are to reinforce learning.
2. Persuasive techniques checklist: The Word file is a list of fifteen different persuasive techiques to print and give out to students. They can use it as an aid when reading persuasive writing or as checklist to evaluate their own writing. I have used this list with 11 to 16 year olds.
3. Persuasive speaking lesson idea: This is a lesson outline that I have used many times. It starts with arguing in role in small groups. The senario is then changed so they make short individual speeches. The final activity is persuading the teacher to give one of them 50p.
4. Stop Your Children Playing Video Games: This is an article that argues parents should stop their children playing games. It is deliberately provocative. It uses persuasive techniques excessively. It excites students because gaming is a topic close to their hearts.
5. Cryonics: This is a leaflet that tries to persuade the reader to get their body frozen when they die. The facts in the text are true – companies in Britain are offering the service – but the names have been changed. Students find the topic interesting.
6. Debate Topics: This PowerPoint presentation is a list of twenty topics to promote discussion in the class. The file can be changed so you can leave out topics you don’t think are suitable for your class or add others.

I have used all the resources in this bundle many times and so have revised and refined them. They are not meant to replace your teaching. They are designed to supplement it and save you work.
All the resources are editable so you can change them. For example, you many want to ‘rule of three’ to ‘pattern of three’.