Speech " The skill of persuasion can be used to get better prices from merchants and persuade others to do as you ask . " Speech is a skill in and is one of the six skills that falls under The Thief playstyle . This skill is a combination of both Speechcraft and Mercantile skills of previous " Elder Scrolls " games and replaces them . Speech may also help with quests by unlocking special dialogue interactions , including Intimidate , Mock , Brawl , and more . Governing Guardian Stones : The Thief Stone Usefulness and function . Speech directly affects the prices paid when buying from and selling to merchants , even without the assorted perks . At 0 Speech , merchants 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 them for half as much . Alternatively , Speech can be used to persuade people into doing things or divulging crucial information . Bribes made are also governed by Speech . Perks . The following are the perks that become available to select as the skill is leveled up : Prices . Prices are computed by the following : Skills over 100 have no effect . Leveling . The speech skill increase depends on the base value of the item traded or the difficulty of the bribe or persuasion . When selling items , it is not actually required to receive any gold , only that the transaction takes place . The skill increase only occurs once per transaction . In order to optimize leveling , expensive items in groups of 6 or more should be sold individually , rather than all at once . Books . The following are a list of books that increase the Speech skill . For a list of locations , see the individual book article : Quests . The following miscellaneous quests increase the Speech Skill : Leveling tips . Method one . Members of the Thieves Guild have the option to bribe guards when minor crimes are committed . Repeatedly committing small crimes , such as trespassing or pickpocketing , and bribing guards to look the other way can help level Speech quickly . spent bribing a guard can be pickpocketed back easily with a high enough pickpocket skill . Method two . During the Dark Brotherhood quest " Recipe for Disaster , " Anton Virane can be intimidated repeatedly to level Speech . This can be accomplished by : This can be repeated forever . Method three . In Dawnstar , Ahkari ' s merchant inventory can be accessed through a glitch ( see page for details ) . After placing all gold in the chest , all the items in inventory can be sold to the merchant . Doing this will give back the gold put into the chest . Afterward , the items can be retrieved from the chest and the process repeated forever . The net is no change to gold or items , but an increase in Speech skill . Method four . Similar to Method One , after progressing far enough into the Thieves Guild questline , the Dragonborn can commit a minor crime , such as failed pickpocketing or stealing . Once the crime has been committed , the Dragonborn can go up to a guard and initiate the " Wait , I know you . " dialogue . Any option ( aside from resisting or submitting to arrest ) should be available to persuade them to overlook it . Though the guards says they won ' t let it slide the next time , they will never attack or arrest the Dragonborn ( unless the submit or resist dialogue option was chosen ) . Note : This will not remove the bounty , it will just stop the conversation peacefully , while slightly improving Speech . This can then be done to all of the guards in a Hold , but it should not be repeated on the same guard , as this can cause the option to go away . Instead , all the guards should be cycled through with the dialogue . This is especially useful at medium - high levels , since nothing has to be paid or sold , and the risk is practically zero . Method five . During the " Dampened Spirits " quest , the Dragonborn can loop a conversation with Sabjorn to quickly level Speech . To do this : Method six . During the quest " The Black Star , " the Dragonborn can continually intimidate Nelacar in the Inn in Winterhold . When he asks " Who sent you ? " choose the Intimidate option and immediately exit the conversation . This can be repeated indefinitely . Method seven . At anytime the Dragonborn can enter the Black - Briar Meadery where you will encounter the shop attendant Ungrien . Confront him and then repeatably persuade him to tell the truth about how he feels about his employer Maven Black - Briar . This glitch can be repeated indefinitely . Note : Method eight . Similar to methods two , five , and six , those who deliver a dwarven item to Calcelmo may repeatedly persuade / intimidate for a better deal and exit the conversation before selecting either , " Sold . Here you go . ( Gain _ _ _ gold ) , " or , " Not good enough . I ' ll hold onto this . You ' ll need to find another one . " Intimidation requires 40 Speech to be successful ; persuading requires 50 . Method nine . Wearing the Aetherial Crown , obtain the blessings from the Lover Stone and the Thief Stone , and combine with any rested bonuses will make leveling up Speech even faster . Note that only the Lover Stone and Thief Stone may be used if the Dragonborn is infected with lycanthropy , as werewolves do not benefit from resting bonuses . Method ten . A bandit at Valtheim Towers will tell the Dragonborn that the road they are on is a toll road , and will demand for 200 . An option to persuade and pay only 50 is available . It can be repeated every time when using the road , and will always increase the Dragonborn ' s Speech skill if the persuasion is used successfully . Items . Some items increase the Speech skill or bartering . These include : In addition , two blessings can be granted :