Controversial, Significant and Limited Aspect
Persuasive Speaking: General Guidelines:

You must take a stand on a Limited aspect of the issue.
The goal of this assignment is to select a subject that is controversial and significant. Then you must attempt to persuade your audience to change some specific attitude, belief OR behavior regarding that subject.
For our purposes, “Controversial” and “Significant” are defined as follows…
• Controversial: A subject is controversial if a reasonable person can disagree with you on the subject and still be considered a reasonable person in the larger sense as governed by societal standards.
o “Smoking is Bad For You”
 Based on the above definition, is this a controversial issue? No, because wording the subject this way implies an attempt to change a belief about smoking that is generally agreed upon among reasonable people.
o “You Must Stop Smoking Now” or “Stop Smoking!”
 Based on the above definition, is this a controversial issue? Yes, because wording the subject this way implies an attempt to change a behavior about smoking that varies greatly among reasonable people.
• Significant: A subject is significant if it has a reasonable chance to come up in the everyday life of your average audience member
o Based upon the above definition I recommend avoiding stereotypical Persuasive Speech subjects like…
 Abortion
 Death Penalty
 Euthanasia
 Gun Control
 Legalization of Pot
o While these are all important relevant issues in our society, they tend not to come up as often as some of the more mundane controversies. While the following controversies are admittedly of lesser societal importance, by our definition they are usually more significant:
 One brand vs. another
 Mac vs. PC
 Vacationing in a particular destination
 Dietary subjects
o You should also consider that in a five-minute speech it is more likely that you will :be successful in persuading your audience if the issue is not such a big-ticket item.
• Limited Aspect: You should take a stand on a limited aspect of your issue. Although it should be an issue you are passionate about (or at least convey that you are passionate about), you cannot expect your average audience member to share your enthusiasm for the subject. As such, you must propose a change to your audience’s attitude, belief or behavior that is not too extreme. You are not likely to persuade your audience to become vegetarians in a five-minute speech. However, you may be able to persuade them that there is some advantage to them in limiting their red meat intake to a maximum of two times per week.