Unit Lesson Now that you have organized the body of the speech, you are ready to focus on the introduction and the conclusion. The introduction and conclusion are not as long as the body of the speech. For example, if you are preparing a 5-minute speech, your introduction should be 30 to 45 seconds and your conclusion should be 30 seconds. Both sections of the speech must be well organized and practiced since they are, respectively, your first and last chances to create a favorable impression of yourself and your topic. Introductions are organized to get the audience’s interest in the topic. How you begin the speech can well result in an audience that listens actively or passively. Unless you are introduced by another person, the audience will be doing one of several things as they wait for you to speak, perhaps talking on their cell phones, tweeting, talking to someone else, reading a newspaper, and so on. They will stop whatever they are doing and focus on you the moment they hear your voice. That is why it is important that you begin with an attention getter. Some people tell a story, others quote from a well-known source, some may sing, some may give dramatic statistics. Once you have caught the audience’s attention, you should state your name clearly. The audience should not have to ask afterwards what your name is. Next, tell the audience why you are credible to give the speech. In other words, why should they listen to you? If you are skilled in ski instruction, why would they listen to your speech on how to bake a cake? However, if you are a ski instructor and your speech is about any facet of skiing, then the audience will believe that you know more about skiing than they do. Give the audience some insight into the topic. For example, if you are speaking on how to recycle, you can speak about a local drive for people to recycle. If you are persuading the audience to support legislation about gun control, you would point out a few cases of misuse and the unfortunate results. In other words, let the audience know the topic that you will be speaking about. The final step in the introduction is for you to preview your main points. There is an old adage by an anonymous source – “Tell ‘em what you’re going to tell em, tell ‘em, tell ‘em what you told ‘em.” It may sound very basic but each step has purpose. As you begin your speech, you should always let the audience know your goal. If it is to inform, then tell them what you are informing them about. Just as you would in everyday conversation, you lead your audience into the body of the speech. If your goal is to persuade, then tell the audience exactly what you are persuading them to do. Be honest and do not hide your intentions behind words that sound more informative than persuasive. The conclusion should not contain new information. Just as you would in a conversation with a friend, you should signal that you have come to the end of your s ...

1. Unit Lesson
Now that you have organized the body of the speech, you are
ready to focus on the introduction and the
conclusion.
The introduction and conclusion are not as long as the body of
the speech. For example, if you are
preparing a 5-minute speech, your introduction should be 30 to
45 seconds and your conclusion should
be 30 seconds. Both sections of the speech must be well
organized and practiced since they are,
respectively, your first and last chances to create a favorable
impression of yourself and your topic.
Introductions are organized to get the audience’s interest in the
topic. How you begin the speech can
well result in an audience that listens actively or passively.
Unless you are introduced by another person,
the audience will be doing one of several things as they wait for
you to speak, perhaps talking on their
cell phones, tweeting, talking to someone else, reading a
newspaper, and so on. They will stop
whatever they are doing and focus on you the moment they hear
your voice. That is why it is important
that you begin with an attention getter. Some people tell a story,
others quote from a well-known
source, some may sing, some may give dramatic statistics.
Once you have caught the audience’s attention, you should state
your name clearly. The audience
should not have to ask afterwards what your name is. Next, tell
the audience why you are credible to
give the speech. In other words, why should they listen to you?
If you are skilled in ski instruction, why
would they listen to your speech on how to bake a cake?

2. However, if you are a ski instructor and your
speech is about any facet of skiing, then the audience will
believe that you know more about skiing than
they do.
Give the audience some insight into the topic. For example, if
you are speaking on how to recycle, you
can speak about a local drive for people to recycle. If you are
persuading the audience to support
legislation about gun control, you would point out a few cases
of misuse and the unfortunate results. In
other words, let the audience know the topic that you will be
speaking about.
The final step in the introduction is for you to preview your
main points. There is an old adage by an
anonymous source – “Tell ‘em what you’re going to tell em, tell
‘em, tell ‘em what you told ‘em.” It may
sound very basic but each step has purpose. As you begin your
speech, you should always let the
audience know your goal. If it is to inform, then tell them what
you are informing them about. Just as
you would in everyday conversation, you lead your audience
into the body of the speech. If your goal is
to persuade, then tell the audience exactly what you are
persuading them to do. Be honest and do not
hide your intentions behind words that sound more informative
than persuasive.
The conclusion should not contain new information. Just as you
would in a conversation with a friend,
you should signal that you have come to the end of your speech.
It is unusual to hang up a phone
without indicating that your conversation is ending. Similarly,
you must indicate that your speech is
ending. Next, summarize your main points. Remind the
audience of the points you covered in the
speech. This is extremely useful if you have organized your
speech so that the last main point is very

3. strong. Audiences will remember the last main point but you
also want them to remember the first two
main points.
You can end the speech right there or you can briefly refer to
your opening words or end with a
quotation. As you can see, planning the conclusion is as
important as planning the Introduction. As you
put together your outline, pay special attention to these two
sections of the speech.
Outlining your speech takes time and good research. You start
off with a draft of your ideas, arranging
and re-arranging the ideas so that they flow smoothly. The
purpose of the outline is to help you focus
your speech on important details for the audience. It is almost
impossible to tell all there is to know
about a topic in the time allotted to your speech. For example, if
you decide to deliver a speech on
icebergs, there are many approaches to this topic. Are you going
to talk about formation of icebergs, or
about the history of icebergs? Maybe you would like to discuss
the many sounds that icebergs make.
Your outline should be consistent, that is, if you are using
Arabic numerals in conjunction with Roman
numerals, you must keep them orderly. For example:
1. Write your first main point here. a) Write your first sub-point
here. b) Write your second sub-point
here. c) Write your third sub-point here.
2. Write your second main point here. a) Write your first sub-
point here. b) Write your second sub-point
here. c) Write your third sub-point here.
Each main point or sub-point must only contain one idea and
must be written as a full sentence. The
outline is not the place to write out your speech. In fact, you

4. should never write out your speech.
Instead, use your outline to help you. You can place the main
points on note cards and use those note
cards when speaking.
Outlines for informative speaking have four well-defined
sections – Introduction, Body, Conclusion, and
Works Cited.
Next you have to consider how to communicate your ideas, send
messages, and strengthen social bonds
throughout the speech. Your credibility is at stake every time
you speak, so you must ensure that you
use language effectively. Consider your word choice and ensure
you can pronounce the words correctly.
One mistake that is easy to make is using words such as criteria.
The singular is criterion not criteria, and
the plural is criteria, not criterias. The plural of sheep is sheep,
not sheeps. Determine when it is correct
to use the word fewer and when you should use the word less.
When you use language incorrectly, you
can distract the audience from your speech. As you practice
your speech, be sure to check for
grammatical errors.
Use language with which your audience will be familiar. In your
audience analysis, you should have
learned enough about the audience to help you determine their
use of language. Don’t use jargon that
would be unfamiliar to the audience. If you have to use jargon,
take some time to explain to the
audience what it means. For example, if you deliver a speech
about how to extract teeth to an audience
that is not in the dentistry field, you will have to give some
detailed explanations if you use industry-
specific jargon. As you speak to the audience, be as natural

5. and conversational as possible. Use
language that will make them want to listen to you. Project
images through your words that help them
to identify with what you are saying. You can use similes or
metaphors to get your ideas across to the
audience.
You should develop your own way of using words, your own
linguistic style. Help the audience to
remember not only the content of the speech, but also the
speaker.
Unit Lesson
For public speakers, the challenge is selecting the information
from the wide range of available data
most appropriate for their speeches. That requires knowing how
to research and knowing when you
have done sufficient research?
Whether you are delivering an informative or a persuasive
speech, developing a research plan is not a
quick-and-easy task. You have to contemplate what you want
the audience to know, and you also want
to provide information that the audience will find useful. For
example, if you have to deliver an
informative speech, you may decide to use stories as supporting
material, or you may decide to use
visual aids to emphasize your ideas. If you are informing that
audience about losing weight through
exercise, you may want to interview people who actually lost
weight and, in your speech, you give a
summary of how exercise helped them. You could also show
before and after photographs. However, if
you are persuading the audience to exercise so that they can
lose weight, you might have to find

6. statistics about successful weight loss through exercise, and you
could use a PowerPoint presentation,
or use photographs to show the type of equipment that could be
used to ensure weight loss.
Always be sure to document your sources at the same time that
you are collecting supporting materials.
For example, if you decide to interview people, take the time to
write down their full names and the
date of interview. Write out the questions that you will ask each
individual. If the questions will be
different for each person, record that information as well.
Your sources must be recorded using APA format. When you
interview someone and use their
information in your speech, it is essential that you name the
source and date of interview during the
speech. Make the information available in a natural and
conversational way. For example, “When I met
with Mary Doe, who owns the TryMeOnce weight loss center,
she gave me some advice. She said that…”
Don’t make the speech sound unnatural by saying: “I had to do
research for this speech so I asked Mary
Doe, who owns the TryMeOnce weight loss center, to answer
these questions.”
Now that you are building the research plan, you must include
criteria for knowing when you have valid
supporting materials. Ask yourself whether the source is well
known and respected. You may find really
good information but discover that the source, although well
known, is disliked by the public for abusive
conduct toward women. Your audience may not accept your
source as valid. Your source might be well
known in his or her town but people outside that town might
never have heard of him or her. There’s
also a chance that you might look up information on the
Internet, but, when doing further research
using another link, discover that the information is not accurate.

7. In other words, you have to be very
careful about accepting and promoting sources. Don’t use a
source that might damage your credibility.
In your research plan, you also have to determine the division
you will use throughout the speech. If
your speech is about how to change a flat tire, then you will
have to use the chronological division. This
type of process speech requires you to tell the audience what
tools will be needed and then take them
step by step through the process. All process speeches use the
same format, whether you are informing
the audience how to bake a cake, or informing them how to
grow orchids. Explaining your topic using
the chronological division means that you must explain
sequentially. For example, first you must
purchase the new tire, then you must remove the old tire by
doing a, b, and c. Finally, you must install
the new tire by doing a, b, and c. You should not explain about
removing the old tire until the new tire is
purchased.
If your speech is to inform the audience how a television set (or
any other object) works, then you
would use the spatial division. You would start from the inside
and work outwards, or vice versa. Spatial
divisions are also good for informing the audience about
buildings. For example, if you are informing the
audience about how the Capitol was built, you would explain
from bottom to top, or vice versa.
Explaining from inside out, or from bottom upwards, and vice
versa, ignores chronological divisions in
that, if you are explaining how to build a computer, you would
explain each part from the outside
toward the inside, or vice versa, regardless of the date when the

8. chip, or the fan, or the wiring was
created.
The topical division is used more often than any other division.
You can use this division whenever you
want to inform the audience about categories or, as the name
suggests, a group of subtopics. For
example, you can inform the audience about different types of
martial arts. Whether you discuss
kickboxing, or karate, or aikido, or jiu jitsu, first or second or
last does not matter as long as you discuss
each one fully.
The mnemonic division is used to help the audience remember
certain aspects of the speech. Using a
jingle helps to do so. For example, if you are informing the
audience about the great lakes, you could use
the HOMES mnemonic that some of the audience might have
learned in grade school. It is a very easy
way to remember Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior.
Many businesses use mnemonic devices
and they become part of the organization jargon. It is a good
way to bond with your audience, who will
be delighted that you have taken the time to research the
language they use at work.
Some divisions are used mainly for persuasive purposes. When
you want to persuade the audience that
something needs to be changed, you can use the problem-
solution division. With every type of
persuasive speech, you must identify the problem. This must not
be a problem that affects the speaker,
but it must also affect the audience, or they might not listen to
your persuasive speech. Once you have
stated the problem, you have to ask the audience to resolve the
problem by doing as you ask. Your
solution must be carefully explained and must be within the
audience’s ability to do.
At all times, consider that you are preparing to bond with your

9. audience and to make them feel part of
the speechmaking process. If you speak naturally and
conversationally, you will be speaking with (not at)
your audience, bonding with them, and drawing them into the
delivery act.
Part 1 - Project Topic
Select a topic and develop a research plan for the Informative
Speech regarding “the process of
obtaining a state driver’s license”
In the plan, you must consider the following:
Pages from the textbook are attached “textbook regarding
research planning”
1. What information do I need?
2. Where am I most likely to find it?
3. How can I obtain this information?
Include a paragraph discussing one audience
analysis that you have administered in the Student Break Room.
Your response should be at least 300 words in length.
Part 2 – Formal Outline
Submit the Formal Outline for your Informative Speech.
Use the Formal Outline using the textbook sample that is
attached to complete the outline. Note that,
except for the Specific Purpose, every line is one complete
sentence. You must also submit a reference
page (Bibliography or Works Cited) on a second page.
Past 3 – Draft Speech
Draft
It is important to remember that your speech must have an
Introduction, Body, and Conclusion. An

10. example of the outline for this speech is on pages 192-195 of
the textbook.
Speech content and topic: Your Informative Speech should
include the strategies and concepts that you
have learned in Chapters 1 through 15. This speech tells the
professor how much you have learned
about public speaking. In this speech, you will inform your
audience about a process, a concept, an
event, or a social issue.
The following list will guide you as you prepare the speech:
Your speech must be no less than five minutes and no more than
10 minutes. Speaking outside these
time limits will result in a grade penalty of 10 points.