Follow the eight steps below when preparing a speech. Expect to revisit some steps more than once as you edit, rehearse, re-evaluate and rework your speech.
1: Choose a topic
2: Consider your audience
3: Decide subject and purpose
4: Research your topic
5: Structure your information
6: Preparing your S.M.E. (start, middle and end)
7: Prepare palm cards
8: Rehearse your speech
Step 1 If you are able to choose your topic, choose one that you are interested in and that you think will interest your audience.
Choose a topic that you are passionate about, already know something about or are interested in, or one that concerns people you know. (Remember, it should also be of interest to your audience.)
If you don't have a choice, you may still need to decide what aspect of the topic you will talk about.
Step 2 Think about who will be listening to your speech. At different times your audience may be classmates, friends, parents and teachers or community members.
Thinking about your audience will help you to choose suitable examples, words and ideas to get your message across and keep your audience interested.
In a public speaking competition the adjudicator is not the audience. The role of the adjudicator is to observe and assess the speaker's impact on the audience.
Step 3 Gather all your ideas about the topic by creating a mindmap. You could work solo or brainstorm in a small group. Decide on the subject and purpose of your speech.
When you brainstorm, write the topic in the centre of a piece of paper and add all your ideas around it. Don't worry how they fit together.
Keep adding to the mindmap as you develop your speech. Add any personal experiences/stories that might illustrate the topic and key words and ideas for making the speech more interesting.
Step 4 Research your topic. Sources of information include libraries, books, newspapers, magazines and journals, internet and interviews (for example, with family or community members).
When researching, ask yourself these questions:
Step 5 Organise your information in a way the suits the purpose of your speech. For example, will your speech persuade, inform, present a point of view or arouse sympathy?
The topic often tells us about the purpose and content of a speech. It may help to complete the following sentence:
'At the end of my speech I would like my audience to ...'
Begin to organise your information to suit the purpose of your speech.
Remember you need to have a beginning, middle and end:
The beginning or introduction is brief, aims to capture the audience's attention and establish the subject and purpose of the speech.
The middle or development sets out your ideas and includes examples that support the topic and purpose of the speech.
The ending or conclusion is a short final statement that relates back to the content of the introduction. It sums up the subject and purpose of the speech.
There are many ways to organise your subject matter. Do you remember these three methods?
Step 6 Work out in more detail what you will say in the introduction (start), development (middle) and conclusion (ending) of your speech.
As you develop your speech, choose appropriate language to achieve your purpose and engage your audience.
In the introduction aim to capture your audience's attention. You might include a question, statistic, story, startling fact or real life example.
Avoid beginning with theatrical gestures, singing or starting with humdrum phrases such as 'The subject of my speech is...'.
Remember to keep your introduction short and make it clear what you are talking about.
Link your development to the introduction in a logical and interesting way. Aim to get your message across by setting out your ideas and supporting examples in a logical and connected manner. Avoid reciting lists or talking about expected things.
It is important that your development sounds inspired and spontaneous.
Link the style and content of your conclusion to the content and style of your introduction. When summing up the subject and purpose of the speech, remember this is the climax of the speech.
In public speaking competitions, the conclusion should be about 30 seconds long so that you can confidently deliver the final words of your speech when the warning bell rings.
Step 7 Write the key points and words of your speech on palm cards. Keep the number of cards to a minimum. Number your palm cards.
Avoid writing out your entire speech on the palm cards. Palm cards are prompts to help you remember what you want to say.
Add notes about your delivery to the cards. You can add more directions after rehearsing.
Palm cards can be made from any light cardboard. Cut your own or use small index cards (no more than 12.5 by 7.5 cm). Make sure the card fits comfortably in the palm of one hand.
Step 8 Practise your speech as if you were delivering it to your audience. You could rehearse in front of a mirror, family or friends. You could record and watch or listen to your speech making.
After each practice, reflect on your delivery and take on board any feedback you receive. Rehearse your speech as much as possible. Practise allows you to: