Persuasive essays tend to talk about something other than your opinion, and tends to talk about others opinions about the subject, while persuasive speeches are more focusedĀ on your opinions and what you think about the subject. At the same time, both of them are similar in the way that they are trying to persuade someone into jumping onto the same side as you, or accepting what you're saying and being on your end of the subject, to persuade them to do something that you're attempting to persuade others to do.