100 Persuasive Essay Topics (With Real Stakes)
A persuasive essay is different from an argumentative one: the job is to move a specific reader to a specific action, not to weigh evidence on both sides. That means the topic has to have stakes — a decision someone is actually going to make, or at least could make. Here are 100 topics that do.
What makes a persuasive topic different
The persuasive essay has an audience and a call to action. Argumentative essays can afford to be abstract; persuasive essays cannot, because the reader has to feel why it matters to them. When you pick a topic, say out loud: who is the audience, and what do I want them to do after reading? If you cannot answer both, pick a different topic. A vague audience and a vague action produce a vague essay. The topics below are grouped by who the target reader plausibly is. School topics are usually addressed to administrators, teachers, or parents. Society topics are usually addressed to voters or policy makers. Tech topics are usually addressed to platform users or regulators. Personal change topics are usually addressed to a peer.
School and campus (25 topics)
1. Persuade your school board to push start times to 9am. 2. Persuade parents to ban phones from family dinners. 3. Persuade your university to adopt pass/fail for first-semester freshmen. 4. Persuade your dorm to institute quiet hours starting at 10pm. 5. Persuade a high school to drop valedictorian rankings. 6. Persuade your school to teach media literacy as a required course. 7. Persuade your student government to ban single-use plastics in the cafeteria. 8. Persuade administrators to offer mental health days without doctor notes. 9. Persuade your college to make syllabi publicly available before course registration. 10. Persuade your university to cap class sizes for writing-intensive courses. 11. Persuade your school to provide free menstrual products in all bathrooms. 12. Persuade your district to fund music programs from the general budget. 13. Persuade administrators to stop using surveillance software on student laptops. 14. Persuade your college to ban early-decision applications. 15. Persuade a peer to join a specific extracurricular. 16. Persuade a parent to let a 14-year-old walk to school alone. 17. Persuade your university to make all required courses available asynchronously. 18. Persuade your school to replace detention with restorative circles. 19. Persuade your college to cap tuition increases to CPI. 20. Persuade a roommate to split cleaning 50/50. 21. Persuade your advisor to let you switch majors. 22. Persuade your school to abolish dress codes for seniors. 23. Persuade your student group to change leadership structure. 24. Persuade your parents to pay for a specific summer program. 25. Persuade a professor to extend a deadline.
Society, policy, and ethics (25 topics)
26. Persuade your city council to install protected bike lanes on a specific street. 27. Persuade voters to support ranked-choice voting in your state. 28. Persuade your neighbors to form a block association. 29. Persuade a friend to vote in the next local election. 30. Persuade a donor to give to a specific charity rather than a general fund. 31. Persuade your HOA to allow solar panels. 32. Persuade your employer to offer four weeks of parental leave. 33. Persuade a coworker to report a safety violation. 34. Persuade your legislator to vote for a specific bill. 35. Persuade a jury that reasonable doubt exists in a case. 36. Persuade a family member to get a specific health screening. 37. Persuade your community to host a refugee family. 38. Persuade a friend to donate blood. 39. Persuade your boss to allow remote work two days a week. 40. Persuade your reader to sign an organ donor registry. 41. Persuade your city to fund a safe injection site. 42. Persuade your school district to stop using standardized disciplinary rubrics. 43. Persuade your reader to switch banks to a credit union. 44. Persuade your state legislature to pass a bottle deposit law. 45. Persuade your company to adopt a 32-hour workweek trial. 46. Persuade a friend to switch from beef to chicken. 47. Persuade your library to extend hours into the evening. 48. Persuade your neighborhood to reduce speed limits to 20mph. 49. Persuade your city to eliminate parking minimums. 50. Persuade your reader to pay for local journalism.
Technology, platforms, and media (25 topics)
51. Persuade a parent to set screen-time limits for a younger sibling. 52. Persuade a friend to delete a specific app for a month. 53. Persuade your reader to use a password manager. 54. Persuade a coworker to enable two-factor authentication. 55. Persuade a team to switch from email to a messaging platform. 56. Persuade a user to switch to a privacy-respecting search engine. 57. Persuade a family to use an encrypted messaging app. 58. Persuade a voter to support right-to-repair legislation. 59. Persuade a friend to unplug for a full weekend. 60. Persuade your reader to subscribe to a specific newsletter. 61. Persuade an engineer to write unit tests. 62. Persuade a product manager to kill a feature. 63. Persuade a designer to prioritize accessibility. 64. Persuade a leader to adopt asynchronous standups. 65. Persuade your reader to host their own email domain. 66. Persuade a reader to stop posting children's photos online. 67. Persuade a friend to use a VPN on public wi-fi. 68. Persuade your team to adopt code review practices. 69. Persuade a reader to switch browsers. 70. Persuade a reader to set up automated backups. 71. Persuade a friend to stop sharing streaming passwords. 72. Persuade a reader to read terms of service before installing apps. 73. Persuade a company to open-source a product. 74. Persuade a reader to use a physical security key. 75. Persuade a family to lock down privacy settings on social accounts.
Personal change and growth (25 topics)
76. Persuade a friend to start therapy. 77. Persuade yourself to wake up earlier. 78. Persuade a sibling to take a gap year. 79. Persuade a peer to read a specific book. 80. Persuade a friend to quit smoking. 81. Persuade a family member to take a long-delayed trip. 82. Persuade a partner to move to a new city. 83. Persuade a friend to apply to a specific job. 84. Persuade a colleague to ask for a raise. 85. Persuade yourself to finish a specific project. 86. Persuade a loved one to schedule a doctor visit. 87. Persuade a friend to train for a half marathon. 88. Persuade a peer to start journaling. 89. Persuade yourself to cut a specific habit. 90. Persuade a friend to start saving for retirement. 91. Persuade yourself to take a break. 92. Persuade a child to stick with piano lessons. 93. Persuade yourself to write every day for a month. 94. Persuade a friend to learn a new language. 95. Persuade a partner to cook at home more often. 96. Persuade a reader to try a digital detox weekend. 97. Persuade a reader to take up meditation. 98. Persuade a peer to forgive someone. 99. Persuade yourself to reread something you loved as a kid. 100. Persuade a friend to slow down.
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