Speech Outlining in 4 Steps
Why bother with a speech outline? Because completing one is a critical step in preparing a successful speech.
Preparing an outline is often overlooked in a misguided attempt to get on with the real work of writing the speech itself. Despite what many people think it is not a waste of time! Instead, you will save it. And sidestep any anxiety caused by inadequate preparation.
It might look daunting and horrifically time consuming but complete an outline all the same.
What you'll learn about structure, matching content to your speech purpose and your audience's needs will pay you back over and over again. An outline will make giving a speech easier and less stressful.
The process of outlining a speech is broken down into 4 essential steps.
Step 1: Preparation
You need to complete this step before you begin to write anything!
Consider who will be listening to you. Don't assume whatever you come up with will be interesting to an audience! How do you really know what aspects of your topic are best suited to meet their needs? Or what would be of real benefit for them to hear about?
So before you settle on the exact topic of your speech analyse your audience. Without analysis you are 'guessing' what would be interesting and relevant for them to hear.
Using what you found out about your audience decide on an aspect of your topic that will be of benefit to them and the angle you will take. Take care with this. One size does not fit all! Minimise the risk of getting it wrong by finding out as much as you can about your audience!
What is the purpose of this speech? Why are you giving it?
Is it to persuade or inform? Is it to demonstrate, entertain, or welcome? Or is it a combination of these?
What do you want your speech to achieve?
Is there a particular action you want people to take as a result of listening to you?
Your answers to all of these questions will dictate what organisational pattern you'll use for your speech, its content and tone.
1. Cause - Effect
Because event 'A' happened, event 'B' occurred.
Examples:
2. Problem - Solution
The problem is 'X'. The answer is 'Y'.
Examples:
This pattern suits a broad topic which is broken down into naturally occurring sub-topics.
Examples:
Use this pattern for topics dealing with physical spaces.
Examples:
These are either historical topics or demonstration speeches. Both deal with the sequence of events.
For example:
The history of women's suffrage in USA, the abolition of slavery
6. Advantage - disadvantage
Use this pattern to examine the range of positive and negative aspects of an idea or event.
For example:
Step 2: The Introduction
How are you going to greet your audience, grab their attention and compel them to listen?
You could use a rhetorical question, a startling statistic, a quotation or a humorous one-liner. To be effective it must be related to your topic and apt for your audience.
Examples:
Rhetorical question
How many of you really are more afraid of public speaking than death?
A startling statistic
Apparently in USA 75% of the population experiences public speaking anxiety. Some just a little. And some a lot.
A quotation
Mark Twain famously said, there are only two types of speakers in the world: the nervous and the liars.
Humorous
Nancy Pelosi set a record for the longest speech on the House floor: 8 hours and 7 minutes. Relax. I only plan on taking 15 minutes of your valuable time.*
*Be careful with humour. It will only work if it's appropriate; that is fitting for the occasion, and understood by the majority of your audience.
This is a short summary of your speech topic and your point of view or angle.
Example:
Green politics is no longer a fanciful, fringe fad. It is a necessity.
This segment establishes your right to speak on the topic. It cites your qualification or expertise.
Using myself as an example, I can speak about preparing speeches because I've written so many over the past ten years. In addition, prior to becoming a professional speech writer I taught high school level English and drama. I also belong to the global public speaking club Toastmasters and have Bachelor of Social Science, majoring in English and psychology, from the University of Waikato, New Zealand.
This is a brief outline of the main points you are going to cover.
Example:
Today I am going to share with you three effective ways to lessen public speaking fear.
The first and second cover aspects of preparation: writing and rehearsal or practice. The third is about the benefits of public speaking.
What's in your speech for your audience? Why will they want to hear what you've got to tell them? Be specific. Tell them.
Example:
When you make a decision to learn to speak up in public you also receive the following benefits: confidence, the ability to take on leadership roles, a growing collection of presentation skills like story telling, how to use your voice, the ability to use props well, how to listen, how to craft a speech to meet the needs of specific audiences ... In short you release the potential you have to become a bigger and better you.
This is the heart of your speech, the place where you lay out what you want to share with your audience.
Generally three main ideas, along with supporting examples, work more effectively than four or five or more. If you have a number of them to choose from, go with your three strongest points. If one of your final three is noticeably weaker sandwich it between the other two.
If you intend to use visual aids (slides showing graphs, tables or images), or actual props, mark them in too.
There are four parts to preparing an effective conclusion to your speech. Use them to draw together and summarise all the material from your introduction and the body of your speech, and end with a clincher!