Back to Speaking to persuade: Motivating audiences with solid arguments and moving language
University of Washington

Speaking to persuade: Motivating audiences with solid arguments and moving language

In the professional realm, we need to be able to argue without being argumentative. Whether you are fundraising for a nonprofit, pitching a business proposal, or suggesting a change to company policy, you are making arguments. In making the case for your topic, you often want to raise awareness, identify a pressing problem, discuss appropriate solutions, and outline specific steps for the audience. To be persuasive, you must be clear (the audience may have little to no existing knowledge), you must be convincing (you are trying to sway the audience that your argument is valid), and you must be compelling (you are trying to motivate the audience enough so that they want to take specific actions). Persuasive speaking thus requires clarity, strategy, topic mastery, plus a sense of style and presence. By the end of this course, you should be able to design persuasive speeches that address problems and solutions and that motivate audience members. You should be able to use rhetorical style strategically and deliver passionate and compelling speeches. Learners will record speeches, providing and receiving peer feedback.

Status: Non-Verbal Communication
Status: Verbal Communication Skills
BeginnerCourse17 hours

Featured reviews

RS

5.0Reviewed Jun 2, 2020

Great course! I highly recommend this if you're looking into improving your communication skills, especially communicating ideas.

PS

5.0Reviewed May 9, 2020

I liked it and I can say for sure it clears the doubts of a speaker and gives a clear understanding of how one can write effective speeches.Regards

FA

5.0Reviewed Jul 20, 2017

very interesting and helpful course, taught by a great professor in a lovely, easy and sometimes even funny way.

CW

5.0Reviewed May 3, 2021

This is an engaging course that sharpens skills on good and sound speeches that make sense and communicate ones key points with an argumentative but motivating speech.

GM

5.0Reviewed May 31, 2020

Loved it! Doing the whole 4 courses specialization. And the entire series is extremely interesting, quite fun to go through, and last but not least, very useful!

GG

5.0Reviewed Jul 4, 2017

Well done Matt. The course is full of practice tools how to prepare ourselves to convince others to our initiatives, thought etc.

KC

5.0Reviewed Jun 2, 2020

I thoroughly enjoyed this course. Professor has a good sense of humor. He did a good job at explaining what makes a persu

SN

4.0Reviewed Dec 11, 2021

Well-structured course with ample examples to follow the intrinsic components of speaking and presentation skills. Great Job done by Dr. Matt!

EL

5.0Reviewed Feb 13, 2021

I learnt a lot from this course. What I like most is the discussions around arrangement, style, and fallacies. Thank you, Prof. McGarrity.

BM

5.0Reviewed Dec 1, 2020

It was an amazing experience to learn the art of speaking to persuade. The materials were really helpful.

SS

5.0Reviewed Oct 31, 2020

This is an outstanding course for all type of professional be it in the field of sales/marketing, manufacturing and or any other industries .

VS

5.0Reviewed Nov 14, 2017

A really exceptional course. I have done eulogies and ceremonial speeches before, but I always felt that I wasn't quite connecting with the theme. This course helped to complete the jigsaw. Thank you.

All reviews

Showing: 20 of 100

Prerna Srivastava
5.0
Reviewed May 10, 2020
KAVYA MOOLYA
5.0
Reviewed Sep 22, 2020
Michele Dexter
5.0
Reviewed Jul 4, 2017
LATHRO
5.0
Reviewed Nov 11, 2018
Trần Quang Nghĩa
5.0
Reviewed Dec 10, 2020
Yogesh Kumar Tank
5.0
Reviewed Dec 16, 2020
Akhilnath Sreedevi Babu
5.0
Reviewed Dec 6, 2020
Guillaume Martin
5.0
Reviewed Jun 1, 2020
Goralowski
5.0
Reviewed Jul 4, 2017
felicia aurora
5.0
Reviewed Jul 21, 2017
Shyam Paudel
5.0
Reviewed Jun 21, 2017
Sharath Kowligi
5.0
Reviewed Sep 6, 2017
Aniceto Pérez y Madrid
5.0
Reviewed Jul 20, 2017
Juan Tellez
5.0
Reviewed Jun 6, 2017
Muhammad Wasim A
5.0
Reviewed Sep 21, 2019
Santosh Sali
5.0
Reviewed Oct 16, 2017
Vimal Unnikrishnan (ADNOC Gas Processing - OHB) Unnikrishnan
5.0
Reviewed Nov 29, 2020
vince stevenson
5.0
Reviewed Nov 15, 2017
Caroline Nafula Wafula
5.0
Reviewed May 4, 2021
Consuelo Ortiz Reguer
5.0
Reviewed Apr 6, 2018