ORAL COMMUNICATION
PRINCIPLES of SPEECH WRITING
1. Audience Profile
- pertains to the important details about your audience that will help you plan your speech
- knowing your audience specifically their general age, gender, educational level, religion, language, culture and group
membership is one of the most important aspects in developing your speech
- done so that you can tailor-fit your speech content and delivery to your audience
- discover the information you can use to build a connection between you and members of your audience
2. Choosing a Topic
If you are given the choice of topic for your speech, start with what you know or are interested to know. Then if you have
something in mind already, ask yourself the following questions:
a. Is the topic interesting to my audience?
b. b. Is it timely and relevant?
c. Are there available sources of information on it?
3. Sourcing Information
-When you have decided on a topic and are set to start compiling information about it, think of all the possible sources you can
consult.
-If your speech is about basketball, consider if the history of the sport can be found online or if there are published books about it.
-If your speech is about origami, where will you get a new pattern to follow? Do you know an origami expert you can interview?
-Failure to properly cite your sources is tantamount to plagiarism and that will compromise your credibility.
4. Outlining and Organizing Speech Content
-There is a common and effective practice of outlining and organizing a speech and this practice is referred to as the Rule of
Three.
-Outlines, or textual arrangements of all the various elements of a speech, are a very common way of organizing a speech before it
is delivered. Most extemporaneous speakers keep their outlines with them during the speech to ensure that they do not leave out
any important elements and to keep them on track.
-Writing an outline is also important to the speech writing process since doing so forces the speakers to think about the main ideas,
known as main points, and sub points, the examples they wish to include, and the ways in which these elements correspond to one
another. In short, the outline functions both as an organization tool and as a reference for delivering a speech.
5. Logical Organization
-The logical organization or arrangement of thoughts when it comes to speech writing can be defined as all aspects of your
writing that help the reader move smoothly from one sentence to the next, and from one paragraph to another. Thus,
carefully planning the content of your speech is also necessary.
The written speech has three parts:
I. Introduction, presents the main idea on your speech.
-generally only 10 to 15 percent of the time the speaker spends speaking
-According to Wrench (2012), a good introduction serves five functions:
(1) you should be able to gain audience attention and interest,
(2) it states the purpose of your speech,
(3) it establishes your credibility,
(4) it should provide reasons for your audience to listen and
(5) your introduction should preview the main idea of your speech.
II. Body, offers definitions, examples, or any information that can help you convey your intent and clarify the main concept of
your speech
-core part of the speech that addresses the main ideas and principles of the speech
-presented using methods of organization (Flores 2016)
-Make sure that you move smoothly from one paragraph to another. Transitional words are used to connect words, phrases or
sentences. They help the reader to move from one idea to the next to build coherent relationships within the text.
PRINCIPLES of SPEECH WRITING
1. Audience Profile
- pertains to the important details about your audience that will help you plan your speech
- knowing your audience specifically their general age, gender, educational level, religion, language, culture and group
membership is one of the most important aspects in developing your speech
- done so that you can tailor-fit your speech content and delivery to your audience
- discover the information you can use to build a connection between you and members of your audience
2. Choosing a Topic
If you are given the choice of topic for your speech, start with what you know or are interested to know. Then if you have
something in mind already, ask yourself the following questions:
a. Is the topic interesting to my audience?
b. b. Is it timely and relevant?
c. Are there available sources of information on it?
3. Sourcing Information
-When you have decided on a topic and are set to start compiling information about it, think of all the possible sources you can
consult.
-If your speech is about basketball, consider if the history of the sport can be found online or if there are published books about it.
-If your speech is about origami, where will you get a new pattern to follow? Do you know an origami expert you can interview?
-Failure to properly cite your sources is tantamount to plagiarism and that will compromise your credibility.
4. Outlining and Organizing Speech Content
-There is a common and effective practice of outlining and organizing a speech and this practice is referred to as the Rule of
Three.
-Outlines, or textual arrangements of all the various elements of a speech, are a very common way of organizing a speech before it
is delivered. Most extemporaneous speakers keep their outlines with them during the speech to ensure that they do not leave out
any important elements and to keep them on track.
-Writing an outline is also important to the speech writing process since doing so forces the speakers to think about the main ideas,
known as main points, and sub points, the examples they wish to include, and the ways in which these elements correspond to one
another. In short, the outline functions both as an organization tool and as a reference for delivering a speech.
5. Logical Organization
-The logical organization or arrangement of thoughts when it comes to speech writing can be defined as all aspects of your
writing that help the reader move smoothly from one sentence to the next, and from one paragraph to another. Thus,
carefully planning the content of your speech is also necessary.
The written speech has three parts:
I. Introduction, presents the main idea on your speech.
-generally only 10 to 15 percent of the time the speaker spends speaking
-According to Wrench (2012), a good introduction serves five functions:
(1) you should be able to gain audience attention and interest,
(2) it states the purpose of your speech,
(3) it establishes your credibility,
(4) it should provide reasons for your audience to listen and
(5) your introduction should preview the main idea of your speech.
II. Body, offers definitions, examples, or any information that can help you convey your intent and clarify the main concept of
your speech
-core part of the speech that addresses the main ideas and principles of the speech
-presented using methods of organization (Flores 2016)
-Make sure that you move smoothly from one paragraph to another. Transitional words are used to connect words, phrases or
sentences. They help the reader to move from one idea to the next to build coherent relationships within the text.
