ORGANIZING SPEECHES SIX SIMPLE STEPS 1
WRITING A SPEECH There are Six Simple Steps to writing a speech: 1. Capture 2. Motivate 3. Assert 4. Preview 5. Point Support 6. Action 2
CAPTURE STEP Grab your audience s attention. Make it interesting! Pique their interest! 6 Easy ways! 3
CAPTURE STEP Rhetorical Statement (factual stmt.) Rhetorical Question Startling Statement Quote Humorous Anecdote Illustration 4
CAPTURE: RHETORICAL (FACTUAL) STATEMENT Simply states a fact. Today is the beginning of the rest of your life. Dogs are man s best friend. John Glenn is a great American. 5
CAPTURE: RHETORICAL QUESTION Asks a question the audience will answer in their mind. Would you like to win a million dollars? Do you know that a simple test could save your life? How long will you live? 6
CAPTURE: STARTLING STATEMENT Gives startling or unexpected information. By the time you are age twenty, three people in this room will be dead! One in twenty Americans will die of cancer. 7
CAPTURE: QUOTE Uses quote to begin a speech. Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country. Genius is ninety-nine percent perspiration and only one percent inspiration. 8
CAPTURE: HUMOROUS ANECDOTE Tells a funny story. As I left the house, I slammed my thumb in the door. Then, on the way to the car, I tripped over the dog and caught my purse on the mailbox, which broke the post. As the post fell, it shattered a glass statue in the yard. This scared the cat, who then scratched the dog who then bit my ankle. It was definitely the start of a bad day! 9
CAPTURE: ILLUSTRATION Tells a story to illustrate a point. Paris, London, New York City, Washington D.C., Hawaii I ve seen them all. Each place is a snapshot embedded in my mind, so that I can revisit them anytime I d like. 10
MOTIVATE Tells audience WHY they should listen to your presentation. The speaker must show the audience why the subject is important to them. A wise speaker will tell the audience why he/she is speaking about the subject, how it affects them, and how it might touch their life. 11
MOTIVATE: 3 EASY METHODS 1. Reward: This is the preferred process because people respond more eagerly to promises than threats. For example; You will win a prize or This may save your life. 2. Penalty: Through the use of fear, you describe what will happen if they don t listen. For example; You will lose money or the U.S. Air Force requires each man to pack his own parachute. Failure to learn the correct way provides an obvious penalty. 3. Curiosity: You appeal to your listener s desire to learn for the sake of learning. For example; How hot is the sun? How heavy is it? 12
ASSERT Tells the audience the specific purpose of the speech. Example: There is a correct way to hit a golf ball. 13
PREVIEW Highlights main points to be covered in speech. There are three steps to becoming a great golfer. 1. The grip. 2. The stance. 3. The swing. For example: If the assertion says There is a correct way to hit a golf ball, the Preview might say, Let s discuss the proper stance, the grip, and the swing in order to hit that ball correctly. 14
POINT AND SUPPORT This is the body or main portion of your speech. (The meat ) Try to limit your main points to three or four. Audiences tend to tune out with too many points. A. The Stance 1. Position of feet 2. Flexed knees B. The Grip 1. Position of fingers 2. Positioning hands on shaft C. The Swing 1. The back swing 2. The follow through 15
ACTION This is the last step in your speech organization process. You must ask the audience to DO something take some ACTION. Remember two things: 1. Keep it short. 2. Link your action step to your capture step. Example: If you began your speech by saying, Your vote is your power to change the world, you might end your speech like this So remember, when election day arrives, exert your power and get out and vote. 16
ORGANIZATION METHODS You may wonder in what order to place your main points. You have a choice of four methods. 1. Chronological (Time) 2. Spatial (Space) 3. Topical (Topic) 4. Problem - Solution 17
CHRONOLOGICAL Time Sequence Begin at a certain date and move forward chronologically. For example, if you were presenting a speech on the life of John F. Kennedy, you might divide the information into four main sections 18
JOHN F. KENNEDY A. Early Years B. War Hero C. Politician D. Presidency 19
SPATIAL When discussing a subject that moves from one specific area to another, use the spatial method of organizing. For example, if you are discussing the layout of a building, describe the basement and work up to the top floor. 20
TOPICAL Divide subject into logical topics. For example, if you were discussing the structure of congress, logical topics would be: A. The House of Representatives B. The Senate. 21
PROBLEM - SOLUTION This method has only two main points in the point support section. A. State and describe the problem. There is too much trash on campus. B. State and describe the solution If everyone picks up their own trash, we could have a beautiful campus. 22
REVIEW SIX STEPS 1. Capture Step 2. Motivate 3. Assert 4. Preview 5. Point Support 6. Action 23
PRACTICE Lets practice some captures. For each speech topic use a different type of capture. 1. Value of owning a pet 2. High School sports 3. Why we should start school later 4. Should students wear uniforms? 5. The life of (insert favorite actor or musician) 24