Imagine that you are in a dusty, crowded community center. Room 4A. People, more than you imagined,
sit in those ubiquitous, collapsible seats. Many more stand back against the wall. Many, many
individuals hold handbills you passed out regarding your public policy concern. Equally eager and
nervous you stand in front of the lectern. “Now, you think…now I am ready…” You
click on the microphone, examine your prepared speech about your public policy concern, and you
begin to speak with eloquence and passion!
An important component of civic engagement is citizen recruitment to your public policy concern.
One way to generate increased citizen recruitment is by using an effective, persuasive speech on
your policy concern
A persuasive speech is a type of speech when the speaker seeks to convince an audience based on a
spoken argument. Persuasive speeches are composed of three components: an appeal to logic, an appeal
to emotion, and an appeal to credibility.
An appeal to logic is when you persuade an audience with reason.
Example: “Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this
continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men
are created equal.”
–Abraham Lincoln
An appeal to emotion is when you elicit an emotional response from the audience.
Example: “Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy
— the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air
forces of the Empire of Japan.”
–Franklin D. Roosevelt
An appeal to credibility is when the speaker’s status or authority on the subject
persuades the audience.
Example: “Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy, I knew Jack Kennedy, Jack Kennedy
was a friend of mine. Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy.”
–Lloyd Bentsen
Source: (Learning, n.d.)
The National Constitution Center compiled the ten greatest
speeches in U.S. history. From Patrick Henry’s “Give Me
Liberty or Give Me Death” speech to Martin Luther King Jr’s “I have a Dream Speech”. Newsweek, an American news magazine, has the video of Dr.
King’s speech, while The New York Times has an excellent analysis of it.
Compose a 400-word transcript of your public policy speech.
Select a specific example of public policy from one of the following fields:
Economic policy
An example of economic policy is U.S. budget deficit spending.
Education policy
An example of education policy is the implementation of national education standards.
Environmental policy
An example of environmental policy is the Clean Air Act.
Foreign policy
An example of foreign policy is how we conduct trade with other countries.
Healthcare policy
An example of healthcare policy is the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)
Welfare policy
An example of welfare policy is Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
Write a brief speech advocating for citizen involvement concerning a current public policy
issue.
Using public policy analysis – include the following:
State the public policy concern.
Discuss possible policy solutions.
Include either a logical, emotional, and/or credibility appeal.
State your chosen, public policy solution.
Include either a logical, emotional, and/or credibility appeal.
Support your examples with information from the text and at least two, additional academic
sources.
Correct grammar and syntax.
APA format.
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