Genre: persuasive speech

Purpose: to persuade

Audience: Representatives from the media industry

Word count: 825 words

TOPIC:  Body image – narrow, unattainable images of both men and women’s bodies persist in advertising. Body image is negatively influenced by the images we see in media, advertisements and magazines.

CONTEXT

You have been asked to present a speech at a conference session about misrepresentations. The speech must identify a group that has been represented inappropriately in advertising, marketing, television or other media texts, and call for this misrepresentation to be corrected.

TASK

Deliver a speech to persuade conference delegates that the media representation of a particular group in society is harmful, and must be improved. Analyse TWO media texts to support your perspective.

You must:

• develop your argument to persuade others on this issue, making use of the ways cultural assumptions, attitudes, values and beliefs underpin perspectives and representations on the issue
• select and synthesize subject matter to support your argument

Your persuasive speech should show an understanding of the relationship between language, argument and speaker presence. Your script and delivery should show clear awareness of the audience, purpose and context of the speech. It should include the following:

• establish a thesis in relation to the chosen group that has been represented inappropriately
• a series of points to support the contention, employing logical reasoning
• develop your argument to persuade others on this issue, making use of the ways cultural assumptions, attitudes, values and beliefs underpin perspectives and representations on the issue
• select and synthesize subject matter to support your argument
• references to two media texts to support your perspective
• incorporation of a range of rhetorical strategies to influence your audience, e.g. emotive language and appeals, figurative language, rhetorical questions, repetition, anaphora, antistrophe, antithesis, identifying with the audience, statistics, evidence, case studies
• verbal and nonverbal features appropriate to the context that complement what you are saying and influence your audience to take action
• call to action appropriate to the audience and context.