Persuasive speech-writing

I came across a great list of the six key features dominating JFK's inauguration speech and have clipped it here so I can remember it for future.

1. Contrasts "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country"


2. Three-part lists "Where the strong are just, and the weak secure and the peace preserved"


3. Contrasts combined with lists (by contrasting a third item with the first two): "Not because the communists are doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right"


4. Alliteration "Let us go forth to lead the land we love"


5. Bold imagery "The torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans"


6. Audience analysis

There's lots more good comment on this subject in a BBC article and in Dr Max Atkinson's blog.