Persuasive talks are a powerful way to teach students public speaking, rhetorical analysis, persuasive writing, and research-skills. For this unit, students write a research paper on the topic of their choice, analyze contemporary speeches, and craft a persuasive speech for an authentic audience that captures their own unique voice on a topic of their choice. In my own classroom, I was blown away by some of the topics my students chose, which included “Glossophobia: How the Fear of Public Speaki