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Heywire: Persuade me to make a difference

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Teenage boy talks to others
Heywire: Persuade me to make a difference

SUBJECTS:  English

YEARS:  7–8, 9–10


Can Matt Dombrovski encourage you to be a donor or a volunteer?

Test his powers of persuasion in this Heywire audio story, and hear about his own experience of donating something.

Could you write or record a similar story about yourself and/or your community?

The ABC's Heywire competition calls for stories from 16-22 year olds in regional Australia. Enter to get your story featured on the ABC and score an all-expenses-paid trip to the Heywire Regional Youth Summit in Canberra. More: https://www.abc.net.au/heywire/


Things to think about

  1. 1.Make sure you know what is meant by the following persuasive devices or techniques: rhetorical questions; descriptive language; inclusive language; rule of three; appeal to values. Identify three more persuasive devices or techniques not listed here. Make a list of these devices and put it somewhere for future reference.
  2. 2.How does Matt make the listener curious about what's happening at the start? Listen for two examples of Matt's using the 'rule of three'. What does Matt say volunteering is about? Why does he do it? How many rhetorical questions does he use? Identify two points where Matt addresses the listener directly.
  3. 3.What is the basis of Matt's argument that people should volunteer? What value(s) does he appeal to? Why do you think Matt uses the pronoun 'you' so frequently? How successful do you think Matt is in encouraging others to volunteer? Explain your answer.
  4. 4.Try out your own persuasive skills! Write a letter to your school canteen persuading them to stock your favourite food. On a more serious note, you might like to prepare and deliver a speech to your classmates, encouraging them to participate in a charitable cause that is close to your heart.



Date of broadcast: 31 May 2013


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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