Is being persuasive being passionate?

If there is a single realization I had about preparing and delivering a persuasive speech, it is that there must be a passion for the topic or issue. For instance, I am passionate about immigration issues with especially when it comes to educational opportunities for undocumented students. This is why I decided to prep a persuasive speech on the benefits of the DREAM Act. In doing so, I was hoping to inform my audience about the DREAM Act and how it can help undocumented students improve their quality of life and as a result improve the nation. Because I have a passion for the topic, I was able to craft an argument in a way that refuted all the opposition arguments towards the DREAM Act. I directly assessed concerns and provided evidence supporting the benefits of the DREAM Act.

At the same time, being a firm supporter of the act allowed me to employ logos, ethos and pathos in my arguments. I would employ my facts and statistics to illustrate my points. My points would be based on ethics and civil rights, and they were presented in a way meant to appeal to the emotions of the audience. That is when my passion for the topic influenced my delivery- it was in my appeal to the pathos. I have no evidence that the members of my audience were moved or impacted but that was my intention. That brings me to the actual delivery of my speech.

Compared to the informational speech, the persuasive speech was a stronger speech. A common issue I had in both was the timing, which comes down to not dividing my time equally on my points. My points for this speech were more concise and had parallel structure compared to the lengthy and complex points I had in my informational speech. When it comes to actually speaking, I controlled my voice level and tempo more including control over inflections. I felt confident and comfortable speaking to the audience about a topic I stand strongly behind and know plenty of. My visual PowerPoint slides had more content than what they should have, but it is definitely something to fix for my visual aid speech. I want to step it up for the last speech and deliver effectively and on time. I have made enough mistakes in my past speeches to conceptualize what I need to modify.