When you’re writing your specific purpose statement, it can be easy to confuse informative speaking with persuasive speaking. Although both types of speeches are developed using the five steps in speech preparation, there are important differences between the two.

First, informative and persuasive speaking have different goals. When informing an audience, you want your listeners to understand the topic better. When you’re giving a persuasive speech, the goal is to reinforce or change your listeners’ attitudes—maybe even motivate them to take a particular action. Getting listeners to take an action or change their attitudes is not a goal of an informative speech.

Second, when preparing an informative talk, you must keep a neutral point of view as you investigate and compose your presentation. Suppose you are preparing an informative speech about animal testing in biomedical research. In this case, you would pull together information about the pros and cons of such research without taking a stand on the topic. But if you wanted to give a persuasive speech about animal testing in biomedical research, you would not only analyze the pros and cons but also take a position on the issue.

Maintaining a neutral stance when you’re speaking informatively can be challenging—especially if your presentation is going to cover an issue that you feel strongly about. One way to remain neutral is to avoid making motivational appeals to your listeners’ emotions, such as “If you care about cute, helpless, and innocent puppies, . . .” This does not mean you shouldn’t try to connect with your audience by using interesting supporting materials. Instead, just keep reminding yourself that your purpose is to inform, not persuade. (Chapter 17 explains more about motivational appeals for persuasive speeches.)

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Even though informative and persuasive presentations have distinct differences, they also have some similarities. For instance, when you’re speaking to inform, you thoroughly investigate your topic and present the information in a balanced, neutral way. However, you still need to convince your audience that you’re providing objective and credible information. Likewise, in persuasive speeches, you need to inform your listeners about the topic before you can try to persuade them to change their attitudes or practices. Given these similarities, the important thing to remember is to stay true to your speech’s general purpose: informing or persuading.