Suggestions to help young writers organize their speeches in a painless, satisfying way

For this particular speech, students should choose to either inform or persuade the audience. Identifying their purpose helps students gear their research in a way that is either neutral and informative, or selects facts and figures that demonstrate the problem and possible solutions.

“To convince the audience that eliminating food scarcity in America isn’t just good for people, but it is also good for our country.” OR “To inform the audience about the effects of hunger and food insecurity on children.”

Once you have a stated purpose for your speech, it is a SNAP to convert that into a thesis statement. Remember, your thesis statement is really just your BIG IDEA that is supported by your main points. Take your purpose and remove the words “To convince/inform my audience that…” What you have left is the body of your thesis statement!

Remember this purpose from a few slides back? “To convince the audience that eliminating food scarcity in America isn’t just good for people, but it is also good for our country.” If I remove the opening words, “To convince the audience that…” what I am left with is the sentence, “Eliminating food scarcity in America isn’t just good for people, but it is also good for our country.” VOILA! A thesis statement is born!

“After packaging meals with Meals from the Heartland I decided…” “While researching this topic, I learned…” “I used to think that hunger was not a problem in America, but through my research and interviews I found…”

How do I know if I have enough supporting details? Terrific Transitional Statements Finishing Strong! How to write a strong conclusion See you on Thursday!