Speech Organization

"Speak to be understood and speak with variety to maintain interest."

The preparation for any speech is the foundation of the presentation and begins with a Topic and a Central Idea or Theme. The information available from the workshops, at UNICEF House, in the Library or personal experiences will provide you with the material to organize your speech.

• Organizing your points: There are various methods to use but the following are suggestions:
• Chronological - by time or sequence
• Topical
• Primacy - most important information first
• Complexity - ideas from simple to complex
• Cause and Effect - discuss a situation and its causes or a situation and its effects.
• Problem and Solution - discuss a problem and the various solutions or a solution and the problems it would solve.
• Organizing your Supporting Materials
• Specificity - from specific to general or vice versa
• Complexity - simple to complex
• Soft to hard evidence - opinion or example to fact or statistic.
• Introduction
• Introduce the subject, theme, or central idea
• To get the audience's attention use:
• An illustration,
• A startling statistic,
• A quotation
• Humor
• A question
• Reference an historical event
• Reference a current event
• A personal experience.
• Give the audience a reason to listen - tell the listeners how the topic directly affects them.
• Establish your credibility - tell your listeners about your commitment to the topic.
• Preview your main ideas - tell your listeners what you are going to tell them.
• Verbal Transitions
• Repeating a key word or using a synonym or pronoun that refers to the key word ­
• "These problems cannot be allowed to continue…"
• Using a transitional word or phrase ­
• "In addition to the facts that I have mentioned we need to consider another problem…"
• Enumerating­
• "Second, there has been a rapid increase in the number of accidents reported…"
• Using internal-summaries and previews ­
• "Now that we have discussed the problems caused by illiteracy, let us look at some of the possible solutions."
• Nonverbal Transitions
• These can occur alone or in conjunction with verbal transitions:
• a change in facial expression;
• a pause;
• an altered vocal pitch or speaking rate; - a movement.
• Conclusion
• Summarizes the speech - tell the listeners what you told them.
• Reemphasize the main idea in a memorable way ­use a well-worded closing phrase and provide a final example.
• Motivate the audience to respond - urge the listeners to think about the topic or research it further and suggest appropriate action.
• Provide closure - use verbal and nonverbal transitions and make reference to the introduction.
• Review your main ideas - tell your listeners what you just told them.
• Using words effectively
• To hold your audience's attention
• ­keep your language concrete vs abstract
• To make your language unbiased­
• avoid language that demeans, stereotypes or patronizes groups of people
• To keep your language simple ­
• avoid a long word when a short one will be sufficient.
• Remember – not all of your audience may be from the same geographic and linguistic regions.
• Characteristics of Effective Delivery
• Body Language:
• Gestures - natural and relaxed; coordinated with what you say; consistent with your message; unobtrusive and varied.
• Movement - unobtrusive (does not distract from the message), should make sense to the listener.
• Posture ­- the way you carry your body communicates significant information, can reflect credibility, communicates the intensity of an emQtion, should reflec~ your interest in the event and what is being presented.
• Eye Contact - opens communications, makes you more believable and keeps your audience interested; contributes to the success of your delivery; provides you with feedback about how your speech is being received.
• Facial Expression - expresses your thoughts, emotions and attitudes; audience sees your face before they hear your words; can vary to be consistent with the message.
• Vocal Delivery - includes pitch, rate, volume, pronunciation, articulation, pauses and general variation of the voice.