Chapter 9 Terms and Review Questions

Name and describe five organizational patterns that you can use to arrange the main points of your speech.

Spatial Pattern - Main points represent important aspects of your topic that can be thought of as adjacent to one another in location or geography. Temporal Pattern - Presenting information in a time-based sequence, from beginning to end. Each main point represents a point in time. Causal Pattern - Explains cause and effect relationships, helping your audience understand the link between particular events and their outcomes. Comparison Pattern - Organizes the speech around major similarities and differences between two objects, events, or situations. Categorical Pattern - This pattern is effective when you have a diverse set of main points, and each main point emphasizes an important aspect of your topic.

Describe how these types of organizational language (transitions, signposts, internal previews, and summaries) help speakers indicate the structure of their speech to the audience.

These words, phrases, and sentences offer the audience clear signals that will help them identify your main points and navigate your supporting information. Transitions indicate moving to a different point or part of the speech. Signposts help give the audience a clue as to the direction the speech is moving toward. Internal previews let audience members prepare for the next point you will make. Internal summaries help audience members remember the message and focus of the last main point.

Describe Internal Summaries.

To help an audience remember a particularly detailed point, you can use this quick review of what you just said in your point.

Describe Internal Previews.

To help your audience understand and follow your explanation of a complex point, you can use a short list of the ideas that will follow.

Describe Signposts.

Words or phrases within sentences that help your audience understand your speech's structure and direction.

Main Points

Key ideas that support a thesis and help an audience understand and remember what is most important about a speaker's topic; main points are supported by subpoints.

Body

The section of a speech that falls between the introduction and the conclusion and contains the main part of the speech. This includes all the main points and the material that supports them.

Explain the importance of subordination and coordination when organizing supporting materials.

These two concepts are critical in creating a well-organized speech. It is important that your supporting points actually support the main points you are trying to present. It is also important that each main and supporting point is of equal significance to the other main and supporting points corresponding level.

Coordination

A feature of a well-organized speech in which certain points share the same level of significance. For example, each main point is coordinate with the other main points, each subpoint with the other subpoints, and each sub-subpoint with the other sub-subpoints.

Describe Transitions.

Sentences that indicate you are moving from one part of your speech to the next.

Subordination

A principle of speech outlining that dictates the hierarchy in the relationship of main points and supporting materials. Each subpoint must support its corresponding main point, and each sub-subpoint must support its corresponding subpoint. In an outline, supporting points are written below and to the right of the point they support.

Internal Summary

A quick review of what a speaker has just said in a main point or subpoint; used to help an audience remember a particularly detailed point.

Transition

A sentence that smoothly connects one idea or part of a speech to another.

Internal Preview

A short list of ideas before a main point or subpoint that quickly summarizes the points that follow. Using an internal preview is akin to giving the audience an advance warning of what is to come.

Categorical (Topical) Pattern

A speech organization pattern in which each main point emphasizes one of the most important aspects of the speaker's topic; often used if a speaker's topic doesn't easily conform to a spatial, temporal, causal, comparison, problem-cause-solution, criteria application, or narrative pattern.

Spatial Pattern

A speech organization pattern in which the main points represent important aspects of a topic thought of as adjacent to one another in location or geography.

Chronological (Temporal) Pattern

A speech organization pattern in which the speaker presents information in chronological order, from beginning to end, with each main point adressing a particular time within the chronology.

Comparison Pattern

A speech organization pattern that discusses the similarities and differences between two events, objects, or situations; especially useful when comparing a new subject to one with which the audience is familiar.

Causal Pattern

A speech organization pattern that explains cause-and-effect relationships in which each main point is either an event that leads to a situation or a link in a chain of events between a catalyst and a final outcome.

Sign Post

A word or phrase within a sentence that informs the audience about the direction and organization of a speech.

What three main factors should a speaker consider when selecting his or her main points?

Consider your purpose, take your audience into account, and select an appropriate number of main points.

Supporting Points (Supporting materials)

Examples, definitions, testimony, statistics, narratives, and analogies that support or illustrate a speaker's main points.

SubPoints

Ideas gathered from brainstorming and research that explain, prove, and expand on a speech's main points.

Sub-SubPoints

Ideas gathered from brainstorming or research that explain, prove, and expand on a speech's subpoints.