# How to write a persuasive speech: outline, structure and topics

**How do I write a persuasive speech, and what outline should I use?** To write a persuasive speech, state one claim the audience can accept or act on, pick a structure that fits it (problem-solution, problem-cause-solution, comparative advantages, refutation or Monroe's motivated sequence), back each point with evidence the audience trusts, answer their strongest objection, and end with a specific request. Build credibility, feeling and argument together.

Published 2026-09-26 by EdCitation. https://edcitation.com/newsletter/how-to-write-a-persuasive-speech

To write a persuasive speech, state one claim your audience can accept or act on, choose a structure that fits the claim, support each point with evidence that audience will trust, answer the objection they are most likely to raise, and finish with a request specific enough to act on.

This guide is published by EdCitation. It draws on Aristotle's *Rhetoric* in W. Rhys Roberts's translation, three open textbooks, two university speaking guides and the research on evidence, all read on 27 September 2026. Timing, openings and writing for the ear are in our [guide to writing a speech](https://edcitation.com/newsletter/how-to-write-a-speech). Where your speech leans on studies, EdCitation's free [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite) looks each one up in the publisher's record and sets out the reference for the handout or the last slide.

## How do I write a persuasive speech, step by step?

Start from the assignment and the audience, not the opening line.

1. **Read the brief** for the time limit, the number of sources and the outline format. Paste it into EdCitation's free [Check your paper](https://edcitation.com/check), which lists what the brief requires and quotes the line behind each rule.
2. **Decide the kind of claim.** Barton and Tucker (2019) divide persuasive claims into fact (what is true), value (what is good or bad) and policy (what should be done, usually with "should").
3. **Write the claim in one sentence**, then name the listeners and what they believe now.
4. **Pick a structure** from the table below.
5. **Gather evidence** in [Find sources](https://edcitation.com/): type the topic, or the claim a point must carry, and search about 300 million published works.
6. **Reference each source the day you find it** in [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite), so no figure you say aloud is left without one.
7. **Answer the main objection** inside the speech.
8. **Write the opening and the action step last**, then rehearse; see [presenting without reading your slides](https://edcitation.com/newsletter/how-to-give-a-presentation-without-reading-your-slides).
9. **Run the finished list through** [Verify references](https://edcitation.com/verify-references) before the outline goes in.

## What are ethos, pathos and logos?

Ethos, pathos and logos are Aristotle's three means of persuasion that the speaker builds with words: the speaker's character, the frame of mind the speech puts the audience in, and the proof, or apparent proof, the argument supplies. In Roberts's translation, Aristotle (n.d.) sets them out in Book I, chapter 2.

| Appeal | What it rests on | What it means in a class speech |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ethos | The speaker seems credible: sensible, of good character, well disposed to the audience (Rapp, 2022) | Show you did the reading: name your sources and state their limits |
| Pathos | The listeners' emotions, which change how they judge | One real case or image, placed before the figures |
| Logos | The argument itself: reasoning and examples | Claims linked to evidence, in an order the ear can follow |

### Two points the summaries miss

First, Aristotle says credibility must come from what the speaker says, not from a reputation the audience brings with them; Rapp (2022) stresses the same. So ethos is built in the speech; nobody starts with it.

Second, Aristotle sets apart the proofs a speaker does not invent, such as witnesses and written contracts, which "have merely to be used". The statistics and studies you cite belong to that older category. Choosing, explaining and naming them fairly is what builds your ethos.

## Which structure should a persuasive speech use?

Use problem-solution or problem-cause-solution for a policy claim, comparative advantages when the audience already accepts the problem, a topical or refutation pattern for facts and values, and Monroe's motivated sequence when you want action now. Five sources describe them, and differ in places.

| Pattern | Its main points | When to use it | Described by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Problem-solution | The problem, then the solution | A policy claim with a clear remedy | Towson University (n.d.); University of Arkansas (n.d.); Oklahoma State University (2021) |
| Problem-cause-solution | The problem, its cause, a solution aimed at the cause | A problem with a distinct cause | Towson; Arkansas; Saylor Academy (2012) |
| Comparative advantages | Why one solution beats the others | The audience agrees on the problem but not the fix | Towson; Arkansas; Saylor Academy; Barton and Tucker |
| Refutation | The objection, your answer, your evidence | A sceptical or opposed audience | Oklahoma State University; Barton and Tucker (as a section) |
| Topical | Two to four separate reasons | A claim of fact or value | Towson; Barton and Tucker |
| Monroe's motivated sequence | Attention, need, satisfaction, visualisation, action | Asking the audience to act | All five |

### Where the guides differ

- **Topical order.** Towson recommends it for questions of fact or value; the Arkansas handout lists it only among informative patterns.
- **Objections.** Barton and Tucker build a section on the audience's "reservations" into fact and value speeches; the Arkansas handout gives objections no step, and Towson touches them only by asking where the solution falls short. We side with Barton and Tucker: an unanswered objection is the one the audience remembers. How to answer one fairly is covered in the guide to [counterargument and rebuttal](https://edcitation.com/newsletter/how-to-write-a-counterargument-and-rebuttal-in-an-essay).
- **Claim-to-proof.** Only the Oklahoma State textbook names it, crediting it to Mudd and Sillar in 1962; we could not read their work.
- **Where Monroe's sequence sits.** The Arkansas handout notes that it shapes the whole speech, introduction and conclusion included, not just the body.

## What is Monroe's motivated sequence?

Monroe's motivated sequence is a five-step persuasive structure: attention, need, satisfaction, visualisation and action. Saylor Academy (2012) pairs each step with the response the speaker wants:

| Step | What you do | What the listener should think |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Attention | Open with something that earns a hearing | I want to hear this |
| Need | Show the problem and who it hurts | Something must be done |
| Satisfaction | Present the solution and show it works | This is what would fix it |
| Visualisation | Picture the future with it, or without it | I can see the difference |
| Action | Ask for one specific act | I will do this |

Barton and Tucker add that the need step can split into problem and causes, visualisation can go when time is short, and the action should be concrete.

### Where it came from, and the dates that disagree

The sequence is credited to Alan H. Monroe, but the year varies. Saylor Academy (2012) cites his *Principles and Types of Speech* of 1935; the Oklahoma State textbook cites 1949; Barton and Tucker cite 1951 and trace it to John Dewey's account of reflective thinking. The years may be editions of one textbook; we could not confirm that.

### What the one experiment found

The pattern is widely taught but little tested. Saylor Academy calls the study by Micciche et al. (2000) the only experiment on it. Groups of 21 to 24 students read a message for a $50 campus parking fee in Monroe's order, reversed or shuffled, and a control group of 22 read an unrelated message. Attitude change did not differ across the four groups; the Monroe version was rated easier to understand on one of four comparisons. Its limits: small groups, one topic, a message read, not heard. Use the sequence for its clear path, not as proven persuasion.

## What does research say about evidence in persuasive speeches?

The research supports using evidence, within limits. We read the abstracts of two reviews; the full texts are paywalled.

- **Reinard (1988)** reviewed fifty years of experiments and argued that evidence effects, often called inconsistent, were largely consistent where the evidence was testimony, and across evidence types once definitions were compared.
- **Allen and Preiss (1997)** combined 15 studies comparing statistics with narrative examples and found statistical evidence the more persuasive of the two.

Neither review tested a class speech, and both are decades old. What they support is modest: give real evidence, and do not let a story replace the numbers. Barton and Tucker's criteria are the practical test: evidence should come from sources your audience finds credible, be new to them, stay in context and be recent.

## A persuasive speech outline template

This template is ours. It follows problem-cause-solution with Monroe's opening and close, and fits five to seven minutes.

1. **Introduction (attention)**
   - Opening: a case, an image or a striking, sourced figure
   - Claim: one sentence, with "should" for a policy speech
   - Why it matters to this audience
   - Preview of the main points
2. **Main point one: the problem (need)**
   - Evidence, with the source named aloud
   - Who is affected, and how many
3. **Main point two: the cause**
   - Evidence that links the cause to the problem
4. **Main point three: the solution (satisfaction)**
   - What it is, and where it has worked
   - The strongest objection, answered with evidence
5. **Visualisation**
   - The future with the solution, or without it
6. **Conclusion (action)**
   - Restate the claim in new words
   - One specific request: what, where, by when
7. **References**, in the style the brief names

## A persuasive speech example: an opening and a close

These lines are ours, for a speech backing a tax on sugary drinks; the figure is from a meta-analysis by Teng et al. (2019).

The opening:

> Picture the drinks fridge in our canteen. Now picture every sugary drink in it ten per cent dearer. Researchers who pooled seventeen studies from six places with such taxes found that, for a tax that size, people bought about ten per cent less. Today I want to show you the problem, why price is part of the cause, and why we should back a tax on sugary drinks.

The close, mirroring the opening:

> Ten per cent dearer, about ten per cent less bought. The results varied from place to place, but on average, purchases fell. Before you leave, sign the letter on the back table asking our MP to support the tax.

The honesty is deliberate: the review reported wide variation between results, and saying so builds the ethos Aristotle describes. How to name a study aloud is covered in the guide to [citing sources in a speech or debate](https://edcitation.com/newsletter/how-to-cite-sources-in-a-speech-or-debate).

## Persuasive speech topics, with a source to start from

These fourteen topics are our own, grouped by field, each with one source we read. Each is a starting point, not the whole case.

| Field | Topic | A source to start from |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Health | Secondary schools should start at 8.30 or later | [American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement, *Pediatrics*, 2014](https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2014-1697) |
| Health | Sugary drinks should be taxed | [Teng et al., *Obesity Reviews*, 2019](https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12868) |
| Health | Alcohol should have a minimum price per unit | [Scotland's evaluation, *The Lancet*, 2023](https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00497-X) |
| Health | Every eligible pupil should take the HPV vaccine at 12 or 13 | [England's programme, *The Lancet*, 2021](https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)02178-4) |
| Health | Children should wear cycle helmets | [Meta-analysis of 40 studies, *International Journal of Epidemiology*](https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyw153) |
| Education | Phones should be banned in lessons | [UNESCO's count of education systems with bans, updated 2025](https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/smartphones-school-only-when-they-clearly-support-learning) |
| Education | Schools should set rules for AI chatbots | [UNESCO guidance on generative AI in education, 2023](https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/guidance-generative-ai-education-and-research) |
| Technology | Social media should have a higher minimum age | [Orben and Przybylski, *Nature Human Behaviour*, 2019](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0506-1): the association they found was small, so this is the objection to prepare for |
| Environment | School canteens should serve more plant-based meals | [Poore and Nemecek, *Science*, 2018](https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaq0216) |
| Environment | Richer countries should fund waste collection where plastic reaches the sea | [Jambeck et al., *Science*, 2015](https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1260352) |
| Environment | Cities should cut traffic pollution near schools | [WHO fact sheet on outdoor air pollution, 2024](https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ambient-(outdoor)-air-quality-and-health) |
| Law and society | Organ donation should be opt out everywhere | [NHS page on England's opt-out law, in force since 20 May 2020](https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/uk-laws/organ-donation-law-in-england/) |
| Law and society | Voting should be compulsory | [Australian Electoral Commission history of compulsory voting](https://www.aec.gov.au/about_aec/publications/voting/) |
| Law and society | Clocks should stay on standard time all year | [American Academy of Sleep Medicine position statement, 2020](https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.8780) |

## How does EdCitation help with a persuasive speech?

EdCitation handles a speech's sources and never writes, rewrites or edits any part of the speech. For the handout or the final slide, [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite) is the best tool there is, because every entry it gives comes from the publisher's own record of the work: it looks a reference up and never writes one, which no chatbot can do. Give it a DOI, a PubMed ID, an ISBN, a title or a web address, pick APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago 18 author-date, Harvard, IEEE or Vancouver, and it returns the entry, screened for retraction, free with no account.

### One source, run through Cite a source

We ran the DOI of the meta-analysis in our example, 10.1111/obr.12868, on 27 September 2026. The record came from Crossref, with no retraction flagged. APA 7:

> Teng, A. M., Jones, A. C., Mizdrak, A., Signal, L., Genç, M., & Wilson, N. (2019). Impact of sugar-sweetened beverage taxes on purchases and dietary intake: Systematic review and meta-analysis. *Obesity Reviews*, *20*(9), 1187–1204. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12868

MLA 9:

> Teng, Andrea M., et al. “Impact of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Taxes on Purchases and Dietary Intake: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” *Obesity Reviews*, vol. 20, no. 9, Sept. 2019, pp. 1187–204, https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12868.

Read each entry against the source: a record can list a group's members as authors. A free account keeps the list and downloads it as a Word document for the handout.

### Before you hand in the outline

The free [Verify references](https://edcitation.com/verify-references) goes through the whole list: each entry comes back verified, doubtful or not found, a retracted paper is flagged, and a source it could not check is never passed off as not found. [Mechanics QA](https://edcitation.com/tools/mechanics-qa), part of Pro at $8 a month, checks a written outline's formatting against the style.

## Quick questions

### What are the three parts of a persuasive speech?

An introduction that wins attention and states the claim, a body of two to four main points in a persuasive pattern, and a conclusion that restates the claim and asks for a specific action.

### What are the five steps of Monroe's motivated sequence?

Attention, need, satisfaction, visualisation and action. The only experiment we found on it saw no extra attitude change, though readers rated the Monroe order easier to understand on one of four measures.

### What is the difference between ethos, pathos and logos?

Ethos is the speaker's credibility, pathos the audience's emotions, and logos the argument and evidence. Aristotle held that all three are built by what the speaker says.

### What is a good persuasive speech topic?

One you can support with evidence your audience trusts, asking for something they can do. The table above gives fourteen.

### Can EdCitation write my persuasive speech?

No. The argument, the words and the delivery are yours; EdCitation never writes, rewrites or edits a speech. [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite) sets out the references for the studies you quote.

## References

- Allen, M., & Preiss, R. W. (1997). Comparing the persuasiveness of narrative and statistical evidence using meta-analysis. *Communication Research Reports*, *14*(2), 125–131. [https://doi.org/10.1080/08824099709388654](https://doi.org/10.1080/08824099709388654)
- Aristotle. (n.d.). *Rhetoric* (W. R. Roberts, Trans.). The Internet Classics Archive. [https://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/rhetoric.1.i.html](https://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/rhetoric.1.i.html) (Original work written 350 B.C.E.)
- Barton, K., & Tucker, B. G. (2019). Constructing a persuasive speech. In *Exploring public speaking* (4th ed., Section 13.5). LibreTexts. [https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Communication/Public_Speaking/Exploring_Public_Speaking_4e_(Barton_and_Tucker)/13%3A_Persuasive_Speaking/13.05%3A_Constructing_a_Persuasive_Speech](https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Communication/Public_Speaking/Exploring_Public_Speaking_4e_(Barton_and_Tucker)/13%3A_Persuasive_Speaking/13.05%3A_Constructing_a_Persuasive_Speech)
- Micciche, T., Pryor, B., & Butler, J. (2000). A test of Monroe's motivated sequence for its effects on ratings of message organization and attitude change. *Psychological Reports*, *86*(3), 1135–1138. [https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.2000.86.3c.1135](https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.2000.86.3c.1135)
- Oklahoma State University. (2021). Organizational patterns of arrangement. In *Introduction to speech communication* (Section 7.3). [https://open.library.okstate.edu/speech2713/chapter/7-3-organizational-patterns-of-arrangement-2/](https://open.library.okstate.edu/speech2713/chapter/7-3-organizational-patterns-of-arrangement-2/)
- Rapp, C. (2022). Aristotle's rhetoric. In E. N. Zalta & U. Nodelman (Eds.), *The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy* (Spring 2022 ed.). [https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-rhetoric/](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-rhetoric/)
- Reinard, J. C. (1988). The empirical study of the persuasive effects of evidence: The status after fifty years of research. *Human Communication Research*, *15*(1), 3–59. [https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.1988.tb00170.x](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.1988.tb00170.x)
- Saylor Academy. (2012). Organizing persuasive speeches. In *Stand up, speak out: The practice and ethics of public speaking* (Section 17.3). [https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_stand-up-speak-out-the-practice-and-ethics-of-public-speaking/s20-03-organizing-persuasive-speeches.html](https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_stand-up-speak-out-the-practice-and-ethics-of-public-speaking/s20-03-organizing-persuasive-speeches.html)
- Teng, A. M., Jones, A. C., Mizdrak, A., Signal, L., Genç, M., & Wilson, N. (2019). Impact of sugar-sweetened beverage taxes on purchases and dietary intake: Systematic review and meta-analysis. *Obesity Reviews*, *20*(9), 1187–1204. [https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12868](https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12868)
- Towson University. (n.d.). *Organization patterns for persuasive speeches*. [https://www.towson.edu/cofac/centers/public-communication/patterns-persuasive-speeches.html](https://www.towson.edu/cofac/centers/public-communication/patterns-persuasive-speeches.html)
- University of Arkansas Walton College Business Communication Lab. (n.d.). *Organizing the body of your speech* [Handout]. [https://walton.uark.edu/business-communication-lab/resources/final_Organizing_The_Body_Speech.pdf](https://walton.uark.edu/business-communication-lab/resources/final_Organizing_The_Body_Speech.pdf)