Day 2: Structure and Persuasion
Shape your ideas so people follow them, believe them and act on them.
Today's goal
By the end of today you can structure a short talk with PEEL, identify ethos, pathos and logos, tell a short story with a point, and give useful feedback.
Agenda
- Warm-upSell Something15 min
- LearnSpeech structures that work15 min
- ActivityBuild a two-minute PEEL talk25 min
- LearnEthos, pathos, logos (and kairos)15 min
- Case studyTwo proposals, one vote25 min
- BreakBreak15 min
- ActivityThe 90-second story20 min
- LearnSlides that support you10 min
- ActivityFeedback that helps25 min
- ReflectWhat persuades me10 min
- QuizDay 2 quiz5 min
The session
Sell Something
A Toastmasters Table Topics format: pick an ordinary object and persuade the room it is worth having.
- Draw an object from the bag without looking.
- Take 20 seconds to think, then 'sell' it for 45 seconds: who it is for, what problem it solves, why now.
- End with one clear request, for example 'Put one in your school bag tomorrow.'
- Listeners note which sentence persuaded them most.
Solo
Pick three objects from around your home and sell each one to your camera in 45 seconds.
Group
In pods, each student sells one object. Use the Timer from Day 1 with a red card at 45 seconds.
Speech structures that work
Structure helps your audience follow you. Three reliable shapes, from simple to fuller.
- Opening, body, closing: the basic shape of any speech, even a one-minute impromptu answer.
- PEEL, recommended by the English-Speaking Union for building arguments: Point (a short headline), Explanation (why it is true and important), Evidence or example (a statistic or story), Link (return to your point).
- Ask 'Why?' after each statement to find your reasons, and 'Who?' to find the people affected, as the ESU suggests.
- Monroe's Motivated Sequence, explained by the James Madison University Communication Center, has five steps for persuasive talks: Attention, Need, Satisfaction, Visualisation, Action.
- Always end with a clear action: tell people exactly what to do and how.
Related lessons: Public speaking and presentations, Claims, Evidence and Weak Arguments
Build a two-minute PEEL talk
Turn an opinion into a structured, persuasive mini-speech.
- Choose a school or community issue you care about, for example 'Our school should install water refill stations' or 'Teenagers should learn to cook before they finish school'.
- Write your claim in one sentence.
- Ask 'Why?' three times to get three reasons, and 'Who?' to list who is affected.
- Pick your two strongest reasons and write each as a PEEL paragraph on an index card, in bullet words, not full sentences.
- Add an opening hook (a question, a short story or a surprising fact you can source) and a closing call to action.
- Deliver it once to a partner or camera and time it: aim for 2 minutes.
Solo
Record it once, watch back and tighten anything over 2 minutes 15 seconds.
Group
Pairs. Each partner delivers once and the listener names the Point of each PEEL paragraph back to them. If they cannot, the Point needs sharpening.
Related lessons: Claims, Evidence and Weak Arguments
Ethos, pathos, logos (and kairos)
Aristotle's rhetoric gives names to the ways speakers persuade. Purdue OWL summarises them.
- Ethos: elements that reflect the speaker's character and credibility. Why should we trust you on this topic?
- Pathos: elements that appeal to the audience's feelings and sensibilities. Why should we care?
- Logos: the content and organisation of the argument itself. Does the reasoning hold together?
- Kairos: elements that acknowledge and draw support from the particular setting. Why this message, to this audience, here and now?
- Strong speeches balance all three appeals. Emotion without evidence feels manipulative; evidence without feeling is easy to forget.
- Check your own claims for weak spots before an audience does: vague sources, over-generalisation, or a cause assumed without proof.
Related lessons: Claims, Evidence and Weak Arguments
Two proposals, one vote
Analyse two speeches to a student council and decide which is more persuasive and why.
- Scenario: at a secondary school in Dubai, the student council must choose one project for its small budget. Two students speak for 2 minutes each.
- Speaker A (shade structures in the playground): opens with 'Last June, three students in our year felt faint during outdoor break.' Says she spoke to the school nurse and the facilities manager, shows a sketch and a cost estimate, and ends 'Vote for shade so every student can be outside safely.'
- Speaker B (a new games room): opens with 'Everyone knows school is boring.' Says 'all the best schools in London have one', gives no cost, and ends 'It will be amazing, trust me.'
- Questions: find one example of ethos, pathos and logos in Speaker A. Which appeals is Speaker B missing?
- Which of Speaker B's claims are weak, and why? (Think: 'everyone knows', unnamed sources, no evidence.)
- Rewrite Speaker B's opening and closing so the games room has a fair chance. What evidence would B need?
- International twist: imagine the same vote at a school in Singapore during the monsoon season. What changes in the kairos of each speech?
Solo
Answer the questions in your notebook, then record your rewritten 30-second opening for Speaker B.
Group
Trios: one reads Speaker A, one reads Speaker B, one leads the questions. Each trio reports its rewrite to the room in 30 seconds.
Related lessons: Claims, Evidence and Weak Arguments, Disagreeing Well and Changing Your Mind
Break
Rest your voice and move around.
- Drink water and stretch.
- Glance at your PEEL cards once, then put them away.
The 90-second story
Stories bring pathos and make your points memorable. A short, true story with a clear point often persuades more than another statistic.
- Pick a real, small moment: a first day somewhere, a mistake you learned from, a time someone helped you.
- Sketch four beats in your notebook: the setting, the challenge, the turning point, the lesson.
- Cut every detail that does not serve the lesson.
- Tell it in 90 seconds, using a pause just before the turning point.
- Decide where this story could sit in your PEEL talk: as the opening hook or as the Evidence in one paragraph.
Solo
Record the story twice, once with your notes and once without, and keep the stronger take.
Group
In pods, each student tells their story. Listeners write the lesson in one line; the speaker checks whether it matches what they intended.
Related lessons: The art of conversation
Slides that support you
Slides are optional. When you use them, they should help the audience listen to you, not replace you. Monash University's guidance sums it up.
- One idea per slide, like a paragraph in writing.
- Minimal text: short phrases instead of paragraphs, to avoid overload.
- Use images, charts and graphs to clarify, and keep good contrast and readable font sizes.
- Do not use slides as a script; your audience should be listening to you.
- Keep styles consistent, use animations sparingly, and rehearse your transitions.
- Check spelling and cite your sources on the slide.
Related lessons: Public speaking and presentations
Feedback that helps
Good feedback is specific and points to the speaker's next step. Toastmasters calls a common structure the 'evaluation sandwich'.
- Learn the structure: open with genuine strengths, give one or two suggestions, close with another positive.
- Be specific: quote the speaker's actual words and offer an alternative, for example 'You opened with "Today I will talk about...". What if you had opened with your story?'
- Keep the guiding question from Toastmaster magazine in mind: what is the next step in this speaker's growth?
- Speaker delivers their 2-minute PEEL talk again. Evaluator takes notes, then gives a 1-minute evaluation.
- Speaker responds with only 'Thank you' and one question to clarify. No arguing or explaining.
- Swap roles so everyone gives and receives feedback.
Solo
Watch your PEEL recording as if it were someone else's, and write a 1-minute evaluation using the sandwich. Then ask one trusted adult for one strength and one suggestion.
Group
Trios rotating speaker, evaluator and timer. The facilitator listens in and models one evaluation first.
Related lessons: Active listening and asking good questions, Speaking up: assertiveness, I-statements and saying no
What persuades me
Notice what works on you as a listener, then use it as a speaker.
- Which speaker today persuaded you most, and was it ethos, pathos or logos?
- Write the best piece of feedback you received and what you will change because of it.
- Choose a topic for your capstone speech tomorrow and write your one-sentence claim.
Solo
Answer the three prompts in your notebook, then say your capstone claim aloud to the camera in one sentence and check it is clear on playback.
Group
Pairs share their answer to the first prompt, then each student reads their capstone claim aloud to the pod in one sentence; listeners say whether they understood it on first hearing.
Day 2 quiz
Five questions on structure, persuasion and feedback.
- Answer on your own.
- Read the explanations.
Block timer
Your journal
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Day 2 quiz
Score 80% or more to complete Day 2.
1. In the ESU's PEEL structure, what does the final L stand for?
2. Purdue OWL describes pathos as elements that appeal to what?
3. What is the last step of Monroe's Motivated Sequence?
4. Which slide habit does Monash University advise against?
5. According to the Toastmasters evaluation guidance, what makes feedback most useful?
Overnight challenge
Draft your capstone speech plan: claim, two or three PEEL points, an opening hook and a call to action, on one page. Find at least one piece of evidence from a source you can name.
Sources
- Toastmasters International: Shake Up Table Topics With Creative Ideas (Toastmaster magazine, December 2018)
- English-Speaking Union: Skill sets, Reasoning and Evidence
- James Madison University Communication Center: Monroe's Motivated Sequence
- Purdue OWL: Aristotle's Rhetorical Situation
- Monash University: Visual support through effective slide use and design
- Toastmasters International: A Recipe for the Evaluation Sandwich (Toastmaster magazine, November 2018)