1. Developing Your First Speech
Chapter 2
Developing Your First Speech

2. Developing Your First Speech: An Introduction
In 1963, 250,000 people witnessed Martin Luther King Jr.’s powerful “I have a dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Powerful speeches require diligent preparation.
King wrote multiple drafts of his Nobel Prize acceptance speech.
King spent as many as fifteen hours preparing a typical sermon.

3. Developing Your First Speech: An Overview
This chapter will address:
Why prepare?
The classical approach to speech preparation
Preparing and delivering your first speech
Overcoming speech anxiety

4. Why Prepare? Preparation helps speakers avoid three common problems:
Leaving too little time for planning and practicing
Focusing on length rather than quality
Failing to follow the assignment

5. Why Prepare? Leaving too little time for planning and practicing
Procrastination leaves you without a plan and adequate practice.
Unprepared, you risk losing track of your thoughts while speaking.

6. Why Prepare? Focusing on length rather than quality
Beginning speakers often spend too much time trying to fit the time limit.
This leads to a disjointed, lackluster presentation.

7. Why Prepare? Failing to follow the assignment
Your class may love your speech, but if it doesn’t follow the assignment, you will not earn a good grade.

8. The Classical Approach to Speech Preparation
Cicero ( B.C.E.), a Roman lawyer and politician, developed five keys to speech preparation in his treatise De inventione :
1. Invention
2. Arrangement
3. Style
4. Memory
5. Delivery .

9. The Classical Approach to Speech Preparation
Cicero’s five points are called classical canons of rhetoric.
The five canons have been studied for the past 2,400 years and still inform the way we prepare speeches today.

10. Cicero’s Canons: Invention
The generation of ideas
Speakers generate many ideas and choose those that best serve their purpose ethically.
Effective speakers choose ideas that are adapted to their audience.
Speakers select ideas based on their topic, purpose, and supporting evidence.

11. Cicero’s Canons: Arrangement
The structuring of ideas to effectively convey them to an audience (organization)
Most speeches have three parts
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
Effective speakers arrange ideas based on the goals of the speech.

12. Cicero’s Canons: Style
The choice of expressive language
Correct language can make a speech clear, memorable, and bias free.

13. Cicero’s Canons: Memory
Preparation, or the work speakers do to remain in command of their material
This canon originally emphasized techniques of memorization.
Now we rarely memorize speeches, but instead rely on extemporaneous notes.

14. Cicero’s Canons: Delivery
The speaker’s use of the voice and body during the presentation.
Effective delivery can make a powerful statement.

15. Preparing and Delivering Your First Speech: Analyze Your Audience
Learn about your audience's interests and backgrounds.
Use knowledge of the audience to anticipate members’ attitudes.

16. Preparing and Delivering Your First Speech: Select Your Topic
Choose a topic that interests you.
Avoid overused topics.
Narrow the topic to fit the time limit of your presentation.

17. Preparing and Delivering Your First Speech: Select Your Topic

18. Preparing and Delivering Your First Speech: Determine Your Speech’s Rhetorical Purpose
The rhetorical purpose is the speech’s main goal.
Speeches typically have one of three common objectives:
Informing
Persuading
Marking an occasion

19. Preparing and Delivering Your First Speech: Determine Your Speech’s Rhetorical Purpose
Informing increases your audience's understanding.
Persuading tries to influence your audience's views or actions.
Marking a special occasion is speaking at events like weddings or graduations.

20. Preparing and Delivering Your First Speech: Create a Thesis Statement
A single sentence that sums up your main message, narrow topic, and rhetorical purpose

21. Preparing and Delivering Your First Speech: Determine Your Main Points
Choose the major ideas that you will emphasize.
As you research, find aspects that you need to highlight.
Each point must support the thesis.

22. Preparing and Delivering Your First Speech: Generate Supporting Materials
Select information that bolsters the claims made in the main points.
Brainstorm: generate many ideas that could support your thesis.

23. Preparing and Delivering Your First Speech: Generate Supporting Materials
Conduct research: gather information that enhances understanding of the topic and thus your credibility.
Focus on credible sources from the library, the Internet, or interviews.
Take accurate notes.
Note bibliographic information for each source.

24. Preparing and Delivering Your First Speech: Organize and Outline the Body of Your Speech
Create an outline with the three main parts: the introduction, the body, and the conclusion.
Create two to five main points in the body.
Develop subpoints for each main point, following the rules of subordination.

25. Preparing and Delivering Your First Speech: Organize and Outline the Body of Your Speech
A generic sample of subordination
Main Point 1
Subpoint
Sub-subpoint
Main Point 2

26. Preparing and Delivering Your First Speech: Outline Your Introduction and Conclusion
Your introduction has five parts:
The attention-getter is a brief story, quote, or fact that grabs listeners’ attention.
Your thesis statement conveys the main message.
Show an audience “what's in it for them.”
Establish credibility by outlining relevant expertise you have.
Preview your main points.

27. Preparing and Delivering Your First Speech: Outline Your Introduction and Conclusion
The conclusion has two parts:
Summary of the main points
Clincher: a vivid closing sentence or paragraph

28. Preparing and Delivering Your First Speech: Outline Your Introduction and Conclusion

29. Preparing and Delivering Your First Speech: Incorporate Transitions
Transitions are sentences that tell the audience that you are moving from one point to another:
Use them in the following places:
Between the introduction and first main point
Between main points
Between the final main point and the conclusion

30. Preparing and Delivering Your First Speech: Consider Your Word Choice
Revise words to increase comprehensibility, precision, and vividness.
Revise to simplify sentences.
Revise to remove biased language.

31. Preparing and Delivering Your First Speech: Consider Presentation Aids
May help the audience remember your message.
Use actual objects, images, graphs, PowerPoints, etc.
Must be accessible from all points in room.
These should support, not overshadow, your presentation.

32. Preparing and Delivering Your First Speech: Practice Your Speech
Helps develop comfort and confidence
Promotes extemporaneous delivery
Requires practice from outline four to five times

33. Preparing and Delivering Your First Speech: Deliver Your Speech
Project your voice.
Maintain an even rate of speaking.
Convey interest in your topic.
Maintain eye contact.

34. Overcoming Speech Anxiety
Speech anxiety (stage fright) is common and experiencing a little of it is okay.

35. Overcoming Speech Anxiety

36. Overcoming Speech Anxiety: Select a Topic You Know and Enjoy
Researching, planning, and practicing will all be easier if you pick a topic you find interesting.
Preparation ahead of time will make your speech more natural.

37. Overcoming Speech Anxiety: Start Preparing Early
Early preparation is key; avoid the temptation to procrastinate.

38. Overcoming Speech Anxiety: Take Care of Yourself
Get enough sleep.
Avoid too much sugar and caffeine.
Manage your other commitments before a speech.

39. Overcoming Speech Anxiety: Visualize Success
Visualizing success can help ease your anxiety.
Make your visualization as specific as possible.

40. Overcoming Speech Anxiety: Use Relaxation Techniques
Basic muscle and breathing exercises can help reduce anxiety.
Plan time for an enjoyable activity.

41. Overcoming Speech Anxiety: Volunteer to Speak First
If you present early, you will have less time to work up a debilitating level of worry.