Why Is Speech Organization Important?
We have all been there. You are asked to stand before an audience to present a topic and have no clue where to begin. It's frightening at best!
Grappling for the right words, you may decide to simply state everything you know about the topic. And that may get the job done but probably not as effectively as taking the time to actually organize the information.
You may ask: why do I have to organize the information? If I tell the audience everything I know, they can do the organizing, right? So, why do you need to organize your speech?
Speech organization is effectively taking the information one wishes to present and arranging it in a logical order. It comes down to two things: credibility and audience understanding.
You want your speech to be organized because it will be more enjoyable, easier to understand and add credibility to both you and the speech itself. Oh, don't forget, people will also remember the information better if it is organized. In this lesson, we will look at how organizing your speech can help make it more effective and also at methods of organizing a speech, which also can boost effectiveness.
Organizing Your Speech
When the information in a speech flows, the audience will more likely pay attention. There is a strategy in play. Information that is organized using a main idea followed by main points and other details is easier to understand. It also shows credibility and thorough knowledge of the topic.
Just like writing a term paper, your speech should begin with a main idea or the central purpose of the speech. Having a main idea allows you to immediately focus your speech. Think about what you want the audience to walk away with. How you develop your speech will help you ensure that your audience will understand your speech. It will also allow you to ensure there is credibility to your speech.
Once you decide on the main idea, think about smaller pieces of that idea, which are your main points, smaller chunks of information to break down the main idea. These should reinforce your main idea. Include at least two or three main points. You don't want to include so many that the main idea becomes clouded by the smaller details, which could make your speech difficult for the audience to follow and understand.
Then, as you begin to further flesh out your speech, you will use supporting materials, like examples, statistics, testimony or a narrative, that back your claims. These will add credibility to your speech.Sounds easy enough! Now, let's look at a few methods for organizing a speech.