The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Exhortation \Ex`hor*ta"tion\, n. [L. exhortatio: cf. F.
   exhortation.]
   1. The act of practice of exhorting; the act of inciting to
      laudable deeds; incitement to that which is good or
      commendable.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Language intended to incite and encourage; advice;
      counsel; admonition.
      [1913 Webster]

            I'll end my exhortation after dinner. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

exhortation
    n 1: a communication intended to urge or persuade the recipients
         to take some action
    2: the act of exhorting; an earnest attempt at persuasion [syn:
       exhortation, incitement]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

114 Moby Thesaurus words for "exhortation":
   address, admonition, advice, advising, advocacy,
   after-dinner speech, allocution, allurement, blandishment,
   briefing, bugle call, cajolement, cajolery, call to arms, call-up,
   catchword, caution, caveat, chalk talk, clarion, clarion call,
   coaxing, conning, conscription, consultation, council, counsel,
   debate, declamation, diatribe, direction, engagement, enlistment,
   eulogy, expostulation, filibuster, forensic, forensic address,
   formal speech, funeral oration, go for broke, guidance, gung ho,
   harangue, hortation, hortatory address, idea, inaugural,
   inaugural address, inducement, instruction, invective, jawboning,
   jeremiad, levy, lobbying, mobilization, monition, muster, opinion,
   oration, parley, pep talk, peroration, persuasion, philippic,
   pitch, preaching, preachment, prepared speech, prepared text,
   proposal, public speech, rally, rallying cry, reading, rebel yell,
   recital, recitation, recommendation, recruitment, remonstrance,
   sales talk, salesmanship, salutatory, salutatory address, say,
   screed, selling, set speech, slogan, snow job, soft soap,
   solicitation, speech, speechification, speeching, suasion,
   suggestion, sweet talk, talk, talkathon, thought, tirade,
   trumpet call, valediction, valedictory, valedictory address,
   war cry, war whoop, warning, watchword, wheedling, working on