LEARNING ONE WAY TO ORGANIZE A SPEECH

Assignment 5: LEARNING ONE WAY TO ORGANIZE A SPEECH

In this chapter, Lucas observes that a good speech needs an organizational structure. You can’t just toss out a handful of ideas willy-nilly and hope the audience sorts it all out and takes it all in. Part of a good speech is giving it structure, an organizing structure. For example, you might use the steps of a process to organize the speech. Let me have you try it. If you are describing how to make a bed to a person who has never done that (and I’ve met a few in class), talk him/her through the process. Mention at least eight steps that one would need to go through to move from a bare mattress to a fully made bed. Lay out the steps as you would envision them.

Assignment 6: LEARNING ANOTHER WAY TO ORGANIZE A SPEECH

In this chapter, the author says that you might also organize your speech around a time line. Often called a chronological order, this structure is sometimes used with speeches about historical events. Let’s give it a try. If you are describing an event when you or a person in your family went to the hospital, tell us what caused the need for the hospital trip to arise and take it from there in a series of points. Beginning with the accident or onset of a physical problem, take us on the trip with you. Take us up to the point where you or the person you are describing was able to return home. This type of speech is called chronological because it follows a time line and lets the audience follow the narrative as realistically as possible. Create your outline of events that unfolded in your hospital experience.