Persuasive speech ideas
Ideas for a persuasive speech work when your listeners can say yes on the spot: classmates can change a class habit, a team can change a meeting rule. Pick the audience first, then the claim and the ask.
Who has to say yes?
The idea board
Choose your room, time and tone, then press Outline on any card.
Ideas by who has to say yes
For a school class
Mismatched Socks as Individuality
A monthly mismatched-socks day lets students show personality for free.
The ask: Vote for it at the next student council meeting.
Who can say yes: Student council
Sleep vs. Cramming
No student should have more than two major tests on one day.
The ask: Sign the request to the principal today.
Who can say yes: Principal
Trade Schools vs. Four-Year Degrees
Trade school visits should count as excused days, like college visits.
The ask: Add your name to the email to the counseling office.
Who can say yes: Counselors
The Length of the School Day
Long block classes should include a short stand-up break.
The ask: Try a stand-up minute right now.
Who can say yes: Teacher
Retakes for learning
One quiz per unit should be retakeable after a review session.
The ask: Ask the teacher to pilot it this unit.
Who can say yes: Teacher
Refill stations
Every hallway should have a water bottle refill station.
The ask: Sign the parent-teacher group letter.
Who can say yes: PTA and principal
Peer tutoring counts
Tutoring younger students should count as service hours.
The ask: Sign up as a tutor this week.
Who can say yes: Counselors
Good news minute
Morning announcements should end with one minute of student good news.
The ask: Send in one good-news item today.
Who can say yes: Principal
Trip to a workplace
Every grade should take one field trip to a local business or trade shop.
The ask: Suggest a host business on this card.
Who can say yes: Teachers
Library after hours
The library should stay open one hour after school.
The ask: Sign the request to the librarian.
Who can say yes: Librarian and principal
For a college class
Binge-Culture and Attention Spans
Autoplay should be off by default on streaming apps.
The ask: Turn autoplay off tonight for one week.
Who can say yes: Each listener
The "Digital Detox" Myth vs. Reality
One phone-free hour a week beats a yearly digital detox.
The ask: Pick your hour before you leave the room.
Who can say yes: Each listener
Standardized Testing
A single test day says less about a student than years of grades.
The ask: Rate the claim before and after, then tell me what moved you.
Who can say yes: Classmates as future voters and parents
Book costs up front
Course pages should list required book costs before registration.
The ask: Sign the student government request.
Who can say yes: Department chairs
Slides before class
Lecture slides should be posted before class, not after.
The ask: Ask in office hours this week.
Who can say yes: Professors
Online office hours
Every course should offer an online drop-in hour.
The ask: Fill in the course feedback form.
Who can say yes: Professors
Read the lease
Every first-year student should learn how to read a lease before signing one.
The ask: Book a spot at the housing office workshop.
Who can say yes: Housing office
Back it up
Every student should set up automatic laptop backup.
The ask: Turn it on before the next class.
Who can say yes: Each listener
Campus pantry
Every student should know where the campus food pantry is.
The ask: Save its address in your phone now.
Who can say yes: Each listener
Skills on the record
Campus jobs should appear on a skills transcript.
The ask: Sign the career center petition.
Who can say yes: Career center
For a work team
Sleep as Performance Enhancement
An all-nighter before a deadline costs more work than it saves.
The ask: Set tonight's stop time in your calendar.
Who can say yes: Each teammate
Goal in the invite
Every meeting invite should state its goal in one line.
The ask: Add a goal line to your next invite.
Who can say yes: Team lead
What we'd repeat
Every project should end with a short review of what worked.
The ask: Book the review for our current project.
Who can say yes: Manager
First-month buddy
Every new hire should get a buddy for the first month.
The ask: Volunteer as the next buddy.
Who can say yes: Manager
Decide in one place
Decisions should live in one shared document, not long email threads.
The ask: Move today's open decision into the doc.
Who can say yes: Team
Focus afternoon
One afternoon a week should be free of meetings.
The ask: Block Thursday afternoon on the team calendar.
Who can say yes: Manager
Rotate the chair
A different teammate should run the weekly meeting each week.
The ask: Sign up for a week.
Who can say yes: Manager
Hear the customer
One real customer comment should open every team meeting.
The ask: Bring one comment next week.
Who can say yes: Team lead
Plain job ads
Job ads we write should skip jargon.
The ask: Rewrite one line of our open posting.
Who can say yes: Hiring manager
Training on the clock
Required training should happen in work hours.
The ask: Raise it at the next one-on-one.
Who can say yes: Manager
For a club, a board or your neighbors
Public Space Design
The playground needs shade and benches for the adults who wait there.
The ask: Sign the request to the parks department.
Who can say yes: Parks board
The Power of Puddle Jumping (or Play) for Adults
Adults should schedule one hour of play a week.
The ask: Write your play hour on this card.
Who can say yes: Each listener
Second Opinions on Car Repairs
Get a second quote on any big car repair.
The ask: Save a second shop's number today.
Who can say yes: Each listener
Self-Checkout Exploitation
Stores with self-checkout should always keep one staffed lane open.
The ask: Ask the store manager this week.
Who can say yes: Store manager
Tool library
Our street should share a tool library instead of everyone buying a ladder.
The ask: List one tool you would lend.
Who can say yes: Neighborhood association
Crosswalk lights
The crosswalk by the school should get flashing lights.
The ask: Sign the request to the city traffic office.
Who can say yes: City traffic office
Seed library
The library should start a seed library.
The ask: Donate one packet next month.
Who can say yes: Library board
Meet somewhere new
Our club should hold one meeting a year somewhere new, like a park or museum.
The ask: Vote yes on the next agenda.
Who can say yes: Club board
Emergency contacts
Every block should keep a shared emergency contact list.
The ask: Add your number to the sheet tonight.
Who can say yes: Block captain
Youth league scores
Leagues for the youngest players should stop keeping standings.
The ask: Speak at the parents' meeting.
Who can say yes: League board
Outline
- Attention
- Need
- Satisfaction
- Visualization
- Action
Outline filled. Try the ask in your own voice: the free app gives you half a minute and a score. Say this ask out loud
Tips for Choosing and Delivering Your Topic
Start with the people, not the topic. AmberWillo's guide to persuasive topics says to work out who you are targeting, what they think now, what they need and worry about, and the action you want them to take. Then run your pick through three quick checks.
Skip the Cliched Topics
Would your teacher hear it three times today?
Overdone topics meet minds already made up. A smaller, closer claim gets a fair hearing.
Pick Something Debatable
Could a fair person disagree?
If nobody could, you are giving an informative talk instead.
Support with Evidence
Can you find one fact and one story by tomorrow?
The fact proves it; the story makes it matter. Nothing turns up? Pick another card.
| Kind | It argues | A card from this page |
|---|---|---|
| Fact | Whether something is true or false | Refill stations, put as: students here can't refill water bottles between classes |
| Value | Whether something is good or bad, wise or foolish | Sleep as Performance Enhancement: an all-nighter costs more work than it saves |
| Policy | What should be done, and who should do it | Crosswalk lights: the crosswalk by the school should get flashing lights |
| Definition | What something is, or what counts as it | Peer tutoring counts, put as: tutoring younger students is community service |
The four kinds follow the chapter on types of persuasive speeches in the open textbook Stand Up, Speak Out.
Did your claim pass all three checks? Hear how it holds up when spoken: say it once in the Confidently app.
Ask for something they can do today
A persuasive speech asks listeners to believe or do something they were not set on before. The ask is the part they act on. Stand Up, Speak Out splits a policy speech's goal in two: passive agreement, where listeners nod along, and immediate action, where they do something before they leave. The textbook adds that the sooner people act, the more likely they follow through. So every card carries an ask that fits inside one day: sign, vote, save a number.
AmberWillo's walkthrough of the persuasive speech says a call to action should tell people what to do, why it matters and what comes next. Its piece on ethos, pathos and logos adds a fair rule: never ask the room for more than you would do yourself. Asking for signatures? Sign first, and say so.
Quick Structure Tip (Monroe's Motivated Sequence)
Monroe's motivated sequence moves a room in five steps, the same order AmberWillo uses for persuasive talks. Here it is worked on one card, Public Space Design.
- Attention
- Ask who has stood by the playground with nowhere to sit, then state the claim.
The Attention step is the hardest line to write; this guide on how to start a speech gives you openers that earn the room before your claim.
- Need
- Describe what the listeners already feel: adults stand in the full sun, then cut the visit short.
- Satisfaction
- Give the fix: shade and benches along the edge of the playground.
- Visualization
- Paint the result: grown-ups sitting in the shade while the kids play longer.
- Action
- Sign the request to the parks department, here, before you go.
With a claim and an ask chosen, follow these steps on how to write a speech to build the middle and the close.
Fit the reasons to the room
People who argue for a cause reach for reasons that matter to themselves. A 2015 paper in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (six studies) found advocates do this without noticing, and that arguments reframed around the listeners' own values usually persuaded more. A manager may care about time; a parks board about families using the park. Argue in their terms.
Eye contact needs care too. A 2013 paper in Psychological Science found that with listeners who already disagreed, more direct eye contact went with less change of mind, and people told to watch the speaker's eyes were persuaded less than people told to watch the mouth. Look at faces, spread your gaze, and never stare a doubter down.
Someone will push back before you finish; one impromptu speech a day trains the quick, calm answer you'll need.
Argue it out loud once
Say the ask out loud before you say it to them
Claims sound stronger in your head than out loud. Confidently draws two words at random and sets a half-minute clock for you to talk; then it rates how you sound and how you look on a one to ten scale, so you can hear whether your ask sounds believable.
Open ConfidentlyConfidently runs on iPhone and Android phones. The button opens the App Store, or Google Play on an Android phone.
Persuasion needs someone who might say no. AmberWillo runs small practice groups over live video, where people with the same goal take turns, so you can make your case to real listeners and get notes after each round.
Questions, answered short
What is the best topic for a persuasive speech?
A claim a fair person could argue with, aimed at people who have the power to say yes that same week.
What are some fun persuasive topics?
Try the lighthearted cards: Mismatched Socks as Individuality, The Power of Puddle Jumping (or Play) for Adults and Good news minute. Light topics still need a real ask.
What are some persuasive speech topics about sports?
Youth league scores is on the board. Two more: practice should end before dark on school nights, and every team should have a no-cut beginner squad.
What are 5 examples of persuasive speech?
Fact: students here can't refill water bottles between classes. Value: an all-nighter costs more work than it saves. Policy: the library should stay open an hour after school. Definition: tutoring younger students is community service. Plus an ask: sign the request before you leave.
How to start a persuasive speech?
Open with a question the room can answer, like who has waited at that crosswalk, then give your claim in one sentence.
What are common persuasive techniques?
The classic three are ethos (trust in you), pathos (feeling) and logos (reasoning). Add two more: frame reasons in the listeners' values, and close with one clear ask.
Sources
- Types of Persuasive Speeches. Stand Up, Speak Out: The Practice and Ethics of Public Speaking, open textbook, Saylor Academy.
- From gulf to bridge: when do moral arguments facilitate political influence? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2015. PMID 26445854.
- In the eye of the beholder: eye contact increases resistance to persuasion. Psychological Science, 2013. PMID 24068114.
- Persuasive Topics for Public Speaking: A Complete Guide. AmberWillo.
- 15 Steps to Write and Deliver a Persuasive Speech for Public Speaking. AmberWillo.
- Ethos, Pathos, Logos in Public Speaking: How to Use the 3 Persuasive Appeals Effectively. AmberWillo.
Sources checked on .