Speech

The skill of persuasion can be used to get better prices from merchants and persuade others to do as you ask.

"I've heard of you and your honeyed words."

Speech is a skill in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Speech is one of the 18 skills and will fall under the The Thief play-style.

This skill is a combination of both Speechcraft and Mercantile skills of previous Elder Scrolls and replaces them. Speech may also help you in quests by helping you unlock special dialogue when interacting with the A.I. therefore making your quest easier and even shorter.

Speech will directly affect the prices paid when buying from and selling to merchants, even without the assorted perks. At 0 speech, merchants will sell items for 3 times their base price, and buy for a third of their base price. At 100 speech, merchants will sell items for twice their base price and buy for half.

The speech skill increase depends on the base value of the item. However, the skill increase only occurs once per transaction. In order to optimize leveling sell valuable items individually.

Governing Guardian Stone: The Thief

Books and Quests
The following are a list of books that increase the Speech Skill:
 * Biography of the Wolf Queen - Found in Belethor's General Goods in Whiterun.
 * 2920, Second Seed, v5 - Found in Sadri's Used Wares in Windhelm. Also inside Shriekwind Bastion on the pulpit by the Volkihar Master Vampire.
 * A Dance in Fire, v6
 * A Dance in Fire, v7
 * The Buying Game

The following Miscellaneous Quest increases the Speech Skill:
 * Steal the Staff of Arcane Authority for Malur Seloth in Winterhold.
 * Collect a Mammoth Tusk for Ysolda from Whiterun.
 * Jumping from Bard's Leap Summit at Lost Valley Redoubt south of Roriksted and surviving will raise your Speech when you talk to the Bard's Ghost at the bottom.
 * Retreive Finn's Lute for Inge Six Fingers at the Bard's College in Solitude (note: also increases the Light Armor, Sneak, Lockpicking, Pickpocket, and Alchemy skills)

Perks
The following are the perks that become available to select as the skill is leveled up

Ways to Persuade

 * Admire
 * Intimidate
 * Mock
 * Brawl
 * Bribe 10
 * Bribe 100
 * Bribe 1,000

Trainers

 * Revyn Sadri (Adept): Sadri's Used Wears, east Windhelm
 * Dro'marash (Adept): Khajiit Caravans
 * Ogmund (Expert): Markarth
 * Geraud Gemane (up to 90 - Master): Bards College, Solitude
 * Azzadal of the Bards College will increase the Speech skill by one after being spoken to twice (Not located in Bards College)

Prices
Prices are computed by the following:


 * price factor = (3.3 - 1.3 * skill/100) / (1 + Haggling + Allure + Fortify Barter)
 * sell price = value / price factor
 * buy value = value * price factor

Skills over 100 have no effect.
 * At 0 skill and no perks the price factor is 3.3
 * At 100 skill and no perks the price factor is 2
 * At 100 skill and all perks the price factor is 1.42857.

Additional ways of improving your prices can be found on the page Fortify Barter.

Power Leveling
WARNING!

'Power leveling any skill can unbalance your character, especially at lower levels. This is because the creatures level with your character. Therefore, it is ill-advised to power level any skill before your character reaches level 30. Even after level 30 Powerleveling non-combat skills should be limited to one skill every 10 levels.'

Method 1:

By continuosly passing the speech check from Ungrien at the Black-Briar Meadery in Riften.

See here for a video guide:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbRUyCQlVlQ

Method 2:


 * If you have membership in the Thieves Guild, you gain the ability to bribe guards (perk not required; may be a bug). If you have a tiny bounty (say, 25 gold from pickpocketing) then convincing the guards to look the other way is pretty cheaply priced in comparison to the effort of searching out a speech trainer and then paying gold for the same effect. Succeeding at skill checks raises your speech rapidly, and bribery counts as a success. By repeatedly bribing guards you will raise your speech at a prodigious rate, as long as you still have gold to spend.


 * If your Pickpocketing is high enough, you can always take the money you bribed the guard with once he turns around, for that it is recommended to bribe the solo patroling guard outside of town.


 * This may not raise your speech level once you are the leader of the Thieves Guild.

Method 3:


 * During the Dark Brotherhood quest, Recipe For Disaster, when questioning Anton Virane you can intimidate him over and over to raise your speech.


 * Follow the steps below to gain speech levels quickly. (Suggested that you save before you start talking with him just incase you mess up.)


 * 1) Begin Talking with him. After you say "For the Dark Brotherhood, that can be easily arranged. (Intimidate)",
 * 2) He will respond "The Dark Brotherhood?".
 * 3) Immediately exit the conversation.
 * 4) You can then begin to talk to him again and quickly skip through most of the conversation.
 * 5) Exit the converstation at the same time as before.
 * 6) You can do this over and over until you get bored.


 * This method is not quite as effective as the first method.

Exploits
At the Black-Briar Meadery in Riften, the Dragonborn can persuade Ungrien indefinitely to tell the truth about Maven Black-Briar (with speech level 25).

Items
Some apparel items increase the Speech skill. These include:
 * Amulet of Dibella
 * Amulet of Articulation
 * Clavicus Vile's Masque

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Skills

 * See: Skill (Skyrim)