Topic awaiting preservation: Persuasive Speech (Page 1 of 3)

We have to do a speech by the end of the term. And my topic is Homosexuality. I'm open-minded, I don't care whatever they think about that sexuality, I'm just trying to take some of your opinions.

Hmm...interesting debate topic, Yannah. But methinks Philosophy-silliness is a better place for this one.

--tiki

Look on the web, forums especially. Philosphy should have some information, more than enough.

k!, I'll go...bye!

Moved to Philosophy forum.

Jestah

What kind of speech? Do you have to take a position and then defend it? Or do you just have to describe information you find about homosexuality? It totally depends on what they are expecting you to say in the speech.

. . : slicePuzzle

And exactly what information are you looking for from us? Do you want to know if each of us personally is ok with it?

I've got no problems with anyone's methods of connecting with another human in any kind of meaningful relationship. I don't think that gay or lesbian relationships are any better or worse than heterosexual relationships. Having known a lot of gays and lesbians, I feel safe in saying that their relationships can be just as dysfunctional as anyone else I know.

However, as people, I tend to find gays and lesbians to be a lot more open minded to more than just their sexuality. It's as if living that way leaves them freer to express their other opinions as well as be more accepting of the oddities of the rest of us...
(if that statement makes much sense...)

Homosexuality has been prevalent throughout history, in particular in Greek history. I forget who the philosopher was who wrote an essay about how humans were originally two halves joined together, and were somehow split apart. We now spend our lives searching for our other half. His theory was that the other half was the same sex as ourselves - not the opposite sex, as we tend to think.

Dang - I wish I could remember who that was... I read it in college for an English assignment...

Bodhi - Cell 617

what?

Now, since this is a persuasive speech and not an informative speech, you have to consider exactly what it is you're trying to convince people of.

Are you trying to convince them that homosexuality is OK? That it is better? That they should try it?

Remember, a persuasive speech can't just cover a topic, it must attempt to change someone's mind about it.

I have to act (move) from time to time, my speech should have paces too. I'm not really good at these stuff.

What have you got so far? A little more detail about the assignment and what you're ideas are might help clue us in on what you're looking for. Shed some more light for us if you want some help on it.

Bodhi - Cell 617

wait, I've got to think...

Like Wes said, a persuasive speech is trying to argue a point, and the first thing you need to nail down is what exactly that point is. So, what is the point?

>waiting<

^^still waiting^^ *yawn*


Bodhi - Cell 617

Ok, here's the point:

I wanted people to think that Homosexuality isn't a porblem within this society, normal people's society, and that I wanted them to see that admitting them as human beings aren't a bad choice at all. That what bodhi23 are facts not just fantasies.


Thank god that we're not doing it in front of the class anymore, we're doing it on tape.

ummm... sorry to be rude, if it's the case. but uhm.. where's yannah from?

One of my favorite methods of delivering a persuasive speech is to take the other sides statements and show them to be inaccurate, misleading, or just plain stupid.

This should be fairly easy for your subject matter.

As far as a taped delivery goes, while it may alleviate stage fright, it makes connecting to your audience more challenging. Try to imagine one very interested person sitting in front of you and try to make a personal connection, eye contact, occasional smiles and questioning looks at the appropriate times. It is very important to speak 'To', not 'At' your audience. Persuasive speeches are very dependent on how credible the audience finds you, so try to come across as confident, and friendly.

quote:

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I wanted people to think that Homosexuality isn't a porblem within this society, normal people's society, and that I wanted them to see that admitting them as human beings aren't a bad choice at all.

---

OK, first of all, how do you define "normal people's society"? Also, I think you will find very few people who will not admit that homosexuals are human beings.

As norm said, though, you need to poke holes in the statements that oppose your point. You also need to support your own statements, too.

Starting from all of ^that^ - exactly what are the opposing arguments you're facing? Lay their points out in front of you, and start shredding...


You can start by reading some of the public remarks made by such people as Rev. Jerry Falwell and the retiring NC senator Jesse Helms, both of whom have made it quite obvious over the last 10 years that they are not gay/lesbian friendly...

They'll help you get your bearings. Do a google search for transcripts of their speechs and public remarks.

Bodhi - Cell 617

It might help to narrow your focus to a particular topic of debate. If all you want to say is that homosexuals are people too, and should be treated as such, then you might have a very short speech. I'd advise you to delve into specifics. Talk about gay marriage, or anti-discrimination laws, or hate-crime laws, or specific hateful statements or actions. That way, it's easier to construct an argument and to find quotes with some content that you can rebut.

I did a survey at my school here in Brisbane. And they all got the same answer, "they're sick" I was about to pop up like something because they aren't open towards this kind of subject. Like what's with them? Don't they have brains or something?
I was just as mad as somebody else. Homosexuality are not that big deal towards this society. One of them thought that they're normal just like us, humans. That's what they are exactly.

a bit of a stretch here - Normal - if you consider that word to mean "like everyone else" or "like the majority" or "average" then they're NOT NORMAL. But even that does not render them worse than anyone else in any way. Today, we say "normal" any time we want to show that we do not see something with contempt, but it is unnecessary. So either define Normal (good luck at that) or stop saying that someone "not like the majority" is normal.

Lets admit, homosexuals and lesbians are Different (from heterosexuals). If you want to debate that we should accept them as equals - go for it. If your aim is to try and stop the people from looking at them with disdain - you will never succeed, for human ignorance renders them (humans) unable to look past the differences, and most "normal" people live by the motto "He's not like me - therefore I hate him"

And personally, I think "normal" means "like me" - because everything in this world you compare to yourself - big, small, it's always relative to your person when you start thinking about it. if you say someone's rich - he must be richer than you, but not necessarily richer than someone else. So normal would be just like yourself.

Hey look at my speech and tell me what's wrong and what's much appropriate to say.

Homosexuality: is it really a problem?

I don&#8217;t understand why can&#8217;t people be open-minded, mentally and physically. Act their age and be mature enough to understand this whole topic: Homosexuality.
It&#8217;s hard to change people&#8217;s opinions towards homosexuality if they are strong and balanced at the same time. Yeah sure, that we people are free to judge other people&#8217;s race and other subjects too, but is it possible that judging people by their own sexualities are to be made as right?
Some people are disgusted by them, like some people in this school thought that they are sick, some thought that they are normal but in the end disgusting. They think that it is unnecessary for them to have their own relationship by any means of sexual activity. This is to compare with Heterosexual relationship where you are attracted with the opposite person.
Homosexuality is a fact of life, yet some people still feel that it has no place in this society at all. People nowadays are so easy with judging and concluding homosexuals as discriminations within the human race. They are humans, just like us, they have the right to choose whether what gender of sex they want to have a girl, guy, a lesbian or even a gay.

not bad, but needs a lot of work. especially the "or even gay" part

thanks, I'll work on it.

It's not finished as yet.

Don't forget to mention "homosexual marriages" In the Netherlands it is now completely recognised, with the same legal status as a heterosexual marriages, and I thought this point of view was spreading over to other countries as well.

quote:

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I don?t understand why can?t people be open-minded, mentally and physically.

---

Don't take this the wrong way, Yannah, but if you can't understand why people are close-minded, then you aren't as enlightened as you think you are. It is human nature, plain and simple. And if you are going to argue a point like this, you need to understand human nature and deal with the issue calmly and logically. If you approach this with the mindset you have expressed above, your arguments may end up doing no more than bashing those you don't agree with/can't understand--which is what you're trying to fight against in the first place, isn't it?

If you want my opinion, I think you do understand why people are close-minded, you just may not want to admit it. You need to recognize that you, as a human being, have the same capacity for close-mindedness and bigotry as the people you interviewed. If you don't recognize this, you will end up sounding holier-than-thou, and you will convince no one.

I hope I'm conveying my message properly. I'm not trying to get down on you, I'm just trying to get you to look at things from a broader perspective.

I think you may want to set yourself an outline before you get to writing. Divide your speech into at least 3 sections - an introduction, defense or reasoning, and a conclusion. Start the intro by stating what topic you are discussing. I think this sentence could be useful there:

quote:

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Homosexuality is a fact of life, yet some people still feel that it has no place in this society at all. People nowadays are so easy with judging and concluding homosexuals as discriminations within the human race. They are humans, just like us, they have the right to choose whether what gender of sex they want to have a girl, guy, a lesbian or even a gay.

---

But please please work out your grammar, it's atrocious. I would probably say something like: "People nowadays are so quick in judging and concluding that homosexuals are to be discriminated against." and "They are humans, and just like everyone, have the right to choose who they will have sexual relations with."

Don't say "I don't understand why can't people be open-minded", instead say "why people can't"...

This is an odd sentence:

quote:

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It?s hard to change people?s opinions towards homosexuality if they are strong and balanced at the same time.

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How exactly do you mean "strong and balanced at the same time"? What's the point you are trying to make here?
And I can sort of tell what you mean by this sentence:

quote:

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Yeah sure, that we people are free to judge other people?s race and other subjects too, but is it possible that judging people by their own sexualities are to be made as right?

---

but the structure is really weird. Do you mean that as individuals, we are free to make personal judgements about other people, but that judging someone by their sexual orientation doesn't say anything about who they are as people?

quote:

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Some people are disgusted by them, like some people in this school thought that they are sick, some thought that they are normal but in the end disgusting. They think that it is unnecessary for them to have their own relationship by any means of sexual activity. This is to compare with Heterosexual relationship where you are attracted with the opposite person.

---

"Disgusted by them" and "thought they were sick" are in essence saying the same thing. Try not to make redundant statements. You might say something like: "In a recent survey of students in this school, the overwhelming response was disgust in the homosexual lifestyle. Even the few students who agreed that homosexuals had the right to choose that lifestyle, also noted that they were personally digusted by the idea.". The last 2 sentences there could be merged into one sentence, something like: "There is very little difference in the way people in relationships relate to one another, whether they are homosexual or heterosexual."

I think you've got a good start. Pay attention to your grammatical and sentence structure, and outline some clear points to make. The suggestion about the growing acceptance of same-sex marriages is a good one to make. Not only many European countries, but also several states in the US recognize same-sex marriages.
And do remember you are trying to persuade people to think differently, not chastise them for being close minded.

Keep it coming!


Bodhi - Cell 617
*edit my own spelling and grammar!*

[This message has been edited by bodhi23 (edited 06-05-2003).]

I have deleted that yesterday, I'm still working on it, it's due on tuesday.

I have changed the whole speech, I'm typing it still.

post the copy when you get it done - we'll give it a once over...

Bodhi - Cell 617

Yes, I would like to review it too.

Ok, here it is now...
So sorry if I adopted some sentences that Bodhi had.

The Essay:


Greetings:
Good Morning to you all, (teacher?s name)

The speech:

Look, I don?t really have any problems with anybody?s relationship, whether they are in homosexual or in heterosexual relationships. There are no differences between the two kinds.
As person, I tend to find gays and lesbians to be more open-minded to more than just their sexuality than from any heterosexual being that I ever known.
All I?m saying is that homosexuality if a fact of life. If you think that they are not normal as you compare them to yourself then perhaps you are the one who has problems not them.
If you?re wondering if I?m homosexual myself the answer would be NO. What made this topic so interesting for me is all the people who have experienced such insult all their lives. And what they are mentally as I had friends who are homosexuals before.
There have been gays and lesbians who wanted to be accepted as human beings by the public and by the Christian churches over the passed decades. It was such a hard effort for them to fight for their freedom and get respected by others.
Anti-homosexual activists like Senator Jesse Helms of U.S.A. have tried to prevent gays and lesbians from spreading. He even refused to support money to aid families with victims of AIDS, tried to either prevent pro-homosexual legislation from being passed or slipping anti-homosexual legislation into various senate bills. He then attacked school. Stopping them from counseling or teaching some facts about this kind of subject.
What he can?t see and realize is that homosexual teenagers who couldn?t get counseled are much likely to end-up committing suicide, which will only raise the death rolls of teenage people.
In most countries, same-sex relationships are recognized as legal nowadays, which I think is the right thing to do.
Moreover, some so ?religious? people who actually have read the whole bible says that homosexuality is an illness and is forbidden by GOD himself or is it really? Then if it is, why do some people who serves God commits such homosexual acts themselves?
Back then, in the ancient years. Homosexuality isn?t as big as it is now. It was actually practiced, like in Greece.
Back on senator Jesse Helms, people like him have no place within the government. Thank God that he?s finally out of his position.
Why can?t we be all open-minded and not be bigots?
All I meant by that is that we can?t be immature throughout our lives
These can be prevented from re-occurring if we could only understand them or try at least.

I actually did it, I know there are some grammar mistakes but...

[This message has been edited by Yannah (edited 06-10-2003).]

Yannah:

Grammar aside (and your grammar IS improving, keep up the good work), I would change the part where you suggest that your audience may have a problem if they feel homosexuality is not normal.

You don't want these people to be defensive or they will never hear a word you say. Try something along these lines-

" .... if you feel homosexuals are not normal people, take a minute and consider that not everyone else may view you as normal. Does that mean you are any less of a person? Of course not. Does that mean that you are not an individual of value, someone who has thoughts, feelings and abilities? Of course it does not mean those things, you are a human being."

Something like that may help some people in the audience identify that as humans, they share more similarities with homosexuals than differences.

It's over, I have done it.

Yannah, I'm glad you got through your speech. Now that the pressure is off, perhaps we can discuss some of the content you put into it.

First off, why do you think that heterosexual and homosexual relationships are identical?

They both are kinds of relationships and are somewhat attracted.

That is true. You said there were no differences though. I don't think that is true. There are a lot of different kinds of relationships that people can have with one another but I don't see how they are all exactly the same.

Let me ask you this. What do you think of two men and one woman marriages? Is that exactly the same as a heterosexual or a homosexual relationship in your view?