Writing persuasive speeches

Words and deeds Jimmy Reid was a Scottish politician. In 1971, he was elected Rector of Glasgow University by the students to represent them on the management board of the university. His speech at the ceremony which installed him as rector became known as one of the greatest speeches ever made in Scotland: the New York Times reprinted the text, calling it the greatest speech since Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

An extract of Reid's speech can be found here: Your teacher will give you the text of the speech. Watch the extract and read the text. Discuss and analyse the ways in which Reid delivers the speech to persuade the listener.

Text of the speech extract To the students [of Glasgow University] I address this appeal. Reject these attitudes. Reject the values and false morality that underlie these attitudes. A rat race is for rats. We're not rats. We're human beings. Reject the insidious pressures in society that would blunt your critical faculties to all that is happening around you, that would caution silence in the face of injustice lest you jeopardise your chances of promotion and self- advancement. This is how it starts, and before you know where you are, you're a fully paid-up member of the rat-pack. The price is too high. It entails the loss of your dignity and human spirit. Or as Christ put it, 'What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul?'

What makes this a good speech? Look at the sheet which analyses Reid's delivery of the speech. How does the text persuade the audience? How does the delivery persuade the audience? How does the delivery add to the message?

Delivering the speech Look at the sheets which give you the text of some other extracts of Reid's speech. Discuss how you would deliver the speech to ensure its impact. Think about repetition, pace, the use of pauses, possible ad libs and tone.

Your own Take a piece of persuasive writing you have written. Think about all or part of it as a speech. How would you change the text? Annotate it to show how you would deliver it as a speech rather than as an essay. Try it with your peers as an audience!

Self / Peer evaluation Evaluate your response to this lesson on the following scales, where 1 is strongly disagree, 3 is neither agree nor disagree and 5 is strongly agree:

I understand the difference between writing a speech and writing an essay I understand the ways in which language can be used to persuade a listener as well as a reader I can effectively use language that is designed to be spoken rather than read Make a comment about what you have learned from these tasks: