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Mar 12, 2024 · Key Takeaways. Crafting a speech starts with understanding its purpose, such as informing or persuading, and building a connection between the speaker and the audience. A clear structure with a captivating introduction, logical body, and strong conclusion makes speeches more engaging and easier for audiences to follow.
The ways you use language and vocabulary when writing the words of a speech will depend on the audience the purposeand you are writing for ; for example, in a speech to a group of teachers and parents giving your views on a recent proposal, formal language is most appropriate. Tips for writing a speech . Language – think about: •
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- What This Handout Is About
- What’s Different About A Speech?
- What’s Your Purpose?
- Audience Analysis
- Creating An Effective Introduction
- Making Your Speech Easy to Understand
- Helping Your Audience Listen
- Keeping Audience Interest
- Creating An Effective Conclusion
- Practicing For Effective Presentation
This handout will help you create an effective speech by establishing the purpose of your speech and making it easily understandable. It will also help you to analyze your audience and keep the audience interested.
Writing for public speaking isn’t so different from other types of writing. You want to engage your audience’s attention, convey your ideas in a logical manner and use reliable evidence to support your point. But the conditions for public speaking favor some writing qualities over others. When you write a speech, your audience is made up of listene...
People have gathered to hear you speak on a specific issue, and they expect to get something out of it immediately. And you, the speaker, hope to have an immediate effect on your audience. The purpose of your speech is to get the response you want. Most speeches invite audiences to react in one of three ways: feeling, thinking, or acting. For examp...
If your purpose is to get a certain response from your audience, you must consider who they are (or who you’re pretending they are). If you can identify ways to connect with your listeners, you can make your speech interesting and useful. As you think of ways to appeal to your audience, ask yourself: 1. What do they have in common? Age? Interests? ...
Get their attention, otherwise known as “The Hook”
Think about how you can relate to these listeners and get them to relate to you or your topic. Appealing to your audience on a personal level captures their attention and concern, increasing the chances of a successful speech. Speakers often begin with anecdotes to hook their audience’s attention. Other methods include presenting shocking statistics, asking direct questions of the audience, or enlisting audience participation.
Establish context and/or motive
Explain why your topic is important. Consider your purpose and how you came to speak to this audience. You may also want to connect the material to related or larger issues as well, especially those that may be important to your audience.
Get to the point
Tell your listeners your thesis right away and explain how you will support it. Don’t spend as much time developing your introductory paragraph and leading up to the thesis statement as you would in a research paper for a course. Moving from the intro into the body of the speech quickly will help keep your audience interested. You may be tempted to create suspense by keeping the audience guessing about your thesis until the end, then springing the implications of your discussion on them. But...
Repeat crucial points and buzzwords
Especially in longer speeches, it’s a good idea to keep reminding your audience of the main points you’ve made. For example, you could link an earlier main point or key term as you transition into or wrap up a new point. You could also address the relationship between earlier points and new points through discussion within a body paragraph. Using buzzwords or key terms throughout your paper is also a good idea. If your thesis says you’re going to expose unethical behavior of medical insurance...
Incorporate previews and summaries into the speech
For example: “I’m here today to talk to you about three issues that threaten our educational system: First, … Second, … Third,” or “I’ve talked to you today about such and such.” These kinds of verbal cues permit the people in the audience to put together the pieces of your speech without thinking too hard, so they can spend more time paying attention to its content.
Use especially strong transitions
This will help your listeners see how new information relates to what they’ve heard so far. If you set up a counterargument in one paragraph so you can demolish it in the next, begin the demolition by saying something like, “But this argument makes no sense when you consider that . . . .” If you’re providing additional information to support your main point, you could say, “Another fact that supports my main point is . . . .”
Rely on shorter, simpler sentence structures
Don’t get too complicated when you’re asking an audience to remember everything you say. Avoid using too many subordinate clauses, and place subjects and verbs close together. Too complicated: The product, which was invented in 1908 by Orville Z. McGillicuddy in Des Moines, Iowa, and which was on store shelves approximately one year later, still sells well. Easier to understand: Orville Z. McGillicuddy invented the product in 1908 and introduced it into stores shortly afterward. Almost a cent...
Limit pronoun use
Listeners may have a hard time remembering or figuring out what “it,” “they,” or “this” refers to. Be specific by using a key noun instead of unclear pronouns. Pronoun problem: The U.S. government has failed to protect us from the scourge of so-called reality television, which exploits sex, violence, and petty conflict, and calls it human nature. This cannot continue. Why the last sentence is unclear: “This” what? The government’s failure? Reality TV? Human nature? More specific: The U.S. gov...
Incorporate the rhetorical strategies of ethos, pathos, and logos
When arguing a point, using ethos, pathos, and logos can help convince your audience to believe you and make your argument stronger. Ethos refers to an appeal to your audience by establishing your authenticity and trustworthiness as a speaker. If you employ pathos, you appeal to your audience’s emotions. Using logos includes the support of hard facts, statistics, and logical argumentation. The most effective speeches usually present a combination these rhetorical strategies.
Use statistics and quotations sparingly
Include only the most striking factual material to support your perspective, things that would likely stick in the listeners’ minds long after you’ve finished speaking. Otherwise, you run the risk of overwhelming your listeners with too much information.
Watch your tone
Be careful not to talk over the heads of your audience. On the other hand, don’t be condescending either. And as for grabbing their attention, yelling, cursing, using inappropriate humor, or brandishing a potentially offensive prop (say, autopsy photos) will only make the audience tune you out.
Restate your main points, but don’t repeat them
For example: “I asked earlier why we should care about the rain forest. Now I hope it’s clear that . . .” “Remember how Mrs. Smith couldn’t afford her prescriptions? Under our plan, . . .”
Call to action
Speeches often close with an appeal to the audience to take action based on their new knowledge or understanding. If you do this, be sure the action you recommend is specific and realistic. For example, although your audience may not be able to affect foreign policy directly, they can vote or work for candidates whose foreign policy views they support. Relating the purpose of your speech to their lives not only creates a connection with your audience, but also reiterates the importance of you...
Once you’ve completed a draft, read your speech to a friend or in front of a mirror. When you’ve finished reading, ask the following questions: 1. Which pieces of information are clearest? 2. Where did I connect with the audience? 3. Where might listeners lose the thread of my argument or description? 4. Where might listeners become bored? 5. Where...
A student holding a CD-ROM of the 1995 edition of Encarta, a digital encyclopaedia published by Microsoft. Encarta, multimedia digital encyclopaedia produced by Microsoft Corporation (1993–2009). Initially a CD-ROM product, the Encarta brand later expanded to include an Internet-based incarnation and was bundled with other Microsoft products.
- Richard Pallardy
May 22, 2019 · Step 3: Edit and polish what you’ve written until you have a cohesive first draft of your speech. Step 4: Practice, practice, practice. The more you practice your speech the more you’ll discover which sections need reworked, which transitions should be improved, and which sentences are hard to say. You’ll also find out how you’re doing ...
a student council speech, a template, with an example student council president, secretary and treasurer speech. a Thanksgiving speech, a template, with an example toast. a thank you speech, a template, with an example speech expressing thanks for an award, also a business thank you speech template.
Dec 9, 2019 · Building block #5: Exaggeration. In the same way that we get breathless when they’re speaking with passion, our speech distorts in another significant way. We exaggerate. So when we’re sitting down to a meal after having eaten little that day, we tell our family and friends: “I love this pizza.”.
