--- title: Persuasive Speaking description: Persuasive speaking is the art of using verbal and non-verbal communication to influence the beliefs, values, or actions of an audience. Learners will understand how to structure arguments, use rhetorical appeals, and deliver speeches that convince others. category: personal-development subcategory: personal-development difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced url: /subject/persuasive-speaking --- # Persuasive Speaking Persuasive speaking is the art of using verbal and non-verbal communication to influence the beliefs, values, or actions of an audience. Learners will understand how to structure arguments, use rhetorical appeals, and deliver speeches that convince others. ## Available Resources 3 Videos • 4 Books • 4 Courses • 5 Websites ## Websites ### 1. Toastmasters International Toastmasters International's free hub of public speaking guides covering how to write, practise and deliver a speech, manage stage fright, and prepare for specific occasions such as business presentations, wedding toasts and eulogies. Suited to first-time speakers wanting practical, structured advice. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.toastmasters.org/resources/public-speaking-tips **Tags:** public-speaking, speech-delivery, stage-fright, speechwriting ### 2. Silva Rhetoricae Gideon Burton's Brigham Young University reference catalogues the vocabulary of classical and Renaissance rhetoric, cross-linking hundreds of figures of speech with the canons and the topics of invention, so you can name and analyse the devices working inside any text. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://rhetoric.byu.edu/ **Tags:** rhetoric, classical-rhetoric, figures-of-speech, reference, persuasion ### 3. toastmasters.org Toastmasters.org is the official site of Toastmasters International, a nonprofit network that helps people improve public speaking and leadership through local clubs and a structured education program. It provides program descriptions, Pathways learning resources, club finder, event information, and practical tips for speeches and leadership development. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://toastmasters.org **Tags:** websites, humanities-social-sciences, communication-studies ### 4. ted.com TED.com is the hub for TED Talks—short, powerful videos by experts across technology, science, design, and culture. It offers videos, transcripts, subtitles, and curated playlists with insights on presentation, storytelling, and effective communication. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://ted.com **Tags:** websites, personal-development, communication ### 5. mindtools.com Mind Tools offers practical business and management resources—articles, templates, checklists, and self-assessments—covering business communication, leadership, teamwork, meetings, and professional writing. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://mindtools.com **Tags:** websites, business-entrepreneurship, business-fundamentals ## Videos ### 1. How Great Leaders Inspire Action Simon Sinek's TEDx Puget Sound talk introducing the Golden Circle: why, how, what. Uses examples such as Apple and Martin Luther King Jr. to explain why communicating purpose first inspires people to follow, buy or commit more than listing features. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZoJKF_VuA **Tags:** leadership, golden-circle, purpose, inspiration, communication ### 2. How great leaders inspire action Simon Sinek's 2009 TEDx talk introducing the golden circle: why purpose precedes method and product in persuasion. As a model of presentation craft, it shows a single idea carried by repetition, drawing, and restraint. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0HIF3SfI4 **Tags:** public-speaking, persuasion, storytelling, ted-talk, leadership ### 3. The Power of Vulnerability **Author:** Brené Brown Researcher Brene Brown reports on six years of qualitative work on shame and connection, arguing that people who feel worthy of belonging are those willing to be vulnerable. Viewers get a research account, not a set of techniques. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o **Tags:** vulnerability, shame-resilience, empathy, ted-talk, connection ## Courses ### 1. Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public Speaking **Author:** James Engell HarvardX course built on James Engell's Harvard class Elements of Rhetoric. Using speeches and op-eds from American political history, it covers argument structure, the rhetorical appeals, stylistic devices and delivery, so learners can analyse persuasive texts and write and deliver their own arguments. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.edx.org/learn/rhetoric/harvard-university-rhetoric-the-art-of-persuasive-writing-and-public-speaking **Tags:** rhetoric, persuasion, public-speaking, persuasive-writing, argumentation, political-rhetoric ### 2. Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public Speaking **Author:** James Engell Harvard's James Engell dissects twentieth-century American speeches by King, Kennedy, Chase Smith and Reagan to show how argument, arrangement and style persuade. Covers logical fallacies; assignments include writing an op-ed and a short speech. It teaches transferable analysis (how a claim is structured, how appeals are sequenced, where fallacies enter) rather than delivery tips. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://pll.harvard.edu/course/rhetoric-art-persuasive-writing-and-public-speaking **Tags:** rhetoric, public-speaking, persuasive-writing, logical-fallacies, speech-analysis ### 3. Nonverbal Communication IESE Business School course on persuasive speaking, organised around ethos, logos and pathos. Covers building credibility, structuring arguments, storytelling and delivery, so participants can prepare and present a business talk that holds an audience. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.coursera.org/learn/persuasive-communication-iese **Tags:** courses, humanities-social-sciences, communication-studies ### 4. Introduction to Public Speaking This course offers a proven framework for crafting and delivering impactful presentations. In the professional world, academic settings, or public life, we're frequently asked to "share some thoughts." Many individuals struggle in these situations. This course aims to make you excel where others stumble. We'll explore how to structure speeches coherently, write memorably, and present confidently. Upon completion, you will diminish your public speaking anxiety, leverage rehearsal methods to develop a robust, engaging speaking voice, and execute speeches with dynamic movements. The speech model we'll practice is versatile for briefings, elevator pitches, interviews, and even as a blueprint for hour-long presentations. Whether you're a novice or an experienced speaker, this course will help you master speaking fundamentals or elevate your public speaking skills to new heights. As a bonus, you'll gain access to an immersive VR experience that lets you perfect your presentation skills in a simulated auditorium or conference room, complete with a virtual audience. You will receive real-time feedback, empowering you to refine your abilities through practice in a realistic setting. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Duration:** 5 weeks of study; 2 hours per week. | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.coursera.org/learn/public-speaking **Tags:** courses, personal-development, life-skills ## Books ### 1. Thank You for Arguing, Fourth Edition (Revised and Updated) **Author:** Jay Heinrichs A practical entry into classical rhetoric: Aristotle's appeals, kairos, deliberative argument about future choices, concession and framing, illustrated with political speeches and sitcom dialogue. Gives beginners the working vocabulary needed before tackling Aristotle directly. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0593237382?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** rhetoric, persuasion, argumentation, classical-rhetoric, aristotle ### 2. The Uses of Argument (Updated Edition) **Author:** Stephen E. Toulmin Toulmin's philosophical case against formal logic as a model for real-world argument, introducing claim, data, warrant, backing, qualifier and rebuttal. The standard framework for diagramming an argument's structure and locating where a case actually needs support. **Difficulty:** Advanced | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0521534836?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** argumentation, toulmin-model, informal-logic, rhetoric, critical-thinking ### 3. On Rhetoric: A Theory of Civic Discourse (2nd Edition) **Author:** Aristotle (trans. George A. Kennedy) The foundational treatise on persuasion, in George Kennedy's scholarly translation with commentary and notes. Covers ethos, pathos and logos, the enthymeme, deliberative and forensic genres, and the topics of invention that every later rhetoric builds on. **Difficulty:** Advanced | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0195305094?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** rhetoric, persuasion, aristotle, classical-rhetoric, argumentation ### 4. The Story Factor **Author:** Annette Simmons Annette Simmons explains how to use stories to influence people at work: six types of story to tell, including who-I-am and vision stories, and how listening and delivery shape persuasion. Readers learn to build stories that win trust where facts and argument fail. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0465078079?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** storytelling, persuasion, influence, business-communication, narrative --- *This content is part of Dantes.io - Your Treasure Map to Knowledge* *Curated by humans at Dantes.io. Personal study use welcome; republishing this curation requires permission (team@dantes.io).* View this page online: https://dantes.io/subject/persuasive-speaking