Informative Speaking

Is one whose goal is to explain or describe facts, truths, and principles in a way that:
• Stimulates interest
• Facilitates understanding
• Increases the likelihood of remembering

 Helps listeners understand a topic by increasing their knowledge of a topic
 Answers questions about your topic such as
“who,” “when,” “what,” “where,” “why,” “how to,” and “how does.”
 Is essentially TEACHING!! 
 INFORMS the audience about a topic…it does NOT persuade!!

1. Intellectually Stimulating
• information is either new to the audience, or explained in a way that piques audience’s curiosity or excites their interest.
• Provide new insights to an already familiar topic
• For example: Explaining how women have influenced rock and roll over the years.

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2. Relevant
Don’t assume your audience will understand how your topic relates to them, or why they should listen.
Use listener relevance links: statements that clarify how a particular point may be important to a listener.
Compare an unfamiliar topic with something the audience is familiar with.
Ask yourself: how will the information make your audience happier, healthier, etc.

3. Creative
• Produce original ideas and insight.
• The MORE you know about your topic, the more likely you will have creative ideas about it.
• Creativity takes TIME, and thought!!
• Productive thinking: thinking about something from a variety of perspectives.

4. Memorable
• Emphasize thesis and main points
• Use clear and effective transitions
• Use vivid language
• Use repetition
• Use figures of speech
• Use humor

5. Address Diverse Learning Styles
• Feeling: vivid imagery that evokes emotions through examples and stories
• Watching: visual aids, your own facial expressions and gestures
• Thinking: clear organization, as well as definitions, explanations, and statistics
• Doing: have your audience do something

 Description method: create an accurate, vivid, verbal picture of an object or image.
 Definition method: explain something by identifying its meaning.
 Comparison and Contrast method: explain something by focusing on how it is similar to or different from other things.
 Narration method: explain something by recounting events.

 One of the most common informative speeches, which explains how something is done, made or works.
 The speaker must outline the steps of the process and the order in which they occur.
 The speaker must then develop concrete, clear explanations of each step.
 The steps are the main points.
 Organized using TIME order

 Is an informative presentation that provides carefully researched in-depth knowledge about a complex topic.
 Uses various methods of informing for developing material: descriptions, definitions, comparisons and contrasts, and narration.
 Uses oral footnotes: oral references to the original source of particular information at the point of presenting it during a speech.

 Exposition of political, economic, social, religious, or ethical issues.
 Exposition of historical events and forces.
 Exposition of a theory, principle, or law.
 Exposition of a creative work.

 Yes: I would like to inform my audience about 3 cases of steroid use in major league baseball.
 No: I would like to inform my audience of how steroid use has negatively impacted major league baseball.
 Yes: I would like to inform my audience about the life of Michael Jackson.
 No: I would like to inform my audience of why
Michael Jackson was one of the best performers ever.

 Yes: I would like to inform my audience about how home schooling works.
 No: I would like to inform my audience of about benefits of home schooling.
 Yes: I would like to inform my audience about the suffrage movement.
 No: I would like to inform my audience about how the suffrage movement was one of the most important events in US history.

 Brainstorm!!!
 Google “expository speech topics.”
 Think about your hobbies/interests.
 Consider what you know a lot about.
 Think about topics you are learning about in your other classes.
 Consider current events.

 Avoid “value” words/phrases: better, best, great, most important, etc.
 Keep your opinions, judgments, and biases out of it!
 Use objective sources/information.
 Remember, you are essentially teaching your audience about a topic—so provide details, examples, facts, descriptions, explanations, etc.
 Read over your speech and actively look for any opinions, biases, or persuasive points. 