Organizing
Your Speech
Presented by:
Amine Achmoul
Hind Anajjar
Souhir Ben Abdallah
Ahmed El-Oufir
Chapter Outline
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1.
Organizing Your Main Points
1.1. Limit the Number of Points
1.2. Support Each Point with Evidence
1.3. Order Your Points Effectively
2.
Traditional Patterns
2.1. Chronological Organization
2.1.1. Chronological Pattern
2.1.2. Process Speeches
2.2. Spatial Organization
2.3. Causal Organization
2.4. Problem-Solution Organization
2.5. Pro-Con Organization
2.6. Topical Organization
2.7. Choosing the Best Traditional Pattern
3.
Alternative Patterns
3.1. The Wave Pattern
3.2. The Spiral Pattern
3.3. The Star Pattern
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• Good speakers find ways to organize their thoughts
and present their ideas in patterns that audiences can
follow and remember. Organization draws audience’s
attention, makes clear and easy your speech, and
grows your credibility.
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Organize your main points
To organize the body of your speech
you must identify a number of
subcategories and patterns such as
causes, solutions or chronological
time. These patterns help you to
determine major points and focus
supporting materials under each one.
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Limit the number of points
By limiting the number of
point, your audience will
remember your speech better.
This explains why your
telephone number is divided
in segments.
We can consider the example
of a girl who tries to convince
a friend of hers that “Lottery is
a form of gambling that often
leads to unhappiness”. In
order to convince her, she
uses three main parts in her
speech:
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Support each point with evidence
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To support the major ideas of a speech, and also the facts, you must use
examples, quotations, numerical information, and analogies. The same
person illustrates her arguments by using articles about lottery winners and
arranges specific pieces of data under each main point:
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• Order your points effectively
• You must choose among a numbers of organizational patterns that
will best work for your speech. You can move from the general to the
specific, from the least expensive to the most costly, from the
nearest to the most distant options. This organisation depends also
on the audiences.
» ‫۝‬
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Traditional Patterns
• Traditional patterns can help you to organize a wide variety of
topics; chronological, spatial, causal, problem-solution, procon, and topical.
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– Chronological Organization
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Chronological pattern: is a pattern that
presents points in time or sequential order.
It explains what comes first and what
follows concerning biographical speeches,
historical events, to explain process,
stages, or cycles.
Process speeches generally feature a
chronological pattern.
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• Process speech: is a speech that describes
the sequences of steps, or stages that
follow one another in a fairly predictable
pattern, in order to describe social,
psychological, personal or natural process.
Let’s consider the case of baby’s first year.
We can illustrate that by the following
scheme:
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2-2 Spatial Organization:
Spatial pattern good for speeches on location/places. (Guide, tour)
→ to be used maps + schemas + sketch
Order does not matter (top to bottom= bottom to top)
Example: instructor in human biology + geography or a
constructor…. Use the
special techniques to present his
information.
2-3 Causal Organization:
US culture look for cause-effect pattern ( causes =→ events)
→ Causes help underlying the problem in relation to individual
or society in general.
2 basic causal organizations (cause to effect or effect to cause)
Example -1- from the book:
Amusements park tragedies injure thousand people annually
I. Causes
A. Equipment failure
B. Operator failure
C. Rider behavior
II. Effect
Personal risks
Needless tragedies
Depending on the topic you choose either to start with causes or
effects. ‫۝‬
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Problem – Solution Organization:
Problem solution pattern → 1st look at problem then examine
causes+effects then propose solution
Example -2- :
I - Prescription drugs are increasingly costly
A. Causes of problem
B. Effects of problem
II – Several solutions have been proposed
Solution 1
Solution 2
Problem solution pattern could be used in a personal, national
or global level depending on the topic
Hints: when purpose of speech is informative introduce a
variety of solution + then focus on one you believe is best.
Problem solution pattern for persuasive speech
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Pro-Con Organization
The U.S. speaker/audience explore arguments they are for or against
→ Both arguments are useful after being classified under label pro-con
Example -3-:
The Hawaiian sovereignty movement has both proponents and
opponents
I. Arguments in Favor of an independent nation
A. Annexation was illegal
B. Promises in 1920
C. Statehood vote was meaningless
II. Arguments against independence
A. Hawaiian none native habitant
B. Change in current system is difficult
C. Other less drastic solution
This organization is best in informative speeches
When presenting the Pro and con the audience evaluates arguments
themselves.
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Topical organization:
Classify the major points into topic or subdivision
Points could be arranged based on the major topic.
Example -3- :
Animal communicate for four purposes:
A. Aggression
B. Appeasement
C. Courtship
D. Identification
Choosing the best traditional pattern:
A topic can be developed in a number of ways. According to your
purposes and supporting materials, you will be able to choose the
most appropriate organizational pattern.
For a subject such as the Hawaiian sovereignty, many patterns can be
used depending on the aspects of the subject you want to
present.
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Alternative patterns
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The traditional patterns are taught in general in public
speaking classes. We have another sort of patterns:
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Organic patterns: alternative patterns that provide a clear
speech structure in a less linear form
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According to researchers, this king of pattern is used by
women and ethnic speakers. Cheryl Jorgensen-Earp (1993)
argues that many people are uncomfortable with the
traditional patterns and that for many reasons such as cultural
backgrounds or personal inclinations and interests. That is
why she proposes three sorts of diagrams and pictures which
actually represent these patterns: the wave pattern, the spiral
pattern and the star pattern.
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The Wave Pattern:
This pattern is repetitive and presents variations of themes and
ideas with major points
presented at the crest. Major points are situated at the crests of
the waves. Each crest is followed with many examples that will
lead to another crest. Then, the theme is repeated or another
major point cited. However, repeating a phrase is not a
requirement given that a repetitive style can be used by stating
points that are similar in intensity but written in a different way.
In this pattern, two types of conclusions are available: either wind
down and lead the audience gradually from the topic, or make a
transition and rebuild, in order to make your final statement a
dramatic peal.
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• According to the researcher JorgensenEarp, this kind of pattern is often used in
speeches by African Americans and
women. The most famous wave pattern
speech is Martin Luther King “I have a
Dream”. Here, the famous speaker used
this famous sentence as the crest of a
wave that he followed by examples
illustrating what he saw in his dream; then
repeated the sentence. His final statement
“Let freedom ring” can be considered as a
dramatic peak.
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It is a repetitive pattern with a series of points that
increase in drama or intensity.
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Example 1: a student was asked to talk to high school
students about selecting a college. She created an
hypothetical student T. whom she used in three
different situations each one costing more money and
taking him further from home. As she was giving her
speech, she imagined a spiral pattern.
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First: she placed T. in a local community college
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Secondly: she sent him out of town but kept him at a
public institution within the state
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Finally: she chose for him a private university across
the continent from his hometown
The Spiral Pattern:
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Each time, the scenario presented by the student was
more difficult and more dramatic compared to the
previous one. (The speech was given a spiral pattern
form)
The spiral pattern can also be useful for speeches on controversial topics that
increase in intensity.
Example 2: Let’s consider the story of a woman who lives with a violent husband.
The first time, he woman is abused verbally. The second time, she receives a black
eye and a broken arm. Finally, the man beats his wife until she dies.
Here, each scene increases in tension, and the most contentious fact is presented at
the final spiral.
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The Star Pattern:
In a speech of this type, each point is equally weighted within a theme. That is to say
that all the points have the same importance. The speaker must organize all his major
points in the tops of the star. Depending on the audience, you will be able to choose
flexibly where to start and what to emphasize. You must begin by the point you audience
is most likely to understand and agree with, and then move progressively to the points
that challenge the audience and appear like complicated to get.
Inattentive audience: choose the most dramatic point to begin with in order to catch
their attention.
Hostile audience: begin with the most conciliatory point
This pattern’s advantage is that it allows you to adapt your speech to your audience.
There are two ways to develop the points of the speech
-state the point, support or develop it , then provide a transition to the next point
-develop each point fully and then state it
Another time, your decisions must be based on the type of audience and the nature of
your points.
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The star pattern is formed by a thematic circle that binds all the
points situated at the different tops of the star. When a speaker
closes his speech, the audience must feel that the theme is
fulfilled and the circle is completed.
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Example: a person is presenting a seminar on investment
management using the general theme of financial security.
He/she chose as the main points retirement plans, medical
insurance, growth investments, and global funds. The person
can chose to begin with growth and global funds, and end with
medical insurance and retirement plans. He/she can also start
with retirement plans and end with global investments. This will
depend on the audience and its own interests and personal
inclinations.
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The star pattern is also used during election campaigns. By
using it in their speech, candidates can target specific points
depending, another time, on the audience.
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Something you may keep in mind is that all these patterns
(wave, spiral, and star) require as much organizational planning
as the traditional ones.
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Thank you for your patient
attention!!
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