Lesson video

Hello, everyone, it's Mr. Brown with your English lesson for today and it's a really important one.

Today we'll be focusing on convincing an audience to agree with your opinion, how we are going to convince a group of people that we might not even know to agree with our opinions, a really important skill to have.

So let's get started.

The learning outcome for today's lesson is I can make an audience agree with me by giving convincing reasons that support my opinions, making an audience agree with you by giving convincing reasons that support your opinions.

That's what we'll be doing in today's lesson.

And the key words we have are audience, convince.

Let's say those together, my turn, your turn.

Audience, convince, very good.

The lesson outline for today's lesson on convincing an audience to agree with your opinion is we're going to start looking at choosing a convincing reason first, that will be the first half of our lesson.

Then we'll move on to convincing an audience and we'll look at some of the skills you can use to help you convince an audience.

So choosing a convincing reason, let's first look at what an audience actually is.

An audience is a group of people gathered together to watch a performance or listen to a speaker.

They are there to watch, to be entertained and to learn, but they are also there to be influenced and maybe have their own opinions changed.

And that's where we come in, to influence them, to make them think a different way to perhaps the way they thought at the start of our speech.

When we are speaking to an audience, we can change how they think and feel using our words.

How amazing is that? Using carefully chosen words, we can change how a group of people think and feel.

In the playground at school or in the park, have you ever tried to get a friend to play the game that you wanted to play? Have a moment to think.

Have you been in that situation where you've been trying to convince someone to play the game that you want to play? This is called, as I said, convincing them.

Convince means to persuade someone to do something or to agree with you, and it is something that you will be, it's a skill you'll be using a lot at home, at school, in the park, you are going to be trying to convince people to do something.

Here are some examples of times when you may have tried to convince someone, convincing someone to play with you.

This is the one that I think children use the most often.

When I'm in the playground and I overhear children playing together, it's lots of someone trying to convince the other person that this might be a great game to play or let's go and play with this piece of equipment.

Convincing someone to let you play with them, convincing someone to allow you to join their game.

Sometimes when a game is already in motion, it's already being played, it can be difficult to want to let other people join 'cause you don't want that game to be affected and not be as good as it is at the moment.

So that person may have to convince you to let them play.

Convincing an adult at home to let you stay up later.

I know lots of children want to stay up just a little bit later, so perhaps you'll be convincing someone at home to allow you to stay up later.

Convincing someone at home to let you choose what to have for dinner.

I know lots of families have this situation where everyone wants a different dinner.

So what do you do? You convince the people to allow you to have what you would like for dinner.

Convincing someone at home to let you decide what to watch on TV.

Of course, I know lots of families who have disagreements about what to watch, and so you are using your convincing skills.

Let's check our understanding, true or false.

Convince means to persuade or make someone agree with you.

Is that true or false? Pause the video and decipher yourself now.

And welcome back, let's see if you were right.

Convince means to persuade or make someone agree with you is true.

Well done if you said true.

To convince someone does mean to persuade them or to make them agree with you and your opinion.

When we are convincing an audience, we are trying to make them think or feel a certain way, but how do we convince a group of people, perhaps a group of people that you may not even know? They might be a different age from you, how can you convince them? To convince someone to think or feel a certain way, you need to give them a good reason to do so.

The reason you present to them needs to be so convincing that it makes them change their opinion, their own opinions.

The reasons we give to support our opinions are very important.

A speaker could use many different reasons to support their opinion, but they must try and choose the reason that will convince the audience to agree with their opinion.

So of all the reasons that you could choose, you have got to pick the one that you think will convince the audience the most.

Let's check our understanding.

What is the speaker trying to convince the audience to do? Is it A, agree with their opinion, B, disagree with their opinion, or C, think of their own opinions? A, B, or C, pause the video now and decide which one is the right answer.

What is the speaker trying to convince the audience to do? Pause the video now.

And welcome back.

Okay, let's see if you were right.

So the speaker is trying to convince the audience to not think of their own opinions.

We are trying to get them to agree with our opinion.

The speaker is trying to convince the audience to get them to agree with their opinion.

So well done if you said A.

Some reasons are more convincing than others.

Here are three reasons that could be used to support the opinion, my favourite food is pasta.

So my favourite food is pasta is an opinion.

Here are some reasons for that opinion.

It is usually served hot.

It comes from Italy.

It is quick and easy to cook.

Which is going to convince the audience to agree with the opinion so that they also think pasta is their favourite food? That's what we're trying to do, to convince the audience to think the same as us, to agree with our opinion.

So which out of those three reasons do you think is the most convincing? Well, lots of food is usually served hot, so I don't think that sets pasta apart.

It comes from Italy is a nice thing to know, but is there enough of a reason to make it your favourite food? Lots of other foods come from Italy too.

The third reason, it's quick and easy to cook.

Now this is the one I think is onto something.

Lots of people struggle to find the time to spend a long time cooking.

So if something is quick and easy to cook, that might give it a little push in the direction of being someone's favourite food.

If I get home and I know something is quick and easy to cook, that's going to make it one of my favourites.

So that's why I think quick and easy to cook is the most convincing of those three reasons.

Well done if you thought quick and easy to cook was also the most convincing of those three.

Which reason is the most convincing for supporting the opinion apples are the best fruit? Is it A, because they are red or green, B, because they are grown on trees, or C, because they can be cooked and eaten in desserts? Which reason is the most convincing for supporting the opinion apples are the best fruit? Which one is most likely to make an audience agree with the opinion to think that apples are their best fruit? Pause the video and decide for yourself now.

And welcome back, everyone.

So let's have a look.

We were tackling the question, which reason is the most convincing for supporting the opinion apples are the best fruit? Now A, because they are red or green, a fruit's colour doesn't usually act as enough of a reason for someone to say, ah yes, this is my favourite fruit.

Particularly that there's two colours given here, so it's not A.

B, because they are grown on trees.

Now the problem we have here is lots of fruit is grown on trees, so this reason does not set apples apart from other fruits.

So it's not B, which means it must be C, because they can be cooked and eaten in desserts.

This reason tells me not just that apples are a really nice fruit, they are the best fruit.

It tells me that they could also be cooked and eaten in desserts.

So I know I can eat an apple raw, but I can also cook it and eat it in desserts, which gives it another reason why it should be my favourite, which is why C is the correct answer.

Well done if you spotted that.

Let's have a go at a practise task, decide a convincing reason for each of these opinions.

So I've got three opinions for you.

Your job is to decide a convincing reason for each of them.

The most convincing reason you can think of.

The opinions are, number one, I believe schools should have more playtime.

Number two, my favourite lesson is PE.

Number three, I think a beach would be the best place for a school trip.

So your job is to come up with a convincing reason for each of these opinions.

Why should schools have more playtime, why is PE the best lesson and why is a beach a great place for a school trip? Take your time on this, I want you to really think, not necessarily the first reason you come up with, the most convincing one.

So once you've decided one reason, think of another, think of another, and then decide which is the most convincing, which is going to make an audience change their own opinion to think the same as us? Pause the video and have a go for yourself now.

And welcome back.

Let's have a look at some feedback, let's see an example.

I believe that schools should have more play time and the example I have used is because children could spend more time outside playing with their friends.

Really good example of a great convincing reason.

Schools should have more play time 'cause children could spend more time outside playing with their friends, really nice.

My favourite lesson is PE because I get to keep my body fit and healthy, very hard to argue against fit and healthy as an argument, really clever.

I think a beach would be the best place for a school trip.

Let me think.

Because children could play both on the sand and in the sea, really, really nice.

People that are in the audience who like playing the sand can be convinced by this.

People who like playing in the sea will be convinced by this.

People who like both will be really convinced by this.

It's a great convincing reason to use.

Well done if you came up with any of these and well done for the convincing reasons that I'm sure you came up with yourself.

Okay, it's time to move on to convincing an audience.

Being able to convince an audience to agree with you is an important skill to have.

There will be lots of times in life you'll need to convince someone of something.

For example, at a job interview, you'll need to convince the interviewer that you are the right person for the job.

One day you will be sitting in front of someone at a job interview, trying to convince them to employ you, to give you the job and you will need to use these skills.

There are certain ways that you can deliver your opinions and reasons which will help them to be more convincing.

Let's have a look at some of those ways right now.

The way you deliver your opinions and reasons can make them more or less convincing.

Present yourself in a friendly, grownup and formal way so that the audience feels that you know what you are talking about.

They need to trust that you are an expert at the thing you are talking about.

So presenting yourself in a friendly, grownup and formal way will help the audience to do this.

You can do this by standing up straight, smiling and making eye contact with the audience when speaking.

Why don't you have a go at that now? Stand up straight, smile and make eye contact with someone that you're going to speak to.

This is a great way to present yourself.

Let's check our understanding.

Which two of these are ways that you can present yourself in a friendly, grownup and formal way when speaking? Is it A, sitting down, B, standing up straight, C, smiling and making eye contact, just like I'm doing with you now, I'm looking directly at you, or speaking with a deep and serious voice, A, B, C, or D? Pause the video and decide which two of these are ways that you can present yourself in a friendly, grownup and formal way when speaking.

Over to you.

And welcome back.

Let's see if you were right.

So A, sitting down is not the correct answer.

Sitting down is not something that you might do if you are speaking in a formal way.

Standing up straight is.

We stand up straight when we speak in front of an audience so they know that this is not just a conversation around the table at lunch.

This is serious, this is important.

C, smiling and making eye contact or D, speaking with a deep, serious voice? Which one do we think? Well done if you said C.

Smiling and making eye contact will help an audience to form a relationship with you, to form a connection with you and to trust you.

Speaking with a deep and serious voice.

Well, I think if I delivered my speech like this, maybe the audience would think that's not the voice that he speaks with normally and find it difficult to trust me.

So well done if you say B and C.

A speaker can also extend their reason by adding further detail.

To do this, joining words like which and so will help.

For example, my favourite food is pasta because it's quick and easy to cook.

We could leave it there, but I'm using which to extend it.

My favourite food is pasta because it's quick and easy to cook, which is important for busy families who may not have much time to prepare food.

I've used which to add further detail to make my reason even more convincing.

Let's check your understanding, which two of these joining words can be used to add more detail to a reason? Is it A, but, B, which, C, and, or D, so? Pause the video and decide for yourself now.

And welcome back.

Let's see if you are right.

So we said which and so were the joining words that you can use to add more detail to a reason.

Well done if you said that.

But and and are both excellent joining words, but they're not the ones we would use to add more detail to a reason.

Time for a practise task.

In front of your class or someone at home, share an opinion you have with a convincing reason to support it.

That's what I want you to do right now.

The reason should be extended to add further detail, which will convince the audience.

Now don't forget to also present yourself in a friendly, grownup and formal way.

So you are giving a reason, a convincing reason, and you are then adding further detail to that reason to make it extra convincing.

And you're doing all of this in a friendly, grownup and formal way.

Now, you can use one of these topics or I'm more than happy for you to choose your own.

Ways school could be made better.

So that's the topic.

Your job would be to come up with an opinion, a way that school would be made better, then add a reason, then add extra detail to make it more convincing, and do all of this while presenting yourself in a friendly, grownup and formal way.

So you've got a choice between ways school could be made better, the best sport ever, my favourite meal.

Which one will you choose? Pause the video, choose one of these topics or your own and have a go yourself now.

And welcome back.

Let's take a look at an example in our feedback.

So I chose the best sport ever.

I believe the best sport ever is tennis because it can be played with just two people, which is great if you want to play with a sibling or someone at home.

So I've given you an opinion, the best sport ever is tennis, a reason, because it can be played with just two people.

Then I've extended that reason with, which is great if you want to play with a sibling or someone at home.

So I'm convincing the audience that tennis is the best sport because it doesn't take a lot of people to play.

It's not like football, which takes 22 players and a referee and managers and substitutes.

Tennis can be played with just two people.

Let's have a look at another example, the best school trip.

I believe the best school trip ever would be to the beach because children could play both on the sand and in the sea.

So everyone will have something fun to do, even if they don't like playing in water.

So my opinion, and this is one we used earlier in our lesson, didn't we? The best school trip ever will be to the beach because children can play both on the sand and in the sea.

And then I've extended this with some more detail using the joining word so, so everyone will have something fun to do.

And then I've given it even more detail by saying even if they don't like playing in water, because I know some people don't like playing in water.

Some people might find playing in the sea uncomfortable, might make them feel a bit nervous.

So I've covered myself and included that in my reason, just to make it as convincing as I possibly can.

Let's summarise our learning today.

An audience is a group of people listening or watching a performance or speaker.

Convince means to persuade someone to do something or agree with you.

An audience can be convinced to think or feel a certain way.

Convincing an audience requires strong reasons.

Well done for more excellent work today.

I am sure that you are now in a position where you can convince anyone to agree with you.

I will see you soon, everyone.

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