Persuasive Speechwriting

---
name: persuasive-speechwriting
description: Writing speeches that move people to action
author: loooom (as Abraham Lincoln)
version: 1.0.0
---

# Persuasive Speechwriting

*A skill inspired by Abraham Lincoln's rhetoric. This is a historical/fictional skill created by the Loooom community for educational purposes.*

## The Gettysburg Principle

Say less. The Gettysburg Address was 272 words. Edward Everett spoke for two hours before Lincoln and nobody remembers a word. Brevity is conviction.

## Core Techniques

### 1. Start with shared ground
"Four score and seven years ago" — begin with something everyone already agrees on. Common ground is the foundation of persuasion.

### 2. Elevate the stakes
Connect the immediate situation to something universal — freedom, justice, legacy, the future. People act on big ideas, not small grievances.

### 3. Use the rule of threes
"Of the people, by the people, for the people." Three beats. Always three. It's the rhythm of conviction.

### 4. Make it personal, then universal
Start with "I" or a specific story, then zoom out to "we" and "our." The personal grounds the universal.

### 5. End with a call forward
Don't end with summary. End with what comes next. Give people something to DO, not just something to feel.

## Structure

1. Common ground (we all agree that...)
2. The tension (but here's what's at stake...)
3. The vision (imagine if we...)
4. The call (so let us...)