write an article on speech

• Games, topic printables & more
• The 4 main speech types
• Example speeches
• Commemorative
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• Poems to read aloud
• How to write a speech
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• Delivery overview
• 4 modes of delivery
• How to make cue cards
• How to read a speech
• 9 vocal aspects
• Vocal variety
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How to write a good speech in 7 steps

By:  Susan Dugdale  

- an easily followed format for writing a great speech

Did you know writing a speech doesn't have be an anxious, nail biting experience?

Unsure? Don't be.

You may have lived with the idea you were never good with words for a long time. Or perhaps giving speeches at school brought you out in cold sweats.

However learning how to write a speech is relatively straight forward when you learn to write out loud.

And that's the journey I am offering to take you on: step by step.

To learn quickly, go slow

Take all the time you need. This speech writing format has 7 steps, each building on the next.

Walk, rather than run, your way through all of them. Don't be tempted to rush. Familiarize yourself with the ideas. Try them out.

I know there are well-advertised short cuts and promises of 'write a speech in 5 minutes'. However in reality they only truly work for somebody who already has the basic foundations of speech writing in place.

The foundation of good speech writing 

These steps are the backbone of sound speech preparation. Learn and follow them well at the outset and yes, given more experience and practice you could probably flick something together quickly. Like any skill, the more it's used, the easier it gets.

In the meantime...

Step 1: Begin with a speech overview or outline

Are you in a hurry? Without time to read a whole page? Grab ... The Quick How to Write a Speech Checklist And come back to get the details later.

• WHO you are writing your speech for (your target audience)
• WHY you are preparing this speech. What's the main purpose of your speech? Is it to inform or tell your audience about something? To teach them a new skill or demonstrate something? To persuade or to entertain? (See 4 types of speeches: informative, demonstrative, persuasive and special occasion or entertaining for more.) What do you want them to think, feel or do as a result of listening the speech?
• WHAT your speech is going to be about (its topic) - You'll want to have thought through your main points and have ranked them in order of importance. And have sorted the supporting research you need to make those points effectively.
• HOW much time you have for your speech eg. 3 minutes, 5 minutes... The amount of time you've been allocated dictates how much content you need. If you're unsure check this page: how many words per minute in a speech: a quick reference guide . You'll find estimates of the number of words required for 1 - 10 minute speeches by slow, medium and fast talkers.

Use an outline

The best way to make sure you deliver an effective speech is to start by carefully completing a speech outline covering the essentials: WHO, WHY, WHAT and HOW.

Beginning to write without thinking your speech through is a bit like heading off on a journey not knowing why you're traveling or where you're going to end up. You can find yourself lost in a deep, dark, murky muddle of ideas very quickly!

Pulling together a speech overview or outline is a much safer option. It's the map you'll follow to get where you want to go.

Get a blank speech outline template to complete

Click the link to find out a whole lot more about preparing a speech outline . ☺ You'll also find a free printable blank speech outline template.  I recommend using it!

Understanding speech construction

Before you begin to write, using your completed outline as a guide, let's briefly look at what you're aiming to prepare.

• an opening or introduction
• the body where the bulk of the information is given
• and an ending (or summary).

Imagine your speech as a sandwich

If you think of a speech as a sandwich you'll get the idea.

The opening and ending are the slices of bread holding the filling (the major points or the body of your speech) together.

You can build yourself a simple sandwich with one filling (one big idea) or you could go gourmet and add up to three or, even five. The choice is yours.

But whatever you choose to serve, as a good cook, you need to consider who is going to eat it! And that's your audience.

So let's find out who they are before we do anything else. 

Step 2: Know who you are talking to

Understanding your audience.

Did you know a  good speech is never written from the speaker's point of view?  ( If you need to know more about why check out this page on  building rapport .)

Begin with the most important idea/point on your outline.

Consider HOW you can explain (show, tell) that to your audience in the most effective way for them to easily understand it.   

Writing from the audience's point of view

To help you write from an audience point of view, it's a good idea to identify either a real person or the type of person who is most likely to be listening to you.

Make sure you select someone who represents the "majority" of the people who will be in your audience. That is they are neither struggling to comprehend you at the bottom of your scale or light-years ahead at the top.

Now imagine they are sitting next to you eagerly waiting to hear what you're going to say. Give them a name, for example, Joe, to help make them real.

Ask yourself

• How do I need to tailor my information to meet Joe's needs? For example, do you tell personal stories to illustrate your main points? Absolutely! Yes. This is a very powerful technique. (Click storytelling in speeches to find out more.)
• What type or level of language is right for Joe as well as my topic? For example, if I use jargon (activity, industry or profession specific vocabulary) will it be understood?

Step 3: Writing as you speak

Writing oral language.

Write down what you want to say about your first main point as if you were talking directly to Joe.

If it helps, say it all out loud before you write it down and/or record it.

Use the information below as a guide

(Click to download The Characteristics of Spoken Language  as a pdf.) 

You do not have to write absolutely everything you're going to say down * but you do need to write down, or outline, the sequence of ideas to ensure they are logical and easily followed.

Remember too, to explain or illustrate your point with examples from your research. 

( * Tip: If this is your first speech the safety net of having everything written down could be just what you need. It's easier to recover from a patch of jitters when you have a word by word manuscript than if you have either none, or a bare outline. Your call!)

Step 4: Checking tone and language

The focus of this step is re-working what you've done in Step 2 and 3.

You identified who you were talking to (Step 2) and in Step 3, wrote up your first main point.  Is it right? Have you made yourself clear?  Check it.

How well you complete this step depends on how well you understand the needs of the people who are going to listen to your speech.

Please do not assume because you know what you're talking about the person (Joe) you've chosen to represent your audience will too. Joe is not a mind-reader!

How to check what you've prepared

• Check the "tone" of your language . Is it right for the occasion, subject matter and your audience?
• Check the length of your sentences. You need short sentences. If they're too long or complicated you risk losing your listeners.

Check for jargon too. These are industry, activity or group exclusive words.

For instance take the phrase: authentic learning . This comes from teaching and refers to connecting lessons to the daily life of students. Authentic learning is learning that is relevant and meaningful for students. If you're not a teacher you may not understand the phrase.

The use of any vocabulary requiring insider knowledge needs to be thought through from the audience perspective. Jargon can close people out.

• Read what you've written out loud. If it flows naturally, in a logical manner, continue the process with your next main idea. If it doesn't, rework.

We use whole sentences and part ones, and we mix them up with asides or appeals e.g. "Did you get that? Of course you did. Right...Let's move it along. I was saying ..."

Click for more about the differences between spoken and written language .

And now repeat the process

Repeat this process for the remainder of your main ideas.

Because you've done the first one carefully, the rest should follow fairly easily.

Step 5: Use transitions

Providing links or transitions between main ideas.

Between each of your main ideas you need to provide a bridge or pathway for your audience. The clearer the pathway or bridge, the easier it is for them to make the transition from one idea to the next.

If your speech contains more than three main ideas and each is building on the last, then consider using a "catch-up" or summary as part of your transitions.

Is your speech being evaluated? Find out exactly what aspects you're being assessed on using this standard speech evaluation form

Link/transition examples

A link can be as simple as:

"We've explored one scenario for the ending of Block Buster 111, but let's consider another. This time..."

What follows this transition is the introduction of Main Idea Two.

Here's a summarizing link/transition example:

"We've ended Blockbuster 111 four ways so far. In the first, everybody died. In the second, everybody died BUT their ghosts remained to haunt the area. In the third, one villain died. His partner reformed and after a fight-out with the hero, they both strode off into the sunset, friends forever. In the fourth, the hero dies in a major battle but is reborn sometime in the future.

And now what about one more? What if nobody died? The fifth possibility..."

Go back through your main ideas checking the links. Remember Joe as you go. Try each transition or link out loud and really listen to yourself. Is it obvious? Easily followed?

Keep them if they are clear and concise.

For more about transitions (with examples) see Andrew Dlugan's excellent article, Speech Transitions: Magical words and Phrases .

Step 6: The end of your speech

The ideal ending is highly memorable . You want it to live on in the minds of your listeners long after your speech is finished. Often it combines a call to action with a summary of major points.

Example speech endings

Example 1: The desired outcome of a speech persuading people to vote for you in an upcoming election is that they get out there on voting day and do so. You can help that outcome along by calling them to register their support by signing a prepared pledge statement as they leave.

"We're agreed we want change. You can help us give it to you by signing this pledge statement as you leave. Be part of the change you want to see!

Example 2: The desired outcome is increased sales figures. The call to action is made urgent with the introduction of time specific incentives.

"You have three weeks from the time you leave this hall to make that dream family holiday in New Zealand yours. Can you do it? Will you do it? The kids will love it. Your wife will love it. Do it now!"

How to figure out the right call to action

A clue for working out what the most appropriate call to action might be, is to go back to your original purpose for giving the speech.

• Was it to motivate or inspire?
• Was it to persuade to a particular point of view?
• Was it to share specialist information?
• Was it to celebrate a person, a place, time or event?

Ask yourself what you want people to do as a result of having listened to your speech.

For more about ending speeches

Visit this page for more about how to end a speech effectively . You'll find two additional types of speech endings with examples.

Write and test

Write your ending and test it out loud. Try it out on a friend, or two. Is it good? Does it work?

Step 7: The introduction

Once you've got the filling (main ideas) the linking and the ending in place, it's time to focus on the introduction.

The introduction comes last as it's the most important part of your speech. This is the bit that either has people sitting up alert or slumped and waiting for you to end. It's the tone setter!

What makes a great speech opening?

Ideally you want an opening that makes listening to you the only thing the 'Joes' in the audience want to do.

You want them to forget they're hungry or that their chair is hard or that their bills need paying.

The way to do that is to capture their interest straight away. You do this with a "hook".

Hooks to catch your audience's attention

Hooks come in as many forms as there are speeches and audiences. Your task is work out what specific hook is needed to catch your audience.

Go back to the purpose. Why are you giving this speech?

Once you have your answer, consider your call to action. What do you want the audience to do, and, or take away, as a result of listening to you?

Next think about the imaginary or real person you wrote for when you were focusing on your main ideas.

Choosing the best hook

• Is it humor?
• Would shock tactics work?
• Is it a rhetorical question?
• Is it formality or informality?
• Is it an outline or overview of what you're going to cover, including the call to action?
• Or is it a mix of all these elements?

A hook example

Here's an example from a fictional political speech. The speaker is lobbying for votes. His audience are predominately workers whose future's are not secure.

"How's your imagination this morning? Good? (Pause for response from audience) Great, I'm glad. Because we're going to put it to work starting right now.

I want you to see your future. What does it look like? Are you happy? Is everything as you want it to be? No? Let's change that. We could do it. And we could do it today.

At the end of this speech you're going to be given the opportunity to change your world, for a better one ...

No, I'm not a magician. Or a simpleton with big ideas and precious little commonsense. I'm an ordinary man, just like you. And I have a plan to share!"

And then our speaker is off into his main points supported by examples. The end, which he has already foreshadowed in his opening, is the call to vote for him.

Prepare several hooks

Experiment with several openings until you've found the one that serves your audience, your subject matter and your purpose best.

For many more examples of speech openings go to: how to write a speech introduction . You'll find 12 of the very best ways to start a speech.

That completes the initial seven steps towards writing your speech. If you've followed them all the way through, congratulations, you now have the text of your speech!

Although you might have the words, you're still a couple of steps away from being ready to deliver them. Both of them are essential if you want the very best outcome possible. They are below. Please take them.

Step 8: Checking content and timing

This step pulls everything together.

Check once, check twice, check three times & then once more!

Go through your speech really carefully.

On the first read through check you've got your main points in their correct order with supporting material, plus an effective introduction and ending.

On the second read through check the linking passages or transitions making sure they are clear and easily followed.

On the third reading check your sentence structure, language use and tone.

Double, triple check the timing

Now go though once more.

This time read it aloud slowly and time yourself.

If it's too long for the time allowance you've been given make the necessary cuts.

Start by looking at your examples rather than the main ideas themselves. If you've used several examples to illustrate one principal idea, cut the least important out.

Also look to see if you've repeated yourself unnecessarily or, gone off track. If it's not relevant, cut it.

Repeat the process, condensing until your speech fits the required length, preferably coming in just under your time limit.

You can also find out how approximately long it will take you to say the words you have by using this very handy words to minutes converter . It's an excellent tool, one I frequently use. While it can't give you a precise time, it does provide a reasonable estimate.

Step 9: Rehearsing your speech

And NOW you are finished with writing the speech, and are ready for REHEARSAL .

Please don't be tempted to skip this step. It is not an extra thrown in for good measure. It's essential.

The "not-so-secret" secret of successful speeches combines good writing with practice, practice and then, practicing some more.

Go to how to practice public speaking and you'll find rehearsal techniques and suggestions to boost your speech delivery from ordinary to extraordinary.

The Quick How to Write a Speech Checklist

Before you begin writing you need:.

• Your speech OUTLINE with your main ideas ranked in the order you're going to present them. (If you haven't done one complete this 4 step sample speech outline . It will make the writing process much easier.)
• Your RESEARCH
• You also need to know WHO you're speaking to, the PURPOSE of the speech and HOW long you're speaking for

The basic format

• the body where you present your main ideas

Split your time allowance so that you spend approximately 70% on the body and 15% each on the introduction and ending.

How to write the speech

• Write your main ideas out incorporating your examples and research
• Link them together making sure each flows in a smooth, logical progression
• Write your ending, summarizing your main ideas briefly and end with a call for action
• Write your introduction considering the 'hook' you're going to use to get your audience listening
• An often quoted saying to explain the process is: Tell them what you're going to tell them (Introduction) Tell them (Body of your speech - the main ideas plus examples) Tell them what you told them (The ending)

TEST before presenting. Read aloud several times to check the flow of material, the suitability of language and the timing.

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How to Write a Speech: Top Tips

By Ashleigh Ferguson

Table of Contents

9 engaging speech writing tips, what are the different speech types , how to find help writing a speech.

A great speech is impactful and engaging. It should eloquently and clearly express your ideas.

Whatever the topic, a good speech should showcase your authority on a topic and demonstrate excellent communication and leadership skills.

Many people don't know how to write a speech, so the process seems daunting. But there are a few best practices and tips that can make the writing process easier.

In this article, we’ll discuss some best practices to help you write an effective speech that engages and captures your audience.

Public speaking can be nerve-racking. However, having a well-written speech can decrease some of that anxiety.

Even if you’ve never written a speech before, there are still best practices you can follow. 

An engaging speech should be clear, to the point, and follow a logical order. But how do you ensure your speech follows these criteria? Follow these nine engaging speech writing tips.

Know Your Audience

Analyze your target audience to improve the effectiveness of your speech because different audiences will have different expectations. 

Consider your audience’s age, level of understanding, attitudes, and what they expect to take away from your speech, then tailor your message accordingly. 

For example, if your audience members are teenagers, it’s unlikely that references to the ’70s will be effective.

Start With a Clear Purpose

Decide on the main point of your speech, and make sure all your content supports that point. Choose a topic that fits the following criteria:

A topic that is relevant to your audience

A topic you’re excited about

A topic you have reasonable knowledge about

Organize Your Ideas 

Use a speech outline to organize your thoughts and ideas logically. 

Identify the introduction, body, and conclusion of your speech to help you stay focused and make your speech easier to follow.

Use Strong, Clear Language

Choose your words carefully, and use simple language that is easy to understand. Avoid jargon or technical terms that your audience may not be familiar with. 

Again, your word choice will depend on your audience. For example, you’ll want to steer clear of slang when speaking to an older, conservative crowd.

Use Transitions

Speech transitions are words and phrases that allow you to move smoothly from one point to another. Use transitional words and phrases like “besides” to help your audience follow your thought process and understand how your points are connected.

Add Variety to Speech

A speech that is monotonous or lacks variety may cause your audience to lose interest. 

Including a variety of elements in your speech, such as anecdotes, examples, and visual aids, can help keep your audience engaged and interested. 

Practice, Practice, Practice

Practice your speech out loud to ensure it flows well and you’re comfortable with the material. Read your speech in front of the mirror or before someone you trust to give you critical feedback. Note the points for improvement, and incorporate them into how you deliver your speech.

End With a Strong Conclusion

How would you like to leave your audience members: inspired, informed, or mesmerized? Aim to end your speech on a high note. Summarize your main points, and leave your audience with a memorable takeaway.

Edit and Revise

Proofread and revise your speech to ensure it’s well written and error free. Use a grammar checker, such as ProWritingAid, to correct any grammar issues. You’ll also get suggestions on how to improve your sentence structures and transitions.

How to Write a Good Speech Introduction

The introduction can make or break your speech. It’s where you grab your audience’s attention to keep them engaged and state the purpose of your speech. 

An introduction also gives you the opportunity to establish your credibility. You should aim to give your audience a reason to listen to the rest of the speech rather than tuning out.

Here are some tips on how to create a positive first impression.

Start With a Hook

Begin your introduction with a hook that will grab your audience’s attention and make them want to listen. There are several options for a hook:

A statistic

A personal anecdote

Reference to a current or historical event

When thinking of an attention grabber, consider how appropriate and relevant it is to your audience and the purpose of the speech. For example, if you’re giving a speech to an older audience, you can make a historical reference that they can easily relate to.

Provide Context

Provide context by giving your audience some background information about the topic of your speech. This will help them understand the importance of what you are talking about and why they should care.

State Your Thesis

Clearly and concisely state the main point or purpose of your speech. Your thesis should be easy to follow and clearly outline the main argument and your stance. This will give your audience a clear understanding of what they can expect to learn from your presentation.

Preview Your Main Points

Give your audience a sense of the structure of your speech by briefly outlining the key points or arguments you will be making. They’ll know what to expect, and your speech will be easier to follow. 

Keep It Short

Your introduction should be concise and to the point, so don’t spend too much time on it. It’s important to keep your speech brief, and avoid including unnecessary or unrelated information. 

The goal is to engage and interest your audience, not bore them, so aim for a few well-chosen words rather than a lengthy introduction. Aim for your introduction to be about 10-15% of the total length of your speech.

A speech is just like any other piece of writing. You’ll need to identify your purpose, audience, and intention and then write accordingly. There are many types of speeches, and each type has its own expectations.

Let’s look at some of the most popular speeches and how to write them.

How to Write a Short Speech

Short speeches may be the most tedious to write because of how condensed and concise the information has to be. However, if you ever have to give a farewell, birthday tribute, or just a quick welcome, there are still some tips available to make your speech great.

Start by identifying your topic, title, and the purpose of your speech, which will set the foundation of your outline. Then, determine the main points of your speech; keep it short with two to three points. Remember, a short speech is typically less than ten minutes long, so keep your points concise and to the point.

Since you have limited time to make the most impact, incorporate powerful words or other engaging elements. For example, you could throw out a thought-provoking question or anecdote, which will grab your audience’s attention and keep them engaged.

Finally, once you’ve written your speech, review it for brevity and clarity. 

Be confident about grammar

Check every email, essay, or story for grammar mistakes. Fix them before you press send.

How to Write a Presentation Speech

A presentation speech is used to inform, persuade, explain, or demonstrate a particular topic.

Presentation speeches are well structured and follow a logical flow. They have an introduction, body, and conclusion. Use transition words and phrases to help your speech flow smoothly and prevent it from appearing disjointed.

You can use ProWritingAid to organize your speech and make it even clearer. ProWritingAid’s transition report will show you whether you’re using transitions effectively in your speech.

How to Write a Debate Speech

A debate is a formal argument on a particular topic. Debate speeches are persuasive since the aim is to convince the audience to agree with a stance.

Like most other speeches, a debate speech also follows the introduction, body, conclusion outline. This format helps the audience follow the speaker’s point in a linear and logical way.

When writing your introduction, clarify your stance so it’s clear to the audience. Anyone reading or listening to your speech shouldn’t have any doubt about your position on the topic. Take some time to prepare a solid opener, which can be an interesting fact, a personal story, or even a powerful quote.

The introduction also gives you the opportunity to explain terms your audience will need to understand throughout the speech. You should also provide an overview of your main points, but don’t spend long divulging too much.

Each body paragraph should cover a main point, whether that’s a key idea or a main claim, and each paragraph should begin with a topic sentence. The topic sentence is an initial sentence that summarizes the idea being presented. 

Your conclusion should be a simple and clear reiteration of the points you made in the thesis statement and body paragraphs. Add an attention-grabbing element to leave a lasting impression on your audience.

Remember to use strong and emotive language throughout your speech, which makes it more likely for your audience to feel emotionally connected to your stance.

Always use transition words and phrases to maintain a logical flow between your arguments. Finally, edit and proofread your work for any potential grammar, punctuation, or spelling mistakes.

How to Write an Elevator Speech

An elevator speech is a brief speech that’s used to pitch a product, service, expertise, or credentials.

You have 30–60 seconds to persuade someone to act how you’d like: the same time as a quick elevator ride.

An effective elevator speech should contain an introduction, a clear value proposition, and a strong conclusion. 

Your introduction should be polite and clear. Briefly explain who you are, what you do, and what you are offering. For example, if you’re pitching your expertise, condense your background into two sentences. Include things that will make your audience remember you.

End your speech with what you want to achieve. What are you trying to accomplish with this speech? Perhaps it’s a job opportunity, a follow-up meeting, or an internship.

Once you’ve written your speech, be sure to revise it for brevity. Then practice and record yourself to ensure you don’t go over the time limit.

Writing a good speech takes time, but these tips are a good start to improving your speech-writing process. If you encounter writer’s block, look up popular speeches for inspiration. Ask someone you trust to give you feedback once you’ve written your speech.

Finally, while ProWritingAid can’t write your speech for you, it can help you write in a cohesive and logical manner. It highlights any grammar, spelling, and punctuation issues. It also shows you suggestions on how to improve your sentence structure, transition, pacing, and readability, so your next speech can be impactful and memorable.

Ashleigh Ferguson

Ashleigh Ferguson is a Copywriter on the ProWritingAid Team. With an affinity for learning new things, you can always count on her to know some random fact. She’s a self-proclaimed ‘Fix-it Felix’ and a newly minted ‘candle lady’.

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Speech And Debate

Speech Writing

Last updated on: Feb 9, 2023

How to Write a Speech - Outline With Example

By: Cordon J.

Reviewed By: Rylee W.

Published on: Sep 8, 2020

Giving a speech for a class, event or work can be nerve-wracking. However, writing an effective speech can boost your confidence level.

A speech is an effective medium to communicate your message and speech writing is a skill that has its advantages even if you are a student or a professional.

With careful planning and paying attention to small details, you can write a speech that will inform, persuade, entertain or motivate the people you are writing for.

If this is your first speech. Take all the time you need.

Like other skills, you can learn speech writing too.

Give yourself enough time to write and practice it several times for the best possible results.

On this Page

You have a message that you want people to hear or you are preparing a speech for a particular situation such as a commemorative speech.

No matter what the case, it is important to ensure that the speech is well structured or else you will fail to deliver your effective message. And you don’t want that, do you?

You can also explore our complete guide to  write a commemorative speech . Make sure to give the article a thorough read.

How to Create a Speech Outline?

Want to write a speech your audience will remember? A speech outline is a thing you should start with.

‘How to write a speech outline?’

A speech outline is very important in helping you sound more authoritative and in control. As you write your speech outline you will have to focus on how you will introduce yourself, your topic, and the points that you will be going to cover.

A speech outline will save a lot of your time and will help you organize your thoughts. It will make sure the speech is following a proper structure and format.

Before you start writing your own speech you need to know:

• WHO you are writing the speech for
• WHAT the speech will be going to cover
• HOW long it needs to be e.g if it is a 5-minute speech (then how many words in a 5-minute speech)

These speech tips will help you get on the right track from the start. Here is an example of how you can craft a speech outline.

Preparation

• Choose your topic and the main points that your speech will cover. Know your audience and get to know what they are looking for. Pay attention to their needs
• Define the purpose of the speech and properly organize it

Introduction

• A strong statement to grab the reader’s attention
• Refine the thesis statement
• State something that establishes credibility
• Provide your main idea and include some supporting statements.
• Examples and further details (if needed)
• Summarize the main points of the speech
• Closing statement
• Call to action

Paper Due? Why Suffer? That's our Job!

How to Write an Effective Speech?

‘How to write a graduation speech?’

‘How to write a speech for school?’

‘How to write a speech about yourself?’

Get your answers in the below sections.

Just like essays, the speech also follows three sections: Introduction, the main body, and conclusion.

However, unlike essays, a speech must be written to be heard as opposed to just being read. It is important to write a speech in a way that can grab the reader’s attention and helps in painting a mental image.

It is the opening statement of a speech. It is important to know how to start a speech that can grab the attention of the audience.

‘How to write a speech introduction?’

It should include a hook-grabber statement about your topic. It should end with a strong transition from a big idea of the introduction to the main body of the essay. Some great ways to begin your speech are, to begin with, a rhetorical question, a quote, or another strong statement.

Make sure the introduction is not more than one paragraph. This will ensure you do not spend much time on the background before getting to the main idea of the topic.

The introduction is a great chance to make sure your opening is memorable as this is the point when your audience will make up their mind about you.

The Main body

The majority of the speech should be spent presenting your thesis statement and supporting ideas in an organized way.

Avoid rambling as it will immediately lose your audience’s attention. No need to share everything, instead pick some points and stick to them throughout your speech.

Organize your points in a logical manner so they support and build on each other. Add as many points as needed to support the overall message of your speech.

State each point clearly and provide all the required information, facts, statistics, and evidence, to clarify each of your points.

It is a good idea to include your personal experiences to make your speech more interesting and memorable.

Another important thing to be kept in mind is the use of transition. The purpose of adding transition words is to improve the overall flow of the information and help the reader to understand the speech structure. Words like next, then, after, before, at that moment, etc. are the most commonly used transition words to make the whole writing less choppy and more interesting.

The conclusion should restate and summarize all the main points of the speech. Because the audience will most likely remember what they have heard last. Beautifully wrap up the whole speech and give something for the audience to think about.

For an extra element, close your speech by restating the introduction statement so it feels like a complete package.

A good approach to conclude your speech is to introduce a call to action. Encourage your audience to participate in the solution to the problem that you are discussing. Give your audience some direction on how they can participate.

Practice and more practice is key to a great speech so it is important that you read your speech and listen to yourself. When writing, take care of the required length also.

Speech Topics - Engaging Topics to Choose From

You feel relief when your teacher says you are free to choose your speech topic. Feel free to write about anything you want. The problem is students still feel stuck in choosing an effective speech topic. If you are one of them, here is a list of the best speech ideas to help you get through the process.

• What role do cats play in human’s lives
• How to improve communication disorders
• World’s fastest-growing country
• Today’s world pollution rate
• How to improve interpersonal skills
• Are paper books better than e-books
• Should the death penalty be abolished
• Should prisoners be allowed to vote
• Should voting be made compulsory
• Is it better to live together before marriage

These are some of the interesting topics that you can consider. However, if you are still not sure about the topic of your speech, you can explore our article on  informative speech topics  and pick any of your choices.

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Speech Example

Stressing over on how to write a good speech? Speech examples are sure to be your best friend for effective speech writing and its effortless delivery.

Here is a sample speech example to help you get through your own speech writing process. Explore this example and get the answer on how to give a good speech.

Get Professional Help for Your Speech

If you are good at public speaking but lack writing skills or you do not have enough time to follow the mentioned points and write a speech, don't worry.

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We have a highly qualified and amazing team of expert writers who can help you if you want to buy speeches online with high-quality content.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best introduction for a speech.

The best way to open a speech’s introduction is, to begin with, a story. Tell an inspiring story to your audience and connect it with your personal narrative.

What is the first step of speech writing?

The first step of writing a speech is to choose a topic. Choosing a good topic is important to have an engaging and great speech.

What are the five steps in speech writing?

Here are the five steps involved in writing a speech.

• Choose a topic.
• Investigate your audience.
• Built an outline.
• Rehearse the speech.
• Revise and finalize.

What are the types of speech delivery?

Here are the types of speech delivery.

• Extemporaneous

What are the two P’s required for good speech delivery?

The two P’s required for proper speech delivery are Preparation and Practice.

Cordon. is a published author and writing specialist. He has worked in the publishing industry for many years, providing writing services and digital content. His own writing career began with a focus on literature and linguistics, which he continues to pursue. Cordon is an engaging and professional individual, always looking to help others achieve their goals.

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• Commemorative Speech: Guide to Craft an Engaging Speech

• Persuasive Speech Topics - 150+ Topics for Students

• 50+ Demonstration Speech Ideas for Your Next Great Speech

• Impromptu Speech Topics - 150+ Interesting Ideas

• Debate Topics (2024) - Top 200+ Compelling Topics

• 100+ Motivational Speech Topics for an Inspirational Speech

• Extemporaneous Speech - How to Write One Successfully?

• Graduation Speech - Write Your Best Graduation Speech

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How to Write a Speech to Engage your Audience

February 19, 2021 - Dom Barnard

In order to write a speech, you need to think about your audience, the required length, and the purpose or topic. This is true whether you are writing a wedding speech, conference presentation, investor pitch, or any other type of speech.

Being a great speech writer can help you get a promotion, motivate people, sell a business idea, persuade others and much more – it’s an essential skill in the modern world. In this article, we cover key tips for writing a speech.

Initial planning – Why? Who? What?

You should invest time strategically considering the speech. This will help you decide on the key message and content about your topic. Here are some points to consider.

• What do I want to achieve?
• When I achieve this, what will that do for me?
• Why am I speaking?
• What is the purpose of this speech?
• Who are the audience and who do they represent?
• Who do I represent?
• What do I know about them? (culture, language, level of expertise)
• How much influence do they have?
• What is the main message and key points?
• What specific action is implied?
• What level of information should I include?
• What is important to them?

Popular speech structure

You need to catch the audience attention early, very early (see section below). Deliver a memorable beginning, a clear middle and structured ending.

Popular speech structure:

• Explanation 1
• Explanation 2
• Explanation 3

Secondary Point (Optional: supports main)

Tertiary Point (Optional: supports secondary and main)

Attention span of your audience

Research shows that attention span is greatest at the beginning of a speech, reduces considerably during the middle of your speech and picks up again towards the end when your audience know you about to finish.

Don’t try to put too many ideas into your speech. Research shows that people remember very little from speeches, so just give them one or two ideas to hang onto.

These two articles explain audience attention span in more detail, and how to write a speech to extend it:

• How many minutes is the audience’s attention span?
• What to do when you’re losing your audience

Speech introduction

Make sure your opening few seconds are memorable as this is when your audience will make up their minds about you. Use a bold sentence to grab their attention, works best with numbers reinforcing your point.

An example sentence might be – “After this speech, I’m confident 50% of you will go out and buy a VR headset.” Follow these tips on how to write a speech intro:

Remember the INTRO model

This is more focused on presentations but sections can be applied broadly to other general speeches.

1. Interest

You: Introduce yourself confidently and clearly Audience: Why should I listen to you?

You: Remind the audience the reasons for this speech Audience: What’s in it for me?

You: State length of speech at beginning, “Over the next 15 minutes” Audience: How long until I can get a coffee?

4. Routemap

You: State the main points, “Today I’m going to cover 4 main points” Audience: Which sections of the speech are important to me?

5. Objectives

You: Clearly state the objective, “By the end of this speech, I would like to…” Audience: So that’s what you want from me today…

Example: Great speech opening

This speech opening is by Jamie Oliver, giving a TED talk on teaching every child about food.

Sadly, in the next 18 minutes when I do our chat, four Americans that are alive will be dead through the food that they eat. My name’s Jamie Oliver. I’m 34 years old. I’m from Essex in England and for the last seven years I’ve worked fairly tirelessly to save lives in my own way. I’m not a doctor; I’m a chef, I don’t have expensive equipment or medicine. I use information, education. I profoundly believe that the power of food has a primal place in our homes that binds us to the best bits of life. We have an awful, awful reality right now. America, you’re at the top of your game. This is one of the most unhealthy countries in the world.

How not to open your speech

Avoid the following opening comments:

• “ Apologies, I’m a little nervous about speaking ” – no need to make the audience aware of this, it will make them focus on how nervous you are instead of what you are saying
• “ I’ve got the graveyard shift ” – you are telling people not to expect much
• “ I’m what stands between you and lunch ” – even if people weren’t thinking it, after this comment, all they are thinking of is when will you finish so they can eat
• “ We are running late, so I’ll do my best to explain… ” – instead of this, state how long your speech will take so that people know when they will be leaving

Middle of the speech

The body of your speech is where the majority of the information is. The audience has been introduced to the subject and reasons for the speech. Now you need to present your arguments and examples, data, illustrations backing up your key message.

How to write a speech body can be difficult, the best way to build this section is to write down three points you are trying to convey in your speech, your main, secondary and tertiary points. Then write down three descriptions clarifying each of these points. The descriptions should be simple, memorable and meaningful.

The middle of your speech is where the audience start losing attention. Keep this in mind and ensure your message is clear. Use images, jokes and rhetoric questions to keep the audience engaged.

Don’t overwhelm your audience with many points. It is much more valuable to make a small number of points well, than to have too many points which aren’t made satisfactorily.

Obama and his speeches

Obama’s speeches are well prepared with a focus on powerful words “A change is brought about because ordinary people do extraordinary things“. His speeches use simple language and quotes from famous speeches his listeners can relate to.

For additional trademark Obama techniques, check out  How Barack Obama prepares his speeches.

How to end a speech

Similar to the opening, your closing statements should be impactful, re-stating the key message of your speech. We advise learning your ending few lines word for word. The ending is an opportunity to:

• Leave the audience with a lasting impression of your speech
• Summarise the main points
• Provide further ideas and discussion points for the audience to take away with them
• Thank the audience for taking the time to listen

Methods to end your speech

Quotation Close  – use a famous quote to get the audience’s attention and create a link to your speech.

Bookend Close  – refer back to an opening statement and repeat it or add a few extra words to elaborate on it.

Open Question  – ask the audience a provocative question or a call to action to perform some task on the back of your speech.

For additional tips on how to write a speech, in particular how to close your speech, read:

• 5 great ways to end a speech
• 10 ways to end your speech with a bang
• Presentations: language expert – signposting

Ideas for ending a speech

• Key message
• Refer to opening impact statement
• Objectives met
• Call to action
• End on an Up

Step-by-step process for writing a speech

Here’s how to write your speech from concept to completion.

• Outline your speech’s structure. What are the main ideas for each section?
• Write out the main ideas in your outline. Don’t worry about making it perfect – just write as much of it down as you can
• Edit and polish what you’ve written until you have a good first draft of your speech
• Now you need to practice and  memorize your speech . The more you practice, the more you’ll figure out which sections need changing. You’ll also get an idea of length and if you need to extend / shorten it.
• Update your speech, practice some more, and revise your speech until it has a great flow and you feel comfortable with it.

Classic speech transcripts

One of the best ways for learning how to write a speech is reading other well written ones. Here are a list of famous speeches to read and learn from:

• Bill Gates TED Talk Transcript from 2015: Warns of Pandemics, Epidemics
• Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg Commencement Speech at Harvard 2014
• Ronald Reagan Memorial Day Speech Transcript 1984
• I Have Been to the Mountaintop Speech Transcript – Martin Luther King Jr.

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How To Write A Speech To Persuade People

Speech writing is not an easy job and even professionals sometimes don’t know how to write a speech. You might be thinking about how to write a graduation speech after your Ph.D. defense or how to write a speech about yourself, maybe even how to write a valedictorian speech, or you have a different topic in mind.

Speeches are meant to be spoken but it is better to get yourself prepared for the speech. The reason is that speeches create an impact, for example, you are a politician and you want to address your nation before upcoming elections. It is better that you prepare a speech before addressing them so that you don’t forget any important point, or might accidentally say something which you didn’t mean. To write it, you need to know how to write a persuasive speech or master political speech writing. In this article, you will learn tips and tricks on how to write a speech.

How To Write A Speech?

The first step for “how to write a good speech” is to make a list. The list will contain all the important elements that you need to mention in your speech. It is a great tool to use so that you don’t forget the points while writing your speech. Now you must be wondering how to write a speech outline or how to write an outline for a speech.

How To Write A Speech Outline? Preparation Basics

Writing a speech outline is easy. All you need to do is to grab a paper and think about what you want to talk about. You need to make points before you start writing a speech. The outline doesn’t end with an introduction, main points, and conclusion. You need to mention other things such as examples, evidence, etc.

TIP: You should always remember that you can refine your outline later. It is better to add all the information that seems legitimate which can make your speech stronger.

Furthermore, you need to brainstorm some juicy facts as well. These facts can boost your speech. In other words, outlining is rough work for your speech.

Carrying Out Research

Once you’ve noted all the important points, facts, and evidence, now you should move to the next step which is researching. You might have a strong command of the subject for which you will write a speech but it is still better if you research out things. Through research, you will find facts, evidence, and examples as well.

You can gather the research materials from books, research papers, and even if you search on the Internet, you will find plenty of materials and proofreading services that will help you to construct an amazing speech.

Writing Process

Let’s just say that you will be giving a speech at a wedding or on a funeral of your loved one, and you don’t know a spoken word. Don’t worry, you just need to follow these points. In the case of a funeral or wedding, people are way busy with their things and if your speech isn’t well-constructed then people will either yawn, weep (because of the funeral), or just laugh out. You need to grab the audience’s attention.

The opening line is the most important part of the speech. It will tell either your speech sounds amazing or it is just another boring speech. Now you don’t need to search for “how to write a wedding speech” or “how to write a funeral speech”.

• Crafting the Introduction

Now you have started your speech, you should first focus on the introduction. The introduction of your speech neither is too long or too short. Just give a small introduction to your topic and get forward to your main reasons. Remember! The introduction is just like an appetizer, if the listeners didn’t like your introduction then most probably, they will stop listening to you.

Let’s take an example that you are writing a speech on Alzheimer’s research. You should focus on telling your audience how common is Alzheimer’s disease and how it can affect people. You can come up with a combination of an anecdote and statistics as well.

TIP: Make sure that your introduction should be less than 1 paragraph. This will make sure that you don’t spend much time on the background.

• The Meat of the Speech

Now the main part has begun which is the main meal of the speech. Remember that outline of speech? Here it will help you a lot to remember all the points. Moreover, you need to connect your background with your topic. It is very important because if your topic might not seem as relevant to your audience then they are most likely to leave.

Ensure that all points are clear and offer evidence, statistics, facts, and additional information. They should be in a logical order because reshuffling sometimes might confuse the audience.

• Bring up new topics and conclude the material that you have already covered

You might have noticed in your outline that some points are pretty much lengthy and not too important. Those points will consume a lot of time. Remember rule no.1 of speech! Don’t waste your and your audience’s time! What you can do is provide a brief 1 to 2 sentences overview and then summarize the material in a few sentences after you are done explaining it.

In case it is important, try to find an alternative way to make it short. When you are giving brief information, make sure that the audience understands it otherwise it will be a waste of your energy.

• Transitions are the key to success

The transition will make it your readers or listeners easy to understand your speech. It will create a path where all the points will be connected. You might not notice a transition in a speech but without transition, the speech will seem choppy and awkward.

• End with a smile

Once you think that all points have been delivered now it’s time to end it. By the end, if you wrote an amazing speech then your audience will be excited by your speech and ready to act. You should encourage them to research your topic more and also participate in your act of solution.

Amazing Points to Make Your Speech More Engaging

Following are some speech writing tips.

KISS means Keep It Short and Simple. Instead of using long sentences, break your sentences into small sentences. It is better at reading a hundred sentences rather than a huge sentence. Long sentences can be, sometimes, confusing.

• Noun Over Pronoun

You can use pronouns a few times because it helps in avoiding repeating. However, multiple uses of pronouns can change the track of what you are talking about. Instead, you can use a noun whenever possible.

• Repeat Word Or Phrase Few Times

Repetition is a very powerful tool in speech writing format. It can make your speech engaging as well as can make a distraction.

• Use Of Appropriate Tone

Don’t forget that you are talking to the whole world. Your tone will show how much serious or upbeat, humorous or urgent. Your word choice will be the tone of your speech.

Either you want to know how to write a motivational speech or how to write a commencement speech, now you know all the important points which will help you to construct an amazing speech. All you need to do is practice it a lot. Keep all the speech writing tips in your mind while practicing.

Do you know you can earn from writing speeches as well? You can provide speech writing services as a full-time worker or freelancer! There are many speeches writing jobs available, all you need to do is grab the golden bird and start earning.

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How To Write A Speech That Inspires You Audience: 13 Steps

Learn how to write a speech that will effectively reach your audience.

A good speech is a powerful tool. Effective speeches make people powerful, whether in the hands of a world leader trying to get people to believe their ideology or in the mouth of a teacher trying to inspire students. A well-written speech can lift the hearts of a nation in times of war, inspire people to action when complacency is commonplace, honor someone who has died, and even change a nation’s mind on a particular topic, which, in turn, can change history.

Excellent speech writing is a skill that you must learn. While public speaking may come naturally to some people, the sentence structure and nuances of a powerful speech are something you must learn if you are going to gain the audience’s attention.

So how can you learn how to write a speech? The writing process is a little different than the process you’d use to write a paper or essay, so here is a guide that can help.

Materials Needed

Step 1: define your purpose, step 2: determine your audience, step 3: start your research, step 4: choose the right length, step 5: create an outline, step 6: craft the introduction, step 7: write the body, step 8: use transitions, step 9: conclude your speech, step 10: add some spice, step 11. implement spoken language, step 12: edit your speech, step 13: read it out.

• Research materials
• Audience demographic information

Before you can write a speech, you must know the purpose of your speech. You can deliver many types of speeches, and the purpose will determine which one you are giving. While there may be more than these, here are some common types of speeches:

• Informative speech: An informative speech strives to educate the audience on a topic or message. This is the type of speech a teacher gives when delivering a lecture. “ First World Problems ” by Sarah Kwon is an excellent example of an informative speech.
• Entertaining speech: This speech strives to amuse the audience. These are typically short speeches with funny, personal stories woven in. A wedding guest giving a speech at a wedding may be an example of this type of speech.
• Demonstrative speech: This speech demonstrates how to do something to the audience. A company showing how to use a product is delivering this type of speech.
• Persuasive speech: This speech aims to persuade the audience of your particular opinion. Political speeches are commonly persuasive. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “ I Have a Dream ” speech is an example of a persuasive speech, as it called the government to make changes that protected civil and economic rights.
• Oratorical speech: An oratory is a formal speech at an event like a funeral or graduation. The goal is to express an opinion and inspire the audience, but not necessarily to persuade.
• Motivational speech: These speeches inspire people to take action, such as to improve themselves or to feel better and happier. For example, a coach may deliver this kind of speech to his players during halftime to inspire them to win the game. Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address is an excellent example of a motivational speech.
• Eulogy: A Eulogy is a funeral speech. This speech is given to the mourners at someone’s funeral and talks about the excellent character rates of the person who died. “ Eulogy for Rosa Parks ” is a famous example of this type of speech given by Oprah Winfrey in 2015.
• Explanatory speech: This final speech type describes a situation or item. These speeches often have step-by-step instructions on how to do a particular thing.

Your audience members are an essential part of the speech writing process. Consider taking notes about your audience before you start writing your speech. You can even make a fake audience member you are writing toward as you prepare your speech. Even though they do not directly impact what you talk about, they should impact how you talk about it. Therefore, you must write your speech to reach that particular audience.

For example, if you are writing a speech for an audience that does not agree with you, you will need to bring more facts and figures to persuade them of your opinion. On the other hand, if you are writing a speech for an audience already on your side, you must encourage them to hold the line. To get to know your audience, consider factors like:

• Income level
• Pain points
• Questions they might ask

Before you outline or write your speech, you must know some facts about the big idea or speech topic. So perform some research, and take notes. See if you can find any new or surprising information in your research. If it was new and surprising, it also might be to your audience members. You can use this research to make the essential points of your piece.

Finally, know the required length of your speech. Speeches usually have time limits, not word count limits. You will need to know the desired length before you can start writing the speech, or you will end up with a speech that is too long or too short. The length of your speech will vary depending on where you are giving it and who your audience is.

Generally, a 20-minute speech is standard when delivering a speech to adults in a professional or academic setting. However, if you are a student who is preparing a speech for a classroom, you may be limited to three to five minutes. Sometimes speakers will get booked to take on a 60-minute session, but if you talk for 60 minutes, you will lose the attention of some of your audience members.

Remember, some of the most famous speeches in history are very short. President Abraham Lincoln’s “ Gettysburg Address ” was less than 300 words long and took less than two minutes to deliver. President Franklin Roosevelt’s “ Day of Infamy ” speech lasted less than 10 minutes. However, knowing your speech’s length can be challenging after you prepare it. Generally, a double-spaced page of writing will take about 90 seconds to speak. Thus, a 20-minute speech will take about 13 typed, double-spaced pages if you type out your entire speech.

Consider using a words-to-minutes calculator to determine how long your speech likely is. Remember that the average English speaker speaks 140 words a minute. You may get up to 170 words a minute if you speak fast. If your speech is slow, it may be as little as 110 words a minute.

Now you are ready to start writing. Before you write a speech, you must create an outline. Some public speakers will speak from an outline alone, while others will write their speech word-for-word. Both strategies can lead to a successful speech, but both also start with an outline. Your speech’s outline will follow this template:

• Introduction: Introduces your main idea and hooks the reader’s attention.
• Body: Covers two to three main points with transitions.
• Conclusion: Summarizes the speech’s points and drive home your main message.

As you fill in these areas, answer these questions: Who? What? Why? and How? This will ensure you cover all the essential elements your listeners need to hear to understand your topic. Next, make your outline as detailed as you can. Organize your research into points and subpoints. The more detail on your outline, the easier it will be to write the speech and deliver it confidently.

As you prepare your speech, your introduction is where you should spend the most time and think. You only have moments to capture your audience’s attention or see them zone out in front of you. However, if you do it right, you will cause them to turn to you for more information on the topic. In other words, the introduction to a speech may be the most memorable part, so it deserves your attention. Therefore, you must have three main parts:

• Hook: The hook is a rhetorical question, funny story, personal anecdote, or shocking statistic that grabs the listener’s attention and shows them why your speech is worth listening to.
• Thesis: This is your main idea or clear point.
• Road map: You will want to preview your speech outline in the introduction.

Here is an example of a good introduction for a persuasive speech from Jamie Oliver’s TED Talk about children and food:

“Sadly, in the next 18 minutes when I do our chat, four Americans that are alive will be dead from the food that they eat.”

This shocking statistic gets the audience’s attention immediately. In his speech, Oliver details why America’s food choices are so poor, how it affects them, and how we can teach children to do better.

Here is an example of an informative speech about pollution and what can be done about it. This introduction follows the template perfectly.

“I want you to close your eyes for a minute and picture a beautiful oceanfront. The sound of the waves crashing on the sand while seagulls fly overhead. Do you have it? Now I am going to say one word that will destroy that image: Pollution. What changed in your mental picture? Do you now see sea turtles with bottles on their head or piles of debris washing on shore? Marine pollution is a massive problem because plastic does not decompose. Not only does it use up many resources to create, but it rarely gets disposed of properly. We must protect our natural areas, like that beautiful beach. Today I am going to show you how destructive the effects of plastic can be, how it is managing our natural resources, and what steps we can take to improve the situation.”

Now you are ready to write the body of your speech. Draw from your research and flesh out the points stated in your introduction. As you create your body, use short sentences. People can’t listen as long as they can read, so short and sweet sentences are most effective. Continuing the theme of the marine pollution speech, consider this body paragraph.

“You might be thinking plastic isn’t a big deal. Let’s think for a minute that you’re at the beach drinking bottled water. According to “The Problem with Plastic,” an article by Hannah Elisbury, one out of every six plastic water bottles ends up in recycling. The rest become landfill fodder. Worse, many get dropped in nature. Perhaps you are packing up at the end of your beach trip and forget to grab your bottle. Maybe your kid is buried in the sand. Now it’s adding pollutants to the water. That water becomes part of the drinking water supply. It also becomes part of the fish you eat at your favorite seafood restaurant. Just one bottle has big consequences.”

As you write the body, don’t stress making every word perfect. You will revise it later. The main goal is to get your ideas on paper or screen. This body paragraph is effective for two reasons. First, the audience members likely use water bottles, which resonates with them. Second, she uses a resource and names it, which gives your work authority.

It would be best to use transitions to move from each speech section. This keeps the audience engaged and interested. In addition, the transitions should naturally merge into the next section of the speech without abruptness. To transition between points or ideas, use transition words. Some examples include:

• Coupled with
• Following this
• Additionally
• Comparatively
• Correspondingly
• Identically
• In contrast
• For example

You can also use sequence words, like first, second, third, etc., to give the idea of transition from one thought to the next. Make sure your speech has several transition words to drive it through to completion and to keep the audience engaged.

In his speech “ Their Finest Hour ,” Winston Churchill uses transitions well. Here is an excerpt from his conclusion:

“ But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Therefore, let us brace ourselves to our duties and bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour.”

Notice that he uses “therefore,” “so,” and “but.” Each of these transition words effectively moves the speech along.

Your conclusion needs to restate your thesis but differently. It should personalize the speech to the audience, restate your main points and state any key takeaways. Finally, it should leave the audience with a thought to ponder.

Here are some practical ways to end a speech:

• Use a story
• Read a poem
• State an inspirational quote
• Summarize the main points
• Deliver a call to action

Here are some examples of fantastic conclusions:

• Here is an excellent example of a concluding statement for an inspirational graduation speech: “As you graduate, you will face great challenges, but you will also have great opportunities. By embracing all that you have learned here, you will meet them head-on. The best is yet to come!”
• A CEO that is trying to inspire his workforce might conclude a speech like this: “While the past year had challenges and difficulties, I saw you work through them and come out ahead. As we move into the next year, I am confident we will continue to excel. Let’s join hands, and together this can be the best year in company history!”
• In “T he Speech to Go to the Moon, ” President Kennedy concluded this way: “ Many years ago the great British explorer George Mallory, who was to die on Mount Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, “Because it is there. Well, space is there, and we’re going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God’s blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked.” Many speechwriters say something like “in conclusion” or “that’s all I have for you today.” This is not necessary. Saying “in conclusion” could cause your audience to stop listening as they anticipate the end of the speech, and stating that you have said all you need to say is just unnecessary.

Now that you have the basic structure, you’re ready to add some spice to your speech. Remember, you aren’t reading a research essay. Instead, you are making an exciting and engaging spoken presentation. Here are some ideas:

• Consider giving your speech some rhythm. For example, change the wording, so it has a pace and cadence.
• Work to remove a passive voice from your sentences where possible. Active speaking is more powerful than passive.
• Use rhetorical questions throughout because they make the listener stop and think for a moment about what you are saying.
• Weave some quotes into your speech. Pulling famous words from other people will make your speech more interesting.
• Where possible, use personal stories. This helps your audience engage with you as the speaker while keeping the speech interesting.

You may not use all of these ideas in your speech, but find some that will work for the type of speech you plan to give. They will make it more exciting and help keep listeners engaged in what you are saying.

Writing a speech is not like writing a paper. While you want to sound educated with proper grammar , you need to write in the way you speak. For many people, this is much different from the way they write. Not only will you use short sentences, but you will also use:

• Familiar vocabulary: This is not the time to start adding scientific terminology to the mix or jargon for your industry that the audience won’t understand. Use familiar vocabulary.
• Transitions: Already discussed, but spoken language uses many transition words. Your speech should, too.
• Personal pronouns: “You” and “I” are acceptable in a speech but not in academic writing.
• Colloquialisms: Colloquialisms are perfectly acceptable in a speech, provided the audience would readily understand them.
• Contractions: We use contractions when we speak, so we also use them in speeches, while some writing platforms and assignments do not allow them.
• Repetition: Repeating words and phrases makes them memorable. This helps emphasize the main ideas and works well in speeches.

Now you are ready to edit your speech. Remember, spoken language is acceptable, but grammar errors may not be ideal. As you edit, pay attention to the length of sentences. Shorten any long ones. Also, watch for those transition words. Add them in if you need to. Remember, a well-written speech takes time. Put in the effort to revise and improve it, and you will be rewarded with an effective speech that is easy to deliver. If you still need help, our guide to grammar and syntax explains more.

Now that you have written your speech, you are ready to read it. Read it out loud at your average speaking speed, and time yourself. This will tell you if you are within your allotted time limit. However, reading it has another benefit. When you read the piece, you can determine if it flows smoothly. You may catch grammar issues or poor transitions that you can change. Look for places where the speech may be hard to speak and adjust those sentences to make them more accessible.

After you update the speech, practice it again. Reading it, revising it, rereading it, and repeating it will help you create a speech that flows well. This process will also help you become familiar with the speech so you can deliver it confidently when your speaking engagement comes.

Looking for inspiration? Read our round-up of argumentative essays !

5 Tips on How to Write a Speech Essay

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When figuring out how to write a speech, the essay form can offer a good foundation for the process. Just like essays, all speeches have three main sections: the introduction, the body, and the conclusion.

However, unlike essays, speeches must be written to be heard as opposed to being read. You need to write a speech in a way that keeps the attention of an audience and helps paint a mental image at the same time. This means that your speech should contain some color, drama, or humor . It should have “flair.” Make your speech memorable by using attention-grabbing anecdotes and examples.

Determine the Type of Speech You're Writing

Since there are different types of speeches, your attention-grabbing techniques should fit the speech type.

Informative  and instructional  speeches inform your audience about a topic, event, or area of knowledge. This can be a how-to on podcasting for teens or a historical report on the Underground Railroad. It also can relate to health and beauty, such as "How to Shape Perfect Eyebrows," or hobby-related, such as "Make a Great Bag Out of Old Clothing."​

Persuasive  speeches attempt to convince or  persuade  the audience to join one side of an argument. You might write a speech about a life choice, such as, "Abstinence Can Save Your Life," or getting involved in the community, such as "The Benefits of Volunteering."

Entertaining  speeches entertain your audience, and topics may not practical. Your speech topic could be something like, "Life Is Like a Dirty Dorm," or "Can Potato Peels Predict the Future?"

Special occasion  speeches entertain or inform your audience, like graduation speeches and toasts at celebrations.

Explore the different types of speeches and decide what speech type fits your assignment.

Craft a Creative Speech Introduction

Thoughtco.com / Grace Fleming

The introduction of the informative speech should contain an attention-grabber, followed by a statement about your topic. It should end with a strong transition into your body section.

As an example, consider a template for an informative speech called "African-American Heroines." The length of your speech will depend on the amount of time you have been allotted to speak.

The red section of the speech in the graphic provides the attention-grabber. It makes audience members think about what life would be like without civil rights. The last sentence states directly the purpose of the speech and leads into the speech body, which provides more details.

Determine the Flow of the Body of the Speech

Thoughtco.com / Grace Fleming

The body of your speech can be organized in a number of ways, depending on your topic. Suggested organization patterns include:

• Chronological: Provides the order of events in time;
• Spatial: Gives an overview of physical arrangement or design;
• Topical: Presents information one subject at a time;
• Causal: Shows cause-and-effect pattern.

The speech pattern illustrated in the image in this slide is topical. The body is divided into sections that address different people (different topics). Speeches typically include three sections (topics) in the body. This speech would continue with a third section about Susie King Taylor.

Writing a Memorable Speech Conclusion

The conclusion of your speech should restate the main points you covered in your speech and end with a memorable statement. In the sample in this graphic, the red section restates the overall message you wanted to convey: that the three women you've mentioned had strength and courage, despite the odds they faced.

The quote is an attention-grabber since it is written in colorful language. The blue section ties the entire speech together with a small twist.

Address These Key Objectives

Whatever type of speech you decide to write, find ways to make your words memorable. Those elements include:

• Clever quotes
• Amusing stories   with a purpose
• Meaningful transitions
• A good ending

The structure of how to write your speech is just the start. You'll also need to finesse the speech a bit. Start by paying attention to your audience and their interests. Write the words you'll speak with passion and enthusiasm, but you also want your listeners to share that enthusiasm. When writing your attention-grabbing statements, make sure you are writing what will get their attention, not just yours.

Study Famous Speeches

Gain inspiration from others' speeches. Read famous speeches and look at the way they are constructed. Find things that stand out and figure out what makes it interesting. Oftentimes, speechwriters use rhetorical devices to make certain points easy to remember and to emphasize them. 

Get to the Point Quickly

Remember to begin and end your speech with something that will gain and hold the attention of your audience. If you spend too much time getting into your speech, people will zone out or start checking their phones. If you get them interested immediately, they will be more likely to stick with you until the end.

Keep It Conversational

How you deliver the speech is also important. When you  give the speech , think about the tone you should use, and be sure to write the speech in the same flow that you'd use in conversations. A great way to check this flow is to practice reading it out loud. If you stumble while reading or it feels monotone, look for ways to jazz up the words and improve the flow. 

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Speech Writing Tips: 27 Key Tips from Seasoned Pros

• Filed under: Featured articles , Public speaking articles , Public speaking tips and tricks , Speaking tips

Whether it’s your first speech or your hundredth, you might be feeling the anxiety build as you stare at a blank page. You need to wow your audience, but you’re not sure how. It can be stressful to create a moving speech from nothing, but you’re not alone. Below, I’ve compiled a killer list of speech writing tips from seasoned pros.

So, what are the best speech writing tips to remember? Choose the right topic for your audience, which is based on their interests and needs. To make your speech more interesting, avoid jargon, and use personal stories and humor in your speech. Make your transitions from subtopic to another smooth, natural, and flawless.

By the end of this article, you’ll know how to write an awesome speech from start to finish. So, let’s not waste another moment!

Table of Contents

Speech Writing Tips: The Audience

Before you begin writing your speech , you need to consider several factors about your audience. Without taking these points into consideration, your speech will fall flat or may even offend your audience, so don’t rush past this part.

#1 Who is my audience for this speech?

This is the first and most important question you need to ask yourself. The answer will dictate the path your speech should take. This first tip has everything to do with the people you’re talking to and nothing at all to do with you.

Why does your audience even matter? Isn’t your speech all about you?

No! If a speech needs to touch an audience, move them, or inspire them, the speaker needs to recognize the audience and adapt to them. Your job, before any other, is to figure out who your audience is and then write your speech around their needs and expectations.

For example, if your audience is a room full of young mothers at a convention aimed at small crafting businesses, you don’t want to come at them with a bunch of sports metaphors. That’s not to say they won’t understand or appreciate one of those thrown in for contrast and a new twist. However, it’s safe to assume they’d rather hear crafting anecdotes or small business stories instead of quips about the latest sports news.

On the flip side, if you’re speaking to a room full of lawyers on a retreat intended to relax and entertain them, you wouldn’t want to fill your speech with depressing cases and stories of judicial frustration. More on that in a moment though.

The bottom line is that you need to gauge who your audience is before you write a single word.

#2 Why is my audience here?

I touched on this briefly a moment ago, but I want to dig into it a bit deeper to drive my point home. Knowing who your audience is, is only half the equation. Understanding why they are there is the other half.

The “why” matters almost as much and who they are. For example, if the audience is there because it’s required, they may come into the speech feeling hostile and tense. A hostile audience is a closed-off audience; they’ll need to be handled with care.

If the audience has paid to be there, on the other hand, they are more likely to be receptive and open right from the start.

So, why are they there?

• Is their attendance voluntary or compulsory?

#3 What does the audience want from my speech?

You know who you’ll be speaking to and why they are there. Now, you just need to figure out what they want from your speech. If you know what they want to walk away with, you can deliver it.

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In my previous examples, we saw mothers at a convention for small crafting business owners, and we saw a bunch of lawyers on a relaxing retreat. Each of those groups will be at their events for a specific reason, and you need to know what that reason is.

They are both groups of professionals, but they each have very different expectations for your speeches. One group expects to learn from you or be inspired. The other group wants to be entertained.

How you handle these two situations should be based on their needs. So, what do they want to get out of your speech ?

• Are they there to learn?
• Are they there to be inspired?
• Do they want to be entertained?
• Do they want to be challenged?
• What do they hope to gain from your speech?
• Why is this topic important to this particular audience?

Remember, this isn’t about what you want them to get out of it; it’s about their needs and expectations. Your job is to make sure your words resonate with them, and that won’t happen if you don’t understand what they need.

How do I utilize these speech writing tips for my audience?

So, now you know who your audience is, why they are there, and what they expect from you. But what do you do with all this information?

#4 Research demographics

Jump online and research your audience’s specific demographics. Important factors may include:

• Political affiliations

#5 Be informed about the industry

Pay attention to current trends in their industries as well as past ones. Doing some research now can help your speech writing process in the long run, so take the time to dig deep.

#6 Understand the mission

Every event has a mission. Speak to the event organizers to get a better feel for the main mission of this event. This is a good time to ask more questions about the attendees, too.

#7 Check out the venue

Look up the venue and speak to the people in charge. Organizers often choose venues that are friendly to their causes or already have a good reputation in their circles.

#8 Research other speakers

It helps to look at past speakers for the group and how they were received. It’s also very helpful to do some research on fellow speakers at this particular event, if there are any.

Speech Writing Tips for Choosing A Topic

Though you will likely have instructions for the general theme of your speaking engagement, the specific topic will be up to you. Choosing the right topic for your audience and their needs can be a stressful part of writing a speech.

Choosing the wrong topic can make your speech a nightmare for you and your audience. So how do you choose the right speech topic for your audience? Using the previous speech writing tips to get to know your audience, you should already have some ideas about topics of interest to that group.

Just in case you’re still stumped, here are some more speech writing tips for choosing a topic.

#9 Explore relevant speech topics

While researching your audience, the event, and the venue, you probably stumbled across interesting tidbits of information about each. Use them. Even if they seem insignificant at first, everything is worth exploring at this stage.

Look at the bits of information floating around the group you’ll be speaking about. This can be something in the news, a hot topic on social media, or new legislation that could affect the group.

#10 Ask event coordinators for speech ideas

Event coordinators will have a clear picture of the event, the main focus, and the interest of the attendees. Ask the coordinator for suggestions on topics. They may be willing to share the list of topics already being discussed by other speakers, too.

Knowing what other people will be talking about can help you choose a smaller niche or expand on that topic. It can help you avoid redundancy, too.

#11 Ask social media for speech topics

Harness the power of social media by asking your followers what kinds of topics they’d like to explore. Even if these people won’t be in that audience, if they’re familiar with the main theme, they probably have an idea of what kind of speech they’d enjoy hearing.

Writing the Speech

You’ve done a lot of research, spoken to important people, and have a solid plan for impressing your audience. Now comes the hard part.

Getting your ideas and facts down onto paper can be frustrating and incredibly stressful. What will you say? How will the audience react? What if you don’t make sense?

These next tips can help you nail the writing process and produce your finest speech yet.

#12 Write your speech outline first

Outline your speech before you begin writing the words you’ll be speaking. This helps you stay on topic. It also gives you an opportunity to test out the flow of ideas and pacing.

If anything in your outline seems out of place, you have an opportunity at this point to make room for it, or just chuck it. Don’t hang onto stubborn bits past the outline stage. If it just won’t fit, don’t try to force it. You’ll only frustrate yourself. Save that bit for another speech.

#13 Write Your Speech Introduction Last

It may seem counterintuitive to write the beginning last, but hear me out.

Your speech introduction is one of the most important parts of your speech. This will set the tone for the entire speech. Sometimes, it’s hard to get past that first step and get to the meat of your speech because you aren’t entirely certain what your speech is about yet.

So, skip the intro and start working on the body first. You’ll edit that draft over and over, fine-tuning it to perfection. And once you’re done, you will know exactly what your speech is about.

That’s the point where you can nail your introduction, touching on a few key points, and getting your audience ready for the main event.

When you do begin your introduction, lay it out in a simple way. Introduce yourself, talk about your purpose, mention your key points briefly, and establish credibility so your audience can trust you. If you can add some humor at this point, that would help relax your audience, but only do so if it’s appropriate for the occasion.

Your speech introduction is your hook. This is the way you grab attention. Use this moment to engage the audience, too. Eye contact, body language, and asking questions right from start will draw attention.

But a good hook needs more than these tricks. You need to get attendees to want to stay and listen.

Some hooks include:

• A puzzling question
• Posing a dilemma
• Or a combo of all of these

If you’re still stuck on introduction ideas, you can watch a few speeches from popular orators to get a feel for it.

#14 Use personal stories and humor in your speech

After your outline is done, look at your subtopics and choose a few to add personal stories too. It’s best to put personal anecdotes with the most important parts of your speech to help those aspects stand out. Adding a personal touch keeps audiences engaged and interested.

Don’t waste your anecdotes on minor points, unless they add something bigger than entertainment to the mix.

Make sure your anecdotes don’t pull focus from your topic. If people are too connected with your story, it could pull their attention away from the real point of your speech. There is a balancing act here.

#14 Use repetition when writing your speech

Humans are creatures of habit and routine. Both habits and routine come from the repetition of actions, thoughts, and words. Use that to your advantage when you write your next speech.

Pick a short phrase to repeat throughout your speech. It will trigger a subconscious reaction in your audience and help them pay attention. It will help them remember your points, too.

An example of repetition in a speech is Winston Churchill’s “We shall fight on the beaches; we shall fight on the landing ground” speech . Everyone knows and remembers most of it. It’s the repetition of “we shall fight” that made this speech memorable.

#15 Remember that your audience is not you

You were asked to make this speech because you’re an authority. Your job is to impart your knowledge or to entertain your audience, but you have to remember that they’re not you.

The attendees may be interested in your topic, but they don’t have the same knowledge you do ; that’s why you are up there talking and not them. So, this speech writing tip is here to remind you to be a teacher, a guide, and an authority.

Your audience is interested in what you have to say. They will want and need specifics, facts, sources, and information. It’s your job to give it to them. Though each person listening may have some knowledge on your topic, you need to be sure your words and points are clear to someone who might not know much at all.

#16 Don’t patronize or talk down to your audience

Yes, you’re an authority. People will be looking to you for guidance and information. However, you’re not their parent. You’re not above them or more important than they are. Be careful not to cross the line from friendly expert to overbearing know-it-all.

#17 Choose jargon carefully

You want to write and speak naturally, but using too much industry jargon can be just as bad as using none at all. Be sure to choose appropriate industry jargon sparingly, but not too little.

Jargon helps build your credibility, while too much makes you sound desperate.

#18 Nail your speech transitions

You’ll need to go from one subtopic to another in a smooth, natural, and flawless way . This can be a major sticking point for some people.

One of my favorite ways is to put an anecdote between two subtopics to help bridge the gap. Most personal stories have multiple meanings and lessons to be learned. Put an anecdote between two closely related subtopics to help.

You can also use the recap method to transition between subtopics. It’s as simple as saying, “We explored this and this, but let’s turn to this for a moment”, and then continue on. This works best with subtopics that are naturally close together.

#19 Write a great speech ending

Hey, no pressure, but you need to write an awesome speech ending. This is your chance to recap briefly, excite the audience, and add your call to action.

What did your audience want and need from your speech? What was the point of the entire thing? The ending of your speech is where you show your audience that you delivered exactly what they needed.

A call to action can be as simple as signing up for your mailing list or as complex as voting or buying something. Whatever it is, make it clear that your speech has been persuading enough to give the attendees what they need.

One major problem a lot of speeches have is that they wander. It’s a common mistake to let your speech meander back and forth over a variety of topics.

While it may make total sense to you as you write it and even practice it, you must remember that your audience will probably get lost with your ramblings or lose interest in what you have to say.

Here are some speech writing tips to keep your speeches focused.

#20 Keep a narrow focus for your speech

It’s exciting to get up in front of people and talk about your passions. The problem many speakers run into is the desire to cram too much information into a short span of time . This confuses audiences and muddies your point.

Instead of putting every idea into your speech like a blanket, think of your speech as a thread in a bigger tapestry. You aren’t there to show them the entire picture; you’re there to show them details on one important part.

If you stay focused and on topic, your audience will get more out of your speech than if you try to cover every possible point. Besides, if you stay focused now, you are more likely to be asked back for another speech on another part of your tapestry.

#21 Keep your speech simple

This speech writing tip isn’t as much about wowing your audience as it is to caution against too many of those tactics at once . It’s tempting to fill speeches with various “tricks of the trade” to keep attendees glued to their seats, but it can backfire.

If you keep your speech simple and to the point, listeners are more likely to remember what you said. That means they’ll get a lot more out of your speech than the generic memory of you being really fun to watch.

• Use short sentences
• Use simple language appropriate for the audience
• Don’t ramble
• Cut extraneous words that don’t add value

#22 Write your speech like you speak

Too many people ignore this speech writing tip—don’t be one of them! You need to write your speech like you speak. That means using everyday language and even colloquialisms where appropriate.

By keeping your speech natural, it’ll help you stay comfortable and confident, which then helps you stay on topic. Adding big words you don’t normally use will only distract you and your audience.

#23 Stick to the facts to write an impressive speech

Understandable, it’s easy to get sucked into the excitement of passionate topics. When people are excited about something, they tend to exaggerate. Since exaggeration is sometimes considered as one branch of lying , that tendency can get you in trouble when writing a speech.

Elaboration is one thing—and it’s a good thing to do in your speech—but it’s a slippery slope from elaboration to exaggeration. Be sure you can cite your sources at any given moment.

Stick to the facts and you won’t find yourself in front of an audience shaking their heads in disbelief. Even if your facts are wild, if you can back them up with sources, you’ll keep your audience listening.

#24 Try to sound normal

Another big issue speakers face is sounding unnatural. There is a stiffness or obvious discomfort to some speakers that can make the audience feel uncomfortable. Some of this is due to anxiety over public speaking, but some has to do with poor word choice while writing the speech.

These tips will help you write a more natural-sounding speech.

• Use common terminology for the industry, but avoid difficult to pronounce words.
• Ask questions to keep the audience engaged. Speakers and audiences are more comfortable when it feels like a conversation.
• Laugh, smile, and gesture as if you were speaking to a friend. Obviously, you don’t want to laugh and smile if it’s a somber event, but use socially acceptable emotions and behaviors to keep yourself relaxed.
• Be open, honest, and human. If you know you’ll be nervous, add it to your speech. Poorly veiled discomfort can infect audiences, too. Showing your vulnerability will help show your human side while setting the audience at ease. And writing it in the speech in advance can help alleviate some of the stress.
• Write your speech with contractions. Say things like “I’m” instead of “I am” and “they’re” instead of “they are” to keep your tone friendly.

Practice Makes Perfect

You’ve researched, outlined, written, and edited your speech. Pat yourself on the back, but you’re not done yet.

#25 Read your speech out loud

Seeing the same words over and over on the page can start to muddle your brain. It’s a fact. The more you look at your speech, the less likely you are to see the mistakes .

The only real way to overcome this is to read your words out loud. You can do this alone or with a friend, but you must not skip this part of your preparation.

When you read your words out loud, your brain will often autocorrect your mistakes, just like it does while writing and editing silently. The difference this time is that your ears will now catch the mistake and give you the chance to fix it.

So, for example, if you’re reading your speech and your mouth says one thing while the paper says something else, you know there’s an issue. Stop, examine the problem, and make corrections.

If you continue to stumble over places in your speech where it is grammatically correct and is mistake-free, your brain is telling you there’s still a problem. Maybe it doesn’t sound as natural as you thought. Maybe it’s the wrong tone.

Whatever it is, your brain, eyes, and ears are trying to tell you there’s an issue. Don’t ignore these situations.

#26 Record your speech

If you can’t figure out what the problem is while reading aloud, record yourself. This can be audio or video; it doesn’t matter. Just record your speech and then replay it.

You may be able to spot the mistake by listening or watching. If you’re still stumped why it sounds odd, ask a friend or two to help.

#27 Time yourself

When your speech is done, you have one more job to do. Time yourself. It seems so simple and obvious, but many people forget this step.

Writing a speech is an arduous task sometimes, and once it’s done, you may feel great relief. But if you don’t time yourself giving your completed speech, you may find yourself on speech day talking too long or not long enough.

While timing, if you keep coming up short, try these tricks to lengthen the speech:

• Add pauses for emphasis
• Speak slower
• Practice suitable gestures and body language
• Add more content

If your speech is coming up too long, try these tips to shorten it:

• Speak faster, but not too fast
• Add more contractions
• Remove extra sentences
• Check for the bad kind of repetition or overstating facts
• If all else fails, you may need to cut sections

These speech writing tips cover the planning, research, writing, and practice stages. No matter where you’re running into difficulties in writing your speech, there should be something here to help. And if you’re completely stumped or too nervous to even begin, just follow the steps in order.

I’m always looking for more tips and tricks to share with my readers. If you’ve developed your own processes and would like to share, I’d love to hear from you.

Related articles

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How to Write an Informative Speech

Last Updated: August 20, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Lynn Kirkham . Lynn Kirkham is a Professional Public Speaker and Founder of Yes You Can Speak, a San Francisco Bay Area-based public speaking educational business empowering thousands of professionals to take command of whatever stage they've been given - from job interviews, boardroom talks to TEDx and large conference platforms. Lynn was chosen as the official TEDx Berkeley speaker coach for the last four years and has worked with executives at Google, Facebook, Intuit, Genentech, Intel, VMware, and others. There are 13 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 1,397,847 times.

An informative speech tells an audience about a process, event, or concept. Whether you’re explaining how to grow a garden or describing a historical event, writing an informative speech is pretty straightforward. Knowing the topic inside and out is key, so start by conducting thorough research. Organize your speech logically so your audience can easily follow, and keep your language clear. Since speeches are recited out loud, be sure to set aside time after writing to perfect your delivery.

Researching the Topic

• Suppose your prompt instructs you to inform the audience about a hobby or activity. Make a list of your clubs, sports, and other activities, and choose the one that interests you most. Then zoom in on one particular aspect or process to focus on in your speech.
• For instance, if you like tennis, you can’t discuss every aspect of the sport in a single speech. Instead, you could focus on a specific technique, like serving the ball.

• For example, if your speech is about a historical event, find primary sources, like letters or newspaper articles published at the time of the event. Additionally, include secondary sources, such as scholarly articles written by experts on the event.
• If you’re informing the audience about a medical condition, find information in medical encyclopedias, scientific journals, and government health websites.

Tip: Organize your sources in a works cited page. Even if the assignment doesn’t require a works cited page, it’ll help you keep track of your sources. [3] X Trustworthy Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Trusted resource for writing and citation guidelines Go to source

• For instance, if your speech is on growing plants from seeds, explain the process step-by-step to a friend or relative. Ask them if any parts in your explanation seemed muddy or vague.
• Break down the material into simple terms, especially if you’re addressing a non-expert audience. Think about how you’d describe the topic to a grandparent or younger sibling. If you can’t avoid using jargon, be sure to define technical words in clear, simple terms.

• For example, if your speech is on the poet Charles Baudelaire, a strong thesis would be, “I am here to explain how city life and exotic travel shaped the key poetic themes of Charles Baudelaire’s work.”
• While the goal of an informative speech isn't to make a defensible claim, your thesis still needs to be specific. For instance, “I’m going to talk about carburetors” is vague. “My purpose today is to explain how to take apart a variable choke carburetor” is more specific.

• For instance, a speech meant to persuade an audience to support a political stance would most likely include examples of pathos, or persuasive devices that appeal to the audience's emotions.
• On the other hand, an informative speech on how to grow pitcher plants would present clear, objective steps. It wouldn't try to argue that growing pitcher plants is great or persuade listeners to grow pitcher plants.

Drafting Your Speech

• Delivering memorized remarks instead of reading verbatim is more engaging. A section of a speaking outline would look like this: III. YMCA’s Focus on Healthy Living  A. Commitment to overall health: both body and mind  B. Programs that support commitment   1. Annual Kid’s Day   2. Fitness facilities   3. Classes and group activities

• For example, you could begin with, “Have you ever wondered how a figure skater could possibly jump, twist, and land on the thin blade of an ice skate? From proper technique to the physical forces at play, I’ll explain how world-class skaters achieve jaw-dropping jumps and spins.”
• Once you've established your purpose, preview your speech: “After describing the basic technical aspects of jumping, I’ll discuss the physics behind jumps and spins. Finally, I’ll explain the 6 types of jumps and clarify why some are more difficult than others.”
• Some people prefer to write the speech's body before the introduction. For others, writing the intro first helps them figure out how to organize the rest of the speech.

• For instance, if your speech is about the causes of World War I, start by discussing nationalism in the years prior to the war. Next, describe the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, then explain how alliances pulled the major players into open warfare.
• Transition smoothly between ideas so your audience can follow your speech. For example, write, “Now that we’ve covered how nationalism set the stage for international conflict, we can examine the event that directly led to the outbreak of World War I: the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. [11] X Research source

• For instance, your conclusion could point out, “Examining the factors that set the stage for World War I shows how intense nationalism fueled the conflict. A century after the Great War, the struggle between nationalism and globalism continues to define international politics in the twenty-first century.”

• Typically, speeches aren’t read verbatim. Instead, you’ll memorize the speech and use a bare bones outline to stay on track.

Avoid information overload: When you compose your speech, read out loud as you write. Focus on keeping your sentence structures simple and clear. Your audience will have a hard time following along if your language is too complicated. [14] X Trustworthy Source University of North Carolina Writing Center UNC's on-campus and online instructional service that provides assistance to students, faculty, and others during the writing process Go to source

Perfecting Your Delivery

• While it’s generally okay to use slightly different phrasing, try to stick to your complete outline as best you can. If you veer off too much or insert too many additional words, you could end up exceeding your time limit.
• Keep in mind your speaking outline will help you stay focused. As for quotes and statistics, feel free to write them on your notecards for quick reference.

Memorization tip: Break up the speech into smaller parts, and memorize it section by section. Memorize 1 sentence then, when you feel confident, add the next. Continue practicing with gradually longer passages until you know the speech like the back of your hand.

• Instead of slouching, stand up tall with your shoulders back. In addition to projecting confidence, good posture will help you breathe deeply to support your voice.

• Have them point out any spots that dragged or seemed disorganized. Ask if your tone was engaging, if you used body language effectively, and if your volume, pitch, and pacing need any tweaks.

• If you keep exceeding the time limit, review your complete sentence outline. Cut any fluff and simplify complicated phrases. If your speech isn’t long enough, look for areas that could use more detail or consider adding another section to the body.
• Just make sure any content you add is relevant. For instance, if your speech on nationalism and World War I is 2 minutes too short, you could add a section about how nationalism manifested in specific countries, including Britain, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Serbia.

Sample Informative Speeches

Expert Q&A

• You're probably much better at informative speeches than you think! If you have ever told your parents about your day at school or explained to a friend how to make chicken noodle soup, you already have experience giving an informative speech! Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• If you get nervous, try to relax, take deep breaths, and visualize calming scenery. Remember, there’s nothing to worry about. Just set yourself up for success by knowing the material and practicing. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• When composing your speech, take your audience into consideration, and tailor your speech to the people you’re addressing. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-realworldcomm/chapter/11-1-informative-speeches/
• ↑ https://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/a-primer-on-communication-studies/s11-01-informative-speeches.html
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_page_basic_format.html
• ↑ https://open.lib.umn.edu/communication/chapter/11-1-informative-speeches/
• ↑ https://www.comm.pitt.edu/informative-speaking
• ↑ https://rasmussen.libanswers.com/faq/337550
• ↑ Lynn Kirkham. Public Speaking Coach. Expert Interview. 20 November 2019.
• ↑ https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/centers/oralcommunication/guides/how-to-outline-a-speech
• ↑ https://wac.colostate.edu/resources/writing/guides/informative-speaking/
• ↑ https://www.comm.pitt.edu/structuring-speech
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/speeches/
• ↑ https://www.speechanddebate.org/wp-content/uploads/High-School-Competition-Events-Guide.pdf
• ↑ https://open.lib.umn.edu/communication/chapter/10-4-physical-delivery/

About This Article

To write an informative speech, start with an introduction that will grab your audience's attention and give them an idea of where the rest of your speech is headed. Next, choose 3 important points that you want to make to form the body of your speech. Then, organize the points in a logical order and write content to address each point. Finally, write a conclusion that summarizes the main points and ends with a message that you want your audience to take away from it. For tips on researching topics for an informative speech, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Article vs Speech

NOTE: This article was originally published in the Irish Independent Written Word Supplement, March 2014.

It can be difficult to wrap your head around the difference between writing an article for publication and writing a speech to be delivered to a live audience. In order to help you to grasp the difference, I’ve taken the same topic, used the same structure and made the same points, but one is an opinion piece for publication in a newspaper and the other is a speech. Read them both and then play a game of SPOT THE DIFFERENCE…

IT’S MY BODY AND OTHER LIES

[ *M ia Murphy is a lawyer, a journalist & a human rights activist. She blogs at www.freedomfightersireland.ie or you can find her on facebook/freedomfightersireland or twitter @miamurphy]

We live in an era of unprecedented individual freedom. Unhappy with your parents? Divorce them. With your gender? Change it. With your life? End it.

The question begs to be asked however: is unlimited personal freedom a good thing for society? The answer, resolutely, is no. We are too eager to glorify people’s right to choose, too willing to ignore the reality that many people’s choices are often limited or foolish or self-destructive. In the very worst cases they are sometimes all three. So despite my fond notion that I am free to do what I want, in reality I know that my freedom is in many ways a construct of a good education and a well paid job. Without these two pillars of security in my life, my ‘choices’ might look very different indeed.

Let’s consider, for example, the idea “ it’s my body and I should be allowed to do what I want with it ”. At the simpler end of the spectrum, I can decide to shave my hair off for charity. I won’t really be hurting anyone – or myself – because the hair will grow back. Slightly more complex might be my decision to donate a kidney to a family member or friend. I get the warm fuzzy glow of saving a life, and hey, it turns out most people can survive perfectly fine with just one kidney! So even though it won’t grow back the way my hair did, who cares? Perhaps I could use my body as an incubator, could carry a baby for my fertility-challenged sister, or for my gay brother and his partner? There is no greater gift on earth than to give someone who would otherwise be childless the opportunity to experience the joys of parenthood.

So the freedom to do what I want with my body is a good thing, right?

Well only if I remain resolutely blind to the selfless utopian bubble I’ve created above, where motives are always pure and bodies and minds remain unharmed by the choices we make. This is simply not true. Many people sacrifice parts of themselves they would much rather keep sacred, through economic necessity. To really understand a person’s level of individual freedom, what matters is not so much what we do but rather why we do it.

Hair these days is big business. If I’ve got long locks, I can sell my ponytail for about €100. If my hair is blond, the rarest shade, I’ll get closer to €1000 for it. The hair extensions industry in Ireland alone is estimated by Hallinan Beauty Group to be worth about €2.5 million and significantly the vast majority of it is imported from abroad. But where does this hair come from? In most cases, it’s shave or die of the worst kind, where women in India, China and Eastern Europe sell their hair to stave off hunger and poverty or to pay for a better education for their children. In a world where long hair is still the benchmark of female beauty, this isn’t about personal freedom, this is about lack of options, lack of money, lack of choice. Or to be more precise, so that women in the developed world can feel beautiful, can have the ‘free choice’ to wear someone else’s hair and pass it off as their own, women in the developing world are making the not-so-free decision to privilege food, shelter and education over their own ‘beauty’. They are every bit as selfless as the wealthy westerner who shaves their hair off for charity but they are entitled to feel bitter that extreme poverty makes this not a choice but a necessity.

The freedom to do what I want with my internal organs is even more fraught with difficulties. Of course I can – and should – carry an organ donation card with me. If I die before my time, I might as well give my body parts to someone who can use them. But what about auctioning off my organs to the highest bidder whilst I’m still alive? Again, the issue of poverty, necessity and sometimes just plain old stupidity and greed raises its head, as a recent case in China illustrates, where a 17 yr old teen secretly sold a kidney for €3,500 before admitting to what he had done when his mother questioned how he could suddenly afford to buy a laptop, iPad and iPhone. His actions were not just a case of consumerism gone mad but were also unwittingly self-destructive, as his remaining kidney was subsequently revealed to have limited function. Ironically, he now finds himself on the organ donor waiting list alongside 1.5 million others, the organ shortage in China fuelling the very black market trade this boy fell victim to. Yes he made a free choice, but one he will undoubtedly regret for the rest of his life. What all of this reveals is that sometimes limiting people’s freedom is necessary in order to protect them from their own profound stupidity.

Nonetheless, there remain many miraculous things we can do with our bodies. Using them to create life is perhaps the greatest ability we have as human beings. We view the right to procreate as so fundamental that we are overwhelmed with sympathy for couples who are unable to conceive. Hence, many of us have no problem with the concept of surrogacy if the aim is to offer a childless couple the miracle of parenthood. However, once money enters the frame we become decidedly more squeamish. Is my body a commodity to be bought and sold? When I list my assets on my tax return, should I include my fully functioning womb? I can rent it out for maybe €15,000 per pregnancy. Heck, that’s more money than I’d get on the dole! Yet the emotional, psychological and ethical fallout from surrogacy can be horrendous.

What if, as happened recently in the U.S., the baby has foetal abnormalities? Can the surrogate be forced to abort the baby if the genetic parents decide they only want a ‘healthy’ child? If the surrogate falls ill, can she be forced to continue with the pregnancy against her will? Even if we put these relatively rare scenarios aside for a moment, the inconvenient truth is that most commercial surrogacy arrangements take place in poor countries where there is little regulation, countries like Thailand, Uganda and the Ukraine. Baby factories have sprung up all over India where the industry is worth $2bn and where estimates suggest 25,000 babies a year are born to surrogates. Many women are ashamed of their decision, hiding it from their existing children and in-laws but are lured in by the monetary reward which will give them a roof over their head or pay for an existing child’s education. It also carries less of a stigma than prostitution. However, despite the illusion that it is safer, many surrogates are risking their lives. Maternal mortality remains high in India, with 56,000 women dying during pregnancy or childbirth. Yet these women are being exploited, receiving only 10% of the amount being paid by commissioning couples and signing contracts waiving their right to health care in the case of miscarriage or complications after the birth.

We still live in a world where “ a ll animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others ” so the next time you hear the defence “ it’s my body and I’ll do what I want with it ” spare a thought for those who use their bodies for profit because they are the only item of value they possess.

*NOTE: Thanks to a colleague for pointing out that it’s important to be aware of  and discuss with students the way that the opening series of rhetorical questions  “ We live in an era of unprecedented individual freedom. Unhappy with your parents? Divorce them. With your gender? Change it. With your life? End it .” are deliberately facetious and are designed to provoke and shock. Of course none of us actually believe that anyone changes gender or takes their own life lightly but journalists often say something shocking or controversial to grab people’s attention.

*NOTE: some of the statistics I included I simply made up. Real journalists obviously can’t do this, but as a student in an exam without access to google, you’ve got no choice. You’ll have to make things up. You may also decide to exaggerate for dramatic effect. For example, the story about the 17yr old selling his kidney is true but I invented the subsequent kidney failure to add dramatic irony to the situation.I made up the name of the journalist so any resemblance to anyone real is entirely coincidental. 

To help you to appreciate the stylistic difference between writing an article and writing a speech, I used the same topic, same structure, same ideas but transformed it into a speech.

Your task is to SPOT THE DIFFERENCES between them (we’ve identified 8 in total but there may be more…)

Speech on Personal Freedom

Hi everyone, you’re very welcome to the Docklands Theatre for this lecture series and can I just say, I really appreciate the effort you’ve all made to be here. The bad weather probably had you jumping over muddy puddles outside like a possessed Peppa Pig, but you’re here now, so relax, kick your shoes off if they’re wet, switch off your phone and we’ll begin! For those of you I haven’t met before, my name’s Mia Murphy and if you’re tweeting this event I go by the not very cryptic twitter handle @miamurphy. I’m a journalist with the Irish Independent & a human rights campaigner and I’ve spent the last seven years of my life studying the way our freedom in the Western World limits the freedom of people in the Developing World.

We live in an era of unprecedented individual freedom. If you’re unhappy with your parents, you can divorce them. If you (point to someone in the front row) are unhappy with your gender (pause for laughter) – and I’m not suggesting you are, cause you look pretty good as a guy to me! – but if you were, you could just pop into a hospital and sort that out! Boom! You go from Phillip to Philomena in a heartbeat!

But what bugs me about all of this is the assumption that unlimited personal freedom is a good thing for society. That we’re all better off cause we can do what we want. I don’t buy that personally. I think we’re too eager to glorify people’s right to choose and we’re far far too willing to ignore the reality that people’s choices are often limited & foolish & self-destructive. While I might like the notion that I’m free to do whatever I want, the truth is that my freedom is guaranteed because I’ve got a good education and I live in a rich country.

One idea in particular that fascinates me is the statement you often hear people saying when they’re getting a body piercing or dying their hair purple: “it’s my body and I should be allowed to do what I want with it”. And I know that can sometimes be a good thing! I can shave my hair off for charity. I can donate a kidney to a family member. I can even be a surrogate for my sister if she’s having trouble getting knocked up and I’ll definitely help out my gay brother and his partner if they want kids because no matter how hard they try, they are definitely not gonna get pregnant!

The sad truth is, though, that lots of people shave their hair off and donate kidneys and act as surrogates for one very simple reason, and that reason is money!

How many of you know that hair these days is big business? I’ve got long brown hair (grab ponytail & wave it at audience) so I can sell my ponytail for about €100. But if my hair was blond, like this lovely lady in the front row (point) – would you mind standing up? – would you believe she could sell her hair today for €1000? So if you see her on the street next week and she’s doing an Emma Watson, you know what she’s been up to! And you should ask her to buy you coffee, cause she’s got €1,000 in her back pocket!

Seriously though, let’s talk about the real price of hair. The hair extensions industry in Ireland alone is worth about €2.5 million and the vast majority of this hair is imported from abroad. Women in India, China and Eastern Europe sell their hair to escape hunger and poverty and to pay for a better education for their children. This isn’t about personal freedom, this is about lack of options, lack of money and lack of choice. The sad truth is, so that you and I can feel beautiful with our flowing extensions like Kim Kardashian, women in the developing world are making the decision to privilege food, shelter and education over their own hair. And bear in mind that cutting their hair off means feeling ‘ugly’ for many of these women, because we’re not the only culture that associates long silky hair with sexiness you know!

You see this with organ donation as well! There was a case in China recently where a 17 yr old teenage boy secretly sold one of his kidneys for €3,500. But of course the mammy twigged that something was up when he could suddenly afford to buy a new laptop, iPad and iPhone and she forced him to admit what he’d done! Now this poor eejit didn’t need the money – he wasn’t starving – but I guess he wanted these signifiers of success pretty badly to go to this extreme. What he did was profoundly stupid, no question. But as yet there’s sadly no cure for stupidity in this world! Maybe that’s what my next research project should be! (pause for laughter)

Anyway, this kid then discovers that his remaining kidney has limited function! You won’t actually believe this but he’s now on the organ donor waiting list – I kid you not! – alongside 1.5 million others. And if this doesn’t prove that limiting people’s freedom is sometimes necessary to protect them from their own stupidity, I don’t know what does!!!

The last thing I want to mention, briefly, is surrogacy. Now I don’t have any moral qualms with a person deciding to be an oven for cooking up someone else’s baby, but it’s not as simple as setting the timer and waiting for the ping! I read about a case recently in America where at the twenty week scan, they discovered the baby had foetal abnormalities. The parents wanted the surrogate to have an abortion. But she didn’t agree with abortion, and she could already feel the baby kicking, so she refused. The baby was in her body but genetically the egg and sperm had come from the couple she was carrying it for. So they went to court looking for a court order to force her to have an abortion. And what did she do? She went on the run!

The point I’m making here is that it is never, never as simple as “It’s my body and I can do what I want with it”. Even leaving aside this extreme case, the truth is that most commercial surrogacy arrangements take place in poor countries where there is little regulation, countries like Thailand and Uganda and the Ukraine and India.

In fact, in recent years baby factories have sprung up all over India. The industry is worth $2bn and somewhere in the region of 25,000 babies a year are born to surrogates. But this is a country with poor hospital infrastructure. 56,000 women die during pregnancy or childbirth every year. Not only are they putting their lives at rick, they’re also being exploited. They only get about 10% of the amount being paid and they’re signing these awful contracts which mean that as soon as the baby is delivered, they have no right to any further medical care. So if they get sick or die, the couple who now have their beautiful new baby have no further responsibility towards this woman who has given them the gift of becoming parents. And for me, that it sick and that is wrong. (Pause)

I want to leave you with a quote from George Orwell’s Animal farm where he said that “all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”. So the next time you hear someone say “it’s my body and I’ll do what I want with it” I want you to just spare a thought, please, for those who use their bodies for profit because they are the only item of value they possess.

(Step back and bow. Pause for applause)

Thank you so much for listening (bow, wave, exit stage).

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Citing Sources: Citing Orally in Speeches

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Citing Orally in Speeches

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General Tips:

Tell the audience your source before you use the information (the opposite of in-text citations).

Do not say, “quote, unquote” when you offer a direct quotation. Use brief pauses instead.

Provide enough information about each source so that your audience could, with a little effort, find them. This should include the author(s) name, a brief explanation of their credentials, the title of the work, and publication date.

 “In the 1979 edition of The Elements of Style, renowned grammarians and composition stylists Strunk and White encourage writers to ‘make every word tell.’”

If your source is unknown to your audience, provide enough information about your source for the audience to perceive them as credible. Typically we provide this credentialing of the source by stating the source’s qualifications to discuss the topic.

“Dr. Derek Bok, the President Emeritus of Harvard University and the author of The Politics of Happiness argues that the American government should design policies to enhance the happiness of its citizens.”

Provide a caption citation for all direct quotations and /or relevant images on your PowerPoint slides.

Direct Quotations:

These should be acknowledged in your speech or presentation either as “And I quote…” or “As [the source] put it…”

Include title and author: “According to April Jones, author of Readings on Gender…”

Periodical/Magazine:

Include title and date: “Time, March 28, 2005, explains…” or “The New York Times, June 5, 2006, explained it this way…”

Include journal title, date, and author: “Morgan Smith writes in the Fall 2005 issue of Science…”

For organizational or long-standing website, include title: “The center for Disease Control web site includes information…” For news or magazine websites, include title and date: “CNN.com, on March 28, 2005, states…” (Note: CNN is an exception to the “don’t use the address” rule because the site is known by that name.)

Interviews, lecture notes, or personal communication:

Include name and credentials of source: “Alice Smith, professor of Economics at USM, had this to say about the growth plan…” or “According to junior Speech Communication major, Susan Wallace…”

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Words at Ease

6 Examples of Speeches about Events

Speeches are a powerful way to connect with an audience, inspire them, and leave a lasting impact.

Crafting the perfect speech for the occasion is key, whether addressing a large crowd at a conference or delivering heartfelt remarks at a wedding.

Examples of Speeches about Events

As a seasoned speechwriter, I’ve had the privilege of writing speeches for all sorts of events over the past three decades.

In this article, I’ll share some examples that illustrate the range of what’s possible when it comes to event speeches.

So let’s get started and see how these samples can help spark ideas for your next speaking engagement!

Keynote Speech at a Technology Conference

Good morning, everyone. It’s an honor to be here with you today at the annual Tech Innovators Summit. As we gather to discuss the latest advancements and trends shaping our industry, I want to take a moment to reflect on the incredible progress we’ve made and the exciting possibilities that lie ahead.

Technology is transforming every aspect of our lives at a breathtaking pace. From the smartphones in our pockets to the AI-powered systems that are revolutionizing industries, we are living in an age of unprecedented innovation. But with great power comes great responsibility. As tech leaders, it’s up to us to ensure that these advancements are harnessed for the greater good – to solve pressing challenges, create opportunity, and build a better future for all.

That’s why events like this summit are so crucial. They provide a forum for us to come together, share ideas, and collaboratively chart a course forward. Over the next two days, we’ll hear from brilliant minds across disciplines about how emerging technologies like blockchain, quantum computing, and the Internet of Things are poised to disrupt and reshape our lives. We’ll grapple with thorny ethical questions around data privacy, algorithmic bias, and the societal implications of automation. And hopefully, we’ll walk away motivated to leverage our collective expertise to drive positive change.

At the heart of innovation is improving people’s lives in meaningful ways, whether it’s developing clean energy solutions to combat climate change, using big data to personalize healthcare, or creating inclusive tech that empowers underserved communities. The work we do has the potential to be transformative on a global scale.

So as we kick off this year’s summit, I challenge all of you to think big and bold. To imagine new possibilities and push past perceived limitations. To build diverse teams and foster a culture of experimentation and risk-taking. And above all, to keep the human impact at the forefront of everything you do. When we combine technological prowess with empathy, creativity, and a commitment to social good, there’s no limit to what we can achieve together.

Thank you, and have a fantastic summit!

— END OF SPEECH —

Commentary: This rousing keynote sets an inspiring tone for a technology conference. It celebrates progress while acknowledging the immense responsibilities tech leaders face. By touching on hot-button issues and challenging the audience to harness innovation for social good, it provides a thought-provoking framework for the event.

Best Man Speech at a Wedding

Mike, Ashley – congratulations. I think it’s safe to say this day has been a long time coming. When Mike and I were growing up, I never imagined I’d one day have the honor of standing beside him as he married the love of his life. But from the moment I saw you two together, I knew you were meant to be.

Mike has been my faithful sidekick – the Watson to my Sherlock, the Chewbacca to my Han Solo. We’ve shared so many adventures over the years, from those ill-advised backyard wrestling matches to that epic cross-country road trip. Through thick and thin, Mike’s loyalty, kindness, and goofy sense of humor have been a constant. He’s the kind of friend who’s always there when you need him, whether it’s to crack a perfectly timed joke or to listen with a compassionate ear.

And then he met you, Ashley, and everything changed. Sure, he still made time for our hijinks and heart-to-hearts. But it was clear his universe had realigned, with you at the very center. I watched him light up in your presence, his eyes dancing whenever you walked into the room. He started using words like “soulmate” unironically. And I realized my best buddy had fallen head-over-heels in love.

Seeing the two of you together just feels right. Your playful banter, your tender stolen glances, the way you balance each other out so perfectly. Ashley, your warmth, grace, and quiet strength make you an ideal match for Mike’s generous spirit and zest for life. You both share a commitment to lifting those around you and making the world a bit brighter. It’s been a joy to watch your love story unfold.

So as you embark on this new chapter together, I wish you all the happiness your hearts can hold. May your home be filled with laughter, your adventures be many, and your love continue to grow deeper with each passing year. I’m so grateful to be a part of your life. Here’s to your incredible journey ahead! Cheers!

Commentary: This warm, heartfelt best-man speech strikes the perfect balance of humor and sincerity. It paints a vivid picture of the couple’s love story while highlighting what makes their bond so special. The personalized anecdotes and well-wishes make it ideally suited for a wedding reception.

Welcome Speech at an Academic Conference

Esteemed colleagues – welcome. It is with great pleasure that I stand before you today to officially open the 45th International Symposium on Molecular Biology.

Over the next four days, we have the opportunity to engage in the critical exchange of ideas that propels our field forward. As we gather to present cutting-edge research, grapple with complex scientific problems, and forge new collaborations, I am struck by the caliber of the minds in this room.

From seasoned luminaries to rising stars, the depth of expertise represented here is truly staggering. It is a testament to the vitality and importance of the work we do – work that holds the potential to deepen our understanding of the fundamental processes of life, to unlock novel therapies for devastating diseases, to push the boundaries of what we thought was possible.

As we explore a packed program of keynote addresses, panel discussions, and poster sessions, I encourage you to approach each interaction with an open and inquisitive mind. Challenge assumptions, engage in lively debate, and seek out perspectives different from your own. True breakthroughs are born in the collision of ideas.

I would be remiss not to acknowledge the tumultuous times we find ourselves in. Amidst a global pandemic, geopolitical tensions, and the ever-present specter of climate change, the role of science in society has never been more crucial – or more hotly debated. As researchers, we have a profound responsibility to uphold the integrity of the scientific method, to communicate our findings clearly and truthfully, and to use our knowledge in service of the greater good.

It is my sincere hope that our time together at this symposium will not only deepen our scientific understanding but also strengthen our sense of purpose and community. May the connections forged and insights gleaned here resonate long after we depart.

Thank you, and let the 45th Symposium begin!

Commentary: This welcome speech sets an intellectually engaging tone for an academic conference. It acknowledges the expertise of the audience while framing their work in the context of pressing global challenges. The call for open and collegial scientific exchange offers an inspiring vision for a productive meeting.

Acceptance Speech at an Awards Show

I am humbled and overjoyed to accept this award tonight. As I look out at this sea of brilliant, creative minds, I am reminded of how fortunate I am to be part of such a vibrant, supportive community.

None of us gets here alone, and I certainly didn’t. I need to thank my incredible cast and crew. Your talent, dedication, and camaraderie breathed life into this film, and I am forever in your debt. To my fellow nominees, I am awed by your work and grateful to be counted among you tonight.

I also want to thank the Academy for this tremendous honor. For believing in the power of storytelling to move hearts, open minds, and change the world. When we began this journey three years ago, no one could have predicted the twists and turns it would take. There were moments when giving up seemed like the only option. But I was fortunate to be surrounded by a team that pushed me to dig deeper, to be braver and more honest than I ever thought possible.

That’s the magic of filmmaking. The alchemy that happens when dedicated artists come together, pour their souls into a project and create something far greater than the sum of its parts. Something that has the power to transport us, challenge us, and connect us across divides.

I started making films because I believed in that power. In the stories that make outsiders feel seen, that gives voice to the silenced, that grapple with the messy, complicated truths of the human experience. I still believe in those stories. They are needed now more than ever. Representation matters. Truth matters. Art matters.

So to every young person watching tonight, wondering if there’s a place for your voice, for your vision – there is. Tell your stories with abandon. Take up space. Be bold and unapologetic in your truth. This industry, this world, needs you – all of you – exactly as you are.

This award is more than a trophy. It’s a reminder of how far we’ve come, and a challenge to go further. To take more risks, leave no one behind, and blaze new trails. Together.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for this moment. I will cherish it always.

Commentary: This emotional acceptance speech expresses gratitude while highlighting the collaborative nature of filmmaking. It celebrates the power of storytelling and representation, encouraging aspiring artists to be bold and authentic. Touching on the film’s challenging journey adds an inspiring personal dimension.

Inspirational Speech at a Fundraising Gala

Good evening, friends. We gather tonight in recognition of a simple truth: that every child deserves a chance to thrive.

For over a decade, the Bright Futures Foundation has been working to make that truth a reality. By providing access to quality education, healthcare, and enrichment programs, we’ve helped thousands of underserved youth unlock their potential and chase their dreams. But as proud as I am of the progress we’ve made, I know how much further we have to go.

The reality is, that we live in a society where far too many children are denied the opportunities they need to succeed. Where zip codes determine destinies, and talent goes untapped for lack of resources. This isn’t just an abstract issue – it’s a moral failing with real human costs.

I’ve seen those costs firsthand. In the bright eyes of a little girl who loves to learn but has no books in her overcrowded classroom. In the slumped shoulders of a teenage boy, bursting with untapped potential but aging out of a broken foster care system. In the weary face of a young mother, working three jobs just to keep the lights on, with nothing left for her kids’ education.

These children are our children. Their potential is our potential. When we fail to invest in them, we don’t just limit their futures – we impoverish our own. But here’s the good news: change is possible. Every day, I see the transformative impact that mentorship, resources, and most of all, opportunity can have on a young life.

I think of Jessica, a shy eighth grader, her nose always buried in a tattered library book, who blossomed into a confident young scientist with a scholarship to MIT. Of Jamal, a natural-born leader, who went from a struggling student to the first in his family to graduate college, and is now a passionate advocate for educational equity. Of Lila, a gifted artist, who discovered her voice at one of our afterschool programs and now runs her graphic design studio, giving back to the community that believed in her.

Their stories are a testament to what’s possible when we invest in the limitless potential of every child. They’re a powerful reminder of how much work we have left to do.

So tonight, I’m asking you to join us in that work. To give generously, not out of obligation, but out of a deep belief in the power of opportunity to change lives. It’s going to take all of us – our time, our resources, our unwavering commitment – to build a future where every child can thrive. It won’t be easy; nothing worth doing ever is. But I believe with every fiber of my being that it’s not only possible but essential.

The brilliant young minds in underserved communities across this country aren’t just our greatest untapped resource – they’re our most precious ones. When we invest in their potential, we invest in a brighter, more just, and more prosperous future for us all.

Thank you for your passion, your partnership, and your unshakable belief in the power of opportunity. Together, let’s get to work.

Commentary: This passionate call to action uses vivid storytelling to illustrate the transformative power of investing in youth. By weaving heart-wrenching examples with hard-hitting facts, it makes a compelling case for supporting expanded educational opportunities as a moral and societal imperative – perfect for a gala or fundraising event.

Valedictorian Speech at a High School Graduation

To the esteemed faculty, proud parents, devoted friends, and most of all, to the exceptional Class of 2024 – good evening. It is the highest honor to stand before you tonight and attempt to put into words the momentous journey we’ve shared.

I say attempt because, how can language alone capture the depth and breadth of our experience? The late nights spent puzzling over calculus problems, the heated debates in history class, and the camaraderie forged on the playing fields and theater stages. The laughter, the tears, and the triumphs big and small have shaped us and will bind us, long after we leave this place.

What a beautiful, messy, glorious trip it’s been. And even more than the knowledge we’ve stuffed into our heads, it’s the life lessons we’ve absorbed – often without realizing it – that I suspect will serve us best moving forward. Lessons not found in textbooks, but etched on our hearts:

Lesson 1 : Every person has a story, and every story matters. As I look out at this sea of caps and gowns, I’m struck by the rich diversity of our class. We come from different neighborhoods, worship in different ways or not at all, and dream in different languages. But here, we learned to listen with open minds and hearts. To celebrate our differences as the source of our strength. That’s a skill our divided world desperately needs, and I know we’ll carry it with us wherever we go.

Lesson 2 : Failure is not the opposite of success; it’s part of the process. So much pressure is put on us to have it all figured out. To ace the test, win the game, and get into the “right” school. But some of the most profound growth happens when we stumble. When the experiment explodes, the essay bombs and the startup goes bust. Those moments teach us resilience, adaptability, and the ultimate futility of perfection. Failure is simply an opportunity to begin again, this time more wisely. May we never lose that beginner’s mindset.

And most important – Lesson 3 : You are enough, just as you are. In a culture that’s always urging us to be prettier, richer, and more popular, it’s easy to forget this simple truth. But your worth isn’t measured by Instagram likes or ivies on your transcript or zeros in your bank account. It’s found in your kindness, your curiosity, your willingness to show up, mess up, and try again. It’s found in the idiosyncratic assortment of quirks, passions, and foibles that make you distinctly, wonderfully you. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.

These lessons weren’t always easy, but they’ve already served us well. And as we scatter in different directions and to new adventures, I know they will continue to light our way.

The future is uncertain; that’s always been true. But it’s also ripe with possibility. The chance to build a life and a world that reflects our highest values. To find work that feeds our souls and people who love us just as we are. To stumble and get back up and forge ahead regardless. That’s the task that lies before us, and no one said it would be easy. But we’ve been prepared, and we won’t have to go it alone.

So as we step off this stage and into the rest of our big, beautiful lives, let’s do so with gratitude, with audacity, and with the bone-deep knowledge that wherever we go, whatever person we grow into, we started here. And that is a story worth celebrating.

Congratulations, Class of 2024. The best is yet to come!

Commentary: With its blend of wisdom, humor, and heart, this valedictory address offers a stirring reflection on high school’s joys and struggles while equipping graduates with life lessons for the road ahead. The focus on shared stories, productive failure, and self-acceptance provides a powerful framing for embarking on a new chapter.

From conferences to commencements, and fundraisers to weddings, speeches have the power to educate, motivate, and inspire.

By tailoring your message to the specific event and audience, grounding it in personal stories and universal truths, and delivering your words with authenticity and conviction, you can craft speeches that linger long after the applause has faded.

The examples we’ve explored demonstrate the breadth of what’s possible in event speeches, from soaring oratory to intimate reflections.

While the tone, length, and purpose may vary, the most impactful speeches share some common threads:

• They are tailored to the specific occasion and audience, speaking directly to their experiences, hopes, and challenges.
• They draw on a mix of personal anecdotes, universal truths, and carefully chosen facts and figures to paint a vivid picture and drive home key points.
• They balance humor, humility, and heartfelt emotion to forge a genuine connection with listeners.
• They leave the audience with a clear call to action, whether it’s to reflect, connect, persevere, or work towards a common goal.
• They are delivered with authenticity, conviction, and a palpable sense of purpose that goes beyond the words on the page.

As you approach your next speaking engagement, I encourage you to experiment with different styles and techniques, to dig deep into your own experiences and passions, and above all, to speak from the heart.

Trust that your unique voice and perspective have value and that your words have the power to move and inspire.

After all, that’s the true magic of a great speech.

In those fleeting minutes at the podium, we have an opportunity to articulate our shared hopes and dreams, challenge assumptions and spark new ways of thinking, give voice to the voiceless, and shape the stories we tell about ourselves and our world.

It’s a tremendous privilege – and an awesome responsibility.

But if we approach the task with empathy, integrity, and a genuine desire to serve our audience, we can craft speeches that educate, motivate, and inspire – speeches that are worthy of the occasions that shape our lives and the people we hope to become.

So the next time you’re called upon to speak at an event, I hope you’ll embrace the opportunity with courage, creativity, and conviction.

Your voice matters. Your story matters. And with the right words, spoken from the heart, you might just change the world.

One speech at a time.

• Parts of Speech and Sentence Structure

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• the car down the street, the man next to you
• a book, an apple, a bottle
• the definite article the : You use it before a singular or a plural noun when you talk about one or more specific member(s) of a group (things, places or people) that is known to you: the tall man, the big house, the man next to me ;
• the indefinite articles a/an : You use them before a singular noun when you talk about any general thing : a line, a house, a kitchen, a person, an apple, an airport, an idea, an umbrella .
• You use the article a before nouns/adjectives or numbers that start with a consonant : a line, a kitchen, a person, a dog, a book, a tall man, a five-year-old boy, a job interview .
• You use the article an before nouns that start with a vowel : an apple, an idea, an umbrella, an egg, an hour, an eight-year-old girl, an interview .
• There is --- a an airport close to the city.  
• Do you have --- a an armchair in your room?  
• She has --- a an idea!  
• They have --- an a female English teacher.  
• He eats --- a an apple.  
• There is --- an a school around the corner.  
• She has --- an a new armchair.  
• We will give him --- a an book for his birthday.  
• Check  (  1  )
• Check and show solutions
• He works as pilot.  
• I need new TV.  
• He is best teacher at the school.  
• They have eight-year-old girl.  
• book she bought yesterday is not so good.  
• She is nicest girl I know.  
• She is nice girl.  
• city that she likes the most is New York City.  
• time  
• shop  
• adjective  
• elephant  
• umbrella  
• week  
• opinion  
• number  
• English book  
• example  
• door  
• table  
• eagle  
• bike  
• Michael says: "I have best friend. His name is Josh. He lives in small house outside the city. They have beautiful garden behind house. house is painted blue and there is fence around garden. I love going there. It's so nice and peaceful."  

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HOW TO WRITE AN ARTICLE

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Netanyahu Stands Firm on Cease-Fire Terms Amid Growing Outrage in Israel

In his first news conference since the bodies of six killed hostages were recovered, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to budge on his conditions for any truce in Gaza.

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By Patrick Kingsley Aaron Boxerman and Thomas Fuller

Patrick Kingsley and Aaron Boxerman reported from Jerusalem.

Brushing aside pleas from allies and the demands of Israeli protesters for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza in exchange for the release of hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Monday vowed to maintain Israeli control along the border between Egypt and Gaza, a contentious plan that appeared to dim, if not dash, prospects for a truce.

In his first news conference since the bodies of six slain hostages were recovered over the weekend, Mr. Netanyahu told reporters on Monday night that, to ensure its security, Israel needed to assert control over the Gazan side of the border with Egypt, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, calling it the lifeline of Hamas.

Hamas has said Israeli control of the corridor is a nonstarter in negotiations for a truce, demanding instead a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

“If we leave, there will be enormous diplomatic pressure upon us from the whole world not to return,” Mr. Netanyahu said of the corridor, as a large crowd protested near his private residence in Jerusalem on Monday night.

Mr. Netanyahu made the comments a day after the Israeli military announced that the six hostages had been found dead in a tunnel underneath the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The discovery devastated Israelis and spurred both the mass protests on Sunday and a widespread work stoppage by the country’s largest labor union.

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