Art Of Great Speaking

Once you have chosen the best way to organize your speech and material into headings and subheadings (Common ways of organizing are chronological, cause and effect, problem solution). The next step is to prepare a speech outline.
There are 2 outlines that are useful in speaking:-
1 Working outline
2 Speaking outline
The structure of both outlines is similar, however the purpose of each is different and therefore they are different in detail.
The Working Outline
This is used to plan and develop the message and information contained in the speech. It is like the blueprint of a house. It is a brief schedule of ideas and information to be contained in the speech. An outline will normally improve the quality of the speech given.
It helps to ensure;
(a) A unified speech
It enables the speaker to see if;
(i) The topic is related to the speech purpose in an understandable way
(ii) Each part of the speech supports the topic
(iii) The divisions and subdivisions overlap at all
(b) A logical running order
The brief written form of the working outline makes it easier to see the order and re-arrange it for the most effective order. The speaker is not distracted by the details such as wording and transitions.
(c) It is complete
By seeing the speech in outline the speaker is able to see if there are any gaps in the supporting information.
A working outline makes planning the speech easier by getting an overview of your speech by ensuring your information is complete, adequately supports the topic and purpose, and is properly ordered.
The speaking outline will be discussed in my next posting.

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The primary goals of organizing a speech are to assist in making the speaker’s message clear to audience and to strengthen it.
A speech is normally organized into 3 parts introduction, main body and conclusion. See previous posts to discuss the organisation of the introduction and conclusion.
The main body is where the ideas and message of the speech are discussed and developed. To be effective the main body of the speech is arranged into headings that reflect a pattern of thought that people will normally think about the topic. Common ways to organize a main body are;-
(1) Chronological – this is a logical progression through time. For example if the objective of the speech is to convince the audience to take their polio shot. The speaker may talk about the crippling effect of polio in the past, then the isolation of cause, followed by the development of a vaccine and finish by the decrease in the occurrence since the development.
(2) Problem and solution – this is a common pattern especially in sales presentations. The problem is presented first. The audience must first be made aware of the serious nature of the issues before it is interested in the solution.
(3) Cause and effect – The speech has two main points which can e used in reverse order, e.g.
The effect – Political unrest in Africa. The cause could be – the desire for independence
The cause – Political unrest in Africa. The effect could be – speculation on the future because of the unrest.
The important point in organizing the main body of the speech is that it should support the topic and purpose of the speech

The conclusion to your speech is very important because your audience will form their lasting impression of you and your speech from it.
Conclusions will vary from speech to speech, but the following components are usually incorporated.

1. Summarize

This step summarizes the main points of your speech. An audience requires help to remember what has been said. It can just be a list of the highlights of your speech. Alternatively a less formal approach is to list the points in a summary sentence.

2. Benefits

This can be a helpful component. It helps to remind the audience of why they should listen to your talk. Without a worthwhile reason there is no reason for the audience have listened to your speech. Because of the importance of this reason it can justify the repetition of the benefits component from the introduction.

3. Call to Action

This need only be included where the purpose of the speech is change the audience’s emotion, belief or action or any combination of these, such as when giving a persuasive or motivational speech.
The essential element is to make very clear the essence of the speech or a call for a definite action for example “Therefore act now, sign the petition before you leave this room.”
As with the introduction to a speech there are 2 important characteristics of a conclusion;-
(i) Brevity – if you go on too long, you audience will get bored and start to ask “When will they finish?”
(ii) Relevance – a new point included here can confuse the listener and destroy the effectiveness of your speech
So keep the conclusion of the speech relevant and brief and finish strongly covering the benefits, highlights and a call to action as appropriate, e.g. therefore act now, include a summary and a benefits section in the conclusion to your speech.    

For more tips on public speaking and great conversation please visit www.SelfConfidentSpeaking.com to claim a free preview of The Art of Grat Conversation.

The objective of the introduction is to get the attention of the audience and set the scene for the body of the speech.

The form of the introduction will differ from speech to speech dependent to a great extent upon the amount and what, is needed to get the audience ready for what is to follow.

The most common components used in an introduction are;

Getting Attention

It is usual to use a deliberate method to gain the audience’s attention. There are many ways to do this – e.g. a shocking statement, a question, a joke is told, and a human interest story is told that is related to the rest of the speech. The attention grabbers that are able to be used are only limited by your creativity.

Benefits

The introduction is a great place to include a benefit statement. An audience will listen if they understand it will be worthwhile to them e.g. if they can see by listening they will make more money, have better health, be able to protect their property.

Preview

The preview section is used in the introduction to outline the main points that will follow – also known as an agenda. However, in the case of a hostile crowd it may be wise to avoid or delay this component.

There are 2 overall points to consider when preparing an introduction:

1) Length – The introduction should be long enough to gain the audience’s attention and set up the rest of the speech. Otherwise the audience will be thinking “why don’t they get to the speech?” or worse.
2) Relevant – the introduction should be relevant to the speech and not mislead or contradict the rest of the speech.

In summary the introduction gets the audience’s attention, lets them know what’s in it for me, and what’s in store.

In my next post I will discuss the conclusion and after that I will discuss the main body of the speech.

For more tips on public speaking and conversation please visit http://www.SelfConfidentSpeaking for a free preview of The Art of GreatConversation.

A well organized speech will make it easier for your audience to follow your speech and understand what is being said. It will also make it easier for you to remember your speech because it will follow a logical sequence. You will know what is coming next.

There are 3 parts to organizing a speech ;-

1. Dividing the data and information into three parts the introduction, body of the speech, and the conclusion

2. To organize the main heading of the speech into a logical order

3. To organize the supporting data and information to support each of the main headings

The body of the speech should be planned first. It includes all the supporting information that supports the central idea and the purpose of the speech.

The introduction should be designed to get the audience’s attention and interest, put them at ease, and help them focus their attention on to the rest of the speech.

The conclusion of the speech may include a summary of the highlights of the speech and will include a call to action of some sort dependent on the purpose and intent of the speech or it might simply be an appeal for acceptance of the ideas presented. A speech given to raise funds for a charity will include an appeal requesting funds from the listeners.

A well organized speech in public speaking is important in getting your ideas and infomration across to your listeners. It takes more time and effort but a well thought our order will make it easier for your audience to follow. Over the next few posts I will outline the steps to organize a speech for maximum impact.