Study sheet: Writing an Opinion Speech

📋 Course Outline

1. Purpose and Features of Opinion Speeches
2. Audience, Sources and Length
3. Task Operators and Argumentation
4. Introduction and Audience Address
5. Arguments and Rhetorical Devices
6. Conclusion, Appeal and Farewell
7. Practice Topic: Smartphone Use

📖 1. Purpose and Features of Opinion Speeches

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Opinion speech : An argumentative-appellative text type that addresses a currently debated social topic, expresses a clear opinion, aims to persuade the audience, corresponds to a fully written speech manuscript, uses rhetorical devices, and remains factual even when the topic is emotional.

★ Must-know

• 🔄 An opinion speech has three main parts:
  1. Introduction with the occasion and reference to the topic and source text
  2. Main part with the speaker’s position, arguments and suitable examples
  3. Conclusion with a consequence, summary or appeal

Further detail

📌 An opinion speech should remain factual and use comprehensible arguments even when it addresses an emotionalizing topic.

💡 Memory Hook

T-M-A: topic, Meinung, audience persuasion

📖 2. Audience, Sources and Length

📝 Essential Points

📌 The written version of an opinion speech uses the formal address because the audience usually includes teachers, parents and event visitors as well as peers.

• Typical source texts include:

  • interviews
  • articles
  • reports
  • comments
  • columns

• A long opinion speech usually contains 540 to 660 words, while a medium-length opinion speech usually contains 405 to 495 words.

💡 Memory Hook

The source provides facts or opinions; the speech develops your own position.

📖 3. Task Operators and Argumentation

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• 3B rule : A complete chain of argumentation consisting of a thesis, a justification and evidence.

📝 Essential Points

• Writing tasks for an opinion speech commonly contain three to four operators, and every operator must be completed.

• The examples of operators and their requirement areas are:

  • “name” — area 1: reproduction
  • “examine” — area 2: reconstruction and transfer
  • “appeal” — area 3: reflection and problem-solving

💡 Memory Hook

Operator → claim → reason → evidence

📖 4. Introduction and Audience Address

★ Must-know

• The introduction of an opinion speech addresses the audience, states why the speech is being held, briefly summarizes the essential content of the source text, and makes the audience curious without anticipating the entire speech.

Further detail

📌 The audience should be addressed and involved repeatedly, for example through direct address and carefully dosed rhetorical devices.

💡 Memory Hook

Address → occasion → source → question

📖 5. Arguments and Rhetorical Devices

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Alliteration : The use of several consecutive words beginning with the same initial sound, as in “Mars macht mobil”.
• Anaphora : The repetition of a word or word group at the beginning of successive sentences, as in “Der Mohr hat seine Schuldigkeit getan, der Mohr kann gehen.” by Schiller.
• Antithesis : The juxtaposition of opposing terms, as in “Gut und Böse”.
• Klimax : A three-part or longer sequence that increases in intensity, as in “Er sei mein Freund, mein Engel, mein Gott!” by Schiller.
• Parataxis : The juxtaposition of equal main clauses, forming a sequence of main clauses.

📝 Essential Points

📌 The main part presents suitable arguments, may mention and refute counterarguments, links the arguments clearly, and avoids overly long and complex sentence structures.

💡 Memory Hook

Arguments persuade through reasons; rhetorical devices shape how those reasons affect the audience.

📖 6. Conclusion, Appeal and Farewell

📝 Essential Points

• The conclusion summarizes the position, draws a conclusion, makes suggestions or appeals to the audience, thanks the audience for its attention, and says goodbye.

📌 An opinion speech should generally aim not only to convince the audience of the speaker’s position but also to encourage a change in behaviour.

💡 Memory Hook

Conclusion → appeal → thanks → farewell

📖 7. Practice Topic: Smartphone Use

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• FOMO : The fear of missing something that can lead young people to check their smartphones frequently and feel excluded without online contact.

★ Must-know

📌 Smartphone use is not automatically an addiction; it becomes particularly problematic when it displaces sleep, homework, conversations or shared time with family and friends.

• A sensible family approach combines:

  • clear agreements
  • smartphone-free times or zones
  • conversations about conscious media use
  • reduced notifications
  • adults modelling the agreed behaviour

• The reported influencing factors are:

  • personal interests
  • habits of friends and family
  • WLAN availability
  • screen-time duration
  • the smartphone being constantly within reach
  • social pressure

Further detail

• According to psychologist Andrea Pettenhofer, there is no general rule for when smartphone use becomes problematic, and the source mentions more than three days without being able to do without the phone as a possible sign of addiction.

💡 Memory Hook

Availability and social pressure → frequent checking → possible sleep and relationship problems

📊 Synthesis Tables

Structure of an Opinion Speech

Section	Main function	Typical content
Introduction	Establish context	Audience address, occasion, source summary
Main part	Develop the position	Arguments, examples, counterarguments
Conclusion	Create consequence	Summary, appeal, thanks and farewell