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How to write a speech that your audience remembers

Whether in a work meeting or at an investor panel, you might give a speech at some point. And no matter how excited you are about the opportunity, the experience can be nerve-wracking . 

But feeling butterflies doesn’t mean you can’t give a great speech. With the proper preparation and a clear outline, apprehensive public speakers and natural wordsmiths alike can write and present a compelling message. Here’s how to write a good speech you’ll be proud to deliver.

What is good speech writing?

Good speech writing is the art of crafting words and ideas into a compelling, coherent, and memorable message that resonates with the audience. Here are some key elements of great speech writing:

• It begins with clearly understanding the speech's purpose and the audience it seeks to engage. 
• A well-written speech clearly conveys its central message, ensuring that the audience understands and retains the key points. 
• It is structured thoughtfully, with a captivating opening, a well-organized body, and a conclusion that reinforces the main message. 
• Good speech writing embraces the power of engaging content, weaving in stories, examples, and relatable anecdotes to connect with the audience on both intellectual and emotional levels. 

Ultimately, it is the combination of these elements, along with the authenticity and delivery of the speaker , that transforms words on a page into a powerful and impactful spoken narrative.

What makes a good speech?

A great speech includes several key qualities, but three fundamental elements make a speech truly effective:

Clarity and purpose

Remembering the audience, cohesive structure.

While other important factors make a speech a home run, these three elements are essential for writing an effective speech.

The main elements of a good speech

The main elements of a speech typically include:

• Introduction: The introduction sets the stage for your speech and grabs the audience's attention. It should include a hook or attention-grabbing opening, introduce the topic, and provide an overview of what will be covered.
• Opening/captivating statement: This is a strong statement that immediately engages the audience and creates curiosity about the speech topics.
• Thesis statement/central idea: The thesis statement or central idea is a concise statement that summarizes the main point or argument of your speech. It serves as a roadmap for the audience to understand what your speech is about.
• Body: The body of the speech is where you elaborate on your main points or arguments. Each point is typically supported by evidence, examples, statistics, or anecdotes. The body should be organized logically and coherently, with smooth transitions between the main points.
• Supporting evidence: This includes facts, data, research findings, expert opinions, or personal stories that support and strengthen your main points. Well-chosen and credible evidence enhances the persuasive power of your speech.
• Transitions: Transitions are phrases or statements that connect different parts of your speech, guiding the audience from one idea to the next. Effective transitions signal the shifts in topics or ideas and help maintain a smooth flow throughout the speech.
• Counterarguments and rebuttals (if applicable): If your speech involves addressing opposing viewpoints or counterarguments, you should acknowledge and address them. Presenting counterarguments makes your speech more persuasive and demonstrates critical thinking.
• Conclusion: The conclusion is the final part of your speech and should bring your message to a satisfying close. Summarize your main points, restate your thesis statement, and leave the audience with a memorable closing thought or call to action.
• Closing statement: This is the final statement that leaves a lasting impression and reinforces the main message of your speech. It can be a call to action, a thought-provoking question, a powerful quote, or a memorable anecdote.
• Delivery and presentation: How you deliver your speech is also an essential element to consider. Pay attention to your tone, body language, eye contact , voice modulation, and timing. Practice and rehearse your speech, and try using the 7-38-55 rule to ensure confident and effective delivery.

While the order and emphasis of these elements may vary depending on the type of speech and audience, these elements provide a framework for organizing and delivering a successful speech.

How to structure a good speech

You know what message you want to transmit, who you’re delivering it to, and even how you want to say it. But you need to know how to start, develop, and close a speech before writing it. 

Think of a speech like an essay. It should have an introduction, conclusion, and body sections in between. This places ideas in a logical order that the audience can better understand and follow them. Learning how to make a speech with an outline gives your storytelling the scaffolding it needs to get its point across.

Here’s a general speech structure to guide your writing process:

• Explanation 1
• Explanation 2
• Explanation 3

How to write a compelling speech opener

Some research shows that engaged audiences pay attention for only 15 to 20 minutes at a time. Other estimates are even lower, citing that people stop listening intently in fewer than 10 minutes . If you make a good first impression at the beginning of your speech, you have a better chance of interesting your audience through the middle when attention spans fade. 

Implementing the INTRO model can help grab and keep your audience’s attention as soon as you start speaking. This acronym stands for interest, need, timing, roadmap, and objectives, and it represents the key points you should hit in an opening. 

Here’s what to include for each of these points: 

• Interest : Introduce yourself or your topic concisely and speak with confidence . Write a compelling opening statement using relevant data or an anecdote that the audience can relate to.
• Needs : The audience is listening to you because they have something to learn. If you’re pitching a new app idea to a panel of investors, those potential partners want to discover more about your product and what they can earn from it. Read the room and gently remind them of the purpose of your speech. 
• Timing : When appropriate, let your audience know how long you’ll speak. This lets listeners set expectations and keep tabs on their own attention span. If a weary audience member knows you’ll talk for 40 minutes, they can better manage their energy as that time goes on. 
• Routemap : Give a brief overview of the three main points you’ll cover in your speech. If an audience member’s attention starts to drop off and they miss a few sentences, they can more easily get their bearings if they know the general outline of the presentation.
• Objectives : Tell the audience what you hope to achieve, encouraging them to listen to the end for the payout. 

Writing the middle of a speech

The body of your speech is the most information-dense section. Facts, visual aids, PowerPoints — all this information meets an audience with a waning attention span. Sticking to the speech structure gives your message focus and keeps you from going off track, making everything you say as useful as possible.

Limit the middle of your speech to three points, and support them with no more than three explanations. Following this model organizes your thoughts and prevents you from offering more information than the audience can retain. 

Using this section of the speech to make your presentation interactive can add interest and engage your audience. Try including a video or demonstration to break the monotony. A quick poll or survey also keeps the audience on their toes. 

Wrapping the speech up

To you, restating your points at the end can feel repetitive and dull. You’ve practiced countless times and heard it all before. But repetition aids memory and learning , helping your audience retain what you’ve told them. Use your speech’s conclusion to summarize the main points with a few short sentences.

Try to end on a memorable note, like posing a motivational quote or a thoughtful question the audience can contemplate once they leave. In proposal or pitch-style speeches, consider landing on a call to action (CTA) that invites your audience to take the next step.

How to write a good speech

If public speaking gives you the jitters, you’re not alone. Roughly 80% of the population feels nervous before giving a speech, and another 10% percent experiences intense anxiety and sometimes even panic. 

The fear of failure can cause procrastination and can cause you to put off your speechwriting process until the last minute. Finding the right words takes time and preparation, and if you’re already feeling nervous, starting from a blank page might seem even harder.

But putting in the effort despite your stress is worth it. Presenting a speech you worked hard on fosters authenticity and connects you to the subject matter, which can help your audience understand your points better. Human connection is all about honesty and vulnerability, and if you want to connect to the people you’re speaking to, they should see that in you.

1. Identify your objectives and target audience

Before diving into the writing process, find healthy coping strategies to help you stop worrying . Then you can define your speech’s purpose, think about your target audience, and start identifying your objectives. Here are some questions to ask yourself and ground your thinking : 

• What purpose do I want my speech to achieve? 
• What would it mean to me if I achieved the speech’s purpose?
• What audience am I writing for? 
• What do I know about my audience? 
• What values do I want to transmit? 
• If the audience remembers one take-home message, what should it be? 
• What do I want my audience to feel, think, or do after I finish speaking? 
• What parts of my message could be confusing and require further explanation?

2. Know your audience

Understanding your audience is crucial for tailoring your speech effectively. Consider the demographics of your audience, their interests, and their expectations. For instance, if you're addressing a group of healthcare professionals, you'll want to use medical terminology and data that resonate with them. Conversely, if your audience is a group of young students, you'd adjust your content to be more relatable to their experiences and interests. 

3. Choose a clear message

Your message should be the central idea that you want your audience to take away from your speech. Let's say you're giving a speech on climate change. Your clear message might be something like, "Individual actions can make a significant impact on mitigating climate change." Throughout your speech, all your points and examples should support this central message, reinforcing it for your audience.

4. Structure your speech

Organizing your speech properly keeps your audience engaged and helps them follow your ideas. The introduction should grab your audience's attention and introduce the topic. For example, if you're discussing space exploration, you could start with a fascinating fact about a recent space mission. In the body, you'd present your main points logically, such as the history of space exploration, its scientific significance, and future prospects. Finally, in the conclusion, you'd summarize your key points and reiterate the importance of space exploration in advancing human knowledge.

5. Use engaging content for clarity

Engaging content includes stories, anecdotes, statistics, and examples that illustrate your main points. For instance, if you're giving a speech about the importance of reading, you might share a personal story about how a particular book changed your perspective. You could also include statistics on the benefits of reading, such as improved cognitive abilities and empathy.

6. Maintain clarity and simplicity

It's essential to communicate your ideas clearly. Avoid using overly technical jargon or complex language that might confuse your audience. For example, if you're discussing a medical breakthrough with a non-medical audience, explain complex terms in simple, understandable language.

7. Practice and rehearse

Practice is key to delivering a great speech. Rehearse multiple times to refine your delivery, timing, and tone. Consider using a mirror or recording yourself to observe your body language and gestures. For instance, if you're giving a motivational speech, practice your gestures and expressions to convey enthusiasm and confidence.

8. Consider nonverbal communication

Your body language, tone of voice, and gestures should align with your message . If you're delivering a speech on leadership, maintain strong eye contact to convey authority and connection with your audience. A steady pace and varied tone can also enhance your speech's impact.

9. Engage your audience

Engaging your audience keeps them interested and attentive. Encourage interaction by asking thought-provoking questions or sharing relatable anecdotes. If you're giving a speech on teamwork, ask the audience to recall a time when teamwork led to a successful outcome, fostering engagement and connection.

10. Prepare for Q&A

Anticipate potential questions or objections your audience might have and prepare concise, well-informed responses. If you're delivering a speech on a controversial topic, such as healthcare reform, be ready to address common concerns, like the impact on healthcare costs or access to services, during the Q&A session.

By following these steps and incorporating examples that align with your specific speech topic and purpose, you can craft and deliver a compelling and impactful speech that resonates with your audience.

Tools for writing a great speech

There are several helpful tools available for speechwriting, both technological and communication-related. Here are a few examples:

• Word processing software: Tools like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or other word processors provide a user-friendly environment for writing and editing speeches. They offer features like spell-checking, grammar correction, formatting options, and easy revision tracking.
• Presentation software: Software such as Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides is useful when creating visual aids to accompany your speech. These tools allow you to create engaging slideshows with text, images, charts, and videos to enhance your presentation.
• Speechwriting Templates: Online platforms or software offer pre-designed templates specifically for speechwriting. These templates provide guidance on structuring your speech and may include prompts for different sections like introductions, main points, and conclusions.
• Rhetorical devices and figures of speech: Rhetorical tools such as metaphors, similes, alliteration, and parallelism can add impact and persuasion to your speech. Resources like books, websites, or academic papers detailing various rhetorical devices can help you incorporate them effectively.
• Speechwriting apps: Mobile apps designed specifically for speechwriting can be helpful in organizing your thoughts, creating outlines, and composing a speech. These apps often provide features like voice recording, note-taking, and virtual prompts to keep you on track.
• Grammar and style checkers: Online tools or plugins like Grammarly or Hemingway Editor help improve the clarity and readability of your speech by checking for grammar, spelling, and style errors. They provide suggestions for sentence structure, word choice, and overall tone.
• Thesaurus and dictionary: Online or offline resources such as thesauruses and dictionaries help expand your vocabulary and find alternative words or phrases to express your ideas more effectively. They can also clarify meanings or provide context for unfamiliar terms.
• Online speechwriting communities: Joining online forums or communities focused on speechwriting can be beneficial for getting feedback, sharing ideas, and learning from experienced speechwriters. It's an opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and improve your public speaking skills through collaboration.

Remember, while these tools can assist in the speechwriting process, it's essential to use them thoughtfully and adapt them to your specific needs and style. The most important aspect of speechwriting remains the creativity, authenticity, and connection with your audience that you bring to your speech.

5 tips for writing a speech

Behind every great speech is an excellent idea and a speaker who refined it. But a successful speech is about more than the initial words on the page, and there are a few more things you can do to help it land.

Here are five more tips for writing and practicing your speech:

1. Structure first, write second

If you start the writing process before organizing your thoughts, you may have to re-order, cut, and scrap the sentences you worked hard on. Save yourself some time by using a speech structure, like the one above, to order your talking points first. This can also help you identify unclear points or moments that disrupt your flow.

2. Do your homework

Data strengthens your argument with a scientific edge. Research your topic with an eye for attention-grabbing statistics, or look for findings you can use to support each point. If you’re pitching a product or service, pull information from company metrics that demonstrate past or potential successes. 

Audience members will likely have questions, so learn all talking points inside and out. If you tell investors that your product will provide 12% returns, for example, come prepared with projections that support that statement.

3. Sound like yourself

Memorable speakers have distinct voices. Think of Martin Luther King Jr’s urgent, inspiring timbre or Oprah’s empathetic, personal tone . Establish your voice — one that aligns with your personality and values — and stick with it. If you’re a motivational speaker, keep your tone upbeat to inspire your audience . If you’re the CEO of a startup, try sounding assured but approachable. 

4. Practice

As you practice a speech, you become more confident , gain a better handle on the material, and learn the outline so well that unexpected questions are less likely to trip you up. Practice in front of a colleague or friend for honest feedback about what you could change, and speak in front of the mirror to tweak your nonverbal communication and body language .

5. Remember to breathe

When you’re stressed, you breathe more rapidly . It can be challenging to talk normally when you can’t regulate your breath. Before your presentation, try some mindful breathing exercises so that when the day comes, you already have strategies that will calm you down and remain present . This can also help you control your voice and avoid speaking too quickly.

How to ghostwrite a great speech for someone else

Ghostwriting a speech requires a unique set of skills, as you're essentially writing a piece that will be delivered by someone else. Here are some tips on how to effectively ghostwrite a speech:

• Understand the speaker's voice and style : Begin by thoroughly understanding the speaker's personality, speaking style, and preferences. This includes their tone, humor, and any personal anecdotes they may want to include.
• Interview the speaker : Have a detailed conversation with the speaker to gather information about their speech's purpose, target audience, key messages, and any specific points they want to emphasize. Ask for personal stories or examples they may want to include.
• Research thoroughly : Research the topic to ensure you have a strong foundation of knowledge. This helps you craft a well-informed and credible speech.
• Create an outline : Develop a clear outline that includes the introduction, main points, supporting evidence, and a conclusion. Share this outline with the speaker for their input and approval.
• Write in the speaker's voice : While crafting the speech, maintain the speaker's voice and style. Use language and phrasing that feel natural to them. If they have a particular way of expressing ideas, incorporate that into the speech.
• Craft a captivating opening : Begin the speech with a compelling opening that grabs the audience's attention. This could be a relevant quote, an interesting fact, a personal anecdote, or a thought-provoking question.
• Organize content logically : Ensure the speech flows logically, with each point building on the previous one. Use transitions to guide the audience from one idea to the next smoothly.
• Incorporate engaging stories and examples : Include anecdotes, stories, and real-life examples that illustrate key points and make the speech relatable and memorable.
• Edit and revise : Edit the speech carefully for clarity, grammar, and coherence. Ensure the speech is the right length and aligns with the speaker's time constraints.
• Seek feedback : Share drafts of the speech with the speaker for their feedback and revisions. They may have specific changes or additions they'd like to make.
• Practice delivery : If possible, work with the speaker on their delivery. Practice the speech together, allowing the speaker to become familiar with the content and your writing style.
• Maintain confidentiality : As a ghostwriter, it's essential to respect the confidentiality and anonymity of the work. Do not disclose that you wrote the speech unless you have the speaker's permission to do so.
• Be flexible : Be open to making changes and revisions as per the speaker's preferences. Your goal is to make them look good and effectively convey their message.
• Meet deadlines : Stick to agreed-upon deadlines for drafts and revisions. Punctuality and reliability are essential in ghostwriting.
• Provide support : Support the speaker during their preparation and rehearsal process. This can include helping with cue cards, speech notes, or any other materials they need.

Remember that successful ghostwriting is about capturing the essence of the speaker while delivering a well-structured and engaging speech. Collaboration, communication, and adaptability are key to achieving this.

Give your best speech yet

Learn how to make a speech that’ll hold an audience’s attention by structuring your thoughts and practicing frequently. Put the effort into writing and preparing your content, and aim to improve your breathing, eye contact , and body language as you practice. The more you work on your speech, the more confident you’ll become.

The energy you invest in writing an effective speech will help your audience remember and connect to every concept. Remember: some life-changing philosophies have come from good speeches, so give your words a chance to resonate with others. You might even change their thinking.

Boost your speech skills

Enhance your public speaking with personalized coaching tailored to your needs

Elizabeth Perry, ACC

Elizabeth Perry is a Coach Community Manager at BetterUp. She uses strategic engagement strategies to cultivate a learning community across a global network of Coaches through in-person and virtual experiences, technology-enabled platforms, and strategic coaching industry partnerships. With over 3 years of coaching experience and a certification in transformative leadership and life coaching from Sofia University, Elizabeth leverages transpersonal psychology expertise to help coaches and clients gain awareness of their behavioral and thought patterns, discover their purpose and passions, and elevate their potential. She is a lifelong student of psychology, personal growth, and human potential as well as an ICF-certified ACC transpersonal life and leadership Coach.

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10 Process of Speech Making

Learning Objectives

Public Speaking students are often surprised at the amount of work that goes into delivering a strong speech.

• Develop an extemporaneous speech by following the steps of preparing a speech.

Process of Preparing a Speech

Many students are surprised by the amount of work that is required to deliver an extemporaneous speech. Public Speaking requires students to choose a topic, consider their audience, analyze the audience, consider their own biases to avoid ethnocentrism, research their topic, craft an outline, and practice the delivery of the speech. If you are thinking, “Oh! My!” You are right, “Oh, My”. This chapter will break down the importance of each step and highlight best practices for strong speech delivery.

Choosing a Topic

There is no “right” topic for a speech class; however, there are topics that are more suitable for a particular audience, the occasion of the speech, and the type of speech. Therefore, it is important for students to spend quality time in the brainstorming phase of selecting a topic and narrowing in on the scope of their speech.

Analyzing the Who, Why, and Where

Knowing and understanding your audience is one of the most important parts of developing an effective speech. The next steps in the speech making process include knowing and understanding your audience. What are their motives, intentions, and goals? You will be required to engage in an audience analysis process in order to learn your public speaking audience and tailor your speech to this particular audience. Stay tuned!

Topic Research: Gathering Materials and Evidence

You now have a topic and an understanding of the audience – you are ready to begin researching! You will use the library (your institution’s library, the local library, online databases, etc.) to begin researching. Researching takes time and skill. Simply going to Google, typing in a few keywords, and choosing the first three results, is not research. You will need to carve out hours of time to gather materials and evidence to support your claims. These skills will be introduced in the research section for both informative and persuasive speaking.

The Thesis Statement

In any opinion piece, written or spoken, the main argument – the thesis statement – comes at the end of your introduction. You want your audience to know right away the point you are trying to make. It is important to remember that your thesis statement only addresses one main issue; the ways in which you choose to support your thesis add complexity and depth to your speech.

Preparing Supporting Materials

Once you have solidified your position in your thesis statement, you want to back up your thesis with a variety of supporting ideas and examples. To do this, there are several ways you can support your claims while adding variety and interest to the overall story of your speech. In order to prepare supporting materials, you will need to consider elements of your research and determine how the research (facts, statistics, anecdotes, testimonies, etc.) fits into the main points of your speech. The main points will carry the main message of your speech; it is important to construct strong supporting materials.

Organizing and Outlining Your Speech

Now that you have decided on your topic, analyzed your audience, arrived at your thesis, and determined how you will support your claims, it is time to organize your notes and research into one coherent speech.

You  did  keep all of your notes centrally collected and easily accessible, right? If you put all of your research notes and thoughts onto notecards, it is particularly helpful to lay them out in front of you and begin to organize your points and sub-points in ways that make the most logical sense.

The main points of your speech will be supported by research; however, you will need to determine the order of the main points and how you present the information. In public speaking, we call these “organizational patterns”. The stronger the pattern, the easier it is to listen to a speaker AND the easier it is for the speaker to remember what comes next – it is like a road map! You should choose an organizational pattern that works for your speech topic and builds logically from one point to the next. There are several patterns to choose from; you will learn key differences between the patterns and the strategy behind utilization.

Creating Presentation Notecards

Public Speaking professors often lament that college students just simply read their outlines word-for-word. NOTE: This is NOT public speaking, it is public reading. There is very little skill involved in reading an outline in a public speaking class. The intention of this course is to deliver an extemporaneous speech. Therefore, it is recommended to take your polished outline and turn it into keyword note cards. Your note cards should have a few words or phrases to remind the speaker of what comes next. You should avoid long sentences and word-for-word phrasing. Less is more. After you have created your note cards, you should begin practicing your speech aloud.

Practice Makes Darn Good

Perfect does not exist in public speaking. However, pretty darn good DOES! The bolded concepts, when built upon, will allow a public speaker to begin the speech making process. Once you have gone through each step, you can then begin to put the pieces together. Then, when you are ready, you can practice your speech in front of a mirror, record yourself and watch your speech, or ask a peer to practice with you. You should practice using the method of delivery. Face to face? Practice in a classroom-type setting. Virtual? Practice on Zoom or Google Meet. You will also want to practice with your technology and/or props – forgetting to add this step is detrimental to students and their success. Practice as if your intended audience is in front of you.

Speech Making Steps

As crafting a speech is a process, there are steps that must be followed – in order – to be successful. Below is a roadmap of the steps that will be addressed in the following readings.

As speech making is a process, this process will require time, effort, and pre-planning to execute effectively. Use the tool below to plan out your process to meet project deadlines (note: you will be delivering your informative speech in week 4).

Key Takeaways

Preparing a speech requires time, research, practice, and skill.

• Remember to plan ahead and give yourself enough time to plan and execute on your speaking expectations.
• Extemporaneous speaking requires a step-by-step process to be successful.

Public Speaking Copyright © by Dr. Layne Goodman; Amber Green, M.A.; and Various is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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10.3: What Do I Speak About?

• Last updated
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• Page ID 106478

• Lisa Coleman, Thomas King, & William Turner
• Southwest Tennessee Community College

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Learning Objectives

• Determine the general purpose of a speech.
• List strategies for narrowing a speech topic.
• Compose an audience-centered, specific purpose statement for a speech.
• Compose a thesis statement that summarizes the central idea of a speech.
• Compose a preview statement that highlights the main points of a speech.

General Purpose

The first step when developing a speech involves determining the general purpose of the speech. As mentioned earlier, there are only three general purposes: to inform, to persuade, and to inspire. Don’t forget the previous warning, if you’ve been told that you will be delivering an informative speech, you are automatically constrained from delivering a speech to persuade. In most public speaking classes, it will be easy to determine the general purpose of your speeches because generally, teachers will tell you the exact purpose for each speech in the class.

Choosing a Topic

Once you have determined (or been assigned) your general purpose, you can begin the process of choosing a topic. In this class, you may be given the option to choose any topic for your informative or persuasive speech, but in most academic, professional, and personal settings, there will be some parameters set that will help guide your topic selection. Speeches in future classes will likely be organized around the content being covered in the class. Speeches delivered at work will usually be directed toward a specific goal such as welcoming new employees, informing about changes in workplace policies, or presenting quarterly sales figures. We are also usually compelled to speak about specific things in our personal lives, like addressing a problem at our child’s school by speaking out at a school board meeting. In short, it’s not often that you’ll be starting from scratch when you begin to choose a topic.

Whether you’ve received parameters that narrow your topic range or not, the first step in choosing a topic is brainstorming. Brainstorming involves generating many potential topic ideas in a fast-paced and non-judgmental manner . Brainstorming can take place multiple times as you narrow your topic. For example, you may begin by brainstorming a list of your personal interests that can then be narrowed down to a speech topic. It makes sense that you will enjoy speaking about something that you care about or find interesting. The research and writing will be more interesting, and the delivery will be easier since you won’t have to fake enthusiasm for your topic. Speaking about something you’re familiar with and interested in can also help you manage speaking anxiety. While it’s good to start with your personal interests, some speakers may get stuck here if they don’t feel like they can make their interests relevant to the audience. In that case, you can look around for ideas. If your topic is something that’s being discussed in newspapers, on television, in the lounge of your dorm, or around your family’s dinner table, then it’s likely to be of interest and be relevant since it’s current. Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\) shows how brainstorming works in stages. A list of topics that interest the speaker is on the top row. The speaker can brainstorm subtopics for each idea to see which one may work the best. In this case, the speaker could decide to focus his or her informative speech on three common ways people come to own dogs: through breeders, pet stores, or shelters.

Overall you can follow these tips as you select and narrow your topic:

• Brainstorm topics that you are familiar with, interest you, and/or are currently topics of discussion.
• Choose a topic appropriate for the assignment/occasion.
• Choose a topic that you can make relevant to your audience.
• Choose a topic that you have the resources to research (access to information, people to interview, etc.).

Formulating a Specific Purpose Statement

Once you have brainstormed, narrowed, and chosen your topic, you can begin to draft your specific purpose statement. Your specific purpose is a one-sentence statement that includes the objective you want to accomplish in your speech. You do not speak aloud your specific purpose during your speech; you use it to guide your researching, organizing, and writing. A good specific purpose statement is audience-centered, agrees with the general purpose, addresses one main idea, and is realistic. This formula will help you in putting together your specific purpose statement:

Specific Communication Word (inform, explain, demonstrate, describe, define, persuade, convince, prove, argue)

Target Audience (my classmates, the members of the Social Work Club, my coworkers)

The Content (how to bake brownies, that Macs are better than PCs)

Each of these parts of the specific purpose is important. The first two parts make sure you are clear on your purpose and know specifically who will be hearing your message. However, we will focus on the last part here. The content part of the specific purpose statement must first be singular and focused, and the content must match the purpose. The word “and” really should not appear in the specific purpose statement since that would make it seem that you have two purposes and two topics. Obviously, the specific purpose statement’s content must be very narrowly defined and, well, specific. One mistake beginning speakers often make is to try to “cover” too much material. They tend to speak about the whole alphabet, A-Z on a subject, instead of just “T” or “L.” This comes from an emphasis on the topic more than the purpose, and from not keeping audience and context in mind. In other words, go deep (specific), not broad. Examples in this chapter will show what that means.

Second, the content must match the focus of the purpose word. A common error is to match an informative purpose with a persuasive content clause or phrase. For example,

To explain to my classmates why term life insurance is a better option than whole life insurance policies.

To inform my classmates about how the recent Supreme Court decision on police procedures during arrests is unconstitutional.

Sometimes it takes an unbiased second party to see where your content and purpose may not match.

Third, the specific purpose statement should be relevant to the audience. How do the purpose and its topic touch upon their lives, wallets, relationships, careers, etc.? It is also a good idea to keep in mind what you want the audience to walk away with or what you want them to know, to be able to do, to think, to act upon, or to respond to your topic—your outcome or result.

For example, “to explain to my classmates the history of NASA” would be far too much material and the audience may be unsure of its relevance. A more specific one such as “to inform my classmates about the decline of the Shuttle program” would be more manageable and closer to their experience. It would also reference two well-known historical tragedies involving the Shuttle program, the Challenger Disaster in 1986 and the Columbia Explosion in 2003. Here are several examples of specific purpose statements. Notice how they meet the standards of being singular, focused, relevant, and consistent.

To inform my classmates of the origin of the hospice movement.

To describe to my coworkers the steps to apply for retirement.

To define for a group of new graduate students the term “academic freedom.”

To explain to the Lions Club members the problems faced by veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

To persuade the members of the Greek society to take the spring break trip to Daytona Beach.

To motivate my classmates to engage in the College’s study abroad program.

To convince my classroom audience that they need at least seven hours of sleep per night to do well in their studies.

Now that you understand the basic form and function of a specific purpose statement, let’s look at how the same topic for a different audience will create a somewhat different specific purpose statement. Public speaking is not a “one-size-fits-all” proposition. Let’s take the subject of participating in the study abroad program. How would you change your approach if you were addressing first-semester freshmen instead of first-semester juniors? Or if you were speaking to high school students in one of the college’s feeder high schools? Or if you were asked to share your experiences with a local civic group that gave you a partial scholarship to participate in the program? You would have slightly different specific purpose statements although your experience and basic information are all the same.

For another example, let’s say that one of your family members has benefitted from being in the Special Olympics and you have volunteered two years at the local event. You could give a tribute (commemorative speech) about the work of Special Olympics (with the purpose to inspire), an informative speech on the scope or history of the Special Olympics, or a persuasive speech on why audience members should volunteer at next year’s event. “Special Olympics” is a keyword for every specific purpose, but the statements would otherwise be different.

Despite all the information given about specific purpose statements so far, the next thing you read will seem strange: Never start your speech by saying your specific purpose to the audience. In a sense, it is just for you and the instructor. For you, it’s like a note you might tack on the mirror or refrigerator to keep you on track. For the instructor, it’s a way for him or her to know you are accomplishing both the assignment and what you set out to do. Avoid the temptation to default to saying it at the beginning of your speech. It will seem awkward and repetitive.

Formulating a Central Idea Statement

While you will not actually say your specific purpose statement during your speech, you will need to clearly state what your focus and main points are going to be (preferably at the end of the introductory section of your speech). The statement that contains or summarizes a speech’s main points is commonly known as the  central idea statement (or just the central idea).

Now, at this point, we need to make a point about terminology. Your instructor may call the central idea statement “the thesis” or “the thesis statement.” Your English composition instructor probably uses that term in your essay writing. Another instructor may call it the “main idea statement.” All of these are basically synonymous and you should not let the terms confuse you, but you should use the term your instructor uses.

That said, is the central idea statement the very same thing as the thesis sentence in an essay? Yes, in that both are letting the audience know without a doubt your topic, purpose, direction, angle, and/or point of view. No, in that the rules for writing a “thesis” or central idea statement in a speech are not as strict as in an essay. For example, it is acceptable in a speech to announce the topic and purpose, although it is usually not the most artful or effective way to do it. You may say,

“In this speech, I will try to motivate you to join me next month as a volunteer at the regional Special Olympics.”

That would be followed by a preview statement of what the speaker’s arguments or reasons for participating will be, such as,

“You will see that it will benefit the community, the participants, and you individually.”

However, another approach is to “capsulize” the purpose, topic, approach, and preview in one succinct statement.

“Your involvement as a volunteer in next month’s regional Special Olympics will be a rewarding experience that will benefit the community, the participants, and you personally.”

This last version is really the better approach and most likely the one your instructor will prefer.

So, you don’t want to just repeat your specific purpose in the central idea statement, but you do want to provide complete information. Also, unlike the formal thesis of your English essays, the central idea statement in a speech can and should use personal language (I, me, we, us, you, your, etc.) and should attempt to be attention-getting and audience-focused. And importantly, just like a formal thesis sentence, it must be a complete, grammatical sentence.

The point of your central idea statement in terms of your audience is to reveal and clarify the ideas or assertions you will be addressing in your speech, more commonly known as your main points, to fulfill your specific purpose. However, as you are processing your ideas and approach, you may still be working on them. Sometimes those main points will not be clear to you immediately. As much as we would like these writing processes to be straightforward, sometimes we find that we have to revise our original approach. This is why preparing a speech the night before you are giving it is a really, really bad idea. You need lots of time for the preparation and then the practice.

Sometimes you will hear the writing process referred to as “iterative.” This word means, among other things, that a speech or document is not always written in the same order as the audience finally experiences it. You may have noticed that we have not said anything about the introduction of your speech yet. Even though that is the first thing the audience hears, it may be one of the last parts you actually compose. It is best to consider your speech flexible as you work on it and to be willing to edit and revise. If your instructor asks you to turn the outline in before the speech, you should be clear on how much you can revise after that. Otherwise, it helps to know that you can keep editing your speech until you deliver it, especially while you practice.

Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\):  "Audience listens at Startup School"  by  Robert Scoble  is licensed under  CC BY 2.0

Here are some examples of pairs of specific purpose statements and central idea statements.

Specific Purpose: To explain to my classmates the effects of losing a pet on the elderly.

Central Idea: When elderly persons lose their animal companions, they can experience serious psychological, emotional, and physical effects.

Specific Purpose: To demonstrate to my audience the correct method for cleaning a computer keyboard.

Central Idea: Your computer keyboard needs regular cleaning to function well, and you can achieve that in four easy steps.

Specific Purpose: To persuade my political science class that labor unions are no longer a vital political force in the U.S.

Central Idea: Although for decades in the twentieth century labor unions influenced local and national elections, in this speech I will point to how their influence has declined in the last thirty years.

Specific Purpose: To motivate my audience to oppose the policy of drug testing welfare recipients.

Central Idea: Many voices are calling for welfare recipients to go through mandatory, regular drug testing, but this policy is unjust, impractical, and costly, and fair-minded Americans should actively oppose it.

Specific Purpose: To explain to my fellow civic club members why I admire Representative John Lewis.

Central Idea: John Lewis has my admiration for his sacrifices during the Civil Rights movement and his service to Georgia as a leader and U.S. Representative.

Specific Purpose: To describe how makeup is done for the TV show The Walking Dead.

Central Idea: The wildly popular zombie show The Walking Dead achieves incredibly scary and believable makeup effects, and in the next few min

Notice that in all of the above examples that neither the specific purpose nor the central idea ever exceeds one sentence. You may divide your central idea and the preview of the main points into two sentences or three sentences, depending on what your instructor directs. If your central idea consists of more than three sentences, then you probably are including too much information and taking up the time that is needed for the body of the speech. Additionally, you will have a speech trying to do too much and that goes overtime.

Problems to Avoid with Specific Purpose and Central Idea Statements

• The first problem many students have in writing their specific purpose statement has already been mentioned: specific purpose statements sometimes try to cover far too much and are too broad. For example:

To explain to my classmates the history of ballet.

Aside from the fact that this subject may be difficult for everyone in your audience to relate to, it is enough for a three-hour lecture, maybe even a whole course. You will probably find that your first attempt at a specific purpose statement will need refining. These examples are much more specific and much more manageable given the limited amount of time you will have.

To explain to my classmates how ballet came to be performed and studied in the U.S.

To explain to my classmates the difference between Russian and French ballet.

To explain to my classmates how ballet originated as an art form in the Renaissance.

To explain to my classmates the origin of the ballet dancers’ clothing.

• The second problem with specific purpose statements is the opposite of being too broad, in that some specific purposes statements are so focused that they might only be appropriate for people who are already extremely interested in the topic or experts in a field:

To inform my classmates of the life cycle of a new species of lima bean (botanists, agriculturalists).

To inform my classmates about the Yellow 5 ingredient in Mountain Dew (chemists, nutritionists).

To persuade my classmates that JIF Peanut Butter is better than Peter Pan. (organizational chefs in large institutions)

• The third problem happens when the “communication verb” in the specific purpose does not match the content; for example, persuasive content is paired with “to inform” or “to explain.” If you resort to the word “why” in the thesis, it is probably persuasive.

To inform my audience why capital punishment is unconstitutional. (This cannot be informative since it is taking a side)

To persuade my audience about the three types of individual retirement accounts. (This is not persuading the audience of anything, just informing)

To inform my classmates that Universal Studios is a better theme park than Six Flags over Georgia. (This is clearly an opinion, hence persuasive)

• The fourth problem exists when the content part of the specific purpose statement has two parts and thus uses “and.” A good speech follows the KISS rule—Keep It Simple, Speaker. One specific purpose is enough. These examples cover two different topics.

To explain to my audience how to swing a golf club and choose the best golf shoes.

To persuade my classmates to be involved in the Special Olympics and vote to fund better classes for the intellectually disabled.

To fix this problem, you will need to select one of the topics in these examples and speak on just that:

To explain to my audience how to swing a golf club.

To explain to my audience how to choose the best golf shoes.

Of course, the value of this topic depends on your audience’s interest in golf and your own experience as a golfer.

• Do not write either statement as a question.
• Always use complete sentences for central idea statements and infinitive phrases (that is, “to …..”) for the specific purpose statement.
• Only use concrete language (“I admire Beyoncé for being a talented performer and businesswoman”), and avoid subjective or slang terms (“My speech is about why I think Beyoncé is the bomb”) or jargon and acronyms (“PLA is better than CBE for adult learners.”)
• Finally, the sixth problem occurs when the speech just gets off track of the specific purpose statement, in that it starts well but veers in another direction. This problem relates to the challenge of developing coherent main points, what might be called “the Roman numeral points” of the speech. The specific purpose usually determines the main points and the relevant structure. For example, if the specific purpose is:

To inform my classmates of the five stages of grief as described by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross.

There is no place in this speech for a biography of Dr. Kubler-Ross, arguments against this model of grief, therapies for those undergoing grief, or steps for the audience to take to get counseling. All of those are different specific purposes. The main points would have to be the five stages, in order, as Dr. Kubler-Ross defined them.

There are also problems to avoid in writing the central idea statement. As mentioned above, remember that:

• The specific purpose and central idea statements are not the same things, although they are related.
• The central idea statement should be clear and not complicated or wordy; it should “stand out” to the audience. As you practice delivery, you should emphasize it with your voice.
• The central idea statement should not be the first thing you say but should follow the steps of a good introduction.

One last word. You should be aware that all aspects of your speech are constantly going to change as you move toward actually giving your speech. The exact wording of your central idea may change and you can experiment with different versions for effectiveness. However, your specific purpose statement should not change unless there is a really good reason, and in some cases, your instructor will either discourage that, forbid it, or expect to be notified. There are many aspects to consider in the seemingly simple task of writing a specific purpose statement and its companion, the central idea statement. Writing good ones at the beginning will save you some trouble later in the speech preparation process.

• Pay attention to the news (in the paper, on the Internet, television, or radio). Identify two informative and two persuasive speech topics that are based in current events.
• What if your informative speech has the specific purpose statement: To explain the biological and lifestyle cause of Type II diabetes. The assignment is a seven-minute speech, and when you practice it the first time, it is thirteen minutes long. Should you adjust the specific purpose statement? How?

Career Cruising, “Marketing Specialist,” Career Cruising: Explore Careers , accessed January 24, 2012, http://www.careercruising.com .

Greenwell, D., “You Might Not ‘Like’ Facebook So Much after Reading This…” The Times (London) , sec. T2, January 13, 2012, 4–5.

Siegel, D. L., Timothy J. Coffey, and Gregory Livingston, The Great Tween Buying Machine (Chicago, IL: Dearborn Trade, 2004).

Solomon, M. R., Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being , 7th ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2006), 10–11.

BUS210: Business Communication

BUS210 Study Guide

Unit 5: developing and delivering effective business presentations, 5a. identify the various organizing principles of a speech and how to apply them in speech development.

• What are the five general purposes for speaking in public?
• What are the three components of a rhetorical situation?
• How do the nine cognate strategies contribute to successful speech communication?
• How does developing a speech outline enables you to organize ideas and concepts?
• Pick a famous speech, and analyze the ways the organizing principles for a speech have been applied.
• How are transitions placed and used in speeches?

The first step in developing an effective speech is to choose a topic. This can be based on specified requirements, audience needs and interests, and other factors. Once a topic has been chosen, speech development can begin. To craft an effective speech, information needs to be organized in a way that demonstrates your knowledge of the topic.

In addition to being helpful in speech development, an organized speech is valuable to your audience, as well. This format will enable you to stay on track and keep your audience interested and engaged.

There are generally five reasons for speaking in public. These include speeches to inform your audience or teach them about a topic; speeches to persuade are intended to change an audience's attitude or beliefs; speeches to entertain are designed to amuse an audience when presenting a position or goal; a ceremonial speech is one that is given at a formal event such as a wedding or funeral.

A rhetorical situation includes three elements; context, the audience, and the purpose of the presentation. The context refers to where we make the presentation and the set-up of the room. The time of day may affect the audience's behavior, which will enable the speaker to prepare for audience moods and demeanor. The context of a speech can also relate to any current events that might affect the presentation in one way or another.

An audience comes to a presentation with a set of expectations and knowledge. The speaker has a responsibility to be aware of the audience's characteristics so that the presentation is appropriate and meaningful to audience members.

The final rhetorical element is the purpose of the presentation. Several aspects of a speech, as noted above, can be integrated into speech development, and the purpose of the speech should be indicated early on in the presentation. This will enable the audience to be prepared for the information to come.

Nine cognate strategies frame the ways we express and represent a message to an audience. They connect with Aristotle's rhetorical proof of pathos , logos , and ethos in the following ways:

• Pathos – tone, emphasis, engagement
• Logos – clarity, conciseness, arrangement
• Ethos – credibility, expectation, reference

There are several different formats by which a speech can be outlined. However, it is important to have a structure to follow. This generally includes an introduction, the body of a speech, a conclusion, and a wrap-up. The outline enables the speaker to organize his or her ideas and ensure that the speech's main points are represented.

An organizing principle is an assumption that the entire presentation is created around. These principles enable you to arrange your presentation according to your audience's needs, the message you are conveying, or the rhetorical situation.

When developing a speech, it is important to hold the audience's attention and ensure that they can follow your thoughts and ideas. One of the strategies used by effective speakers is to ensure that transitions are used appropriately. These are words, phrases, or any visuals you may integrate into your presentation that connect one point to another. They help your audience understand the path you are taking and the relationship the ideas have to each other.

To review the concept of speech organization, read Choosing a Topic and Organization and Outlines .

5b. Identify strategies for maintaining objectivity in a speech

• How does an objective speech facilitate understanding?
• What are the differences between exposition and interpretation?
• What strategies can you use to ensure that your point of view remains neutral?
• How would you apply those strategies for maintaining neutrality to your own writing?

An informative speech is designed to share new ideas with an audience. To ensure objectivity, the speaker must remove bias and personal interpretation to increase understanding and impart new knowledge to the audience. While this kind of presentation can integrate the speaker's point of view, this must not include a personal attitude or perspective. To maintain objectivity, the speaker should use neutral language that does not appear to be positive or negative toward an issue. Information should come from credible sources without bias in their positions. Be sure to present different sides of an issue and give each perspective equal time. Remember to keep the audience in mind and know that they will not agree with everything you have to say. Finally, keep in mind that you are representing yourself and your business in the presentation.

When developing an objective presentation, it is important to keep in mind the concepts of exposition and interpretation. Exposition is when there is a public display of a complex issue in a way that is clear to the audience. The speaker's responsibility is to ensure that the meaning is clear to the receiver.

Interpretation is when we include our own perspectives and views in a presentation. As a result, our personal attitudes will mean that there could be a bias in how the material is presented.

To review this concept in more detail, read Functions of the Presentation to Inform .

5c. Explain how to develop an audience-centric speech that results in active listening

• What are some strategies for motivating the listener?
• What are the elements of framing? How do they help shape information?
• What are some strategies for connecting with your audience?

One of the most effective ways to ensure that an audience is engaged and listening to a presentation is to focus on the audience members and their needs. By framing your information in a meaningful way and seeking to address various learning styles, you can appeal to all audience members and hold their interest. Find interesting ways to present your material and highlight new viewpoints to engage your listeners further.

The way we present material can affect attitudes and behaviors. The process by which this occurs is called framing. This is done by forming imaginary boundaries around an idea or thought and filling in the frame with related material. For example, we can frame customer service by discussing examples of how various companies treat their customers. We can also act as a gatekeeper and determine the information that we will share with an audience. Coupled with agenda-setting and understanding our audience's culture, we can determine the kinds of information that will strengthen our presentation and our point of view.

Ultimately, our goal is to connect with our audience. Strategies for making this connection include keeping details to a minimum, focusing on our main points, keeping a good pace, speaking clearly, repeating our main points, including time for questions, and ensuring the audience is engaged and gives feedback.

For more details about this concept, read Adapting Your Presentation to Teach .

5d. Describe the steps for creating an effective and ethical informative speech

• What approach does an ethical speaker take when preparing a presentation?
• How does an ethical presentation integrate the audience's prior knowledge with respect?
• What is the role of honesty, trust, and mutuality in presenting an ethical speech?
• Why is avoiding exploitation when making a speech important?

An informative and ethical speech incorporates the knowledge of both the speaker and the audience. By presenting material honestly and respectfully, the speaker can gain the audience's trust.

In preparing an ethical speech, it is important to be honest and demonstrate integrity at all times. Audiences will recognize this and appreciate your consideration. A speaker should seek to avoid deceiving an audience or manipulating them in any way.

To connect with an audience and demonstrate respect for audience members, a presenter should avoid:

• Using false or fabricated claims
• Using misleading logic
• Representing yourself as an expert when you are not
• Diverting attention from the main issue
• Connecting points that are not related
• Deceiving your audience for your own self-interest
• Misrepresenting facts to hide the truth
• Using emotional appeals when they are not warranted
• Oversimplifying complex issues
• Not being definitive where appropriate
• Supporting something you do not believe in

Another aspect of being ethical in a presentation and showing respect for the audience is to avoid using language that is misunderstood or offensive. Demonstrate that you are on common ground with the audience and avoid using industry jargon or words that are exploitative.

For a more detailed review, read Preparing Your Speech to Inform .

5e. describe the individual characteristics of motivation and persuasion and how they can be applied in effective speech development

• What are the differences between persuasion and motivation?
• How does measurable gain enable the speaker to evaluate an audience's response to a message?
• Why is it important to identify an audience as either high-context or low-context?
• What are the six principles of persuasion?

Persuasion is when we present an argument designed to motivate an audience to change their views about something. This act of persuasion can have both positive and negative results. While this is a process, motivation incorporates a stimulus to bring about the change we seek.

While we may not be able to get all audience members to conform to our views, we can evaluate those who agree with us. This is defined as measurable gain, and can represent a large percentage of our audience or a small number of members. Ultimately, we seek to move our audiences from one position to another.

When evaluating our audiences, it is important to determine if their culture is high-context or low-context. In Japan, for example, the setting and location of a meeting greatly affect how the words are received. This is a high-context culture. Other countries, such as the United States, do not emphasize the setting and, therefore, are defined as a low-context culture. Understanding these factors' effects can help a speaker better prepare the presentation and ensure that all aspects of the event meet the audience's needs and expectations.

When seeking to ensure that our presentations are persuasive, we should integrate six principles of persuasion as follows:

• Reciprocity
• Commitment and consistency

To review, read Principles of Persuasion .

5f. Explain how language and cultural obstacles can impede cross-cultural communication

• How do the elements of perception affect the ways we interpret language?
• Which cultural dimensions influence the ways we view the world?
• How and why do people put up barriers to other cultures?

Perception is affected by our cultural value system, which encompasses what we value and what we pay attention to. Role identities focus on expected behavior based on social norms. In a business setting, we also have roles to play, which can be affected by the cultures from which we come. Goals are the objectives we value and can vary across cultures. In a business environment, it is important to understand the goals and values of the cultures with which we interact to be respectful of others' behavior and prepare our presentations properly.

There are a variety of cultural differences that change the ways people behave. Individualistic cultures are made up of people who value their freedom and independence.

Collectivistic cultures include people who value their families and communities over their own needs. In explicit rule cultures, rules are discussed and are expected to be known by all. This is compared to implicit rule cultures where the rules are implied and known but not necessarily stated. In uncertainty-accepting cultures, people focus on basic principles rather than specific rules and understand that the outcome may not be known. In comparison, uncertainty-rejecting cultures include people who focus on rules and do not like ambiguity.

Unfortunately, people are not always accepting of those from other cultures. Sometimes, people will form opinions of others by stereotyping those from other cultures. This involves making generalizations about a particular culture or ethnicity, which can be insulting and demeaning.

Prejudice is when we have a negative judgment of others that directs our behavior toward them. As a result, people from these cultures are not looked at as individuals and are not treated fairly within society.

Finally, some of our experiences may lead us to an attitude of ethnocentrism. This is when we hold our own culture and background in higher regard than other cultures and view our own way of doing things as the "right" way.

All of these thoughts and attitudes can negatively affect how we communicate with people from cultures different from our own. By understanding and accepting people from various backgrounds, we can have more effective and meaningful communications.

To review, read Overcoming Obstacles in Your Presentation .

5g. Use argumentative strategies and emotional appeals in a presentation that is honest and maintains ethical standards

• How would you compare the six-part rhetorical argumentative strategy with the three-part rhetorical argumentative strategy?
• What are the elements of the GASCAP/T model for organizing an argument?
• What role do emotions play in a presentation? How can you appeal to emotions?

The six-part argumentative strategy includes the following elements:

• Exordium – prepares the audience for your perspective
• Narration – provides your audience with the background for your perspective
• Proposition – introduces your audience to your claims
• Confirmation – offers your audience support for your claims
• Refutation – addresses counter-arguments and objections
• Peroration – presents your conclusion

In comparison, the three-part argumentative strategy includes:

• Your claim – your statement of truth
• The data – the information that supports your claim
• Warrant – makes the connection between your claim and your support

Both strategies can be used to ensure that you have included all of the proper elements to present your argument in a clear and cogent manner.

GASCAP/T is the acronym for the following aspects of argumentative strategies:

• Generalization – what is true of one sample is likely to be true of the entire population it came from
• Analogy – things or ideas that are alike in observable ways will likely be similar in other ways
• Sign – data indicates an understandable meaning
• Consequence or Cause – if two conditions always appear together, they are causally related
• Authority – information stated by a credible source is probably true
• Principle – something that is accepted to be true
• Testimony – something that comes from personal experience

Emotions change our perspective and can move the audience in a certain direction. Before using an emotional appeal, we should consider the effects of this strategy.

Sometimes, an audience will demonstrate emotional resistance, which is when they are tired of receiving messages that try to get an emotional response.

It is important to remember that emotions are universal, however, and influence how we communicate. Expressing these emotions is important but should be communicated with tact, timing, and trust. Also, we communicate our emotions in both verbal and non-verbal ways, and we should be aware of our body language and how we present ourselves.

Done properly, using an emotional appeal can elicit a positive response, but when used poorly, emotions can break trust and damage an established relationship.

It is important to remember that emotions can be contagious. An audience can feel our enthusiasm and respond in kind. At the same time, we can absorb our audience's emotions and integrate these feelings into our presentations and speeches.

For more details, read Making an Argument .

5h. Create pitches of varying lengths using the elements of elevator speeches and sound bites

• What are the elements of an elevator speech?
• What are the elements of a sound bite?
• Can you think of some examples of different types of sound bites?

An elevator speech is a short pitch to a listener that should take 30 seconds or less. The speaker should be as concise as possible and include an attention statement, an introduction, the benefits we can offer, an example of our skills, and a request for next steps.

A sound bite is a brief statement that focuses on one aspect of a longer message. They can be taken from interviews, articles, speeches, or other written or oral messages. Sounds bites should be clear and concise. They should use dynamic language, be easy to repeat, and be memorable.

Slogans and quotes are types of sound bites. A slogan is a memorable phrase about a product or service designed to influence people or companies to make a purchase decision. A quote is a memorable saying that can be taken from a written or oral message and can be serious, thought-provoking, or amusing.

For more details, read Elevator Speech  and Business Presentations in Action .

5i. Explain how agendas and other strategies may be used to ensure that business meetings are productive

• Why is having a meeting agenda important?
• What methods can you use to ensure a meeting is productive?

A meeting agenda serves as a guideline for how a meeting is conducted or organized. An effective agenda includes the following elements:

• Title header
• List of participants
• Subject line
• Call to order
• Introductions
• Reading of the minutes
• Old business
• New business
• Reports (may be optional)
• Good of the order
• Adjournment

Facilitating an effective meeting takes skills and practice. In addition to preparing a proper agenda, some of the elements that can enable a meeting to run smoothly include sending our reminders, starting and ending a meeting on time, ensuring that all attendees are introduced to each other and that roles are defined, adhering to the order of the agenda, and thanking attendees for their participation.

To review, read Meetings .

Unit 5 Vocabulary

This vocabulary list includes terms that might help you with the review items above and some terms you should be familiar with to be successful in completing the final exam for the course.

Try to think of the reason why each term is included.

• Public speaking
• Rhetorical situation
• Cognate strategies
• Organizing principles
• Transitions
• Objectivity
• Interpretation
• Gatekeeping
• Agenda setting
• Limiting details
• Reinforcement
• Audience involvement
• Assess learning
• Nonjudgmentalism
• Exploitation
• Measurable gain
• High-context culture
• Low-context culture
• Stereotypes
• Ethnocentrism
• Elevator speech
• Sound bites
• Meeting agenda

COMM 1110: Speech Communication: Steps of the Speech Process

• Learning Activities
• Steps of the Speech Process
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A speech generally needs to be written further in advance than a research paper so that adequate practice and revision can occur. Preparing for your speech will help with the very common fear of public speaking.  Here are some steps and links to guide you through the process.

Step 1: Understand Your Assignment

• Read your assignment and ask  your instructor you have questions on what is required.
• Who is your audience?  What is your purpose?  This this guide your topic, tone, and style.
• How long is the speech?  Are you using presentation software such as PowerPoint or do you need visuals or props?  How many sources are required?

Step 2: Select and focus your topic. Begin preliminary research

• See the Topics Research Guide
• ProCon.org: Hot Topics in the News
• Locate background information
• Locate information in books and e-books
• Consult some databases
• Locate journal articles
• Locate visuals (graphics and films)

Step 3: Get Organized

Begin to organize or outline your speech.Group your remarks and evidence to create an informal outline. It may be useful to include: 

• An introduction (including purpose and overview)
• Content or body
• Begin crafting a strong title, opening and key sentences.
• Speeches from University of North Carolina Writing Center
• Writing an Effective Title  from U of M's Center for Writing.

Step 4: Step 4: Draft any visuals. Gather additional research.

• Select evidence to support your ideas such as quotations, statistics , facts, anecdotes, etc.
• Gather your evidence from credible sources.  Include the source in  your speech.  This will make your speech more authoritative.
• Do you need help in locating materials?  Ask the librarians for help via chat, e-mail, or phone,
• Visit the Free Images, Music, and Videos Research Guide
• Learn more about creating effective visuals
• Citation help

Step 5: Compose Your Talking Points

• Start with your most important points.
• What is the "take home message" you want your audience to understand, believe, accept or do after they hear your speech? Write this out in one or two sentences.What evidence supports your "take home message?"
• Novelty: an unusual fact or surprising image
• Conflict: an opposing viewpoints on the issue
• Humor: an amusing play on words or exaggerated remark
• Suspense: such as asking a provocative question
• Consult your outline
• Create index cards (be sure to number cards)
• Organize your visuals
• On the Lisle campus, get help at the Student Success Center to go over your speech or outline for structure, clarity, tone, etc.

Step 6: Plan the Timing of Your Speech.

• Add timing to your talking points
• Revise your talking points, PowerPoint slides and transitions.
• Delete talking points and/or PowerPoint slides that are not crucial. Paring down or eliminating content will enhance clarity and improve the speech overall.  

Step 7: Rehearse Your Speech for Content and Timing.

• Be aware of your body position, foot placement, breath and eye movement.
• Videotape or record a rehearsal to identify problems, distracting habits, etc. 
• Avoid reading every word--you should be presenting not reading.
• Avoid common verbal habits such as "um", "like", "you know", "kinda", etc.
• Practice your speech many times until you feel comfortable with the content and timing.
• Review your assignment to be sure you are meeting all the requirements.

Step 8: Rehearse Your Speech in Front of an Audience.

• Gather a few friends or classmates and deliver your speech.
• Try to avoid the following common behaviors: fidgeting, looking at the computer or screen not at audience, rustling your papers, chewing gum, gesturing too much, or pacing.
• Ask for feedback on your delivery (such as eye contact, hand gestures, speech habits, etc.) and content
• Ask what they identified as the most important points. Do these match yours?
• Edit or revise speech based on the feedback.

Step 9: Continue Revising and Prepare for Anticipated Questions

• If your speech includes a question and answer session with your audience, spend some time to anticipate questions and briefly plan answers.
• Ask for clarification if you don't understand a question when you are presenting

Step 10: Final Preparations

Continue to rehearse. Prepare to deliver you speech.

• Make sure you have all your materials together including note cards, outlines, visuals, handouts, bibliography, PowerPoint on Flash drive, etc.
• Arrive early
• Practice on the day of your speech so you are comfortable with the content.

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How to Prepare a Speech

Last Updated: May 6, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Patrick Muñoz . Patrick is an internationally recognized Voice & Speech Coach, focusing on public speaking, vocal power, accent and dialects, accent reduction, voiceover, acting and speech therapy. He has worked with clients such as Penelope Cruz, Eva Longoria, and Roselyn Sanchez. He was voted LA's Favorite Voice and Dialect Coach by BACKSTAGE, is the voice and speech coach for Disney and Turner Classic Movies, and is a member of Voice and Speech Trainers Association. There are 12 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 731,233 times.

Preparing a speech isn't difficult if you have a process you can follow. There are tried-and-true steps for putting together a talk, so relax and read on to get your speech in order and your speech anxiety under control.

Sample Speeches

Starting With Your Audience

• Personal narrative. A narrative is just another word for story. If you're asked to tell a story about yourself, find out if the intention is to use something that's happened to you in order to teach a lesson, convey a moral, offer inspiration or simply to entertain.
• Informative speech. [3] X Research source There are two kinds of informative speeches: process and expository. If you're charged with doing a process speech, the idea is for you to explain how something is done, how something is made or how something works. You take your audience step-by-step through the process. If your speech is meant to be expository, your job is to take what might be a complex subject and break it down into sections as a way of educating your audience about the topic.
• Persuasive speech. [4] X Research source If you're meant to persuade, then your job is to convince your audience to adopt a particular way of thinking, a belief or a behavior that you advocate for.
• Ceremonial speech. [5] X Research source Ceremonial speeches run the gamut from wedding toasts to eulogies, from graduation speeches to farewell addresses. Many of these speeches are intended to be short and the focus is often on entertaining, inspiring or increasing the audience's appreciation for someone or something.

• Read the newspaper. If you can find a way to link your speech topic to something that's happening in the news, you can highlight the relevance of what you have to say to your audience.
• Translate numbers. Using statistics in your speech can be impactful, but they can be even more meaningful if you translate them in a way the audience can understand. For example, you could say that worldwide, 7.6 million people die of cancer every year, but to make it more relatable, you might want to follow it up by saying that that number represents the entire population of Switzerland.
• Express the benefits. It's a good idea to let an audience know exactly what they'll get out of your speech, so that they're primed to listen. If they'll learn how to save money, tell them. If the information you're about to share will make their lives easier in some way, make that clear. If they'll gain a new appreciation of someone or something, let them know.

Researching and Writing Your Speech

• Outlines can be written in complete sentences or they can be a series of abbreviated phrases and reminders. Another approach is to begin by writing complete sentences and then transferring your outline on to note cards on which you abbreviate those sentences using just the words and memory prompts you need.
• Pull out your old English textbooks and review things like similes, metaphors, alliteration and other kinds of figurative language. These kinds of devices can add to the impact of a ceremonial speech.
• Beware one pitfall of the scripted speech: having a page full of words in front of you can cause you to fall into the trap of simply reading from your script without every looking up, making eye contact or engaging with the audience in any way. Thorough practice should help to eliminate your chances of falling into this trip.

• Offer a preview. Think of a preview as kind of the "coming attractions" of your speech. Plan to tell your audience the main points you'll talk about in your speech. There's not need to go into any detail here; you'll get to that when you come to the body of your speech. You can write a preview that's simply one sentence in length to cover what you need to say here.
• Body. The body is where the "meat" of your speech resides. The points you outlined or the information you scripted make up the body. There are several ways to organize the information within the body of your speech--in time sequence, in step order, from most important point to least important point, problem-solution, to name just a few. Choose an organizational pattern that makes sense based on your speech goal.
• Give a summary. One of the ways an audience remembers what a speech was about is through intentional repetition. In your introduction, you gave a preview of what you'd be talking about. In your speech body, you talked about those things. Now, in your conclusion, you remind your audience what you talked about. Simply offer a brief review of the main points you touched on in your speech.
• End with a clincher. A clincher is a memorable, definitive statement that gives your speech a sense of closure. One easy way to do this is to write a clincher that refers back to what you said in the attention-getter of your speech. This helps bring your presentation full circle and provides a sense of closure.

Choosing Visual Aids

• Don't write everything you plan to say on your slides. We've all suffered through speeches where the speaker did little more that read off of his or her slides. That's boring for the audience, and they soon disengage. Instead, use word charts to preview, review or highlight key information. Remember, the sides should be a supplement to what you're going to say rather than an exact copy of it.
• Make your slides readable. Use a font size that's easy for your audience to read and don't overcrowd your slides. If your audience can't see or get through the material on your slides, they won't have served any purpose.
• Use animations sparingly. Having graphics fly around, zoom in and out ,and change colors can be engaging but can also be distracting. Be careful not to overdo the special effects. Your slides should be a supporting player rather than the star of the show.

Rehearsing Your Speech

• Leave yourself time to practice. If you're given to procrastinating, you could find yourself with very little or no time to practice before you deliver your speech, which could leave you feeling unprepared and anxious.

• Look at your audience. Almost nothing does more to keep an audience engaged than eye contact from a speaker. As you rehearse your speech, be sure to look at the family members or friends who've agreed to be your audience. It takes a bit of practice to be able to look at your outline, script or note cards, capture a thought or two and then come up and deliver that information while looking at your audience. It's yet another reason why rehearsal time is so important.
• If you don't have the opportunity to practice in front of people, be sure that when you do rehearse, that you say your speech aloud. You don't want your speech day to be the first time you hear the words of your speech coming out of your mouth. Plus, speaking out loud gives you a chance to double-check and correct any mispronunciations, practice articulating your words clearly and confirm the timing of your speech (We speak more quickly when we simply recite a speech in our heads).

Reducing Speech Anxiety

• Clench and release. Ball up your fists really, really tight and hold for a second or two and then release. Repeat this a few times. You can do the same thing by squeezing the muscles in your calves very tightly and then releasing. With each release, you should feel a reduction in your adrenaline-induced symptoms.
• Take deep breaths. The adrenaline in your system causes you to take more shallow breaths that, in turn, increase your feeling of anxiety. You need to break the cycle. Take a deep breath through your nose and allow the air to fill your belly. Once your belly is full, let your breath fill and expand your ribcage. Finally, allow your breath to move fully into your chest. Open your mouth slightly and begin to exhale starting first with the air in your chest, then the air in your ribcage and finally the breath in your belly. Repeat this inhale-exhale cycle five times.

• Negative thoughts are incredibly powerful--one estimate is that you need five positive thoughts to counteract every one negative thought you have, so steer clear of them.

How Do You Practice a Speech Effectively?

Expert Q&A

Reader Videos

• Use your own language style. Do not use the words that you have never said in your life. Take it easy. Thanks Helpful 6 Not Helpful 0
• Try to keep the majority of your topic entertaining, or at least interesting, so that the audience won't get bored. Thanks Helpful 5 Not Helpful 0
• Make sure your speech hangs together well and makes sense. Thanks Helpful 4 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ Patrick Muñoz. Voice & Speech Coach. Expert Interview. 12 November 2019.
• ↑ https://westsidetoastmasters.com/resources/powerspeak/ch03.html
• ↑ https://www.comm.pitt.edu/informative-speaking
• ↑ https://www.comm.pitt.edu/persuasive-speaking
• ↑ https://opentext.ku.edu/speakupcallin/chapter/chapter-15-ceremonial-speaking/
• ↑ https://www.comm.pitt.edu/oral-comm-lab/audience-analysis
• ↑ https://liu.cwp.libguides.com/c.php?g=913567&p=6581500
• ↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/5-most-effective-methods-for-avoiding-plagiarism/
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/speeches/
• ↑ https://www.toastmasters.org/resources/public-speaking-tips/preparing-a-speech
• ↑ https://counseling.uiowa.edu/self-help/30-ways-to-manage-speaking-anxiety/
• ↑ https://fscj.pressbooks.pub/publicspeaking/chapter/benefits-of-visual-aids/

About This Article

To prepare a speech, start by writing an introduction that grabs the audience's attention with a surprising or interesting fact, quote, or question. Then, include your most important points in the body of your speech, making them as clear and easy-to-follow as possible so your audience stays tuned in. Finally, wrap up your speech with a conclusion that summarizes your main points and ends with a memorable, definitive statement. To learn the best ways to research and outline your speech, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Structuring the Speech

Organizing speeches serves two important functions. First, organization helps improve clarity of thought in a systematic way. Second, organization increases the likelihood that the speech will be effective

Audiences are unlikely to understand disorganized speeches and even less likely to think that disorganized speakers are reliable or credible. Speeches are organized into three main parts: introduction, body, and conclusion.

Introduction

The introduction of the speech establishes the first, crucial contact between the speaker and the audience. For most classroom speeches, the introduction should last less than a minute. The introduction needs to accomplish three things:

Focus your audience's attention. Speakers must have an “attention grabber” to interest the audience—a joke, astonishing fact, or anecdote. (Rhetorical questions like “Haven’t you ever wondered how…” are notoriously ineffective.) The introduction is the place where the main claim or idea should be stated very clearly to give the audience a sense of the purpose of the speech. Speakers need to orient the audience and make connections between what they know or are already interested in and the speech topic.

Establish goodwill and credibility. Many people believe the most important part of persuasion was ethos, or the character the speaker exhibited to the audience. The audience needs to see the speaker as someone to listen to attentively and sympathetically. Ethos is generated by both delivery style and content of the speech. Making eye contact with the audience and displaying confidence in voice and body are two important ways to establish ethos. In addition, if you express ideas that are original and intelligent, you will show what “intellectual character.” Audiences pay attention to habits of thought that are interesting and worth listening to.

Give a preview. Mentioning the main points to be covered in the body prepares the audience to listen for them. Repetition is an important aspect of public speaking, for listening is an imperfect art, and audience members nearly always tune out in parts--sometimes to think about previous parts of the speech, sometimes for other reasons. The preview should end with a transition, a brief phrase or a pause to signal to the audience that the speech is moving out of the introduction and into the body.

The body follows and is itself structured by a mode of organization, a logical or culturally specific pattern of thinking about ideas, events, objects, and processes. Having a mode of organization means grouping similar material together and linking the component parts together with transitions. Good transitions show the relation between parts of a speech. They display the logic of the speech. Common transition phrases include: in addition to, furthermore, even more, next, after that, then, as a result, beyond that, in contrast, however, and on the other hand. One special type of transition is called the internal summary, a brief restatement of the main point being completed.

In the body, the fewer the main points the better. For short classroom speeches, under 10 minutes, speeches should not have more than three main points. For longer speeches, more than five main points ensures that audiences will have trouble following and remembering the speech. In the speech, main points should be clearly stated and "signposted," marked off as distinct and important to the audience. Transitions often serve to signpost new points, as do pauses before an important idea. Additionally, speakers might number main points—first, second, third or first, next, finally. Always make it easy for the audience to recognize and follow key ideas.

There are several common modes of organizing the information in the body of your speech:

Temporal organization groups information according to when it happened or will happen. Types of temporal patterns include chronological (in the sequence it occurred) and reverse chronological (from ending back to start). Inquiry order is one special mode of temporal organization useful in presenting some kinds of research: here you organize the body in accord with the unfolding processes of thinking and gathering data, taking the audience from the initial curiosity and questions to final results.

Cause-effect is a related mode of organization, showing how one event brings about another. Cause-effect, like other temporal modes, may be used for past, present, or future events and processes. Cause-effect can also be reversed, from effect back to cause.

Spatial patterns group and organize your speech based on physical arrangement of its parts. If a speech is describing a place, a physical object, or a process of movement--downtown Mercer, a plant cell, or the Battle of Shiloh--spatial patterns can be useful.

Topical designs are appropriate when the subject matter has clear categories of division. Government in the United States, for instance, falls into federal, state, and local categories; or into executive, legislative, and judicial branches; into elected and appointed officials. Categories like these can help divide the subject matter to organize the main points.

Compare/contrast takes two or more entities and draws attention to their differences and/or similarities. Sometimes speakers explain a difficult subject by comparing it with an easier, more accessible one--to explain nuclear fusion with the stages of high school romance, for instance. The use of analogies often assists in audience understanding.

Following a transition from the body of the speech, the conclusion follows. The conclusion should be somewhat shorter than the introduction and accomplishes two purposes: summarize main ideas and give the speech a sense of closure and completion. Good conclusions might refer back to the introduction, offer an analogy or metaphor that captures the main idea, or leave the audience with a question or a challenge of some type. Brief quotations can also make effective conclusions (just as they can make effective openings for introductions).

Common Mistake Students Make When Developing Their First Speech

Are you a student struggling to develop your first speech? If so, you’re not alone. According to your textbook, one common mistake that students often make is failing to properly plan and structure their speech. Developing a speech can be a daunting task, but with the right approach, you can deliver a compelling and impactful presentation. In this article, we will explore the key steps to avoid this common mistake and guide you through the process of developing a successful speech. Whether you’re preparing for a class presentation or a public speaking event, these tips will help you captivate your audience and leave a lasting impression.

Understanding the Common Mistake Students Make When Developing Their First Speech

Lack of proper planning.

Developing a speech can be a daunting task, especially for students who are new to public speaking. One common mistake that many students make when developing their first speech is a lack of proper planning. Without a clear plan in place, students often find themselves overwhelmed and unsure of where to start.

Planning is crucial when it comes to speech development. It involves brainstorming ideas, organizing thoughts, and creating a structure for the speech. By skipping this important step, students may end up with a disorganized and incoherent speech that fails to effectively communicate their message.

To avoid this mistake, students should take the time to carefully plan their speech. They should start by identifying the purpose of their speech and the main points they want to convey. Then, they can create an outline that outlines the introduction, body, and conclusion of the speech. This will provide a clear roadmap for the development of their speech and ensure that they stay focused and on track.

Lack of Research and Supporting Evidence

Another common mistake students make when developing their first speech is a lack of research and supporting evidence. A well-developed speech should be based on credible information and supported by relevant examples, facts, and statistics. However, students often rely on their own opinions or assumptions without conducting thorough research.

Without proper research, a speech may lack depth and fail to engage the audience. It is important for students to gather information from reliable sources, such as books, academic journals, or reputable websites. They should also seek out expert opinions or personal experiences that can add credibility to their speech.

To avoid this mistake, students should allocate enough time for research. They should critically evaluate the information they find and ensure that it is accurate and relevant to their topic. By incorporating well-researched evidence into their speech, students can strengthen their arguments and make a more persuasive impact on their audience.

Lack of Practice and Rehearsal

The final common mistake students make when developing their first speech is a lack of practice and rehearsal. Delivering a speech requires not only good content but also effective delivery. However, students often underestimate the importance of practicing their speech before the actual presentation.

Without sufficient practice, students may stumble over their words, lose their train of thought, or fail to engage the audience. It is essential for students to rehearse their speech multiple times to become familiar with the content and improve their delivery skills. They should pay attention to their tone, body language, and overall presentation style.

To avoid this mistake, students should set aside dedicated time for practice. They can rehearse in front of a mirror, record themselves, or even seek feedback from peers or instructors. By practicing their speech, students can gain confidence, refine their delivery, and ensure a smooth and impactful presentation.

In conclusion, developing a speech can be a challenging task for students, especially when it is their first time. However, by avoiding common mistakes such as a lack of proper planning, research, and practice, students can enhance the quality of their speeches and effectively communicate their message to the audience. By taking the time to plan, conduct thorough research, and practice their delivery, students can maximize the impact of their speeches and become more confident public speakers.

What is a common mistake students make when developing their first speech?

A common mistake students make when developing their first speech is not properly researching and understanding their topic. It is important to gather reliable and relevant information to support your main points and provide a well-rounded argument or presentation.

How can I avoid this mistake?

To avoid this mistake, take the time to thoroughly research your topic. Use reputable sources such as academic journals, books, and credible websites. Take notes and organize your information to ensure you have a clear understanding of your topic before developing your speech.

What are some other common mistakes to avoid when developing a speech?

Some other common mistakes to avoid when developing a speech include: – Lack of organization: Make sure your speech has a clear introduction, body, and conclusion. Use transitions to smoothly move between main points. – Overloading with information: Avoid overwhelming your audience with too much information. Focus on the most important points and provide supporting evidence. – Lack of practice: Practice your speech multiple times to become familiar with the content and delivery. This will help you feel more confident and prepared on the day of your presentation.

How can I improve my speech delivery?

To improve your speech delivery, consider the following tips: – Practice speaking clearly and at an appropriate pace. Avoid speaking too fast or too slow. – Use body language and gestures to enhance your message. Maintain eye contact with your audience. – Use vocal variety to keep your audience engaged. Vary your tone, pitch, and volume to emphasize important points. – Use visual aids, such as slides or props, to support your speech and make it more visually appealing.

What should I do if I feel nervous before giving a speech?

Feeling nervous before giving a speech is normal. To manage your nerves, try the following techniques: – Practice your speech multiple times to build confidence. – Take deep breaths and try relaxation techniques to calm your nerves. – Visualize yourself giving a successful speech. – Focus on the message you want to convey and the value you can provide to your audience. – Remember that your audience wants you to succeed and is rooting for you.

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Module 2: Informative Speaking

Developing informative speeches.

The first sections of this chapter explained the importance of informative speaking, the functions of informative speeches, the role of the informative speaker, and the four major types of informative speeches. This final section of the chapter discusses three goals in developing informative speeches and advice for increasing the effectiveness of your speech. These three goals include 1) arousing the interest of your audience, 2) presenting information in a way that can be understood, and 3) helping the audience remember what you have said (Fujishin, 2000).

Generate and Maintain Interest

Use attention-getting elements.

Before you capture the interest of an audience, you have to get their attention. As you know, attention getters are used in the introduction of a speech, but attention getters can also be used throughout your speech to maintain an audience’s attention. There are a number of techniques you can use that will naturally draw listeners’ attention (German, et al., 2010).

Novelty involves those things that are new or unusual. Discussing the recent invention of the flesh-eating mushroom death suit developed by Jae Rhim Lee would be novel. This suit is designed to help bodies decompose naturally above ground to avoid the use of dangerous embalming chemicals.

Audiences will also attend to movement or Activity . To employ this technique, the speaker can either use action words, well-chosen movements, an increased rate of speech, or s/he can show action with video. A speech describing or showing extreme sports with high levels of risk, a fast pace, or amazing stunts could be used to illustrate activity.

Tell a Story

Story telling is not only the basis for most of our entertainment; it is also one of the best ways to teach an audience (Carlson, 2005). Also known as narratives, stories typically have a beginning in which the characters and setting are introduced, a rise in action, some complication or problem, and a resolution. Stories with compelling characters can be used in a creative way to weave facts otherwise dry and technical facts together (Walters, 1995), as in a speech about preparing a space shuttle for take-off from a mouse’s perspective. Jaffe (1998) differentiates between three types of narratives that can be used in informative speeches. The first type of story is a natural reality in which natural or scientific facts are brought together in chronological accounts, as in the formation of the Grand Canyon. The second narrative involves social realities which detail historic events, and the development of cultures and institutions. The last kind of story, the ultimate reality, is focused on profound philosophical and spiritual questions like “Where do we come from?” and “What happens to us when we die?”

Nursery rhymes and song lyrics familiar to the audience can also be used in an interactive way to get listeners interested in the topic (Maxey & O’Connor, 2006). In a speech about the global population explosion, you could ask audience to finish the phrase “There was an old woman who lived in a shoe…” Common commercials, lyrics to Beatles songs, holiday songs, and children’s games are universal.

The wisest mind has something yet to learn. – George Santayna

Just for fun, can you name the artist who sang the lyrics below? Can you think of a speech topic that would correspond to the lyrics? (Answer at the end of the chapter)

Be Creative

Speakers who are different are memorable (Maxey & O’Connor, 2006). To give your speech impact, be imaginative and dare to push the envelope of conformity. When you have spent time researching a topic, you may be able to envision ways to incorporate surprising facts, props or visuals that make your presentation different from others, and therefore more memorable. You could dress like a Shakespearian actor for a speech about the famous playwright. You could have the audience move their chairs and take part in a yoga demonstration. Or you might use your own audience plants to help with a speech entitled “Behind the Scenes of TV Talk Shows.” When one student got up to speak, he drew a row of houses on the blackboard and then began to drink a glass of water and speak about the life giving properties of water. After making a few comments, he threw the glass of water on the blackboard—erasing most of the houses. Then he began his speech on the devastating effects of a flood (be sure to get your professor’s permission before you do something like this!). Another student giving a speech about “Clowning” had two actual clowns wait in the hall until she was ready to bring them in and show off their make-up and costumes. The speaker was wise to have her cohorts in the room just long enough to make the point (but not the entire time which would distract from the speaker), and the audience was attentive and grateful for the variety. Hanks and Parry (1991) explain that anyone can be creative, if s/he wants to be and is willing to make the effort. For some tips on how to foster your creativity, see Table 16.2. However, you need to remember that creativity is just a tool to help you teach your audience. Do not overlook the requirements of the occasion, the content of your research, or the needs of your audience in your zeal to be creative.

Table 16.2 Tips for Jump Starting Your Creativity From Everyday Creativity by Carlin Flora (2009)

• Take a different way to work
• Collaborate with others with complementary skills
• Seek inspiration in beautiful surroundings
• Start working on the problem right away
• Work in a blue room (it boosts creativity)
• Get a hobby or play music
• Think about your problem right before falling asleep

The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.  – Sylvia Plath

Stimulate Audience Intellect

Most people have a genuine desire to understand the world around them, to seek out the truth, and learn how to solve problems. The role of the informative speaker is to satisfy this desire to learn and know. To illustrate our quest for knowledge, consider the success of the Discovery Channel, the Learning Channel, the History Channel, the Food Network and other educational broadcasts. So how do we appeal to the minds of listeners? Think about all of the information we encounter every day but do not have time to pursue. Think about subjects that you would like to know more about. Ask what information would be universally interesting and useful for listeners. Many people fly on airplanes, but do they know how to survive a plane crash? People also share many ordinary illnesses, so what are some common home remedies? All of the people on earth originated someplace, so who were our ancient ancestors?

In addition to finding topics that relate to listeners, the information we supply should be up to date. For instance, Egypt recently had a revolution, and if you are giving a speech on traveling to the Pyramids, you should be aware of this. When you are talking about a topic that your audience is familiar with, you should share little known facts or paint the subject in a new light. In a speech about a famous person, you might depict what they are like behind the scenes, or what they were like growing up. In a speech about a new technology, you might also talk about the inventors. In a speech about a famous city, you could discuss the more infamous landmarks and attractions.

Create Coherence

Organize logically.

When planning your speech, ask questions like: What information needs to come first? What organizational pattern best suits the topic? What information must be shared or omitted to aid in audience understanding? What points or sub-points should be grouped together to aid listeners’ understanding?

Use Simple Language

Instead of “protracted,” say “drawn out.” Instead of “conundrum,” say “puzzle.” And instead of “loquacious,” say “talkative.” As you are writing your speech you also want to avoid technical jargon, slang, clichés, and euphemisms. This type of language is difficult to understand and tends to be low impact. Compare the Low Impact language column with the High Impact column in Table 16.3 above to see examples of ways to make your language more powerful.

Avoid Information Overload

No one is given an unlimited amount of time to speak. You can’t cover everything that there is to know about your topic. And even if you could speak forever about everything there was to know about a subject, your listeners would never be able to take it all in. Information overload occurs when a person feels that they are faced with an overwhelming amount of information, with the effect that they are unable to process it all or unable to make decision. So whether you have five minutes to give a presentation or three eight-hour days, you will need to narrow and focus your speech topic and objectives. If you know that you have ten minutes to speak, you will not be able to cover “Car Maintenance for Dummies,” but you probably could give a good speech entitled “How to Change the Oil in Your Car.” When planning your speech, be sure to determine the amount of information that can reasonably be covered in the time allowed. In fact, rather than taking the entire allotted speaking time, you should get into the practice of speaking only for 90—95% of the time that you are given (Reynolds, 2008). More is not always better—and your audience will appreciate it if you can skillfully make your point with time to spare.

Today knowledge has power. It controls access to opportunity and advancement. – Peter Drucker

Make Your Speech Memorable

Build in repetition.

The final way to use repetition in your speech is through nonverbal communication. When you say the word “four” and you hold up four fingers, or when you verbally agree with a point and nod your head at the same time, you are reinforcing the idea verbally and nonverbally.

Appeal to Different Ways of Learning

Individuals have different learning styles, so some people are visual [V] learners, some are aural [A] learners, some learn by reading [R] and writing, and some learn kinesthetically [K] (Fleming, 2001). You can test your own learning style at www.varklearn.com. Understanding your own and others’ learning styles is useful for two reasons. First, you will find that you tend to teach others using your own learning style. Second, regardless of your own learning styles, you need to appeal to as many different learning styles as possible in your informative speech. To see how each learning style prefers to be taught, see the table below.

Unfortunately, since the ear alone is a very poor information gathering device, steps must be taken to improve retention. Typically listeners only retain only a small fraction of what is explained to them verbally. The first way to enhance retention is to appeal to as many of the senses as possible. Studies show that audiences retain 20 percent of what they hear, 30 percent of what they see, and 50 percent of what they hear and see (Westerfield, 2002). When the audience has an opportunity to do something (adding the kinesthetic sense), their retention increases to 80 percent (Walters, 1995). Or, if participation is not possible, a handout will raise retention to an impressive 85 percent—if the audience can review the handout at least once (Slutsky & Aun, 1997).

Another way to help your listeners remember is by the use of techniques like association , linking the new topic to things that the audience knows about or already understands. If you were giving a speech about rugby, you might compare it to soccer and football to help the audience understand the rules. The use of acronyms also aids retention. On the “ Krusty Krab Training Video ” episode of Spongebob Squarepants (a spoof on corporate training videos), they use the acronym “POOP.” When I asked my then eight-year-old son if he remembered (several weeks after watching the episode) what “POOP” stood for, he immediately and correctly answered “People Order Our Patties.” The final technique to help audiences remember information is the simplicity criterion . Information is best retained when it is explained from top to bottom (rather than bottom to top), when events are presented from first to last (rather than last to first), and when information is presented in the positive voice (rather than in the negative voice) (Devito, 1981).

Use Visuals

Perhaps the best reason to use visuals aids during an informative speech is to help your audience understand a concept that may be difficult to understand just by explaining it. In a speech about heart bypass surgery, would it be better to verbally describe the parts of the human heart, or to show a picture of it? How about a model of the heart? How about an actual human heart? Be sure to consider your audience! What if your speech is about an abstract concept that does not lend itself well to slick graphic representations? One way trainers get their audiences involved and make their presentations memorable is to provide handouts which the listeners complete (in part) themselves. You could use fill-in-the blank statements (where you provide the answer), open-ended questions where listeners can write their thoughts, and activities like matching or crossword puzzles. Regardless of the type of visual media you select for your speech, just make sure that it does not overpower you or the subject. Work to keep the audience’s attention on you and what you are saying, and use the visual to complement what you have to say.

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9.2 The Attention-Getter: The First Step of an Introduction

Learning objectives.

• Understand the different tools speakers can use to gain their audience’s attention.
• Name some common mistakes speakers make in trying to gain attention.

Stephen Velasco – IMG_1422 – CC BY-NC 2.0.

As you know by now, a good introduction will capture an audience’s attention, while a bad introduction can turn an audience against a speaker. An attention-getter is the device a speaker uses at the beginning of a speech to capture an audience’s interest and make them interested in the speech’s topic. Typically, there are four things to consider in choosing a specific attention-getting device:

• Appropriateness or relevance to audience
• Purpose of speech

First, when selecting an attention-getting device, you want to make sure that the option you choose is actually appropriate and relevant to your specific audience. Different audiences will have different backgrounds and knowledge, so you should use your audience analysis to determine whether specific information you plan on using would be appropriate for a specific audience. For example, if you’re giving a speech on family units to a group of individuals over the age of sixty-five, starting your speech with a reference to the television show Gossip Girl may not be the best idea because the television show may not be relevant to that audience.

Second, you need to consider the basic purpose of your speech. As discussed earlier in this text, there are three basic purposes you can have for giving a speech: to inform, to persuade, and to entertain. When selecting an attention-getter, you want to make sure that you select one that corresponds with your basic purpose. If your goal is to entertain an audience, then starting a speech with a quotation about how many people are dying in Africa each day from malnutrition may not be the best way to get your audience’s attention. Remember, one of the basic goals of an introduction is to prepare your audience for your speech. If your attention-getter differs drastically in tone from the rest of your speech (e.g., dying in Africa when you want your audience to laugh), the disjointedness may cause your audience to become confused or tune you out completely.

Your third basic consideration when picking an attention-getting device is your speech topic. Ideally, your attention-getting device should have a relevant connection to your speech. Imagine if a speaker pulled condoms out of his pocket, yelled “Free sex!” and threw the condoms at the audience in the beginning of a speech about the economy. While this may clearly get the audience’s attention, this isn’t really a good way to prepare an audience for a speech about bull and bear markets. Not every attention-getter is appropriate for a given topic. Instead, a speaker could start this speech by explaining that “according to a 2004 episode of 60 Minutes, adults in the United States spend approximately $10 billion annually on adult entertainment, which is roughly the equivalent to the amounts they spend attending professional sporting events, buying music, or going out to the movies” (Leung, 2004). Notice how effective the shocking statistic is in clearly introducing the monetary value of the adult entertainment industry.

The last consideration when picking an attention-getting device involves the speech occasion. Different occasions will necessitate different tones, or particular styles or manners of speaking. For example, a persuasive speech about death and dying shouldn’t be happy and hilarious. An informative speech on the benefits of laughing shouldn’t be dull, dreary, and depressing. When selecting an attention-getter, you want to make sure that the attention-getter sets the tone for the speech.

Now that we’ve explored the four major considerations you must think of when selecting an attention-getter, let’s look at a range of different attention-getters you may employ. Miller (1946) discovered that speakers tend to use one of eleven attention-getting devices when starting a speech. The rest of this section is going to examine these eleven attention-getting devices.

Reference to Subject

The first attention-getting method to consider is to tell your audience the subject of your speech. This device is probably the most direct, but it may also be the least interesting of the possible attention-getters. Here’s an example:

We are surrounded by statistical information in today’s world, so understanding statistics is becoming paramount to citizenship in the twenty-first century.

This sentence explicitly tells an audience that the speech they are about to hear is about the importance of understanding statistics. While this isn’t the most entertaining or interesting attention-getter, it is very clear and direct.

Dave Dugdale – Attentive Audience – CC BY-SA 2.0.

Reference to Audience

The second attention-getting device to consider is a direct reference to the audience. In this case, the speaker has a clear understanding of the audience and points out that there is something unique about the audience that should make them interested in the speech’s content. Here’s an example:

As human resource professionals, you and I know the importance of talent management. In today’s competitive world, we need to invest in getting and keeping the best talent for our organizations to succeed.

In this example, the speaker reminds the audience of their shared status as human resource professionals and uses the common ground to acknowledge the importance of talent management in human resources.

Another way to capture your listeners’ attention is to use the words of another person that relate directly to your topic. Maybe you’ve found a really great quotation in one of the articles or books you read while researching your speech. If not, you can also use a number of sources that compile useful quotations from noted individuals. Probably the most famous quotation book of all time is Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations ( http://www.bartleby.com/100 ), now in its seventeenth edition. Here are some other websites that contain useful databases of quotations for almost any topic:

• http://www.quotationspage.com
• http://www.bartleby.com/quotations
• http://www.moviequotes.com
• http://www.quotesandsayings.com
• http://www.quoteland.com

Quotations are a great way to start a speech, so let’s look at an example that could be used for a speech on deception:

Oliver Goldsmith, a sixteenth-century writer, poet, and physician, once noted that “the true use of speech is not so much to express our wants as to conceal them.”

Reference to Current Events

Referring to a current news event that relates to your topic is often an effective way to capture attention, as it immediately makes the audience aware of how relevant the topic is in today’s world. For example, consider this attention-getter for a persuasive speech on frivolous lawsuits:

On January 10, 2007, Scott Anthony Gomez Jr. and a fellow inmate escaped from a Pueblo, Colorado, jail. During their escape the duo attempted to rappel from the roof of the jail using a makeshift ladder of bed sheets. During Gomez’s attempt to scale the building, he slipped, fell forty feet, and injured his back. After being quickly apprehended, Gomez filed a lawsuit against the jail for making it too easy for him to escape.

In this case, the speaker is highlighting a news event that illustrates what a frivolous lawsuit is, setting up the speech topic of a need for change in how such lawsuits are handled.

Historical Reference

You may also capture your listeners’ attention by referring to a historical event related to your topic. Obviously, this strategy is closely related to the previous one, except that instead of a recent news event you are reaching further back in history to find a relevant reference. For example, if you are giving a speech on the Iraq War that began in 2003, you could refer back to the Vietnam War as way of making a comparison:

During the 1960s and ’70s, the United States intervened in the civil strife between North and South Vietnam. The result was a long-running war of attrition in which many American lives were lost and the country of Vietnam suffered tremendous damage and destruction. Today, we see a similar war being waged in Iraq. American lives are being lost, and stability has not yet returned to the region.

In this example, the speaker is evoking the audience’s memories of the Vietnam War to raise awareness of similarities to the war in Iraq.

Another device you can use to start a speech is to tell an anecdote related to the speech’s topic. An anecdote is a brief account or story of an interesting or humorous event. Notice the emphasis here is on the word “brief.” A common mistake speakers make when telling an anecdote is to make the anecdote too long. Remember, your entire introduction should only be 10 to 15 percent of your speech, so your attention-getter must be very short.

One type of anecdote is a real story that emphasizes a speech’s basic message. For example, here is an anecdote a speaker could use to begin a speech on how disconnected people are from the real world because of technology:

In July 2009, a high school girl named Alexa Longueira was walking along a main boulevard near her home on Staten Island, New York, typing in a message on her cell phone. Not paying attention to the world around her, she took a step and fell right into an open manhole (Whitney, 2009).

A second type of anecdote is a parable or fable. A parable or fable is an allegorical anecdote designed to teach general life lessons. The most widely known parables for most Americans are those given in the Bible and the best-known fables are Aesop’s Fables ( http://www.aesopfables.com ). For the same speech on how disconnected people are with the real world because of technology, the speaker could have used the Fable of The Boy and the Filberts:

The ancient Greek writer Aesop told a fable about a boy who put his hand into a pitcher of filberts. The boy grabbed as many of the delicious nuts as he possibly could. But when he tried to pull them out, his hand wouldn’t fit through the neck of the pitcher because he was grasping so many filberts. Instead of dropping some of them so that his hand would fit, he burst into tears and cried about his predicament. The moral of the story? “Don’t try to do too much at once” (Aesop, 1881).

After recounting this anecdote, the speaker could easily relate the fable to the notion that the technology in our society leads us to try to do too many things at once.

While parables and fables are short and entertaining, their application to your speech topic should be clear. We’ll talk about this idea in more detail later in this chapter when we discuss how to link your attention-getter explicitly to your topic.

Startling Statement

The eighth device you can use to start a speech is to surprise your audience with startling information about your topic. Often, startling statements come in the form of statistics and strange facts. The goal of a good startling statistic is that it surprises the audience and gets them engaged in your topic. For example, if you’re giving a speech about oil conservation, you could start by saying, “A Boeing 747 airliner holds 57,285 gallons of fuel.” You could start a speech on the psychology of dreams by noting, “The average person has over 1,460 dreams a year.” A strange fact, on the other hand, is a statement that does not involve numbers but is equally surprising to most audiences. For example, you could start a speech on the gambling industry by saying, “There are no clocks in any casinos in Las Vegas.” You could start a speech on the Harlem Globetrotters by saying, “In 2000, Pope John Paul II became the most famous honorary member of the Harlem Globetrotters.” All four of these examples came from a great website for strange facts ( http://www.strangefacts.com ).

Although startling statements are fun, it is important to use them ethically. First, make sure that your startling statement is factual. The Internet is full of startling statements and claims that are simply not factual, so when you find a statement you’d like to use, you have an ethical duty to ascertain its truth before you use it. Second, make sure that your startling statement is relevant to your speech and not just thrown in for shock value. We’ve all heard startling claims made in the media that are clearly made for purposes of shock or fear mongering. As speakers, we have an ethical obligation to avoid playing on people’s emotions in this way.

Another strategy for getting your audience’s attention is to ask them a question. There are two types of questions commonly used as attention-getters: response questions and rhetorical questions. A response question is a question that the audience is expected to answer in some manner. For example, you could ask your audience, “Please raise your hand if you have ever thought about backpacking in Europe” or “Have you ever voted for the Electoral College? If so, stand up.” In both of these cases, the speaker wants her or his audience to respond. A rhetorical question , on the other hand, is a question to which no actual reply is expected. For example, a speaker talking about the importance of HIV testing could start by asking the audience, “I have two questions that I’d like you to think about. How many students on this campus have had sexual intercourse? Of those who have had sex, how many have been tested for HIV?” In this case, the speaker does not expect the audience to give an estimate of the numbers of students that fit into each category but rather to think about the questions as the speech goes on.

Humor is another effective method for gaining an audience’s attention. Humor is an amazing tool when used properly. We cannot begin to explain all the amazing facets of humor within this text, but we can say that humor is a great way of focusing an audience on what you are saying. However, humor is a double-edged sword. If you do not wield the sword carefully, you can turn your audience against you very quickly. When using humor, you really need to know your audience and understand what they will find humorous. One of the biggest mistakes a speaker can make is to use some form of humor that the audience either doesn’t find funny or finds offensive. Think about how incompetent the character of Michael Scott seems on the television program The Office , in large part because of his ineffective use of humor. We always recommend that you test out humor of any kind on a sample of potential audience members prior to actually using it during a speech.

Thinkmedialabs – Audience laughing – CC BY-NC 2.0.

Now that we’ve warned you about the perils of using humor, let’s talk about how to use humor as an attention-getter. Humor can be incorporated into several of the attention-getting devices mentioned. You could use a humorous anecdote, quotation, or current event. As with other attention-getting devices, you need to make sure your humor is relevant to your topic, as one of the biggest mistakes some novices make when using humor is to add humor that really doesn’t support the overall goal of the speech. So when looking for humorous attention-getters you want to make sure that the humor is nonoffensive to your audiences and relevant to your speech. For example, here’s a humorous quotation from Nicolas Chamfort, a French author during the sixteenth century, “The only thing that stops God from sending another flood is that the first one was useless.” While this quotation could be great for some audiences, other audiences may find this humorous quotation offensive (e.g., religious audiences). The Chamfort quotation could be great for a speech on the ills of modern society, but probably not for a speech on the state of modern religious conflict. You want to make sure that the leap from your attention-getter to your topic isn’t too complicated for your audience, or the attention-getter will backfire.

Personal Reference

The tenth device you may consider to start a speech is to refer to a story about yourself that is relevant for your topic. Some of the best speeches are ones that come from personal knowledge and experience. If you are an expert or have firsthand experience related to your topic, sharing this information with the audience is a great way to show that you are credible during your attention-getter. For example, if you had a gastric bypass surgery and you wanted to give an informative speech about the procedure, you could introduce your speech in this way:

In the fall of 2008, I decided that it was time that I took my life into my own hands. After suffering for years with the disease of obesity, I decided to take a leap of faith and get a gastric bypass in an attempt to finally beat the disease.

If you use a personal example, don’t get carried away with the focus on yourself and your own life. Your speech topic is the purpose of the attention-getter, not the other way around. Another pitfall in using a personal example is that it may be too personal for you to maintain your composure. For example, a student once started a speech about her grandmother by stating, “My grandmother died of cancer at 3:30 this morning.” The student then proceeded to cry nonstop for ten minutes. While this is an extreme example, we strongly recommend that you avoid any material that could get you overly choked up while speaking. When speakers have an emotional breakdown during their speech, audience members stop listening to the message and become very uncomfortable.

Reference to Occasion

The last device we mention for starting a speech is to refer directly to the speaking occasion. This attention-getter is only useful if the speech is being delivered for a specific occasion. Many toasts, for example, start with the following statement: “Today we are here to honor X.” In this case, the “X” could be a retirement, a marriage, a graduation, or any number of other special occasions. Because of its specific nature, this attention-getter is the least likely to be used for speeches being delivered for college courses.

Key Takeaways

• In developing the introduction to your speech, begin by deciding upon a statement to capture the audience’s attention.
• Attention-getters can include references to the audience, quotations, references to current events, historical references, anecdotes, startling statements, questions, humor, personal references, and references to the occasion.
• Make a list of the attention-getting devices you might use to give a speech on the importance of recycling. Which do you think would be most effective? Why?
• You’ve been asked to deliver a speech on the use of advertising in children’s media. Out of the list of ten different possible attention-getting devices discussed in the chapter, how could you use four of them to start your speech?

Aesop (1881). Aesop’s fables . New York, NY: Wm. L. Allison. Retrieved from http://www.litscape.com/author/Aesop/The_Boy_and_the_Filberts.html

Leung, R. (2004, September 5). Porn in the U.S.A.: Steve Kroft reports on a $10 billion industry. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com .

Miller, E. (1946). Speech introductions and conclusions. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 32 , 181–183.

Whitney, L. (2009, July 13). Don’t text while walking? Girl learns the hard way. CNET News Wireless . Retrieved from http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10285466-94.html

Stand up, Speak out Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Human's First Words: When Did People Start Speaking? Long Before We Thought, Expert Argues

N ew research is challenging existing theories about the origins of verbal communication, suggesting ancient humans began to interact vocally long before previously thought.

An archaeologist argues that language gradually evolved after humans uttered their first rudimentary words around 1.6 million years ago, Knewz.com has learned.

Language is said to have begun between 50,000 and 100,000 years ago, coinciding with the emergence of Homo sapiens . However, British archaeologist Steven Mithen, a professor of early prehistory at the University of Reading, says basic words were likely spoken between 1.5 and 2 million years ago.

Mithen made these arguments in his new book , The Language Puzzle : Piecing Together the Six-Million-Year Story of How Words Evolved after examining all available archaeological, paleo-anatomical, genetic, neurological and linguistic evidence.

The book, published this month, details a "step-by-step explanation of how our human ancestors transitioned from apelike calls to words, and from words to language as we use it today," according to Google Books .

About 1.8 million years ago, a more advanced form of bipedalism — walking upright on two legs — combined with changes in skull shape gave humans a greater physical ability to produce speech, Mithen said.

At this point in prehistory, the human brain experienced a significant growth spurt as an area of the frontal lobe associated with language production and comprehension first appeared.

Before about 1.6 million years ago, Mithen said humans were significantly more limited in their linguistic range, likely only producing a few dozen different sounds and arm gestures. However, this ability may have helped humans survive despite being weak compared to other animals , he argued.

“Humanity’s development of the ability to speak was without doubt the key which made much of subsequent human physical and cultural evolution possible," Mithen told The Independent . "That’s why dating the emergence of the earliest forms of language is so important."

Even the most basic means of communication would have been crucial to developing hunting strategies, which became substantially more advanced about 1.5 million years ago, according to Mithen's research.

Language, he wrote, allowed humans to do three crucial and forward-looking things: Conceive of future actions, plan these actions, and pass knowledge along to others.

"That’s how language changed the human story so profoundly,” Mithen told The Independent .

His findings also challenge the idea that symbolic speech emerged suddenly, suggesting a more gradual development instead.

It took hundreds of thousands of years for language to develop, he argued, and verbal communication became more sophisticated as anatomically modern humans emerged 150,000 years ago.

Mithen also said he believes some features of the first-ever audible speech 1.6 million years ago have even been incorporated into present-day language.

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• 21 May 2024

First ‘bilingual’ brain-reading device decodes Spanish and English words

• Amanda Heidt 0

Amanda Heidt is a freelance journalist in southeastern Utah.

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Medical imaging shows brain activity during speech production (artificially coloured). Credit: Zephyr/SPL

For the first time, a brain implant has helped a bilingual person who is unable to articulate words to communicate in both of his languages. An artificial-intelligence (AI) system coupled to the brain implant decodes, in real time, what the individual is trying to say in either Spanish or English.

The findings 1 , published on 20 May in Nature Biomedical Engineering , provide insights into how our brains process language , and could one day lead to long-lasting devices capable of restoring multilingual speech to people who can’t communicate verbally.

“This new study is an important contribution for the emerging field of speech-restoration neuroprostheses,” says Sergey Stavisky, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Davis, who was not involved in the study. Even though the study included only one participant and more work remains to be done, “there’s every reason to think that this strategy will work with higher accuracy in the future when combined with other recent advances”, Stavisky says.

Speech-restoring implant

The person at the heart of the study, who goes by the nickname Pancho, had a stroke at age 20 that paralysed much of his body. As a result, he can moan and grunt but cannot speak clearly. In his thirties, Pancho partnered with Edward Chang, a neurosurgeon at the University of California, San Francisco, to investigate the stroke’s lasting effects on his brain. In a groundbreaking study published in 2021 2 , Chang’s team surgically implanted electrodes on Pancho’s cortex to record neural activity, which was translated into words on a screen.

Pancho’s first sentence — ‘My family is outside’ — was interpreted in English. But Pancho is a native Spanish speaker who learnt English only after his stroke. It’s Spanish that still evokes in him feelings of familiarity and belonging. “What languages someone speaks are actually very linked to their identity,” Chang says. “And so our long-term goal has never been just about replacing words, but about restoring connection for people.”

Brain-reading device is best yet at decoding ‘internal speech’

To achieve this goal, the team developed an AI system to decipher Pancho’s bilingual speech. This effort, led by Chang’s PhD student Alexander Silva, involved training the system as Pancho tried to say nearly 200 words. His efforts to form each word created a distinct neural pattern that was recorded by the electrodes.

The authors then applied their AI system, which has a Spanish module and an English one, to phrases as Pancho tried to say them aloud. For the first word in a phrase, the Spanish module chooses the Spanish word that matches the neural pattern best. The English component does the same, but chooses from the English vocabulary instead. For example, the English module might choose ‘she’ as the most likely first word in a phrase and assess its probability of being correct to be 70%, whereas the Spanish one might choose ‘estar’ (to be) and measure its probability of being correct at 40%.

Word for word

From there, both modules attempt to build a phrase. They each choose the second word based on not only the neural-pattern match but also whether it is likely to follow the first one. So ‘I am’ would get a higher probability score than ‘I not’. The final output produces two sentences — one in English and one in Spanish — but the display screen that Pancho faces shows only the version with the highest total probability score.

The modules were able to distinguish between English and Spanish on the basis of the first word with 88% accuracy and they decoded the correct sentence with an accuracy of 75%. Pancho could eventually have candid, unscripted conversations with the research team. “After the first time we did one of these sentences, there were a few minutes where we were just smiling,” Silva says.

Two languages, one brain area

The findings revealed unexpected aspects of language processing in the brain. Some previous experiments using non-invasive tools have suggested that different languages activate distinct parts of the brain 3 . But the authors’ examination of the signals recorded directly in the cortex found that “a lot of the activity for both Spanish and English was actually from the same area”, Silva says.

Furthermore, Pancho’s neurological responses didn’t seem to differ much from those of children who grew up bilingual, even though he was in his thirties when he learnt English — in contrast to the results of previous studies. Together, these findings suggest to Silva that different languages share at least some neurological features, and that they might be generalizable to other people.

Kenji Kansaku, a neurophysiologist at Dokkyo Medical University in Mibu, Japan, who was not involved in the study, says that in addition to adding participants, a next step will be to study languages “with very different articulatory properties” to English, such as Mandarin or Japanese. This, Silva says, is something he’s already looking into, along with ‘code switching’, or the shifting from one language to another in a single sentence. “Ideally, we’d like to give people the ability to communicate as naturally as possible.”

Nature 629 , 981 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-01451-4

Silva, A. B. et al. Nature Biomed. Eng . https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-024-01207-5 (2024).

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Moses, D. A. et al. N. Engl. J. Med. 385 , 217–227 (2021).

Kim, K. H. S., Relkin, N. R., Lee, K.-M. & Hirsch, J. Nature 388 , 171–174 (1997).

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Trump's hush money trial

Israel-Hamas war

Day 2 of jury deliberations in Trump criminal trial

By CNN's Kara Scannell, Lauren Del Valle and Jeremy Herb in the courthouse

The Trump trial jury is reviewing testimony and evidence tied to these key dates at the center of the case

From CNN’s Lauren del Valle, Kara Scannell, Annette Choi and Gillian Roberts 

Through witness testimony and exhibits, prosecutors tried to prove during the trial that Donald Trump falsified business records to cover up hush money payments made to prevent adult film star Stormy Daniels' claim of an affair with Trump from becoming public before the 2016 presidential election.

During closing arguments, the defense sought to poke holes in the testimony of the prosecution's key witness, Michael Cohen, and maintained that the former president is innocent. Now the decision of whether to convict Trump is in the hands of 12 jurors.

Here's a timeline CNN compiled of key events at the center of the hush money case that prosecutors walked the jury through during the trial:

• August 2015:  Trump  meets with then-American Media Inc. CEO David Pecker  at Trump Tower, prosecutors say, where Pecker agrees to be the “eyes and ears” for Trump’s campaign and flag any negative stories to Trump’s then-fixer Michael Cohen.
• September 2016:  Trump discusses a $150,000 hush money payment understood to be for former Playboy model Karen McDougal with Michael Cohen, who  secretly records the conversation . McDougal has  alleged she had an extramarital affair with Trump  beginning in 2006, which he has denied. 
• October 7, 2016:  The Washington Post  releases an "Access Hollywood" video  from 2005 in which Trump uses vulgar language to describe his sexual approach to women with show host Billy Bush. 
• October 27, 2016:  According to prosecutors, Cohen  pays Daniels $130,000 through her attorney  via a shell company in exchange for her silence about an affair she allegedly had with Trump in 2006. This $130,000 sum is separate from the $150,000 paid to McDougal. Trump has publicly denied having any affairs and has denied making the payments. 
• November 8, 2016:  Trump secures the election to become the 45th President of the United States. 
• February 2017:  Prosecutors say Cohen meets with Trump in the Oval Office to confirm how he would be reimbursed for the hush money payment Cohen fronted to Daniels. Under the plan, Cohen would send false invoices requesting payment for legal services he performed pursuant to a retainer agreement and receive monthly checks for $35,000 for a total of $420,000 to cover the payment, his taxes and a bonus, prosecutors alleged. Prosecutors also allege there was never a retainer agreement. 
• January 2018:  The Wall Street Journal  breaks news about the hush money payment  Cohen made to Daniels in 2016. 

See a full timeline  on the case.

The 22 witnesses that the jury heard from throughout Trump's hush money trial

From CNN staff

Twenty two witnesses testified in Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial. Prosecutors called 20 witnesses over 19 days in court, totaling over 50 hours of testimony.

Defense attorneys called two witnesses over two days, with around two hours of testimony.

Trump's ex-attorney and fixer Michael Cohen, adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former White House aide Hope Hicks were among the high-profile witnesses.

Here's who the jury heard from throughout the trial :

• David Pecker — the former CEO of American Media Inc., the National Enquirer's parent company — was the first witness called to testify. After more than 10 hours of testimony across four days, he offered illuminating details into how the infamous tabloid operated and conducted so-called “catch and kill” operations.
• Rhona Graff , Trump's longtime assistant at the Trump Organization, was called to testify briefly on April 26.
• Gary Farro , the former banker of Cohen, walked the jury through Cohen’s bank activity around the payment to Daniels.
• Dr. Robert Browning , the executive director of C-SPAN archives, was called so prosecutors could use his testimony to get records into evidence.
• Phillip Thompson, a director at a court reporting company, testified about how depositions work.
• Keith Davidson , the former lawyer for model and actress Karen McDougal as well as for Daniels, was on the stand for nearly six hours   over two days.
• Douglas Daus works for the Manhattan District Attorney's High Technology Analysis Unit, and was assigned to analyze two iPhones that  belonged to Cohen  in the investigation related to Trump. They were obtained via a search warrant. Daus testified about the  "unusual" amount of contacts  and other things he found on Cohen's phone.
• Hope Hicks , Trump's longtime former aide, testified for a little less than three hours about her role as Trump’s 2016 campaign press secretary, the aftermath of  the “Access Hollywood” tape release  and Cohen's payment to Daniels.
• Jeffrey McConney , a former Trump Organization controller, testified about  how Cohen's payments were listed  in Trump's financial documents.
• Deborah Tarasoff, the accounts payable supervisor in the accounting department at the Trump Organization, explained how checks were cut to Cohen  in 2017 and testified that  invoices over $10,000  had to be approved by Trump or one of his sons.
• Sally Franklin , the senior vice president and executive managing editor for Penguin Random House publishing group, testified for  46 minutes . Prosecutors used her testimony to enter  excerpts from Trump’s books  into evidence. 
• Stormy Daniels, who's at the center of the hush money case, was on the stand for six hours and 10 minutes over two days of testimony. Daniels walked the jury through details about her alleged sexual encounter with Trump in 2006 and the $130,000 hush money payment from Trump's ex-attorney Michael Cohen shortly  before the 2016 election . Trump attorney Susan Necheles hammered down on Daniels in cross-examination to establish some of the ways she gained publicity and money from her story going public.
• Rebecca Manochio , a junior bookkeeper at the Trump Organization, testified for about 35 minutes. The prosecution used Manochio to submit invoices , documents and emails as evidence.
• Tracey Menzies , the senior vice president of production and creative operations at Harper Collins, spoke about one of the books Donald Trump co-authored, “Think Big: Make It Happen in Business and Life,” by Trump and Bill Zanker and read excerpts from the book.
• Madeleine Westerhout , a former personal assistant to Trump at the White House, detailed how the president preferred to work, his attention to detail and the reaction to the "Access Hollywood" tape.
• Daniel Dixon , an AT&T lead compliance analyst. He was used to enter phone records into evidence.
• Jennie Tomalin, Verizon senior analyst in executive relations, was also called to the stand to enter evidence into the records.
• Georgia Longstreet, who testified on May 3 and May 10, gave evidence about social media posts and text messages.
• Jaden Jarmel-Schneider , another paralegal from the Manhattan district attorney's office, testified about analyzing phone records entered into evidence on May 10.
• Michael Cohen, Trump's personal attorney, is at the center of the hush money payment, and hence, was a key witness for the prosecution .
• Daniel Sitko, a paralegal in Trump attorney Todd Blanche's law firm, was the defense's first witness and submitted a phone chart into evidence.
• Robert Costello, an attorney connected with Michael Cohen, was the second defense witness and testified about the alleged pressure campaign against Cohen.

CNN's Kara Scannell, Lauren Del Valle, Jeremy Herb and Celina Tebor contributed reporting to this post.

Trump is watching trial coverage in the courthouse as deliberations are underway

From CNN's Kristen Holmes

Former President Donald Trump and his team have been watching news coverage of the trial on a television that was brought into the room they are waiting in, two sources familiar with the setup tell CNN.

Trump has also spent a lot of his time watching clips of allies and surrogates defending him on television. The clips were sent to him and advisers at the courthouse, one source said.

See courtroom sketches as the jury deliberates on a verdict for a second day

No cameras are allowed inside the Manhattan courtroom where Donald Trump's hush money trial is underway, but sketch artists are capturing the scenes.

This morning, the 12 jurors were read back testimony   from witnesses Michael Cohen and David Pecker , as well as  portions of the judge's instructions  on the law before they left the courtroom again to continue deliberations.

Trump's legal fate is in the hands of 12 New Yorkers. Here's what to know about the jurors

A jury of 12 New Yorkers — seven men and five women — will determine whether Donald Trump is guilty of 34 felony criminal charges of falsifying business records in connection with allegedly concealing reimbursements to his then-lawyer Michael Cohen for a purported hush money scheme to silence adult film star Stormy Daniels about an affair.

Trump vehemently denies the relationship with Daniels and has pleaded not guilty to all charges. A felony conviction of a former president and current GOP frontrunner would be unprecedented. 

Alternate jurors remain in the courthouse during deliberations

From CNN's Kara Scannell, Lauren del Valle, Jeremy Herb and Elise Hammond

Apart from the 12 jurors deliberating in Donald Trump's hush money trial, six alternate jurors were selected before the opening statements began. They are not participating in deliberations, but they have to remain in the Manhattan courthouse.

Judge Juan Merchan on Wednesday thanked the alternates for their diligence before telling them they were not excused. "We’re not going to excuse you just yet. Please remain with us because there might be a need for you at some point during deliberations," Merchan said.

Merchan complimented the alternate jurors saying he noticed how they were all engaged. He addressed one specifically, saying he noticed how that juror went through several notebooks. 

"You’ve been with us for a long time, and you’ve been incredibly diligent, incredibly hard-working," Merchan told the alternates.

Some background: New York criminal procedure law outlines several cases in which an alternate would replace a juror, and that juror would be dismissed, during a trial or deliberations.

Some of those reasons include if a juror gets sick “or other incapacity," the juror is not available to serve on the jury anymore or a juror does not show up to court, among others.

It's been more than 7 hours since jurors began deliberations

The jury has now had the case in its hands for more than seven hours.

The  panel of 12 New Yorkers  will determine whether former President Donald Trump is  guilty of 34 felony charges  of falsifying business records  related to a hush money payment  to an adult film star before the 2016 presidential election.

All 12 jurors have to be present to deliberate and they must be unanimous if they find Trump guilty on each count – on whether he committed the crime personally, acted in concert with others or both.

Trump attorney expects an appeal in case of conviction

From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury

Will Scharf, an attorney for former President Donald Trump, said that Trump's team is prepared to appeal a jury verdict if Trump is convicted.

"If there were to be a conviction here, which we believe would be a gravely unjust verdict, we would speedily appeal to the New York Appellate division, potentially to the New York Court of Appeals as well. And we'll take that step if we get there," Scharf told CNN's Jake Tapper.

"But so far, we think that appears to be a highly unlikely outcome here," Scharf added.

These are the jury instructions the judge delivered yesterday — and partly re-read in court today

From CNN's Antoinette Radford

Judge Juan Merchan delivered  his instructions to jurors  yesterday before they began deliberations in  former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial .

The jury asked in a note for the judge to re-read portions of them in court today.

Here’s what Merchan told jurors in his instructions yesterday:

• They must not make a decision based on biases or stereotypes;
• They must set aside personal differences;
• They must not speculate about how long a potential sentence may be or what the punishment might be – that’s up to the judge;
• They can’t hold it against Trump for not testifying;
• The “people must prove beyond a reasonable doubt every element of the crime.” He reminds the jury it must not rest its verdict on speculation;
• They can consider whether a witness hopes to receive a benefit related to the trial, or if they have an interest in how the case ends;
• They cannot convict Trump on Michael Cohen’s testimony alone because he’s an accomplice, but they can use his evidence if corroborated with other evidence;
• The jury must be unanimous if they find Trump guilty on each count – on whether he committed the crime personally, acted in concert with others or both;
• They must determine if Trump conspired to promote someone or prevent them from public office by unlawful means;
• They should deliberate with a view toward reaching an agreement, without surrendering individual judgment;
• Jurors’ notes cannot be used in place of evidence;
• The foreperson will deliver the verdict for each count after deliberations are over;
• Jurors must surrender their phones and can only discuss the case when all 12 of them are together.

Read  the full jury instructions here .

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Italian Teenager to Become the First Millennial Saint

Pope Francis attributed a second miracle to Carlo Acutis, one of the last steps toward canonization.

By Alexandra E. Petri

Pope Francis cleared the way for an Italian teenager to become the first millennial saint by attributing a second miracle to him, the Vatican announced Thursday .

The teenager, Carlo Acutis, is often called the patron saint of the internet among Roman Catholics because of his computer skills, which he used to share his faith. He died of leukemia in 2006 when he was just 15.

Carlo was born in London to Italian parents and moved with his family to Milan when he was a child. His passion for Catholicism bloomed early, his mother, Antonia Acutis, told The New York Times in an interview in 2020 . At 7, he began attending daily Mass. His faith inspired his mother to rejoin the church, she said.

He was called to serve, finding ways to help those less fortunate and donating to the unhoused, she said. In the months before his death, Carlo used his self-taught digital skills to create a website archiving miracles. He also enjoyed playing soccer and video games.

After he died, Ms. Acutis told The Times that people from all over the world had told her about medical miracles, including cures for infertility and cancer, that happened after they prayed to her son.

“Carlo was the light answer to the dark side of the web,” his mother said, adding that some admirers had called him an “influencer for God.”

Carlo’s life “can be used to show how the internet can be used for good, to spread good things,” Ms. Acutis added.

Carlo’s journey to canonization began in 2020, after the Diocese of Assisi, where his family owned property, petitioned the Vatican to recognize him as a saint.

In February 2020, Pope Francis attributed the healing of a boy with a malformed pancreas to Carlo after the child came into contact with one of his shirts. Carlo was the first millennial to be “beatified,” or blessed by the church, another step on the path to sainthood.

A final step is for the pope to approve a second miracle.

According to the Vatican, the second miracle involved the recovery of a Costa Rican university student who suffered severe head trauma after falling off her bicycle in Florence. The woman needed major brain surgery, and doctors warned survival rates were low. The woman’s mother traveled to Assisi to pray for her daughter at Carlo’s tomb at the Sanctuary of the Renunciation and ask for Carlo’s intercession.

The young woman quickly began to show signs of improvement in her breathing, mobility and speech, the Vatican said. Ten days after the woman’s mother visited Carlo’s tomb, a CT scan showed the hemorrhage on the woman’s brain had vanished, and she was later transferred to a rehabilitation facility.

The Pope said Thursday that he would convene a meeting of cardinals to consider Carlo’s sainthood. The Vatican did not announce a date for the formal canonization ceremony.

Carlo’s path to becoming the first millennial saint is a milestone, said Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a professor of history at the University of Notre Dame and the author of the book “ A Saint of Our Own : How the Quest for a Holy Hero Helped Catholics Become American.” Carlo used the internet and his computer skills to spread his faith, offering the Catholic Church an opportunity to show a more positive side to social media, she said. Making Carlo a saint may also help the church connect with young Catholics, many of whom have become increasingly disengaged, she said.

“This is an example of a person like them, that hopefully can draw them back into the church,” Professor Cummings said.