Informative Speaking
Organizing, Researching, Supporting
Tips in Presenting an Effective Informative Speech
Adapt to the audience
Find research
Stress vocal variety
Avoid persuasion
Aid in comprehension
Recall information
Organizing Your Speech
Chronological Order: the order in which events happen in time
Used for giving directions, showing how things are made,
explaining the history of something
Example: I want to explain the five stages in the evolution of
the bicycle.
Spatial Order: the organization of things according to their position in space.
Used for describing places, objects, etc.
Example: I want to describe the three levels of the community
center.
Topical Order: a topic is broken down into parts that are arranged in an order
determined by the speaker.
Used to examine parts of a whole, a series of reasons or a list
of major features.
Example: I want to discuss three measures of the strength of
the United States as a world power.
Climactic Order: arranges items according to their importance, usually begins with
the least important item of information.
Example: I want to explain three requirements for being a good
football coach.
Cause-and-Effect Order: information is arranged to show the results of specific
conditions.
Example: I want to explain the relationship between an unhealthy
lifestyle and obesity.
Comparison-and-Contrast: items arranged to show similarities and differences
Example: I want my audience to understand the similarities and
differences between the major universities in our state.
Supporting Your Speech
Fact - tells something that is known to be true, or something that really
happened; a fact is something that can be proven with evidence.
Opinion - statements that someone believes, thinks, or feels.
Determining Fact Or Opinion
Does the author use words that interpret or label, such as: pretty, ugly, safe,
dangerous, evil, attractive, well-dressed, good, and so on?
Are there words that clue you to statements of opinion, such as: probably, perhaps,
usually, often, sometimes, on occasion, I believe, I think, in my opinion, I feel, I
suggest?
Why is this important?
Arguing Your Point
A complete argument includes a claim, evidence and reasoning.
You will provide three “arguments” in your main points, and each needs to be
complete.
Claim: point you are trying to prove.
Evidence: supporting material
Reasoning: explains how the evidence proves the claim.
Types of Evidence
(forms of support)
Definition: states the meaning a speaker is using for a term/symbol
Example (Illustration): gives a real or hypothetical case to illustrate
Narration (Anecdotes): describes a scene or event, often a brief/amusing story
Exposition (Description): gives the steps in a process
Citation (Quotation): states directly or indirectly someone else’s ideas
Statistics: states facts dealing with quantities
Tests of Evidence
Source reliability: qualifications
Consensus: the accepted opinion of a majority of the experts
Recency
Controversy
Audience: is it meaningful
Context: use the whole quote
Applying to Your Speech
You will need to cite all of your sources.
Internet citation: date, web address, author’s name, year written, page name
Minimum of three sources required
Minimum of three supporting materials required. Hint: try to vary your evidence.
Speech Organization: ____________________________________________________
Thesis/Purpose Statement: ________________________________________________