Persuasive

Persuasive is a platform speech event in the NCFCA and Stoa. The competitor presents a prepared speech that shows a problem and gives a solution or takes a specific point of advocacy, and encourages others to do likewise.

Goal
The goal of a Persuasive speech is to develop the speaker’s persuasion skills. The competitor must have researched their topic thoroughly and gives convincing arguments for their position.

Preparation Rules
The speech may be on whatever topic the student chooses, as long as it is an original work and its purpose it to influence the audience’s opinion to advocate a certain position or take a specific course of action. Like other platform speeches, the persuasive speech must be an original work written by the student, which can be used in other leagues in the same season, but cannot be reused the next year. The competitor must pick a new topic. The speech can only be entered into one category per tournament, but can be entered in a different category at a different tournament. The competitor may only compete with one Persuasive speech per tournament.

For script submission, the competitor must fill out the Stoa Platform Script Submission Form, which can be found on the Stoa website, and must turn in the full typewritten script of the speech and a works cited page. Only 30% of the speech's script is allowed to be directly quoted material.

Presentation Rules
Any direct quotes and major sources must be both cited in the typewritten script/Works Cited page and verbally cited in the speech itself, in order to avoid plagiarism. The speech script must be memorized, and the script or notes cannot be brought into a round, otherwise a 2-rank penalty will ensue.

No visual aids of any sort may be used, and gratuitous vulgarity is strictly prohibited. The speaking time starts when the speaker begins speaking, and will stop when the speaker finishes. Speaking time limit is 10 minutes. There is no minimum time.

NCFCA Rules
The NCFCA Rules for Persuasive are very similar to the Stoa rules, with a couple of exceptions:

1. If the topic is unsuitable for younger audiences, the speaker should warn the audience before the speech begins and allow families and younger audience members to leave the room.

2. The speech script must be memorized, and the script or notes cannot be brought into a round, otherwise a 2-rank penalty will ensue at any National Open, Qualifier, or Regional tournament. If a script is used at the National Championship, the competitor will be disqualified. Prompting from audience members is also not allowed. If audience laughter causes the speech to go overtime, the speaker should not be penalized.

Primary Judging Areas
Persuasive speaking is judged on the quality of speaking - vocal expression, hand gestures, naturalness of movement, etc. Persuasive is also judged mainly on the content and how well the competitor is able to persuade the judge. A speech that persuades may be ranked above one that persuades less, even if the former is a less-polished speaker.