Public Speaking
Unit 8 Speaking to inform
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The ultimate goal of an informative speech is to convey knowledge and help the audience better understand your communication message. Knowing how to construct an effective informative speech will benefit anyone trying to communicate information in the classroom, business sector, military and nonprofit industry.
If your specific purpose pertains to showing how some event led to something, then you could use a “causal” order.
A third option is choosing a “topical” order in which you can talk about event aspects in any logical order.
Unit 8 Speaking to Inform
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1. The first step is to decide an appropriate topic. Remember that an informative speech does not advocate a political position, cause, way of thinking or action to take. Think of yourself as a teacher who will be simply presenting the facts in an objective way.
If you are stumped for a topic, a great place to look for topics is in the mass media. Look for what is being heavily covered and then speak about some related aspects. This ensures that you find a topic that may already be on the minds of your audience.
Unit 8 Speaking to Inform
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4. It is now time to begin your outline. How you organize your outline will depend on your speech’s classification.
If it is a speech on an event, you could use a “chronological” order in which you talk about incidents in the order that they actually occurred.
Another way to arrange an informative speech about an object is to use a “spatial” order. This is most common if you are describing a region on a map.
(1) speeches about events (2) speeches about objects (3) speeches about concepts (4) speeches about processes
Unit 8 Speaking to Inform
decide on the category, you must then develop your specific purpose.
Depending on your course structure and theoretical perspective, your specific purpose will either be “speaker-centered” or “audiencecentered”. If it is speaker-centered, then your specific purpose will usually begin as, “To inform my audience about...” in contrast to an audiencecentered speech which typically begins, “At the end of my speech, I want my audience to ...”
Unit 8 Speaking to Inform
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5. After you have decided on your appropriate order, you should always utilize external sources in order to backup your central idea and main points. Make sure you either verbally cite these sources or include the sources in your PowerPoint slides, while you are presenting. Remember that it is important to have credibility in whatever setting you are giving an informative speech.
Unit 8 Speaking to Inform
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2. Next, you should decide on how you would classify your speech.
Most public speaking courses divide informative speeches into four categories: