Convincing+your+Audience

To be persuasive, you absolutely must identify with your audience and make your audience identify with you. This is so important, and yet many speakers don't try to connect with their audience. For them to respect and value anything a speaker has to say, the audience has to know the speaker understands them and their needs.

To do this, a writer can never forget who their target audience is. In all stages of speech development, they must keep the specific audience in mind in order to write and deliver a speech that effectively persuades individuals within the crowd. To do this, writers need to understand who they are and what kinds of appeals might persuade them. Such information important to know is:
 * Who are the members of your audience?
 * What interests the audience?
 * What major issues are important to them?
 * Are they conservative? Liberal? Religious? Serious? Young?
 * What is the socioeconomic status?
 * Has there been recent local or national events that would affect how they feel about the subject or position in your argument?

Once you gain an insight into who your general audience is, position your argument to build upon your understanding of them. By building a solid understanding between you and your audience, and convincing them you care about the same issues that they do, you can better work to persuade them. It is all about being on the same level.

In this project, your select audience is the members of your fictional candidate's political party. Gathering what you know and researching your candidate's particular party, as well as setting up where they are giving the acceptance speech will help you focus your persuasive essay on a particular audience.

Last but not least, let's learn how to deliver your message.

Next Steps... Delivering Your Message
Image provided Royalty Free by Getty Images