Imagine you’re in a supermarket. Your dear parents have asked you to get some watermelons, bananas, body soap, paper towels, and fresh milk. This supermarket is the largest one in town, and it provides the widest variety and best quality of food and other important household items. However, it has one major problem. The items are not organized into different sections, and customers are expected to navigate through the huge number of items to find what they want. In other words, you shouldn’t be surprised to find dishwashing soap placed next to a sack of potatoes! You might have to spend hours just to find those few items, when you could have spent that time finishing up your homework for tomorrow! Or better yet, playing basketball with your friends! You’d probably be confused and frustrated, right? Well, this is the reason why all good public speakers start out with learning how to organize their speeches. In this article, you will learn the importance of an organized speech, as well as how to structure one.
Now you might be thinking, “Isn’t it enough to have interesting content?” The answer is no. Interesting content is only one part of presenting a strong speech. Just like the supermarket, it may provide customers with top-quality products, but the lack of structure makes it extremely hard for the customers to find what they want. In order for your audience to be truly engaged with the interesting content you want to share, it’s important to organize your speech logically so your message is clear and easy to follow. The last thing you want is to leave your audience lost and confused by your speech. If the information you provide is easy to understand, it gives you more credibility as a speaker. The audience will find it easier to follow along and will stay engaged for a longer time. In addition, when your speech is well organized, it will be easier for you to practice and memorize it. This will help you to feel more comfortable and confident while delivering the speech.
So, how do you structure an organized persuasive speech? The first step is to compose a clear beginning, middle, and end. This might sound obvious, but you’d be surprised by how easy it is to forget this step. Remember that a speech is like a story – an adventure you take your audience on with you. If you want them to be able to follow, then split the speech into clearly defined parts. Start with the end – where do you want your audience to be at the conclusion of your speech? Then, think about what your audience’s beginning point is. With these two points in mind, you can start crafting the middle of your speech. Connecting the dots this way lets your audience know what direction they must travel from start to finish.
After you’ve outlined your speech, and you have a clear beginning, middle, and end, the second step is to focus on each of these parts in more detail. Let’s start at the beginning, of your speech. A good beginning should include an introduction. An introduction sets the scene for your audience. It should include all the important information your audience needs to know so they can follow and understand your speech. This includes things like the topic of your speech, your opinion on the topic, and sometimes even a self-introduction – who you are and why you are delivering this speech! Additionally, you should include a clear preview of your speech. A preview, or a “roadmap,” means to briefly list out the main points of your speech, which you will present later in more detail. Through the preview, your audience will understand the road you plan to take them on, making it easier for them to follow along.
For example, let’s say you’re giving a speech about climate change, and your end goal is to convince your audience to start taking small, practical steps to prevent the situation from getting worse. The first sentence of your introduction might sound like this: “Climate change is the greatest threat in human history.” You should also mention that you’ll be giving a few reasons for this, and then explaining possible ways to prevent climate change from worsening. So your preview might sound like this:
Imagine ten years from now, dressing up as a frog for Halloween and having to explain to younger children what this creature was and why it no longer exists. With half of all amphibians at risk of extinction due to climate change, this will likely be a reality if we don’t act soon. In my speech today I will start by first looking at the reasons why climate change is the greatest threat to humans today. Secondly, we will be looking at the kinds of impacts that the damage to the environment will have on future generations if nothing is done now. Lastly, we will be exploring possible alternatives and what we can do to prevent the situation from worsening.
Notice that the preview does not reveal any additional details about the reasons and ways to solve the problem, it just mentions enough for the audience to understand the general direction of the speech.
Now that you have a clear, organized, and interesting beginning, in part two of this article, you’ll learn how to craft the body of your speech and how to end your speech with a bang.
Learn more about the LearningLeaders Method to Speech & Debate.