Public Speaking
Lecture Notes – Chapter Nine
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when organizing your speech and looking at the main ideas, there are five
organizational patterns from which you can choose:
o topical
o chronological
o spatial
o causal
o problem-solution
Organizing Ideas Topically
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if your central idea has logical divisions, you can often organize your speech
topically
topical organization is the organization of the natural divisions in a central
idea according to recency, primacy, complexity, or the speaker’s discretion
natural divisions are often equal in importance, so it might not matter what is
discussed first, second, or third, etc.
at other times, you may organize your main points based on one of three
principles:
o primacy
 primacy is the arrangement of ideas from the most to the least
important
 the beginning of your speech can be the most important
position if your listeners are unfamiliar with your topic
or hostile toward your central idea
 if your listeners are uninformed, your first point must
introduce them to the topic and define unfamiliar terms
that will be important for them to know
 if your listeners are hostile toward your central idea,
putting your most important or most convincing point
first will lessen the possibility that you will lose or
alienate them before the end of your speech
o also, your strongest idea may influence your
listeners’ attitudes – they may be more receptive
to your central idea
o recency
 recency is the arrangement of ideas from the least to the most
important
 if your audience is at least somewhat knowledgeable about and
generally favorable toward your topic and central idea, arrange
your main ideas according to the principal of recency
o complexity
 complexity is the arrangement of ideas from the simple to the
more complex
Organizing Ideas Chronologically
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chronological organization is organization by time or sequence
o your steps are ordered according to when each step occurred or
should occur
historical speeches and how-to speeches are usually organized
chronologically
chronological organization involves either forward or backward progression,
depending on which end a set of events the speaker intends to emphasize
Organizing Ideas Spatially
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spatial organization is organization based on location or position
it does not usually matter whether a speaker progresses up or down, east or
west, forward or back – as long as he or she follows a logical progression
speeches on subjects such as the Museum of Natural History or the travels of
explorers – or even the structure of an atom can all be organized spatially
Organizing Ideas to Show Cause and Effect
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cause-and-effect organization focuses on a situation and its causes or a
situation and its effects
speeches organized in this manner may first identify a situation and then
discuss the effects that result from it (cause  effect)
or a speech could present a situation and then seek its causes (effect 
cause)
Organizing Ideas by Problem and Solution
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if you want to emphasize how best to solve a problem, you will probably use
a problem-and-solution method of organization
problems and solutions can be discussed in either order
o if you speak to an audience that already is aware of a problem, but not
how to solve it, discuss the problem first and then the solutions
o if your audience knows about an action or program that has been
implemented, but does not know the reasons why, you should discuss
the program or solution first, and then the causes for it
Acknowledging Cultural Differences in Organization
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each culture teaches its members patterns of thought and organization that
are considered appropriate for various occasions
as an audience member, recognizing the existence of cultural differences
when you are listening to a speech can help you appreciate and understand
the organization of a speaker from a culture other than your own
Subdividing Your Main Ideas
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after you have decided how to organize your main ideas, you may need to
subdivide at least some of them
o keep in mind that until you’ve delivered your speech, none are your
decisions are final
 you may add, regroup, or eliminate main ideas or subpoints at
any stage in the preparation process, as you consider the
needs, interests, and expectations of your audience
Integrating Your Supporting Material
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once you have organized your main ideas and subpoints, you are ready to
add supporting materials to your speech
Organizing Your Supporting Material
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sometimes, you can use the five standard organizational patterns to arrange
your supporting material, as well as your main ideas and subpoints
at other times, none of the five patterns will work and you will have to use a
strategy that is more specifically adapted to your supporting materials
o primacy or recency
 the organizational method can also be applied to supporting
material
o specificity
 sometimes, supporting material will range from very specific
examples to more general overviews of a situation
 you can either offer your specific information first and end
with a general statement or make the general statement first
and support with specific evidence
o complexity
 in many situations, it makes sense to start with the simplest
ideas that are easy to understand and work up to more
complex ones
From Soft To Hard Evidence
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soft evidence is supporting material based mainly on opinion or inference;
includes hypothetical illustrations, descriptions, explanations, definitions,
and analogies
hard evidence is factual examples and statistics
o it is more accurate to think of soft and hard evidence as two ends of a
continuum – with various supporting material falling somewhere in
the middle
Developing Signposts
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signposts are verbal or nonverbal signals that a speaker is moving from one
idea to the next
Transitions
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transitions indicate that a speaker has finished discussing one idea and is
moving to another
o verbal transitions
 in addition
 not only
 in other words
 in summary
 therefore
 finally, in conclusion – can be difficult to use because
they can signal to a listener that it is time to stop
listening / paying attention
o better strategies include repeating a key word,
use a synonym that refers to a previous idea,
offering a final summary, or referring to the
introduction of the speech
o nonverbal transitions
 can occur in several ways, sometimes in conjunction with
verbal transitions
 a change in facial expression
 a pause
 an altered vocal pitch or speaking rate
 movement
good speakers use a combination of verbal and nonverbal transitions to
move from one point to another throughout their speeches
Previews
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audience-centered speakers need to remember that their audience members
cannot go back to review a missed point
a preview is a statement of what is to come
internal preview – a statement in the body of a speech that introduces and
outlines ideas that will be developed as the speech progresses
Summaries
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summaries provide additional exposure to a speaker’s ideas and can help
ensure that audience members remember them
a final summary occurs just before the end of a speech, often acting as a
transition between the body and the conclusion
internal summaries are restatements in the body of a speech of ideas that
have been developed so far
Supplementing Signposts with Presentation Aids
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one way to increase the likelihood of listeners paying attention to your
signposts is to supplement them with presentation aids
o for example, bulleted or numbered outlines