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Preparing Speeches
Analyzing Your Audience
- Audience demographics are used to analyze characteristics of your audience that can help you mention specific ways your information will be interesting or useful to your listeners.
- Audience attitudes and beliefs are important, but experts in audience analysis suggest that speakers concentrate on values because they are more likely to be shared by large numbers of people.
- Audience perception of the occasion, in a college class, requires a high level of thought and intelligence without being boring or humorless.
- Consider your audience members' political affiliations, and how they differ from your own.
Planning Your Speech
- Choose a topic that is appropriate to you, your audience, and the occasion.
- Define your purpose with a well-worded purpose statement.
- Write a purpose statement that is result oriented, specific, and realistic.
- State your thesis as the most important take-away for your audience.
- Gather information that is credible, objective, and current.
- Beware of fake news and misinformation!
3 Ways to Evaluate Online Information
- Is the information trustworthy?
- Is the information unbiased?
- Is the information up to date?
Structuring Your Speech
- Outline your speech as you plan it so your ideas will be effectively organized.
- Use notes to help you remember key information while you are speaking.
- Organize your ideas in a logical pattern that will help you effectively develop your thesis.
An Introduction Should...
- Capture the audience's attention.
- Preview your main points.
- Set the mood and tone of your speech.
- Demonstrate the importance of your topic.
- Establish your credibility.
9 Ways to Capture the Audience's Attention
- Refer to the audience.
- Refer to the occasion.
- Refer to the relationship between the audience and the subject.
- Refer to something familiar to the audience.
- Cite a startling fact or opinion.
- Ask a question.
- Tell an anecdote.
- Use a quotation.
- Tell an (appropriate) joke.
Conclusions and Transitions
- Your conclusions should restate your thesis, review your main points, and provide a memorable final remark.
- Transitions connect the ideas in your speech by showing how each idea related to the other.
Types of Supporting Material
- Definitions
- Examples
- Statistics
- Analogies/comparison-contrast
- Anecdotes
- Quotations/testimony
Style of Supporting Material
- Narration (telling a story with your information)
- Citation (a simple statement of the facts)