COMS 101 Organizing Your Speech in a Pattern

Types of Speech-Centered Patterns

Chronological Pattern, Spatial Pattern, Casual Pattern, Topical Pattern

Speech-Centered Patterns

a sequence of ideas in a pattern that suggests their relationship to each other, based on the content of information

Audience-Centered Patterns

based on listeners' needs and the way people think

Familiarity Order

begins with what they audience knows or believes and moves on to the new or challenging ideas, great for persuasive speeches because listeners have to agree with a claim based on their values, example: marriage values and benefits, then same-sex marriage

Problem-Solution Order

describe the problem, then provide a solution (must be a practical solution; for example, you can't say that the housing shortage in SLO would be solved if everyone moved out of town)

Elimination Order

give all the available solutions to a problem, and shoot them down (gives reasons against them) one at a time until only one (the best solution) remains; very persuasive, politicians use in their speeches

Spatial Pattern

main points in the speech are organized by their location or movement, from east to west, top to bottom, left to right, such as a tour of a university library or campus

Chronological Pattern

organizes infomration in a time sequence, from beginnign to end on a timeline, such as the history of jazz, social networking, or computer technology

Topical Pattern

organizes information by categories, types of people, places, things or processes, such as types of flowers in a garden

Inquiry Order

provides a step by step explanation of how you acquired information or reached a conclusion, such as a research presentation at an academic conference

Question-Answer Order

raises and answers the audience's questions, great for speeches about consumer information, such as how to buy a car or a computer

Casual Pattern

shows a relationship between causes and effects, assumes that one event results from another event, how the past influenced the present, such as the causes of skyrocketing college tuition

Types Audience-Centered Patterns

Familiarity-Acceptance Order, Inquiry Order, Question-Answer Order, Problem-Solution Order, Elimination Order

Two types of Organizational Patterns

Speech-Centered Patterns, Audience-Centered Patterns