Persuasive Appeals- why bother?

As you start talking about persuasion with your students, you'll enter the world of persuasive appeals. When you introduce Greek terms, you may see the student's eyes start to glaze over a little bit.

"Ethos? Path-what? Logos?"

"What's this old stuff? Does it really matter?"

Is that a question you can answer? Do you know WHY it's helpful to teach students persuasive appeals? What's the point of teaching persuasive appeals?

1. Your students need to learn how subtle persuasion can be.

One year, I decided to show my students some ads. (Which I didn't realize was increasingly being archaic thanks to Netflix, but I digress.) I asked them how they were being persuaded, and they didn't understand. We watched again. I pointed out a few things and I saw some of them brighten up and started to speak up with what the ad was trying to get them to do. I showed them political ads from both sides and it continued. They started catching more and more- the emotional language, the one-sided statistics, etc. From a neutral viewpoint, I wanted to show them that everyone is constantly trying to persuade them one way or another. Without studying it, it's difficult to even realize what's happening!

2. It will strengthen their own persuasive efforts.

I had my students do persuasive games and activities to try to warm them up as we headed into the new unit. We did something similar at the end as an assessment as well. Learning to identify and use persuasive appeals greatly changed how they approached it. Their method became more intentional and calculated. Instead of spitting out a bunch of arguments at us, they actually pulled together a much stronger argument!

Do you feel your students have a strong grasp on persuasive appeals? You can assess them using my new game with persuasive appeals. Check it out and see if it's a good fit for your classroom!

Leave a Comment ethos, improvement, logos, pathos, persuasion, persuasive appeals

Consider the Workshop

Public Speaking class sounds simple- right?
They get up, they give the speech, you grade them. That's the best way to do it right?

You might see some students improve, but overall, you'll find yourself with a classroom full of panicky, frustrated speakers. Is there a way to help your student become calm, fluent speakers? Personally, I think so. I call it the Workshop Method.

What does the workshop method provide?
If you were a swimming instructor, where would you start your lessons? Would you start in a classroom, explaining the history of a backstroke and the science of chlorine in pool water? Or would you have all your lessons in a pool?

The answer seems obvious. A pool right? I mean, the other information might be helpful at some point, but a student will need to experience the water, practice their breathing, and adjust their stroke in the pool water.

Did you know teaching public speaking is more similar to swimming than you might think?

We can (and should) teach communication principles, strategies, and methods. But it is just as important to make sure students are practicing their new skill.

When I was active in the classroom, it was my goal to have my students speak in front of the class at least once a week. It didn't have to be long and it didn't have to be fancy, but I wanted that feeling a swimmer would have doing practice laps. Practicing.

As you look at grading this method though, you can run into issues. If you make every single mini speech graded, your ability to have impromptu speeches becomes difficult. Your goal-driven students will panic and obsess. If you decide not to make them graded, your less-motivated students can shrug their shoulders and not even try.

This brings me to the workshop method. I loved this! You declare that those mini practice speeches are "workshop" grades. My student knew that meant the grade was completely focused on their EFFORT. Even if they stumbled, even if they slouched, even if they had awkward pauses in their delivery, it was ok, as long I knew they were TRYING. They would be awarded all the possible points if they were showing strong effort.

Results
I saw a huge improvement in anxiety in my high performers.

"So it's ok if I stumble, I just need to get through what I practiced?" Yes! Do those laps. Get up there, feel the pressure of the crowd without sweating about your final grade.

I also saw a rise in effort from my lower performers.

"So it's ok if I'm a little shaky for this one? Ok. I'll try."

Of course, an emphasis on final presentation was important. I made these speeches a heavier weight in grading. But before those days came, I wanted my students to have done a lot of "laps." So they felt more confident.

A 30 second speech about their pet, a favorite vacation, their future aspirations are all ways to get them up and talking for practice. I have a whole categories of products designed to get the students up and talking you can find here.

As you keep getting your students to swim their "laps," you'll see their comfort level, confidence, and poise increase. Work at taking away the scary feelings about speaking with practice.

Use that workshop option! Take away the terror of grading every little thing, and reward students for just getting up and talking.

Curious to learn more? Check out a FREE document in my TeachersPayTeachers store with more ideas on how to grade student speeches!

Leave a Comment anxiety, grades, improvement, practice, Workshop