Why Speak?

 Dale Carnegie said, “ There are four ways, and only four ways, in which we have contact with the world. We are evaluated and classified by these four contacts:  What we do,  how we look,  what we say, and  how we say it. ”

Appeal to Human Interests

 What is the human element of this topic?

Appeal to Human Interests  What is the human element of this topic?  Why will people care?

Appeal to Human Interests  What is the human element of this topic?  Why will people care?  Why is it important for them to listen?

Appeal to Human Interests  What is the human element of this topic?  Why will people care?  Why is it important for them to listen?  What do I want them to do? (Clinton )

Preplanning Stages

 Analyze the occasion and the audience

Preplanning Stages  Analyze the occasion and the audience  Select the subject

Preplanning Stages  Analyze the occasion and the audience  Select the subject  Determine the exact purpose

Preplanning Stages  Analyze the occasion and the audience  Select the subject  Determine the exact purpose  Research and gather material (Zelko and Zelko 31)

The Audience Perspective  As early as the first few seconds, each listener in your audience asks and answers three questions:  Does the speaker care about me and my situation?  Is the speaker credible?  Does the speaker have something to say worth listening to? ” (Cook 57)

Constructing the Speech  Joan Detz, in her book How to Write and Give a Speech, claims speech writers only have to do two things to write a good speech:  Make it simple, and  Make it short. (29)

Constructing the Speech  Then she says, to write a “ great speech ” speech writers should  Make it simpler, and  Make it shorter (29).

Basic Speech Components  The Introduction  The Body  The Conclusion Introduction Body Conclusion

The Speech Introduction

Functions of a Speech Introduction

 1. Get the attention of your audience.  2. State your topic.  3. Establish the importance of your topic.  4. Establish your credibility to speak on your topic.  5. Preview the key ideas of your speech. (Grice and Skinner 220)  6. End with a strong thesis statement — a sentence that summarizes the central idea of the speech.

Get the attention of your audience.  Here are 16 suggestions for starting your introduction!

Introduction Suggestion #1  Start with a ‘ grabber ’— an anecdote, a startling statistic, a quotation, a personal observation, a literary, historical, or biblical allusion. Use whatever it takes to get the audience ’ s attention. Give them a good taste of what ’ s to come ” (Detz 29).

Introduction Suggestion #2  It can be risky to begin a speech with a joke. If it falls flat, you ’ re off to a terrible start, so don ’ t use a joke unless you are absolutely sure you can deliver it well (29).

Introduction Suggestion #3  Never, never, open by saying something like, ‘ I heard a really funny story today. It doesn ’ t have anything to do with my speech, but at least it ’ ll give you a good laugh ’ (29).

Introduction Suggestion #4  Praise the audience letting them know that the speaker values his or her audience and their abilities (29).

Introduction Suggestion #5  Make a reference to the date by finding out what significant, important, or memorable event happened on the same day the speech is being given (30).

Introduction Suggestion #6  Ask some questions to help engage the audience. Rhetorical questions also work well. (30)

Introduction Suggestion #7  Use local details because audiences, like individuals, enjoy hearing information about themselves and this strategy demonstrates to the audience that the speaker has a genuine interest in his or her audience. (31)

Introduction Suggestion #8  Cite your credentials — or your personal credentials — or, even better, both to add credibility to the you, and in turn, to your words (30)

Introduction Suggestion #9  Arouse your audience ’ s curiosity by creating an element of suspense (Grice and Skinner 223).

Introduction Suggestion #10  Stimulate your audience ’ s imagination by engaging the minds of your listeners. To do this a speaker must know what referents the audience shares, and this requires some good audience analysis (224).

Introduction Suggestion #11  Promise your audience something beneficial because an audience will listen more carefully to messages that are in their self- interest (224)

Introduction Suggestion #12  Refer directly to the subject of your talk especially if the speaker has already been introduced and his purpose for speaking has been previously made clear to the audience. (Cook 58)

Introduction Suggestion #13  Begin with a story or illustration,especially stories that are true, personal, and directly related to the point of the speech (59).

Introduction Suggestion #14  Amuse your audience (Grice and Skinner 225).

Introduction Suggestion #15  Energize your audience (227).

Introduction Suggestion #16  Combinations of techniques are effective (Cook 63).

State your topic.  The best speech introduction is short and simple.  After the attention getter, the speaker should state his or her topic or purpose in presenting a speech.  The informative speech can begin with a simple declarative sentence. (Grice and Skinner 228)

Establish the importance of your topic  The speaker, by providing examples, facts or statistics, must find a way to demonstrate the significance, or relevance, of his or her topic to the audience.  The successful speaker needs to motivate the audience into listening to the speech.

Establish your credibility to speak on your topic  The audience will want to know why they should believe and accept what the speaker has to say.  To do so, speakers may list their credentials or draw upon their own personal experiences with the topic.

Preview the key ideas of your speech  By providing the listeners with a few directions in the introduction, audience members will have a clear idea of the path they will be traveling along as the speaker guides them to their destination, which is the speech ’ s conclusion.  Ideally, the forecast should consist of three main points the speaker wants to highlight during his or her speech and should require no more than two to three sentences.

End Intro with Strong Thesis

 The thesis statement does three things:  It tells your audience what kind of speech to expect — an informational speech, a persuasive speech, a humorous speech.  It sets the tone of your presentation — matter-of-fact, enthusiastic, light-hearted, somber.  It contains a hint, a seed, a suggestion, or even a direct statement of how the speaker intends to proceed. (Cook 67)

Advice for Introduction:  Professional speechwriter Joan Detz suggests, “ If you concentrate on one central idea, your audience will stand a better chance of understanding you, ” but, “ if you try to say everything, your audience will come away with nothing. ” (34)

The Speech Body

Organizational Strategy #1  Logical or topical — the speech topic is organized by ideas or topics that flow together in a logical order. (Payne and Carlin 88)

Organizational Strategy #2  Chronological — the speech topic is organized in a time sequence frame. (88)

Organizational Strategy #3  Spatial — the speech topic is organized using an actual place or space as a point of reference. (88)

Organizational Strategy #4 Classification — the speech topic is broken up into specific categories based on classification or sometimes rank, as in a caste system or a school class rank. (88)

Organizational Strategy #5  Problem-solution — the speech topic is includes a problem and possible solutions are suggested. (88)

Organizational Strategy #6  Need Plan-Division — the speech topic is presented in ‘ a variation of the problem-solution ’ method. The speaker presents a problem, a proposal for a solution, shows how the solution will work, and then suggests a plan of action for achieving the solution. ” (Grice and Skinner 208)

Organizational Strategy #7  Cause-effect — the speech topic presents a problem and its effects; because ‘ A ’ happens, its effect is ‘ B. ’ (Payne and Carlin 88)

Organizational Strategy #8  Extended Metaphor — the speech topic is presented and compared to an idea, allowing the speaker to present a great deal of information. (Cook 71)

Organizational Strategy #9  Numerical Order — the speech topic is presented from highest to lowest, or lowest to highest. (Detz 35)

Organizational Strategy #10  Geographical Order — similar to spatial order, the speech topic is presented using geographical references as an organizational strategy. (35)

Organizational Strategy #11  Alphabetical Order —“ Why not? ” The alphabetical order will certainly help the audience stay on track. (36)

Organizational Strategy #12  Psychological Order — The speech topic is based upon the audience ’ s needs. Find out “ what will they find most acceptable? Most important? Most interesting? Put that first. ” (36)

Organizational Strategy #13  Pro-Con Division — The speech topic is presented in a series of pros and cons. (Grice and Skinner 206)

Organizational Strategy #14  Mnemonic or Gimmick Division — The speech topic is broken up so that each element of the body is presented in a way that spells out the first letter of a word. (207)

The Organizing Question  To determine the best organizing strategy, the speech writer should create an organizing question, a question that when answered, indicates the ideas and information necessary to develop the speech topic. (201)  During the research and speech construction process, the speaker should determine what information will help answer the organizational question.

Developing Key Ideas  The 4s Strategy of Developing Key Ideas  1. Signpost the idea.  2. State the idea.  3. Support the idea.  4. Summarize the idea. (209)

The Speech Conclusion

Function of Speech Conclusion  The speech ’ s conclusion serves the following function:  1. Summarize your key ideas.  2. Activate audience response.  3. Provide closure. (232)

Suggestions for Speech Conclusion  Scott Cook in his book, The Elements of Speechwriting and Public Speaking, suggests  Five Ways to End a Speech:  1. End with a brief story that illustrates your main point  2. End with a quotation or ringing phrase  3. Conclude with a poem  4. End with an example of your theme  5. Summarize your main ideas (87-90)

Suggestions for Speech Conclusion  Joan Detz, in her book How to Write and Give a Speech, makes one of the most direct comments about a speech ’ s conclusion:  “ Your conclusion may be the only thing the audience remembers, so make it memorable ”

Suggestions for Speech Conclusions  1. Use compelling imagery.  2. Share your personal philosophy.  3. Tie your theme to an anniversary.  4. Tell a humorous story to illustrate your point.  5. End with a strong rhetorical question.  6. End with words that sound strong.  7. End with a strong Commitment. (41-44)

Suggestions for Speech Conclusions  Jim Peterson, on his website "4750+ Speech Topics" makes these suggestions for concluding a speech:  Conclusion writing can also be explained as offering the so-called moral of the story:  Restate the problem and provide your solution in two sentences.  Show a benefit or valuable application.  Give the ultimate answer on some big question or issue you proposed earlier or at the opening of your speech presentation.  Offer them 'how to do it' steps; visualize a course, sequence or time path of action.

Suggestions for Speech Conclusions  Reaffirm the connection between the needs and interests of the listeners and your speech topics.

Suggestions for Speech Conclusions  Close with a dramatic but appropriate statement based on emotional appeals.  Examples:  Finish with a heart-felt human interest story or personal experience anecdote.  Connect the public speaking topics with the everyday feelings and lives of your public speaking audience.  Recite a couple of lines from a nostalgic song, poem or quotation from a historical speech and refer to its similarities.  State a slogan — transform your central motto, idea or principle into an easy to remember one- liner.

Practice for success!