The persuasive speech is one of the most frequently tested written forms in IGCSE English Language, and one of the most enjoyable to write once you know what you’re doing. Unlike an essay, a speech has an audience, a setting and a relationship between speaker and listeners that shapes every choice you make.
Know What the Exam Is Really Asking
In Cambridge IGCSE First Language English, a speech usually appears as a directed writing task: you’re given one or two texts and asked to write a speech in response. That changes everything. You’re marked on your writing and on how well you use and evaluate the ideas in those texts. A brilliant speech that ignores the reading material will lose a large share of the marks.
So before you plan a single rhetorical flourish, read the texts closely, decide which ideas you agree with and which you’d challenge, and build your speech from them.
Know the Form
A speech is written to be heard, not read. That means:
- Address your audience directly: name the audience the task gives you, such as “Fellow students” or “Members of the school council”. Avoid the default “Ladies and gentlemen”, which examiners see constantly
- Write as a person with a point of view: “I believe…”, “I have seen first-hand…”. A speaker who cares is more persuasive than one who doesn’t
- Vary your sentence length: short sentences create emphasis. Longer ones build momentum. Mixing the two gives a speech its rhythm
The Rhetoric That Persuades
Persuasion has worked the same way since Aristotle, who identified three ways to win over an audience:
- Ethos (credibility): why should they trust you? Show you understand the issue and have the audience’s interests at heart
- Pathos (emotion): make them feel something, whether that’s anger, sympathy, hope or guilt
- Logos (logic): give them reasons, evidence and facts they can’t easily dismiss
The strongest speeches use all three. Within them, these are the techniques to have ready:
- Rule of three: “We need courage, commitment and compassion.” Lists of three sound complete and memorable
- Rhetorical questions: “How long must we wait?” They make the audience answer in their heads, and the answer is always yours
- Repetition: “Not for us. Not for our children. For every generation that follows.” Repeating a word or phrase drives the point home
- Anecdote: a short personal story makes an abstract issue real and builds both ethos and pathos
- Facts and statistics: a striking figure gives your argument weight (in an exam, they need to be plausible)
- Inclusive pronouns: “we”, “us” and “our” turn listeners into allies
- Emotive language: carefully chosen words that stir feeling, such as “abandoned” rather than “left”
- Counterargument: “Some of you will say…”, followed by why they’re wrong. Dealing with the opposition makes you look reasonable and confident
- Direct appeal: tell the audience exactly what you want them to do
Knowing the techniques is the easy part. The skill examiners reward is choosing the right technique for the audience and purpose, and using it with control rather than cramming in a device every sentence. That judgement is what we practise in class.
A Strong Opening in Practice
Imagine the task asks you to speak to your school council about extending the lunch break. Compare:
Weak: Ladies and gentlemen, today I am going to talk to you about why I think lunch should be longer.
Strong: Fellow students, how many of you ate lunch standing up today? If you did, you’re not alone, and that is exactly the problem.
The second opening names the audience, uses a rhetorical question and inclusive language, and makes the issue personal in two sentences. The first just announces the topic.
Common Mistakes
- Writing an essay instead of a speech: no audience address, no speaker’s voice, no rhetoric
- Ignoring the reading texts in a directed writing task, or copying from them instead of evaluating their ideas
- Listing points without developing any of them. Marks come from the quality of the argument, not the number of points
- Using every device in one paragraph. Control is more persuasive than quantity
- Ending weakly. “In conclusion, I hope you will consider my points” is not a line anyone remembers
For more on reading closely before you write, see my post on how to use quotations effectively, and my IGCSE English revision plan.
Persuasive writing, descriptive writing and all the core IGCSE English Language forms are practised regularly in Thorogood English’s small-group classes. Find out more about my live classes, or join the waiting list for January 2027.
