The Basic Structure for a Speech

Posted by Ian McKenzie

Written on September 23, 2008

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Posted in Communication

INTRODUCTION

The goals of your introduction is to get the attention and interest of your audience, set the tone, reveal the topic, establish credibility and good will, and preview the speech.

Get audience attention using one or more of the following:

tell a story
tell joke
use a quotation
ask a rhetorical question
make a startling statement
arouse curiosity
reference to audience, occasion, or current events, previous speech
presentation

Need

Create desire on the part of the audience to listen. The listeners want answers to the questions: “Why should I care?” and “How does this topic relate to me?”
Show the scope of the issue, the degree of importance, and the ramifications.

Reveal the topic and your interest or point of view.

Establish credibility and good will with the audience.

Preview the body of the speech.

BODY

Main points (2-5)

Choose your organizational pattern based on the topic and your approach.
State your main ideas as complete sentences and a single idea.
Parallel the main ideas grammatically if possible.
Your audience should be able to recognize and remember your main points.

Types of organization patterns

chronological
spatial
topical
causal (both informative and persuasive)
logical reasons
problem/solution
problem/cause/solution
comparative advantages
Monroe’s motivated sequence
refutation

Support

Use a variety of support (facts/statistics, testimony, examples), picked for your particular audience.

Make sure each point is developed completely before going on to the next.

If needed, summarize the point before making a transition to the next point.

Document your sources to add credibility. Use recent, credible sources and cite them in your speech when necessary.

Factors of attention, understanding and remembering need to be used.

humour
relevance
intensity
repetition
novelty
compare/contrast
visuals
narratives
examples

CONCLUSION

Summarize

Close with impact

quotation
narrative
appeal to action
return to opening theme

email2friend

Outline template for writing a speech

9 Key Steps for Preparing a Speech

4 Basic Types of Speeches

Communication

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