Background reading · English

How persuasive speakers hook an audience

Eight techniques you can spot, name and use, and when each one backfires.

Persuasive writers choose every word for its effect on a particular audience. Once you can name the techniques, you can spot them in ads and speeches, and use them yourself on purpose.

Eight techniques to know

Rhetorical question: a question that doesn't need an answer out loud. 'Would you want to learn in a freezing classroom?' The listener answers it in their head, and usually agrees.

Inclusive pronouns: 'we', 'us' and 'our'. They make the audience feel part of the same team. 'Our field. Our lunchtime. Our choice.'

Repetition: saying a word or phrase more than once so it sticks.

Rule of three: ideas in threes feel complete and easy to remember: 'safer, warmer, fairer'.

Hyperbole: deliberate exaggeration for effect. 'The queue at the canteen is a mile long.'

Contrast: putting two things side by side to sharpen the difference. 'Some classrooms have air conditioning. Ours has a broken window.'

Emotive language: words chosen to make you feel something, like 'unsafe', 'heartbreaking' or 'proud'.

Listing: piling up examples so the problem feels big: 'wrappers, bottles, bags and straws'.

When techniques backfire

Too much hyperbole and people stop trusting you. Too many rhetorical questions can sound bossy. A joke that works with your friends might annoy the principal. Match each technique to your audience: who are they, what do they already know, and what do they care about?

Culture and connection

Speakers in Aotearoa often open with a greeting or a mihi, or use a whakataukī (a proverb) to connect with the audience. Use these respectfully and only when you understand them: check the meaning, say where it comes from, and ask someone who knows if you're not sure.

Sources and further reading

Written for Kōkiri Learn students in our own words. Check facts against the sources.

Used in: Voices That Move Us