Chapter 9: Organizing the Body of the Speech

transition

a word of phrase that indicates when a speaker has finished one thought and is moving onto another

examples of transitions

now that we have, I have spoken so far, and keeping these points in mind....

strategic organization

putting a speech together in a particular way to achieve a particular result with a particular audience

main points

the major points developed in the body of a speech. Most speeches contain from two to 5 of these

supporting materials

the materials used to support a speakers ideas. The three major kinds of supporting materials are examples, statistics, and testimony.

tip for preparing main point 3

balance the amount of time devoted to main points

Strategic order of main points

chronological order, spatial order, causal order, problem-solution order, and topical order

problem-solution order

a method of speech organization in which the first main points deals with the existence of a problem and the second main points presents a solution to the problem

causal order

a method of speech organization in which the main points a cause-effect relationship

topical order

a method of speech organization in which the main points divide the topic into logical and consistent subtopics

tip for preparing main point 1

keep main points separate

internal preview

a statement in the body of the speech that lets the audience know what the speaker is going to discuss next

internal summary

a statement in the body of the speech that summarizes the speaker's preceding point or points

signpost

a very brief statement that indicates where a speaker is in the speech or that focuses attention on key ideas

connective

a word of phrase that connects the ideas of a speech and indicates the relationship between them

tip for preparing main point 2

try to use the same pattern of wording for main points

spatial order

a method of speech organization in which the main points follow a directional pattern

chronological order

a method of speech organization in which the main points follow a time pattern