Unleashing the Power of Your Voice – A Guide to Opinion Writing

A robust and engaging voice can help you communicate your point and persuade others to listen. Whether you need to convince your colleagues to buy into a project or persuade your picky children to eat their vegetables, an inspiring tone can make all the difference.

This course teaches you how to energize your voice and deliver powerful messages that inspire and engage audiences.

Know Yourself

According to respected opinion author Dr. Jason Campbell, you can make judgments consistent with your principles when you know yourself. For instance, if you value honesty, you might decline to work for a business that misleads clients. Alternatively, you could start as a freelance editor if you enjoy editing audio.

You can start learning about yourself by asking and answering questions honestly. Some of these questions include your interests, your values, how you process emotions, and your goals and aspirations. You can also look at past experiences and consider how they have shaped you.

Know Your Audience

Know your audience to create content that connects. Whether in-person or online, knowing your audience will help you deliver value to them and improve customer retention rates.

A good opinion piece should open with a bold statement of the writer’s opinion and demonstrate that opinion throughout the narrative. The reader should understand and agree with the writer’s viewpoint.

Knowing your audience will also allow you to show how your product or service will address their problems. Great copywriters use the exact words that their audiences are using to describe their issues.

Know Your Topic

Students must understand the difference between fact and opinion when writing an opinion piece. This can be accomplished through creating an anchor chart defining the difference between these two types of writing.

It is also vital for students to understand that they should write about topics they are passionate about and know about. It will help them develop a solid opening statement, argument, and conclusion.

When choosing opinion mentor texts, choosing ones that are engaging, easy for kids to comprehend, and aligned to the type of writing they are practicing is essential. 

Know Your Style

Expressing an opinion is a necessary skill in the modern world. Whether it is a Facebook post or an article in the “op-ed” section of a newspaper, being able to write about your opinion undoubtedly is essential.

Incorporate opinion essays into your curriculum to help students develop their writing styles. Use high-quality, ready-to-use anchor charts that guide students through the process.

Know Your Audience’s Needs

Opinion writing aims to convince readers to agree with your point of view. It is done through a close structure that systematically reinforces your viewpoint.

Throughout this lesson, students will learn to distinguish between factual information and opinions, hone their logical reasoning skills to effectively support their arguments, and gain valuable practice crafting compelling opinion pieces.

Kids will also discover that opinion pieces should always include

• a hook to catch the reader’s attention,
• an introduction with a detailed topic summary and
• a conclusion statement that clearly states your opinion again.

Know Your Audience’s Expectations

Know your audience’s expectations to engage them better. For instance, if you write to an older group of business leaders, your word choice and explanations will likely differ from those of younger first-year students looking to join your society.

Likewise, if you are delivering a speech to an audience of parents, your tone and language will likely differ from those shown to peers. Your audience’s age, culture, language, education, and life experiences will significantly influence how they view your message and stance on a topic.

Know Your Audience’s Motivations

Knowing your audience is essential when writing, especially in the case of opinion pieces. The ultimate goal is to convince the audience to adopt your point of view confidently. It can only be accomplished by understanding your audience’s extrinsic and intrinsic motivations.

It can be done by looking at their age, level of education, or various groups they may belong to. For example, a first-year college student will likely write differently than someone in their forties or fifties.

This resource offers a variety of high-interest opinion writing activities to help kids grow their abilities. It includes a printable fact vs. opinion anchor chart, graphic organizers, and seasonal writing prompts to help kids express their opinions in writing.