Lesson video

Hi everyone.

My name is Ms. Voyle, and I am so excited to be teaching you your writing lesson today where you will be generating your own headline and opening for a persuasive advert.

For this lesson, you need to be listening and looking carefully.

There will be tasks where you need a partner to talk to, and there will also be some written tasks, so you'll need a piece of paper and pen or pencil.

I hope you are feeling really excited and ready to learn.

Let's get started.

The learning outcome for today's lesson is, "I can develop a persuasive headline and opening that hooks the reader," which means grab their attention.

Let's take a look at the keywords.

Let's practise saying them first.

My turn, your turn.

Headline, alliteration, rhetorical question, unique selling points, conditional clause.

Here are their definitions.

A headline is the heading of a non-fiction text that is positioned to stand out.

Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds occurring in neighbouring words.

A rhetorical question is a question posed that is not intended to be answered.

A unique selling point is what makes a product better than others on the market.

And a conditional clause is a type of subordinate clause that cannot stand alone and refers to the possibility of something.

There are two parts to today's lesson.

In the first part, we will be developing an eye-catching headline for our persuasive adverts, and in the second part, we will be developing a persuasive opening to follow the headline.

So let's begin with developing an eye-catching headline.

The headline of a persuasive advert is often the most important factor in appealing to the reader and making them want to find out more.

A good headline needs to achieve the following purpose.

It needs to grab the reader's attention and that means it's eye catching.

It needs to be quick and easy to read.

It needs to intrigue the reader so that they want to find out more and it needs to be catchy and memorable.

Let's check your understanding.

Which of the following qualities should a headline for a persuasive advert have? A, eye catching.

B, long and detailed.

C, short and snappy.

D, catchy and memorable.

Pause the video and select your answers now.

The answers are A, eye catching, C, short and snappy, and D, catchy and memorable.

We do not want a good headline to be long and detailed because that would not achieve the purpose of a headline.

Let's take a look at this example of a persuasive advert for the Chocolate Energy Balls.

What visual and linguistic techniques have been used to make the headline of this advert appealing to the reader? Take a look at the headline circled here, Energy bouncing balls and have a little think about what makes this a good headline.

It is in big and bold writing in a unique font.

This makes the headline stand out so that it is the first thing the reader sees.

It is short and snappy.

This makes the headline quick and easy to read and makes it intriguing for the reader and it uses alliteration, bouncing balls.

You can hear the repetition of the B sound.

This makes the headline catchy and memorable for the reader.

Different linguistic techniques can be used to generate a catchy headline.

The following are common ones, alliteration, for example, bouncing balls.

The repetition of initial sounds in neighbouring words.

Rhyme, for example, a sweet treat.

The similarity of sounds between the ending syllables of words, onomatopoeia like boing or crunch.

These are words that imitate or suggest the sound they describe.

And personification, for example, the jumping ball.

This is the attribution of human characteristics or behaviours to non-human objects.

We know that a ball can't actually jump.

Let's check your understanding.

Match the linguistic technique to its definition.

The linguistic techniques are alliteration, rhyme onomatopoeia and personification.

The definitions are the similarity of sounds between the ending syllables of words.

Words that imitate or suggest the sounds they describe.

The repetition of initial sounds in neighbouring words and the attribution of human characteristics or behaviours to non-human objects.

Pause the video and match these now.

Let's take a look at the answers.

Alliteration is the repetition of initial sounds in neighbouring words.

Rhyme is the similarity of sounds between the ending syllables of words.

Onomatopoeia is when words imitate or suggest the sound they describe.

And personification is the attribution of human characteristics or behaviours to non-human objects.

You are going to focus on using alliteration for your headline.

The repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighbouring words makes the headline catchy and memorable for the reader.

To develop alliteration for a headline, you can brainstorm words that are relevant and appealing for the product.

Relevant means that the words need to be connected to the product in some way, and appealing means that we want them to be persuasive words that really attract the reader.

So our product is called the chocolate energy ball.

If we start by looking at the word ball, we can brainstorm other words that begin with the B sound that could link to the product.

We might think of words like bounce or bites or blissful.

All of these words could be connected to our product in some way, because it's a ball, bounce is relevant, because it's a snack, we know we can bite it and blissful is an exaggerated adjective we could use to describe it.

Now let's have a think about the word energy.

We might say empower.

This means to give something ability and we know that this snack gives people extra energy, so we could say it's empowering them through giving them extra energy and ability.

We might say elevate, which means to heighten something.

We could say that it heightens somebody's energy levels to eat the snack.

Now let's think about the word chocolate.

We might say chewy, which is what it tastes like or feels like in our mouths.

We might say, champion, if you eat this energy ball, you can be a champion.

Now you'll have noticed that as I was developing those words to form alliteration, I made sure that they were relevant and appealing words.

Let's check your understanding.

Match the words to form alliteration that could be used in the headline for your advert.

We have chocolate, elevate, ball and glorious and blissful, chew, goodies, energy.

Pause the video and match these words now.

For A, we would match chocolate to chew and we might create a headline like, "Chocolatey Chew." For B, we would match elevate to energy, and we might create a headline like, "Energy Balls that Elevate." For C, we would match ball to blissful, which could form a headline like, "Blissful Balls of Energy." And for D, we would match glorious to goodies to have the headline, "Glorious Goodies." Well done.

It's time for your task and I know you are going to be feeling really excited because now you get to generate your own headline, so generate your idea for a catchy headline for the chocolate energy ball using the following criteria.

It needs to be short and snappy.

It needs to be big, bold, and visually appealing, which means you can consider what kind of font to use.

You might want to use bubble writing and you can consider different colours.

You need to use alliteration to make it catchy and memorable.

You may want to incorporate or use other literary techniques too.

Here is a reminder of some of those techniques, alliteration, for example, bouncing balls.

Rhyme, for example, sweet treats.

Onomatopoeia words like boing or crunch.

And personification, for example, the jumping ball.

Pause the video and do the task now.

Your headlines are so creative and colourful, and I loved seeing how you used alliteration and other literary techniques.

Let's take a look at some examples.

First, we have, "Sublime Chocolate Swirl." Here the word swirl is onomatopoeic, imitating the sound it makes and what else makes this visually appealing? Well, each word has been put in a different colour and it's in a fancy font.

This would certainly grab my attention.

Another example, "Sweet and Healthy Energy Treats." This is a great headline because it includes rhyming words, sweet and treat.

Here we have, "Boing! Energy Balls." That is another example of an onomatopoeic word, boing and that onomatopoeic word is in a different colour from the other words in the headline, making it standout.

And finally, we have, "Champion Chocolate Chews." Well, this is a fantastic example of alliteration, each word beginning with the ch sound.

It's also got different shades of brown fading into almost orange, which looks very visually appealing.

Well done for creating fantastic headlines for your persuasive adverts.

Now that you have a fantastic and eye-catching headline for your persuasive advert, it's time to develop a persuasive opening.

The opening of a persuasive advert needs to hook the reader.

A hook is a literary technique used to catch the reader's attention at the beginning of a text and make them interested enough to keep reading.

A rhetorical question is a powerful hook for the opening of a persuasive advert.

A rhetorical question is designed to emphasise a point and provoke thought from the reader.

For example, "Do you love chocolate and want to be healthy?" This hooks the reader by making them want to discover how they can have both.

Let's check your understanding, true or false.

Rhetorical questions are a useful way to hook the reader.

Pause the video and answer now.

That is true.

Well done.

But can you justify your answer? A, they give the reader a question to answer, or B, they provoke thought in the reader and emphasise a point.

Pause the video and answer now.

The answer is B.

Well done.

We know that rhetorical questions are not designed to be answered by the reader, but they emphasise a point and make the reader think and want to find out more.

It is important for your rhetorical question to emphasise your unique selling point.

A unique selling point is what makes your product better than others.

It's how we persuade people to buy the product.

What is the unique selling point of the chocolate energy ball? Have a little think about what you know so far.

It is a chocolate treat and it has lots of health benefits.

This could be considered as unique, because chocolate treats are often not very healthy.

How does the chocolate's energy ball achieve both of these things? It is coated in milk chocolate for a sweet and indulgent taste.

However, it's made up of 80% oats, nuts and dried fruits, which means it provides a variety of health benefits for the consumer.

Let's check your understanding.

What is the unique selling point of the chocolate energy ball? A, it is coated in chocolate.

B, it is a healthy snack.

C, it is a chocolate snack that is also healthy or D, it is a snack made from oats, nuts and dried fruits.

Pause the video and answer now.

The answer is C.

Well done.

What makes it unique is it is a chocolate snack that is also healthy.

The other options here are all also true, but by themselves they do not make the snack unique.

We need to exaggerate when creating our rhetorical question to emphasise our unique selling point.

A simple example of a rhetorical question would be, "Do you enjoy chocolate and like being healthy?" This doesn't include much exaggeration.

Here are some exaggerated examples which make them more persuasive.

"Do you love chocolate and want to be healthy?" Here we've changed the word enjoy to love and put it in a different colour and we've capitalised the word AND to really highlight that the snack achieves both things.

Another example is, "Have you ever wondered if a healthy chocolate treat exists?" This gets the reader really thinking about what they've wondered before and, "Are you looking for the perfect sweet and healthy breakfast to kickstart your day?" Here we've used exaggerated language like the perfect and interesting verbs like kickstart.

All of these examples are far more appealing to the reader than a simple rhetorical question like the first one.

Let's check your understanding.

The rhetorical question in the opening of a persuasive advert should be as simple as possible, true or false.

Pause the video and answer now.

That is false.

Well done.

Now it's time to justify that answer.

A, it should contain exaggeration for persuasive effect, or B, it should contain exaggeration to make it funnier.

Pause the video and select your answer now.

The answer is A, well done.

We use exaggeration in persuasive adverts for persuasive effect on the reader.

A rhetorical question is often followed by a statement that links to the rhetorical question and persuades the reader further.

For example, my rhetorical question could be, "Are you a chocolate lover and a health enthusiast?" Let's take a look at an example follow up statement.

"If you choose this nutritious nibble, you can enjoy the indulgent taste of chocolate and give your body energising nutrients." The part of the sentence that says, "You can enjoy the indulgent taste of chocolate," links to the part of the question that says, "Are you a chocolate lover?" And the part of my follow-up statement that says, "And give your body energising nutrients," links to the part of the rhetorical question that asks about being a health enthusiast.

Let's look at the clauses within the follow-up statement.

I will read it to you again.

"If you choose this nutritious nibble, you can enjoy the indulgent taste of chocolate and give your body energising nutrients." At the beginning of this sentence we have a conditional clause, "If you choose this nutritious nibble." The main clause then says, "You can enjoy the indulgent taste of chocolates and give your body energising nutrients." This is an example of a conditional clause being used as a subordinate clause at the front of a sentence.

It then contains a comma to separate it from the main clause.

Using a conditional clause as a subordinate clause in a complex sentence, is a persuasive technique that refers to the possibility of something.

If you choose this nutritious nibble, you can enjoy the indulgent taste of chocolate and give your body energising nutrients.

Let's check your understanding.

Which follow-up statement would be most persuasive after the following rhetorical question? "Do you dream about a chocolate that is also healthy?" Your possible answers are, A, if you choose this snack, you can eat chocolates every day.

B, if you choose this blissful bite, eating chocolate that also gives your body nutrients, can be your reality, or C, you can eat chocolate and be healthy.

Pause the video and select your answer now.

The answer is B.

Let's take a look at why.

It has a conditional clause at the front saying, "If you choose this blissful bite," and this makes it appealing to the reader because it refers to the possibility of something.

It then also says, "Eating chocolate that also gives your body nutrients can be your reality." This links to the rhetorical question because it's asked whether the consumer dreamt about the product.

Well done.

It's time for your task.

Generate a powerful opening for your persuasive advert using a rhetorical question.

Remember, your rhetorical question needs to highlight the unique selling point that the product is chocolatey and healthy.

Your question starters could be, do you, have you or are you? Pause the video and do the task now.

I loved listening to your ideas for rhetorical questions and you wrote them out so clearly.

Let's take a look at some examples.

One fantastic example is, "Do you wish you could eat a healthy chocolate breakfast?" This might really appeal to the reader because the idea of eating something chocolatey that's also healthy for breakfast, might feel really exciting.

Another good example is, "Have you ever wondered how you could enjoy chocolate every day and be the healthiest you?" Here we've appealed to the reader because they think that they can eat chocolate every day, and we've used a superlative, healthiest.

Well done.

It's time for your final task.

You now have a fantastic rhetorical question for your persuasive advert opening and it's time to develop a follow-up statement for your rhetorical question.

Remember, you need to use a conditional clause to form a complex sentence.

This will be, if you, you can, and you need to make sure that the main clause of your follow-up statement links to your rhetorical question.

Pause the video and do the task now.

Well done for using conditional clauses so brilliantly to develop your follow-up statement.

Let's take a look at a good example that links to the rhetorical question that was asked.

The rhetorical question is, "Do you wish you could eat a healthy chocolate breakfast?" And a fantastic follow-up statement would be, "If you choose this delectable delight, you can eat a chocolaty and nutritious breakfast every day." We've come to the end of our lesson, so let's go over a summary together.

The headline and opening of a persuasive advert should be eye-catching and hook the reader.

Linguistic techniques like alliteration, rhyme onomatopoeia and personification, are used to create catchy headlines.

Rhetorical questions are a persuasive technique used to hook the reader.

Persuasive writing in an advert should be informed by the unique selling point of the product and the use of a conditional clause to refer to the possibility of something, is a persuasive technique.

Well done, you have created a fantastic headline and opening for your persuasive adverts.

I'm really proud of how hard you've worked.