Speaking for a Specific Purpose
Developing and refining your central idea and purpose
Once you select a topic that meets the assignment, situation, and audience, it needs to be refined into a central idea.
Begin with your general purpose
In assessing your speaking situation, you should have reached some conclusions about the type and purpose of your speech. If not, now is the time to ask yourself whether your speech is intended to inform, persuade or entertain. For classroom assignments your teacher will let you know. If you need to figure out your general purpose refer to assessing your speaking situation.
Refine it into a specific purpose
Your specific purpose statement combines your topic with your general purpose. It combines the two in a single infinitive statement. Use the word “to” to begin your statement.. Record each item individually, as shown in the example below.
Topic: Car brakes
Purpose: To inform.
Specific purpose: To inform my audience about car brakes.
The specific purpose should state your purpose precisely. The specific purpose above begins with an infinitive and is written as a complete statement. However, it provides little detail about the aspect of car brakes you will be speaking about.
Specific purpose: To inform my audience about braking methods for cars with and without anti-locking brakes.
Now the specific purpose statement has a clear and focused purpose. It will be easier to state your central idea.
State your central idea
Your central idea should summarize the main points of your speech. It states the message you want your audience to remember when your speech is done.
Central idea: In an emergency situation, the hard braking method used to stop cars with anti-lock breaks can lock up traditional brakes on older rear-wheel and front-wheel drive cars.
The central idea teaches us several things: (1) there are two types of brakes in cars (2) older cars have traditional brakes (3) different methods are required for safe braking depending on the type of brakes a car has.
The central idea does not simply restate the specific purpose. The central idea reveals the content of your speech. You can formulate your specific purpose shortly after selecting your topic. However, you should allow your research to lead you toward a central idea rather than approach the speech with preconceived notions.
Both your specific purpose and your central idea will be more effective if you:
express each as a single, complete sentence
avoid stating the sentence as a question
use clear language
avoid vague or general statements
Public Speaking: The Basics
Presenting a good speech requires practice and knowledge. There are a few basics to get started.
Approaching the Speaking Situation: Audience, Occasion, Purpose
Structuring The Speech
Argument: Claims, Reasons, and Evidence
Oral Discourse and Extemporaneous Delivery
Approaching the Speaking Situation: Audience, Occasion, Purpose
Communication, both spoken and written, is always addressed to an audience, a set of listeners or readers you are intending to convey information to or have some effect upon. Public speaking differs from written communication in that the audience is present, gathered for some occasion. That occasion has norms and expectations that a speaker must recognize. Finally, a public speaker has some purpose, something they are trying to accomplish or set in motion. Good public speaking always accounts for these three components.
Audience. Speakers communicate differently to different audiences. To take a simple example, people tell their grandmothers about their new “significant other” in a different way than they tell their best friend. Similarly, people speak about trees differently with their high school biology teacher than they do with their younger siblings; and speakers ofteeed to make arguments about public policy differently to Republicans than to Democrats. Two main questions guide audience adaptation in a speaking situation: Who are they? What qualities about them are relevant?
Who are they? Distinguishing general from specific audiences is useful. A general audience is everyone who will hear the speech or read the paper. A specific audience, on the other hand, is that subset of the general audience who the speaker particularly wants to reach, or to reach in a different way than the rest of the group. In an audience with varying degrees of knowledge on a subject, for instance, a speaker might want to pitch their comments primarily to non-experts (while at the same time not saying anything that a specialist would find objectionable). In the classroom, students may be speaking to the entire group but making a special effort to address the professor’s expectations.
What qualities about them are relevant? Audiences vary in values, knowledge, style of communication, and intellectual capacity—among other qualities. Depending on the topic and purpose, effectiveness could be influenced by whether the audience is young or old, rich or poor, female or male, highly religious or less believing, college graduates or high school dropouts, ethnic minorities or majorities. In addition, audiences carry different expectations to a speaking occasion: some want to be there, others do not; some want to be entertained, others are looking to be informed; some are open to being persuaded while others are unlikely to change their minds anytime soon; some expect a highly polished presentation with sophisticated visual aids while others are looking for less formal comments. All of these expectations help shape a speaking situation.
Occasion. Unlike much written communication, a public speaking situation occurs at a specific time and place. With regard to time, the speech can be affected by events that have very recently occurred (e.g. the morning’s news may be fresh in your audience’s mind); by the time of day (8:00 A.M. lectures are different than 10:00 A.M. lectures); and by the fact that it comes after or before other speeches. Place matters too–different-sized rooms make a difference for visual aides and intimacy.
There is also a reason that the speech is happening, the occasion for which the audience has gathered. Are you speaking at a wedding or a funeral? An academic lecture series or a public meeting of concerned citizens? A mandatory assignment for freshman communication students? Each of these occasions has different norms for speaking, calling for speakers to operate in different modes–from formal to informal, from light to heavy, humorous to serious, conversational to highly practiced.
Purpose. Speakers hope to accomplish general and specific purposes when they communicate. For most speaking in college and beyond, there are two general purposes: to inform or to persuade. The line between informing and persuading is not absolute, and many speeches will do some of both. Nonetheless, they are useful guides for speakers.
When a speaker seeks to inform, they want the audience to leave the speech knowing more than they knew beforehand. Speakers may want to explain an idea or process, share new information, or show how to do something.
When a speaker aims to persuade an audience, they want them to adopt a new position or belief, to change their minds, or to be moved to action. Persuasion calls a speaker to advocate one position among others that are possible and be willing to defend it against challenges.
In addition to a general purpose and speaker typically has a range of more specific goals for their speech. They may want to get a few laughs, to build upon a classmate’s speech, to reach a selected group of listeners, to show themselves to be competent to potential employers, or to create controversy. A successful speech requires a clear sense of general and specific purpose to guide how selection and presentation of ideas and words.
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.
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 introductioeeds 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 “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 explaiuclear 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).
Argument: Claims, Reasons, Evidence
Critical thinking means being able to make good arguments. Arguments are claims backed by reasons that are supported by evidence. Argumentation is a social process of two or more people making arguments, responding to one another–not simply restating the same claims and reasons–and modifying or defending their positions accordingly.
Claims are statements about what is true or good or about what should be done or believed. Claims are potentially arguable. “A liberal arts education prepares students best” is a claim, while “I didn’t like the book” is not. The rest of the world can’t really dispute whether I liked the book or not, but they can argue about the benefits of liberal arts. “I thought the movie was cool” is not an arguable statement, but “the movie was Paul Newman’s best” is, for people can disagree and offer support for their different opinions.
Reasons are statements of support for claims, making those claims something more than mere assertions. Reasons are statements in an argument that pass two tests: Reasons are answers to the hypothetical challenge to your claim: · “Why do you say that?” · “What reason can you give me to believe that?” If a claim about liberal arts education is so challenged, a response with a reason could be: “It teaches students to think independently.”
Reasons can be linked to claims with the word because: · Liberal arts is best [claim] because it teaches students independent thinking [reason]; · That was Newman’s best [claim] because it presented the most difficult role [reason]; · Global warming is real [claim] because the most reputable science points in that direction [reason]. · Everyone should stop wearing seat belts [claim] because it would save lives [reason].
If reasons do not make sense in the hypothetical challenge or the ‘because’ tests, there is probably something wrong with the logic of the argument. Passing those tests, however, does not ensure that arguments are sound and compelling.
Evidence serves as support for the reasons offered and helps compel audiences to accept claims. Evidence comes in different sorts, and it tends to vary from one academic field or subject of argument to another. Scientific arguments about global warming require different kinds of evidence than mealtime arguments about Paul Newman’s movies. Evidence answers challenges to the reasons given, and it comes in four main types:
Specific instances include examples, case studies, and narratives. Each can be an effective mode of building support for a reason or claim. In a public speech, they offer audiences a way to see an idea illustrated in a particular case. To be effective, specific instances need to be representative of the broader trend or idea they are supporting. With an example as evidence, someone arguing against seat belt use might say “Last year my cousin crashed her car off a bridge and would have drowned if she were wearing her seatbelt” as evidence (the answer to “Why do you believe that?” question.) An opponent might challenge whether this example was a representative one: surely there are many more car crashes that do not end in water, so this one instance is not a fair gauge of the relative safety of not wearing seat belts.
Statistics include raw numbers (117 million visitors to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,), averages (‘women’s bowling teams drink on average two pitchers less then men’s’), statistical probabilities (‘crossing North Main during rush hour increases your chances of death 20%’), and statistical trends (‘applications have risen 40% over the past three years’). In public speeches, statistics have the advantage of seeming objective, authoritative, and factual, but critical audiences will want to know about the sources and methods for determining your statistical evidence.
Testimony, or appeals to authority, come in two main types, eyewitness and expert. Eyewitness or first-hand testimonies are reports from people who directly experience some phenomenon. If a speaker is arguing about toxic waste dumps, a quotation from someone living next to a dump would fall into this category. First-hand testimony can help give the audience a sense of being there. Experts may also rely on direct experience, but their testimony is also backed by more formal knowledge, methods, and training. Supplementing the neighbor’s account with testimony from an environmental scientist, who specializes in toxic waste sites, is an appeal to expertise. When using testimony in arguments, you should always make sure the authority you are appealing to is in fact qualified to speak on the topic being discussed.
Oral Discourse and Extemporaneous Delivery
The spoken word differs from the written. Audiences for public speeches do not have the benefit of being able to go back and re-read sentences. They cannot look at a page and see section headings or new paragraph indentations. Public audiences have a more limited capacity to comprehend complicated ideas and to take in long sentences and difficult or dense language. Public speakers have to compensate for these limits by using the principles of repetition of content, clarity of structure, and simplicity of language.
Repetition. Repetition is a fundamental part of most good public speeches. An old public speaking adage goes something like: “tell ‘em what you’re going to tell ‘em, tell ‘em, and then tell ‘em what you told ‘em.” By the end of a speech, an audience should have absolutely no question about what the central idea or main claim is. To make sure that happens, state that idea clearly in the introduction of your speech, tie the information and arguments of the body to it in explicit ways, and restate the idea again in your conclusion. Audiences are more likely to miss or forget important information if you do not repeat and restate it.
Clarity. Clarity of structure means that ideas are logically grouped into categories the audience can easily understand. In addition, just as paragraph indents and underlining alert readers to new or important ideas, transitions and signposts help listeners recognize new ‘paragraphs’ and key points of the speech. Brief pauses can signal to listeners that the speaker is about to say something important or is moving onto the next main point. Phrases like “most important,” “I am claiming that,” “the crucial point is this,” call your listeners’ attention to what follows them and act as verbal underlining.
Simplicity. Simplicity in language is crucial to conveying information effectively. Oral discourse differs from written in its use of language. Oral discourse is often best when it uses the first person, “I” and “we.” Such language gives the speech a sense of immediacy and helps the speaker to connect with the audience. In addition, good speeches will often use less formal language–contractions, sentence fragments, selected slang expressions. Finally, oral language needs to be less dense and jargon-laden then some kinds of written language, especially academic language. When written papers are read out loud, they almost never make effective speeches.
While there are several effective modes of delivery, extemporaneous speaking is the most adaptable and time efficient. Learning it is also an excellent way of sharpening critical thinking. Extemporaneous speeches are developed through outlining ideas, not writing them out word-for-word. They are practiced ahead of time, rehearsed and re-rehearsed (extemporaneous speeches are not impromptu), using a keyword outline of single words and short, 3-5 word phrases. The speech is not memorized but instead is concentrating on the main ideas; each time a speaker practices and delivers the speech, wording comes out a little differently. Extemporaneous delivery gives the speech freshness, for it doesn’t sound canned and over-rehearsed. Additionally, this flexible form of delivery allows a speaker to make adjustments to their speech in response to non-verbal signals from the audience–signs of confusion, displeasure, curiosity, or excitement.
Extemporaneous delivery allows speakers to make eye contact with the audience—one of the best ways to connect with them and keep them involved in the speech. Eye contact is an important way to establish a speaker’s credibility and make a speech compelling; when a speaker relies too much ootes, they are potentially losing their audience and running the risk of looking unprepared.
Verbal and nonverbal communication are important in public speaking, helping to make a speech clear and compelling to an audience. Developing good vocal delivery means focusing first and foremost on being heard clearly: a speaker must speak loudly enough to be heard by everyone, articulate words sharply so they can be understood, and speak slowly enough so that the audience can easily take in the ideas. In addition, avoid monotone delivery and be engaged enough with the speech to communicate interest. Effective bodily delivery begins with this simple maxim: do not distract the audience with extraneous movement. Nervous pacing, standing cross-armed or hands-in-pockets for long stretches, turning from the audience and talking into a visual aid, gestures unrelated to the verbal message–all of these distract from the content of the speech and should be avoided.
he Specific Speech Purpose Exercise Page.
Remember, a Specific Speech Purpose should be
a concrete sentence,
which begins with the phrase “the audience member should,
matches the General Purpose,
and defines one, specific response.
Following are some models.
General Purpose: To Convince.
Specific Speech Purpose: The audience member will agree that cloning of humans should be strictly regulated by the federal government.
General Purpose: To Actuate.
Specific Speech Purpose: The audience member will visit
General Purpose: To Inspire.
Specific Speech Purpose: The audience members will be reassured that Allah loves them.
General Purpose: To Inform.
The audience member will learn how to replace a wall switch with a rheostat.
Now You Try It.
Following are some combinations of General and Specific Speech Purposes. If you think they are okay as written, say so. Otherwise indicate what you think is wrong.
First Enter your name:
As you fill out the form remember to go from space to space with the TAB key, not the RETURN Key. When you hit the RETURN key, you sill submit the form.
General Purpose: To Inform. Specific Speech Purpose: The audience member will learn the three parts of the Hydrologic Cycle.
General Purpose: To Inform. Specific Speech Purpose: The audience member will understand why Nebraska is the College Football “team of the ’90s.
General Purpose: To Convince. Specific Speech Purpose: The audience member will understand why the death penalty is considered inhumane.
General Purpose: To Inspire. Specific Speech Purpose: The audience member will join Weight Watchers and feel a whole lot better about herself.
General Purpose: To Actuate. Specific Speech Purpose: The audience member will see why anyone who has a few days off should spend them in the Adirondacks.
General Purpose: To Inform. Specific Speech Purpose: The audience member will know about mah jong.
General Purpose: To persuade the audience about terrorism. Specific Speech Purpose: The audience member will not care if the government passes laws restricting our freedom if those laws help catch terrorists.
General Purpose: To Actuate. Specific Speech Purpose: If a woman says yes when you ask her up after a date, it is because she is interested in getting “physical.”
General Purpose: To Convince. Specific Speech Purpose: The audience member will want to go to Space Camp.
General Purpose: To Inspire. Specific Speech Purpose: The audience member will see that Jesus is the Lord.
THE SPEECH PURPOSE
Controversial Topics (Fay) Speech Topics (TCNJ) Topic Selection and Research
Speakers should know specifically what they want to communicate. Thus, before they even start to develop their presentations, many public speakers write a purpose statement in which they define their subject and develop the criteria by which they will evaluate material that may be included in the speech.
6.1 THE PURPOSE STATEMENT
Speakers who have difficulty writing a purpose statement that states exactly what the expected outcome of the speech will be often do not have a clear idea of what they are trying to say.
The purpose statement typically consists of three parts: the goal of the speech, the statement of the topic, and the method or process to be used to develop the speech.
6.2 THE SPEECH GOAL
6.3 THE SPEECH TOPIC
Structure of the Speech
Analyze your audience and satisfy its needs.
Narrow your topic from broad to specific by deciding how to best approach your listeners.
The more complex your subject, and the less experience or knowledge your audience has, the more specific you have to be.
6.4 THE METHOD OF DEVELOPING THE SPEECH
Here are some examples of informative purpose statements using these key words:
To inform the audience why competency testing is being used as a determination for high school graduation by discussing the three major reasons for its use.
To inform the audience how to make a cut-glass sun hanger by listing the supplies needed and the step-by-step construction procedure.
To inform the audience that vitamin C protects against the common cold by examining four scientific studies that provide evidence for this viewpoint.
In a persuasive speech, you can use these key words in your purpose statements:
“To accept that”
“To attend”
“To join”
“To participate in”
“To support”
“To agree with”
“To contribute to”
“To lend”
“To serve”
“To volunteer to”
“To aid in”
“To defend”
“To offer to“
“To share”
“To vote for”
6.5 ESTABLISHING LISTENING GOALS
What will I be expected to do when I have finished listening?
Listening comprehension is most familiar to listeners.
Therapeutic listening asks the listener to serve as a sounding board,
Critical listening is appropriate to persuasive messages.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
After reading this chapter you should be able to:
Explain the importance of having a purpose for a speech.
Write a purpose statement by stating the goal and topic for a speech and specifying the method to be used in developing the speech.
Explain the importance of establish goals for listening to a public speech.
SUMMARY
This chapter investigated the importance of having a purpose for a speech. The concepts developed were:
In developing a message, speakers should know specifically what they want to communicate.
A purpose statement defines the subject of a speech and develops the criteria by which material will be evaluated for inclusion in the speech.
Though developing a clear purpose statement may take time, in the long run it usually saves time by making the speaker select a narrow, specific topic and stick to it.
The purpose statement typically consists of three parts: the goal of the speech, the statement of the topic, and the method or process to be used to develop the speech.
The goal of a speech is expressed in terms of the expected outcome.
The topic is the subject of a speech and should be stated as specifically as possible.
Make sure the topic can be adequately covered in the time allowed.
In vertical speech development the speaker presents a single issue in great detail.
In horizontal speech development the speaker presents a survey of general ideas.
Narrow your topic from broad to specific by deciding how best to approach your listeners.
The method is the process employed in developing the speech’s goal.
The Specific Purpose Statement
Specific Purpose Statement
After a speaker has determined the “general purpose” for the speech (to inform, persuade, or entertain) and chosen a speech topic, the specific purpose statement needs to be developed. A “specific purpose statement” is what you want your audience to know/understand after they’ve listened to your speech. The specific purpose statement helps speakers identify their main points and narrow the topic sufficiently to fit the time limits. It focuses on precisely what you want your audience to understand, know, feel, believe, or do.
Note that the verbs for the Informative Speech include: know and understand. The verbs for a Persuasive Speech include: feel, believe, agree, and do. If your goal is to inform the audience, be careful to avoid any persuasive verbs in your specific purpose statement. Be careful that your specific purpose is not a persuasive speech in “informative-speech-clothing”, also known as “The Infomercial”. This occurs when the topic is controversial and/or opinions are expressed. In the Infomercial, the speaker has a hidden agenda of wanting the audience to agree with something or take action of some kind.
An effective specific purpose statement includes both what you will talk about (subject) and what you will say about it (predicate). However, never, never, never state your specific purpose to the audience. It is considered a Sin of the Introduction to say your specific purpose to your audience. It is simply part of a speaker’s organizational plan as the outlines are developed.
Format for Specific Purpose
1. The specific purpose begins with the phrase “After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand….
a. Avoid “know/understand about”
b. Avoid “know/understand more about”
c. Avoid “know/understand better”
d. Avoid “know/understand the most important aspects of”
e. Avoid anything other than simply “know/understand”
2. The specific purpose includes your speech subject (topic).
a. No “how-to” speeches
b. Avoid persuasive speeches in “informative-speech-clothing”.(The Infomercial)
3. The specific purpose includes your speech predicate (what you will say about the topic).
a. The predicate should be specific.
b. The predicate should reflect your main points.
Correct Informative Specific Purpose Statements
An effective specific purpose statement includes the correct phrase, what you will talk about (subject), and what you will say about it (predicate).
1. After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand the history of the electric synthesizer and the role it has played in music, past and present.
2. After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand what breast cancer is, what causes breast cancer, and risk factors that can help prevent breast cancer.
3. After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand the benefits, risks, and uses including reconstructive and cosmetic purposes of a micro-pigmentation procedure.
4. After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand the origin of the language of Hangeul, what constitutes the language of Hangeul, and its globalization.
Avoid INCORRECT Informative Specific Purpose Statements
An ineffective specific purpose statement uses an incorrect know/understand phrase, is missing the topic, or is missing the predicate.
1. After listening to my speech, my audience will have a greater understanding of the history, rules and regulations, misconceptions and the overall positive outcome from this new and growing sport.
Suggested Revision: After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand the history, rules and regulations, misconceptions and the overall positive outcome from the new and growing sport of Ultimate Fighting Championship.
2. After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand better the subject of stretching, in reference to body piercing.
Suggested Revision: After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand stretching; a form of body piercing that has a long history across many cultures and some risks.
3. After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand who George Herman Ruth was.
Suggested Revision: After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand the role of George Herman “Babe” Ruth in baseball history, the notable aspects of his career, and the effect his death had on baseball.
4. After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand more about the
Suggested Revision: After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand the geography, weather, scenery, and activities of the Oregon Coast.
5. After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand what drugs are involved, risks and prevention.
Suggested Revision: After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand what are “date rape drugs”, the effects of date rape drugs, and expert advice to avoid becoming a victim.
Avoid “The Infomercial” (Persuasive Specific Purpose Statements in “Informative-Speech-Clothing”)
The Infomercial or persuasive speech in “informative-speech-clothing” occurs when the speaker has a hidden agenda…they want the audience to agree with them. If you replace know/understand with “agree” in the specific purpose statements below, you can see the persuasive intent. The claims made are argumentative.
1. After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand that puppy mills and irresponsible breeding are significant contributors to the pet overpopulation crisis in
Suggested Revision: After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand the role of puppy mills and over-breeding in the pet overpopulation crisis in America.
2. After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand seal hunting is not only controversial but is also inhumane, and there is still a high demand for fur despite the ban on seal products.
Suggested Revision: After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand the practices of seal hunting, how seal fur is used, and the demand for seal fur around the world.
3. After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand why
Suggested Revision: After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand the geography, culture, and activities of Switzerland.
4. After listening to my speech, my audience will think twice about lighting a cigarette, they will understand health risks associated with smoking and see who they really are hurting by smoking.
Suggested Revision: After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand the health risks of smoking, the costs of smoking, and prevalence of smoking in the United States.
5. After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand the benefits of public transportation for both themselves and the environment and why they should use public transportation.
Suggested Revision: After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand the benefits of public transportation for both themselves and the environment.
Avoid Specific Purpose Statements for How-To Speeches
1. After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand how to make your own home brew.
Suggested Revision: After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand the history of making “home brew”, including the required ingredients, equipment, and process of fermentation.
2. After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand how to reduce stress in your life.
Suggested Revision: After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand what is stress, what causes stress, and strategies for coping with stress.
3. After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand how to be a frugal and smart traveler.
Suggested Revision: After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand the theory, the practice, and the travel sources available to travelers-on-a-budget.
4. After listening to my speech my audience will be able to do some simple tasks to maintain their air conditioner.
Suggested Revision: After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand the role of the filter in an air conditioner, the types of filters available, and maintenance techniques for air conditioner filtration systems.
5. After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand the different types of skin cancer and how to prevent it.
Suggested Revision: After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand the different types of skin cancer, the risks associated with skin cancer, and strategies for reducing risks of developing skin cancer.
Finding A Topic
In real life your topics will be determined by the situation or your boss. For example, you may be asked to give a presentation about how to fund a new project or you may be asked to speak at an awards banquet for firefighters. In other cases, such as an after-dinner speech, you may choose your own topic. That’s the way it is in this class; however, with some reservations. Many will find that dealing with free choice of topics comes with its own problems, the biggest ones being overwhelmed by the possiblities and being insecure about the choice you make. The following discussion is designed to help you overcome such problems.
Rule 1: Begin early.
Deciding on a topic early will give you more time to prepare and think, both consciously and unconciously, about what you want to say. Although beginning early may cause initial stress that could be alleviated by procrastination, an early start will lower your stress level when you give your speech–when you really need to be as relaxed as possible.
Rule 2: Choose a topic you’re interested in.
If you are bored with or not interested in the topic, your audience will be even more bored–not because of the topic, but because of how you present it. Chances are, your lack of interest will show, and you will lack credibility. On the other hand, many people make the mistake of thinking that people are not interested in what they are interested in. This may be true, but a dynamic presentation can get people interested. I had a student who suffered from extreme speech anxiety and claimed that he couldn’t find an interesting topic. After questioning him, I found that he was into composting–a subject that he thought his audience did not care about. True, almost every student in class had never given a second of thought to the subject. However, when he got up to give his speech, he was so “into” the subject that he lost his fear of speaking before an audience, kept the class’s attention, and got them interested in the topic. Passion about a topic rubs of on the audience. I once had an advanced statistical modeling course from a leader in the field who was more statistical evangelist than professor. Although the subject was deadly, with complex formulae spread across two chalkboards, he made his students as passionate about the subject as he was.
Rule 3: Select a topic you know about or easily research
Most of us think we live uninteresting lives; however, it’s not necessarily true that our experiences are uninteresting to others. In fact, to alleviate boredom, many of us become involved in hobbies such as gardening, flying, or music. Even jobs like working in a bank can be grist for the topic mill. For example, a detailed description of what is involved in getting a home mortgage is useful information that people need. In fact, I once refinanced my home at the bank employing a student who gave an excellent speech on the topic.
Filling out a personal inventory is an excellent way to identify possible topics. Simply take a sheet of paper and list the following headings with enough room under each heading to fill five lines. The headings are:
1. Work experience (past and present)
2. Special skills or knowledge
3. Hobbies, sports, recreation, etc.
4. Travel
5. Unusual experiences
6. School interests
7. Concerns/beliefs (politics, society, family, etc.)
Try to force yourself to list at least five things under each topic.
Another, similar method is to make a list of the following topics to be filled in.
1. People
2. Places
3. Things
4. Health/Medicine
5. Music
6. Literature
7. Sports
8. Current events
9. Politics
10. Social policy
Make certain that you choose a topic that is easily researchable if you need to do research. UT students have a major university library available and must know how to use it. Research is becoming easier as a result of computer assisted communications such as the World Wide Web otherwise known as the web. In fact, knowing how to separate the wheat from the chaff on the web is a big problem. For more information on research see my chapter on research.
One way to see if a topic is easily researchable is to look at the paper version of The Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature. If the Reader’s Guide has lots of entries having to do with your subject, then you know it will be easy to research the topic. Another simple way to begin researching your topic is to find your topic in CQ Researcher, published for the benefit of members of Congress who want a quick overview of a subject of public concern. CQ Researcher is invaluable because it prints opposing viewpoints and excellent bibliographies to get you started.
Topic Organization
Narrow the Topic
Once you have chosen a topic, your first job is to narrow it. Assume that you choose crime as your topic. Crime is a broad subject with libraries of books having been written about it. Even if you narrow the topic to juvenile crime, the subject is still too broad. Perhaps an historical overview of juvenile justice in America would be more appropriate as an informative speech that could be managed in under a half an hour.
My favorite method for narrowing the topic is what I call the bubble method.
Determine the Purpose
General Purpose
I list three general purposes of speeches here:
To inform
To persuade
To entertain
In real life you may find that your speech may have mixed purposes. A persuasive speech may have an informative component; an informative speech, a persuasive bent; and both types may also entertain. Nevertheless, you should have a clear idea about what your general goal is.
Informative speeches are concerned with giving information to the audience so that they understand and remember it. Here are some possible topics.
How to go about building your own computer.
The history of HMO№s in the U.S.
A night in a hospital emergency department.
Management of the bear population in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park.
An overview of Appalachian music.
How to conduct CPR.
Persuasive speeches are meant to change people№s minds, change people№s behavior, or to reinforce thoughts and behaviors that people already have. For example, you might give a speech that attempts to convince people to support legislation that reduces acid rain in the Smokeys.
Questions to answer about your general purpose
Does the purpose meet the assignment?
Sometime the professor, including this one, does not explain the assignment clearly enough. Ask if you are uncertain. Others in the class probably have the same question.
Can I give the speech in the allotted time?
If there is a time limit, make certain that you can meet it. You can№t inform the audience about the causes of the American Civil War in ten minutes.
Is the purpose relevant to the audience?
Trying to convince members of the Tucson Chamber of Commerce to pass laws against clearcutting our national forests would cause heads to nod.
Is the purpose too trivial?
This is a college level class and your speeches should teach your audience something on their level. A speech about how to make a pizza or what a wonderful pet your dog is will not cut it.
Is the purpose too technical?
A speech about the theory of Self Organized Criticality or the Central Limit Theorem may bore your audience unless you can deliver it in a way that clarifies and simplifies the ideas for a general audience.The same goes for a speech about the definition of arguments in the Holy Koran. Of course, if you are speaking to a group statisticians about the aforementioned mathematical subjects, go ahead. They will be able to understand you.
Speeches to entertain will not be treated here.
Specific Purpose
Once you determine your general purpose, next determine the specific purpose of your speech, stating exactly what you want to accomplish in your speech.
Topic: Hiking
General Purpose: To inform
Specific Purpose: To tell my listeners about various hiking trails
in
When you create your speech outline, you will use the specific purpose to guide your speech, writing it at the top of the outline. You won№t actually say your specific purpose. Instead you will use it as a central hub for your speech, making certain that all your material relates to it in one way or another. It№s there to keep you from rambling. Begin your specific purpose with an infinitive (a verb preceded by to.) Include a reference to your audience. Your specific should refer to your audience. This way you keep in mind the fact that you should be communicating with an audience, not just getting up and going through the motions of giving a speech. Above all, your speech should communicate. Limit the specific purpose statement to one major idea This helps you keep the topic limited and well defined.
Make your statement precise Poor: To tell my audience about how to visit the
Better: To tell my audience about three places in the
Make sure you can finish your speech in the allotted time. Don№t try to cover too much. Generally, students don№t understand that ten or fifteen minutes for a speech is really a very short time. Therefore, they prepare to much material and find that they go on too long when the speech is delivered.
Dont№ be too technical. Don№t assume that everyone in the audience knows what you know. Engineers and scientists often have a difficult time communicating with their audience because the fail to realize that most people don№t know the difference between quark from a ion. These are alien words.
Central Idea
The central idea is the central message of your speech expressed in a single, complete sentence. It is the thesis sentence. Whereas the specific purpose is written from the speaker№s point of view and is written as an infinitive phrase, the central idea is written from the audience№s point of view and is written as a complete sentence. For example: Topic General Purpose Specific Purpose Central Idea
Computers To inform To show my audience how to build their own computer Building your own computer is an easy, inexpensive way to own a powerful desktop computer
Guidelines for writing a central idea
Every speech should have only one central idea.
Write out the central idea.
Limit the central idea to one sentence.
Phrase the central idea as an assertion rather than as a statement of fact.
Let the central idea determine the content of the entire speech.
Planning the Speech: Three Items to Consider
A Step-By-Step Approach
While many people are focused on the 6-9 minutes when they actually stand in front of a group of people for a speech, many speakers don’t realize the huge amount of planning that needs to go into the presentation before they even think about the writing!
There are three main areas to consider before any speaking occasion:
1. The Speaker
If you are fortunate enough to be in a situation where you have the choice to decide on a topic (as you do ifor informative speeches in COMM 101), you should use this freedom to your advantage. What do you want to talk about? What are you interested in? What are you an expert on? What are you qualified to discuss? You have to dedicate a significant amount of time to this assignment; it would be foolish to work on something that you aren’t interested in!! So, begin here:
Start making a list of items that you would like to talk about. Possible items to consider: Your job, your major, your hobbies, what you do in your spare time, your family, travel interests, books, classes, etc. Get it? The options are virtually limitless!! Keep working at this list until you have about 20 possible items. EVERYONE HAS SOMETHING THEY CAN TALK ABOUT FOR 6 MINUTES.
O.K. Do you have your list? Time to move on to planning consideration #2. Set your list aside, you’ll return to it in just a moment.
2: The Occasion
Let’s face it……eventually you have to move beyond you as the only consideration for this speech. So, next you need to consider the occasion where you have been asked to speak. Why is the event happening? What are the details of the occasion? Initially, what is the GENERAL PURPOSE for the event? There are three general purposes for public speaking and all public speeches fall into one of three categories:
1. To Inform
Speaker provides information to the audience or gives new insights into information that the audience may already have. Examples of informative speeches include newscasters, teachers, work training, etc. Really anything where the main point is to give out information.
2. To Persuade
Speaker attempts to change an attitude or belief in the audience (convince). Or, the speaker attempts to move the audience to a specific action (actuate). Attorneys, politicians, and advertisers are all examples of persuasive speakers because they are trying to change a receiver’s mind about a particular issue.
3. To Entertain (to suit a special occasion, ceremonial speech, etc.)
Speaker entertains an audience while recognizing the specific purpose of the event or occasion. These are speeches that are only given for a certain event. For instance, a valedictorian address, or a toast at a wedding. Remember that “to entertain” does not necessarily have to be funny…..eulogies at funerals fall into this category as well.O.K. Remember that original list of topics? Now is where we start to narrow it down. What is your general purpose for the speech? Go through your list and cross off all of the topics that do not satisfy your general purpose. This will probably take a few items off of the list. Once this is finished, set the list aside once again and consider other items about your occasion:
Does your location limit what items will work (for instance, if you are giving this speech on a college campus almost anything about alcohol or firearms will be illegal….)? What does your event call for (for instance, a college-educated environment probably asks for topics beyond your basic how-to-make-a-peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich…)? After careful consideration of other items about your occasion, it’s time to return to that list of topics and cross off anything else that isn’t appropriate for the occasion. This will probably leave you with about 10 topics left and it’s time to set the list aside once again and consider the final element of any public speaking situation:
3 The Audience:
Here are the people who will make or break your speaking experience: the audience. Remember, everything about the communication experience should be transactional iature, so it is CRUCIAL that you connect with this group of receivers. Audiences come in all shapes and stripes, so you need to analyze them carefully in order to figure out how you will connect with them. Use your “audience analysis” sheet off of Blackboard to accomplish this. Later, you will be tailoring your message to fit these people….a task which is impossible if you don’t know who these people are. This is part of the reason that finding an audience is MUCH easier than creating an audience for COMM 101 (online). If you FIND an audience, you can think more closely about why they meet, what they expect, etc. If you create one, it is harder to analyze and find items that will apply specifically to them. If you don’t know that much about your found audience, don’t fret. Many people have gone to a considerable amount of trouble to analyze large segments of the American population. You may want to review.
