Keystone Assessment- Persuasive Speech
Instructions: Students must deliver a persuasive speech to convince their audience to
consider their stance on a particular issue or argument. The speech must be 3 – 5
minutes in length. The students must also provide a written outline for their speech.
I. Choose one of the specified topics provided by your professor.
II. Conduct research on your topic using the library databases to find evidence
(i.e. explanations, examples, illustrations, statistics, analogies, quotations from relevant
authorities) to support your position on the topic.
III. Use the persuasive speech worksheet and the outline to develop your
speech.
IV. Include at least 5 academic sources from the LIRN database to support your
position.
Students will be evaluated on the following:
• Central message: The main point/thesis/”bottom line”/”take-away” of a
presentation. A clear central message is easy to identify; a compelling central
message is also vivid and memorable.
• Delivery techniques: Posture, gestures, eye contact, and use of the voice.
Delivery techniques enhance the effectiveness of the presentation when the speaker
stands and moves with authority, looks more often at the audience than at his/her
speaking materials/notes, uses the voice expressively, and uses few vocal fillers
(“um,” “uh,” “like,” “you know,” etc.).
• Language: Vocabulary, terminology, and sentence structure. Language that
supports the effectiveness of a presentation is appropriate to the topic and audience,
grammatical, clear, and free from bias. Language that enhances the effectiveness of
a presentation is also vivid, imaginative, and expressive.
• Organization: The grouping and sequencing of ideas and supporting material in a
presentation. An organizational pattern that supports the effectiveness of a
presentation typically includes an introduction, one or more identifiable sections in
the body of the speech, and a conclusion. An organizational pattern that enhances
the effectiveness of the presentation reflects a purposeful choice among possible
alternatives, such as a chronological pattern, a problem-solution pattern, an
analysis-of-parts pattern, etc., that makes the content of the presentation easier to
follow and more likely to accomplish its purpose.
• Supporting material: Outlines, Explanations, examples, illustrations, statistics,
analogies, quotations from relevant authorities, and other kinds of information or
analysis that supports the principal ideas of the presentation. Supporting material is
generally credible when it is relevant and derived from reliable and appropriate
sources. Supporting material is highly credible when it is also vivid and varied across
the types listed above (e.g., a mix of examples, statistics, and references to
authorities). Supporting material may also serve the purpose of establishing the
speaker’s credibility.
