After reading chapter 11 I definitely learned some really good things. For starters, what the structure of a speech is. The structure includes an introduction, body, and a conclusion. All three of these have their own unique features and way to add to the speech but they work cohesively to make the speech more composed. It’s also important to highlight the “main point” in order to help back up the thesis, but make sure to have only 2-7 because science shows that you will lose your audience’s attention. The thesis should be used as a thread throughout your speech, everything should connect. You also should have supporting points which act as backup for the main points. When writing a speech outline with roman numerals, it says to have main points in roman numerals and supporting points in capital letters. It also says to assign more coordination than subordination. There was a lot of good information in this chapter, but these points are what really stuck out to me. I think now that I have read this chapter that my outlines will be more organized and cohesive to lead to a better speech.
After reading chapter 12 I think I have a better grasp on how to organize my speeches so they flow better. I did not know that there were so many different organizational arrangements but it’s good to know now. There are 5 main ones that are used most often; chronological, spatial, casual, topical, and narrative. Chronological lives up to it’s name, the points are subsequent to each other so it’s timely. Spatial arrangement comes into play when describing an area or something that has different proximities in regards to each point. Casual arrangement is used when you are explaining a cause and effect, and it goes exactly in that order (cause and then effect). Topical usually is for a less informative speech where all the points can seem as subtopics. Last but not least, narrative arrangement is a series of short stories. I think now that I know all of these arrangements my outlines will be better fit for what I am talking about. There was also a Problem- Solution Pattern for argumentative speeches but it didn’t stand out to me as much.
Chapters 11 and 12 taught me many helpful tips involving structuring my speech. Chapter 11 is about the overall structure, while Chapter 12 focuses on organizing your speech. Chapter 11 begins by discussing the three main pieces of a speech, the introduction, the body, and then the conclusion. The introduction is when you pull the audience in, the body is where you put your main points, and the conclusion is where you wrap everything up. While all three parts are equally important the body is where you present the main ideas and focus the majority of the speech. The main points are where you focus your main thoughts as you portray them in your thesis. It is important to stick to 2-7 main points so the audience does not get bored. Additionally, it is essential to use the thesis statement as a guide. Once you highlight your main points, you then must support your claims with evidence. This evidence is essential to expressing your points.
Chapter 12 is focused on the organizational pattern of your speech. There are many different types of ways to organize your speech. First, the chronological pattern of arrangement presents the sequential order of the main points. This is essential if you are discussing something that happened over some time, or even if the order of your speech is just essential to portraying your main point. The next pattern revolves around discussing your points in a spatial pattern. This is essential when giving the audience a “tour” or explaining where things may be. The next pattern talked about in the test is the problem-solution pattern, which is just explaining the problem and following it with the solution. Chapter 12 gave me insight into many ways to organize my speech. These patterns will be essential when I am attempting to produce the best possible speech for this class.
I thought talking about how many points the brain can take in was really interesting because that is something I tend to think about when listening to people present. I take note of how many topics or ideas they are trying to focus on because I can notice myself becoming overwhelmed by these topics if the speaker does not limit the things they find to be most important for us to walk away with. And while talking about main points and sub points and making them connect I started to realize that this is something I see in the books I read all of the time. I love Brene Brown and read her books all the time and that is something that she (as a researcher and presenter) is really good at doing in order to keep the reader engaged and make sure they walk away feeling like they actually learned something and can understand and explain what they just read or heard. I also continued to see the parallels between speeches and essays as there are ‘thesis’ and then there is also simply unity that needs to be had in a speech, where all of your points come together and tell the same story.
I found that reading about organizing a speech was really interesting because when I am writing I tend to have a general idea and outline of what I want to say and get down on paper but then I have to go back after and organize it and that is something that I hadn’t thought you might also have to do with a speech in order for your listener to not get confused or lost in the story. I immediately considered writing in a chronological sense but I never considered that you can also do it in other ways such a spatial which is definitely something I saw when I was on hiking tours in the Grand Canyon which makes sense as it was a visual experience that we were living through. Cause and effect and problem solving are also ways that interested me as they seem similar to the way that you might tell a story when writing a novel or watching a TED talk so it was interesting to view it in the way of speeches. I personally like to use a narrative pattern because it is the one I like to listen to most and find most engaging but I would definitely be interested in exploring the other options as well.
In Chapter 11, it establishes the key parts of a speech and the outline. The introduction is supposed to establish the purpose and relevance. The body of a speech contains the main points that fulfill the purpose. The conclusion restates the purpose, summarizes the main points, and restates the relevance of the thesis. An outline separates main and supporting ideas. Main ideas express the key ideas of the speech. They represent each of the major ideas or claims being made that support the thesis. Supporting points organize the evidence gathered to explain and justify the main points. An outline should have unity, coherence, and balance. Unity is when an outline contains only points implied by the purpose. Coherence represents organization and points are aligned logically. Balance is when there is appropriate emphasis or weight that is given to each part of the speech relative to the other parts and the thesis. Chapter 12 explains that it is important to organize speech points into 6 main patterns of organizational arrangement. Organization patterns help link points together to maximize purpose and help the audience follow your ideas. The first type is chronological pattern of arrangement, which explains topics that describe a series of events in time or develop in time with a set of patterns or tasks that can be put in chronological order. The next type of pattern is spatial pattern of arrangement. When describing the physical arrangement of a place or an object, it is suggested that the main points can be placed in order of physical proximity. The third pattern is in cause-and-effect pattern which is simply just when you take a usual form of cause and explain the effect, but there can be multiple causes and one effect or one cause and multiple effects. The problem and solution pattern are similar where the significance and nature of a problem is followed by the solution. The topical arrangement arranges the main points by subtopic and category. The final pattern is the narrative pattern which is when a speech consists of a story of multiple stories with characters, problems, and resolutions.
Chapter 11: This chapter addresses how a speech should be structured. It has three main parts, an introduction, body, and a conclusion. It is important to add main points into your speech, kind of like a claim in an essay to let the audience know what your speech will address. I learned that a main point should not introduce more than one idea which I thought was important to know because sometimes it is just easier to clump all of the points into one sentence. Supporting points should be stated within the body of a speech to give the main points evidence to back it up. Something that I thought was interesting but never thought about was that equal weight should be assigned to ideas that are coordinate and less weight to ideas that are subordinate. Finally, you want your speech to flow which is where you incorporate transitions to go from one point to the next.
Chapter 12: This chapter addresses different ways that a speech may be organized so it is not confusing to the audience. Depending on the topic, sometimes it may be beneficial to organize the speech in a chronological order if it describes a series of events. It would not make sense if the events were discussed out of order. Another organization method is for a speech that has topics which represent a cause and effect relationship. Sometimes the topics are also understood if the effects are provided before the causes. Problem-solution is another pattern for organizing. It helps the writer to organize the main points and then add a solution to them. Sometimes you may need more than two points to effectively explain the problem and solution. Speeches can also be organized by category and if storytelling comes naturally then a narrative pattern may work best. All of these are different ways to effectively organize a speech.
Chapter 11:
In chapter 11 “ A pocket guide to public speaking” it is all about how to effectively organize your speech. It covers the importance of having a clear and focused, thesis, creating an organized body that supports your main points, and wrapping up with a strong conclusion it emphasizes how to outline your ideas to make sure your messages communicated clearly and strongly. This chapter also dives into different powders. You can use to relay your information, depending on what fits your topic best. It also emphasizes the importance of transitions to help your audience. Follow along these transitions are there to help your speech thing together and that your points to go together smoothly. Lastly, the chapter also highlights how to insert examples, statistics, and own testimonies to help your main points and make the speech more convincing. If you’re prepping for speech or presentation, referring back to the examples and advice this chapter has given you were hoping, ensuring that you had all your key points in your future speeches.
chapter 12:
In chapter 12, it touches on the structure of your speech in ways of organizing your main points. This chapter talks about using chronological order, special order or problem solution order, depending on what your topic best. Additionally, each order is used to fit a certain type of speech, for example, persuasive and narrative. The pattern you using your speech really depends on the content and purpose of your message. For example, if you’re doing a more historical approach or telling a story, chronological order might be the way to go and hope your audience follows you could’ve event and understand the time on a narrative. To add on, if you’re discussing different aspects of a topic or prison in comparison using spatial order can help you organize your points in a clear and logical manner. Persuasive speeches are problem-solving discussions, the problem solution order can be super effective. It allows you to first highlight an issue, then propose a solution or a series of solutions, making your argument, more compelling and actionable.
Chapter 11: What I found most interesting in chapter 11 was the fact that an audience will only remember 2-5 main points during a speech in a classroom setting. Narrowing down the main points of your speech can significantly increase the likelihood that the audience will remember those points. I learned that it is important to either start off with your most compelling point, or end with it, because of the “primacy” effect and the “recency” effect. These effects explain that audiences have a greater tendency to remember points made at the beginning or the end of speeches. Good main points should always be followed up by supporting points, which demonstrate the importance or relevance of the main points.
Chapter 12: The various different types of organizational patterns were interesting to me in this chapter. For example the topical pattern, which allows the speaker the most amount of wiggle room in terms of organizational pattern. The speaker can state multiple main points that are of equal importance and choose which to give first. This pattern could help when considering the primacy and recency effect that was discussed in chapter 11. Another interesting point from this chapter was the idea of blending organizational patterns. For example, when talking about the history of the automotive industry, it would make most sense to organize the main points in a chronological pattern. However, it might be equally important to explain, in supporting points, why cars are still so popular today.
I believe that Chapter 11 is a very helpful and important chapter in the book because it really helps someone understand the importance of planning and organizing a speech to perfection. As someone who has had difficulties with organization in the past, I find that this whole idea of organizing main points and the idea of setting it up in an introduction, body and conclusion is super important and significant because that is what makes a speech flow properly and become more impactful. I think the concept of what makes a main point an actual main point and impactful is significant because without actual good main points, your speech is not significant. A main point should only introduce one point and not multiple ideas because then you could end up repeating yourself and that makes it seem like you are rambling. Furthermore, your main point or points should primarily show up in the thesis or introduction to show the audience at the top what your speech is about and what the point is you are trying to make. Having the audience know what your main point is at the top is a good way to keep them captivated and intrigued, because the worst thing that could happen when you are giving the speech is that you lose the audience and don’t make an impact with it. That is why main points should be the biggest priority when starting a speech or writing one, as well as making sure that the organization is clear and concise.
On the other hand, in regards to Chapter 12, this chapter has very similar subject matters and topics to Chapter 11, but the biggest difference is that it talks more about patterns in constructing a speech and how to organize those patterns in a way that it can affect the reaction and emotions of your audience. Organizing a speech to the best of your ability captivates your audience and keeps them on track. Organization of a speech can come across as kind of confusing but if you truly think about it, you can fully grasp the idea and put the organization into effect after you come up with the main points you need to make your speech work well. Furthermore, one of the things that stuck out to me about this chapter as a whole was the idea of using a chronological pattern to arrange all your ideas and main points. For example, if your speech is talking about historical events, whether it be in your life or on the spectrum of history, it would work a lot more if the events you are referring to are in chronological history to help your speech flow better, as well as helping the audience understand your story better. If it is a personal speech, it is much more effective if your events are less scattered and more in order to truly captivate the audience. You can’t just throw a bunch of events in and expect it to line up, it requires actual skill and procedure to set it up properly and make it flow better. Overall, the chronological order and arrangement of the speech is important to make it flow and make it make sense, and that is what I think.
Chapter 11 talks about the importance of structuring a speech, as it should have an introduction, body, and conclusion paragraph. I found it interesting that the speech should only have between 2 and 7 main points. However, when I kept reading it made sense to me because the speaker will lose the attention of the audience. I feel like this happened to me during my first speech, I had too many topics I was trying to talk on. I also found it interesting how coordination and subordination play a vital role in the flow of the speech. I never thought about how certain points should receive more weight because they are coordinated. However, it makes sense because it makes the speech have a more focused topic and is clear. Next time I go to outline my speech I need to make sure that it has unity, coherence, and balance in order to be more effective.
Chapter 12 talks about the importance of organization when it comes to speeches in order for the audience to understand what the speech is about. I found it interesting that studies confirm that the way ideas are organized affects your audience’s understanding of them. I found it interesting that different ways speeches are organized have specific pattern names, such as the spatial pattern of arrangement, which is used when describing the physical location of somewhere. I did not realize that specific organization patterns have names to describe them and specific reasons why it is organized that way. I also learned that topical arrangement gives the most freedom when it comes to organizing points in the sequence you want done. This is important because it allows me to know what type of organization is going to fit the speech the best. If I am giving a speech that is more of a story then I know to use the narrative pattern structure or if I am trying to show the relationship between two things, to use the cause-effect pattern structure.
When reading Chapter 11, I was surprised by how different the structure of a speech must be compared to my own. I created my structure to have one main point, then 3 or 4 sub-points that relate to the main point, and then do the same for the next few main points. However, reading chapter 11 has shown me that structuring a speech is so much more than that. My sub-points need sub-points and everything that I talk about has to lead up to one main point. There can’t just be more than one. I was also surprised by the idea that you have to make parallel points and compare what you are talking about to someone else. For Chapter 12, I was surprised to see how there were different forms of giving a speech. To me, they all feel the same and can get their point across while also keeping the audience engaged. I didn’t think that there were actual names for these different forms of public speaking. One of the patterns that the chapter talks about is narrative speaking. Talking about events in order just makes sense to me and I had felt like it was common sense. However, I can understand that people may gloss over that fact and mix the dates around in the wrong order which can throw people off.
Chapter 11 discussed how one should structure their speech. It talked about how there are three major parts to a speech; the introduction, the body, and the conclusion. This stood out to me because it reminded me that a speech, when you think about it, is basically an essay. I think making the speech seem less “big” in my head helps calm me down when I think about public speaking. It reminded me of the advice they give you before interviews for pageants; interviews are just conversations across a table. A speech is just an essay that you’re reading out to people. The part of chapter 12 that stood out to me was the idea of organization. I think my last speech was a bit unorganized, and I enjoyed reading this chapter because it gave me great tips on how to organize my speech so it is easier for my audience to understand. Tips such as arranging my points chronologically, and using a problem-solution approach. Overall, these two chapters made me feel more prepared for our next speech, and I’m planning to use some of what I have read to improve my next attempt at public speaking.
The main topic of chapter eleven was structuring the speech. A speech is like an essay, you need an introduction, body, and conclusion. An important takeaway from this chapter is that when giving a speech you should try and reduce the number of main points. If your speech is on a bunch of different main points, it may be very hard for your audience to hear and understand what you are saying. As opposed to if you have somewhere around 2-3 main points your speech should be a lot easier to follow and understand. Another big takeaway that I got from this chapter was “save the best for last”. Listeners have the best recall of things said at the beginning and end of the speech due to the primary and recency effects. Ending your speech with a conclusion tht summarizes the main points can be very helpful for listeners to grasp the whole point of your speech.
The main topic of chapter twelve was the selecting and organizing pattern of your speech. Without organization in your speech, it can be very difficult to piece together your points as the speaker, as well as the listener being able to piece your speech together too. An important takeaway from this chapter was how many patterns can be used for organization in a speech. Those patterns include a chronological pattern of arrangement, spatial pattern of arrangement, casual pattern, problem-solution pattern, topical pattern, and narrative pattern. I knew that there were many ways to organize a speech but was not aware that there were this many! Another big takeaway that I got was how interesting the spatial pattern of arrangement was. I think giving a speech and talking about experiencing a place from the moment you walk into the door can be very interesting to listen to as well as perform a speech on it.
Chapter 11 spoke about how the structure of the speech should be written. There should be an intro where you talk about what the speech is going to talk about, then the body which you go into detail of what your speech is about. Then is the conclusion which brings closure to the speech by restating the topic, purpose and summarizing the main points. It also explained how to use transitions to go onto another topic. Chapter 12 explains the organizational pattern of the speech and which pattern you should choose for the speech you write. There are 6 different types of patterns. There is chronological, spatial, cause-effect, topical, problem-solution, and narrative pattern. They are all different ways of delivering a speech depending on what type of speech you are giving. You want your speech to blend and flow as it is being spoken. Topical pattern I feel is the most used pattern as it is when you have a topic and you present it as an essay with an intro, body and a conclusion. That’s where organization also comes in, in the patterns. You must have your speech in order and not have it go from one thing to another.
Chapter 11: A speech is composed of three main parts, an introduction, the body, and the conclusion. You should keep your body organized by using main points, it is recommended that you use two to five main points, in order to keep your speech concise and to the point, and keep your listeners engaged. When writing your main points, put the most important one to you either first or last, people tend to remember the beginning or the end of your speech rather than all the details you spoke about in the beginning. You can use supporting points to further add details about a main point in your speech, but be careful it is not a point that should be its own main point. Also, make sure that you give each main point the same amount of talking time and supporting points to show that it is equally important. Use transitions to help move from one point to the next, it helps with the flow of the speech and maintains a sense of naturalness in your speaking.
Chapter 12: organization in speeches is really important, having things chronologically helps the speech seem more like a story you are telling. And allowing your speech to have flow will keep the audience engaged. If you are talking about multiple locations, keep everything about each location near each other in the speech. You can also use a cause-and-effect pattern to help prove your points and add emphasis to certain parts by showing the effect of something, whether positive or negative. This can work similarly to how it can be really impactful to the audience if you state a problem or question, then immediately follow it up with a proposed solution.
Journal 4
One of the takeaways I got from reading chapter 11 is that the audience will lose interest in a speech if it contains too many main points. The research says to keep your number of main points between 2 and 7. Another takeaway about main points is that each of your main points should be different and stated grammatically similar in style. I relate to this because when I’m listening to someone give a speech and it’s really long I find myself easily losing interest. A takeaway that I liked in chapter 12 was at the beginning where it discussed organizational arrangements. It makes sense that if you organize your points into a pattern it will be easier to keep the audience interested. I agree with this point as well because I find when I give a speech I like to have it organized so that I don’t miss a topic I wanted to cover.
Chapter 11
For the number of speeches I have heard, it hasn’t occurred to me that the structure is so similar to writing an essay. There’s the introduction where the audience is hooked and the topic is established, the body that expresses the main points, and the conclusion that ties it all together. In addition to this, there is a lot to be included within this structure to have an effective speech. A tip that resonated with me and is something I keep in mind when writing is to keep the best for last or first so that the audience can remember those ideas and I typically use three to five main points in an essay. I always make sure to tie each of them to the thesis statement. The Roman numeral outline is a similar technique that I have used when writing papers and something that I want to continue to use as I write more speeches and will be helpful when writing outlines. Furthermore, transitions are something that I have always tried to incorporate into my writing and it’s especially important in speeches where someone is listening to you jump across ideas.
Chapter 12
There are many different ways to organize a speech and each serves a different purpose. They add effect to the speech, making it easier for the audience to follow along with the ideas. Chronological patterns explore the sequential order of main points and spatial arrangements can be used when writing about a particular place or direction. Cause and effect patterns are used to show relationships and problem-solution organization explains the problem and what can be done to overcome it. Topical patterns of arrangement follow the main points of the speech as categories, and the last one that is discussed is a narrative which tells a story. Out of all of these organization methods, I have used cause-effect, problem-solution, and narratives the most. A tip that I would like to think about when writing speeches in the future, is to blend the organizational patterns. This could be useful and add to the speech.
In Chapter 11, “Organizing the Body of the Speech,” the key takeaway is the importance of structuring the body of a speech effectively. The chapter emphasizes the simplicity of speech structure, consisting of an introduction, body, and conclusion. This fundamental structure serves as a guide for speakers to lead their audience through a coherent and impactful presentation. The significance lies in the clear delineation of the purpose of each section: the introduction establishes the speech’s relevance, the body presents the main points, and the conclusion provides closure. This understanding is crucial for speakers to effectively engage their audience and deliver a compelling message.
Furthermore, the chapter stresses the need for balance in the body of the speech. It highlights the principle of balance, emphasizing the appropriate emphasis or weight given to each part of the speech relative to the others and to the thesis. This concept is essential for ensuring that all main points receive adequate attention and evidence, preventing the speech from becoming unbalanced or disjointed. The significance of this lies in its role in maintaining the coherence and persuasiveness of the speech, ultimately contributing to the audience’s understanding and retention of the message.
In Chapter 12, “Selecting and Researching Your Main Points,” the key takeaway is the emphasis on the importance of thorough research and careful selection of main points. The chapter underscores the need to substantiate main points with examples, narratives, testimony, facts, and statistics discovered through research. This highlights the significance of evidence-based presentations, ensuring that the main points are supported by credible and relevant information. This not only enhances the speaker’s credibility but also strengthens the persuasiveness of the speech.
Additionally, the chapter provides guidance on the coordination and subordination of ideas within the speech outline. This principle is crucial for organizing main and supporting points logically, ensuring that ideas are presented in a coherent and hierarchical manner. The significance lies in the clarity and effectiveness it brings to the speech, enabling the audience to follow the speaker’s arguments and evidence seamlessly.
Overall, these chapters underscore the fundamental principles of speech organization, balance, evidence-based content, and logical structuring, all of which are essential for delivering impactful and persuasive speeches.
After reading chapter 11 and chapter 12 I had a few big takeaways. I think reading the chapters have felt like just homework for the class until reading chapter 11 and 12 after delivering my first speech. But now I can actually tie things I am doing wrong to the chapters and help me improve my speech for next time. Specifically the chapters talked about the structure of a speech, such as the introduction, body, and conclusion. The chapters also went more in depth of the importance of each of these parts. It also talked about how to deliver each of these parts. The chapters helped to decipher where to put your most important ideas and aspects of your speech to keep the audience hooked. The primary effect talked about putting your main ideas in the beginning and end so it sticks with the reader. This ties to writing an essay when you put the main idea, the thesis, of the essay in the introduction, and then you circle back to this idea in the conclusion or last paragraph of the essay so the last idea sticks with the reader. This section of the book also discussed the importance of having an organized outline. Having an outline with too many words is more like a script and that tempts the person to constantly be looking down at the outline and reading directly from it instead of engaging the audience, and keeping them hooked and interested in what you’re speaking about. Having a more organized outline and plan for your essay makes delivering it much easier. Chapter 12 also discussed the many different patterns of organizing an outline. One important aspect chapter 12 highlighted about outlines was that a good speech can’t be simply telling a story, you need to have organization and structure no matter what pattern or style you have for your outline.
Chapter eleven offered lots of helpful strategies in terms of structuring a speech. A fact that stood out to me is that audiences can only comfortably take in two to seven main points, however during speeches in a classroom the number shortens from two to five main points. Furthermore, Listeners can best recall points of the speech made at the start or end of the speech. This is called the primary effect and recency effect. This is helpful knowledge to understand because it can help a speaker find the sweet spot of the audience’s attention span. While also helping speakers understand when they should reveal their main ideas. Another highlight to the chapter is that main points should not be introducing more than one idea, if they do it should be split up into another main point. If the main points aren’t mutually exclusive to one another it can then become a sub point. These tips are simple but extremely effective in giving a professional sounding speech.
Chapter 12
Chapter twelve gave helpful organizing tips to make a speech go as smoothly as possible. When organizing a speech there are lots of different patterns to consider. This stuck out to me because it gives a lot of freedom for how you deliver your speech. There are six main types of organization highlighted in this chapter. One of these methods that stuck out to me was the problem-solution method. With this method you can juice up your main idea by telling the audience the nature of the problem, next the effects of the problem, followed by examples of unsatisfactory solutions, finally you give your proposed solution. Another point I noted is that you can blend your organizational patterns in your subpoints when necessary. This might offer some unique options when outlining future speeches. Lastly I thought the narrative pattern was interesting because it’s a way to incorporate storytelling into giving a speech. Personally, when I hear stories in a speech it grabs my attention. I’m sure these techniques will help me when i’m organizing my next speech.
Chapter 11 “Structuring the Speech” is about the organization of the three basic parts, the intro, the body, and the conclusion. The main takeaway was the importance of organizing the body of speech. To do this effectively there needs to be a pattern that you follow such as cause-effect, problem-solution, causal, chronological, or topical. Main points should be restricted to about 2-7 points to keep the audience engaged. Having too many could confuse the audience and for me having too many points will make me ramble. The main point shouldn’t be more than one idea which is different from writing an essay where you have multiple points in your introduction. This chapter made me realize that speeches are similar to essays but at the same time, many things are different. It talked about coordination and subordination which essentially make ideas flow better and emphasize the more important ideas.
Chapter 12 “Selecting an Organizational Pattern” it’s about the arrangement of the speech making it seem natural and easier to follow along. You want the audience to grasp the message you are trying to convey without boring them or confusing them. There are five different types of organizational patterns chronological, spatial, causal, topical, narrative, and problem-solution. I didn’t know there were so many types of organizational styles you could use for a speech. Thesis statements are important in getting the attention of the audience right in the beginning so they understand what message you are trying to relay. All the organizational patterns you use will have some type of thesis stating the main points you are going to be talking about.
In chapter 11, it talks a lot about how to limit the number of main points to limit the distractions of your audience. The best number of main points to keep your audience entertained is around two to five points. It explains how a main point should not introduce more than one idea and if it does then it should be broken down into two sub points to create more talking points. You should introduce each main point as a declarative sentence which strongly introduces your points and make all the main points in parallel form which brings power to your words as well as helps the sub-points build off of the main points. The most common way to outline points is by Roman numeral outlines with sub-supporting points branching off supporting points which branch off main points. It also goes through the differences between coordination and subcoordinations being that coordination is the equal weight of the points and subcoordinations being of less importance. In Chapter 12, it talks about organizing speech points using spatial patterns. This means organizing all of your points in order of how they happened, the example they use in the text is a tour. They used their thesis statement to describe where they were going and used the main points as a way to describe how they will be taking the tour and what steps they would be taking. Another pattern they describe is the cause-and-effect pattern. This shows how we arrange our points based on how they are affected by each other. An example of this was lack of funds leading to people dropping out of school. They also show the problem-solving pattern with demonstrates a problem as the thesis and the main points are different solutions that could be used to fix the problem. One of the best tips it gives is to organize categorically to help make the speech flow better since it makes no sense if your speech is about how to take care of a dog, and one of your main points is how to feed them but you include in this part what toys to buy them.
One of the most important takes aways from the beginning of Chapter 11 was the setup, or more specifically, how the roman numerals. My first speech had no outline and I found that it was really hard to follow along to it and it was super easy to get lost. This setup would really help me in the future. I also never use transition words, so my speeches don’t tend to flow out as nicely as they should. Using words like, firstly, therefore, and other words such as those, it would be more clear to my audience what my main point was and it would be easier to keep their attention rather than just simply rambling on. Between my outlines and speech content, along with transition words, the speech could have been much more efficient in its end goal. I hope to take this in to consideration for my future speeches and assignments.
22 thoughts on “JOURNAL # 4”
After reading chapter 11 I definitely learned some really good things. For starters, what the structure of a speech is. The structure includes an introduction, body, and a conclusion. All three of these have their own unique features and way to add to the speech but they work cohesively to make the speech more composed. It’s also important to highlight the “main point” in order to help back up the thesis, but make sure to have only 2-7 because science shows that you will lose your audience’s attention. The thesis should be used as a thread throughout your speech, everything should connect. You also should have supporting points which act as backup for the main points. When writing a speech outline with roman numerals, it says to have main points in roman numerals and supporting points in capital letters. It also says to assign more coordination than subordination. There was a lot of good information in this chapter, but these points are what really stuck out to me. I think now that I have read this chapter that my outlines will be more organized and cohesive to lead to a better speech.
After reading chapter 12 I think I have a better grasp on how to organize my speeches so they flow better. I did not know that there were so many different organizational arrangements but it’s good to know now. There are 5 main ones that are used most often; chronological, spatial, casual, topical, and narrative. Chronological lives up to it’s name, the points are subsequent to each other so it’s timely. Spatial arrangement comes into play when describing an area or something that has different proximities in regards to each point. Casual arrangement is used when you are explaining a cause and effect, and it goes exactly in that order (cause and then effect). Topical usually is for a less informative speech where all the points can seem as subtopics. Last but not least, narrative arrangement is a series of short stories. I think now that I know all of these arrangements my outlines will be better fit for what I am talking about. There was also a Problem- Solution Pattern for argumentative speeches but it didn’t stand out to me as much.
Chapters 11 and 12 taught me many helpful tips involving structuring my speech. Chapter 11 is about the overall structure, while Chapter 12 focuses on organizing your speech. Chapter 11 begins by discussing the three main pieces of a speech, the introduction, the body, and then the conclusion. The introduction is when you pull the audience in, the body is where you put your main points, and the conclusion is where you wrap everything up. While all three parts are equally important the body is where you present the main ideas and focus the majority of the speech. The main points are where you focus your main thoughts as you portray them in your thesis. It is important to stick to 2-7 main points so the audience does not get bored. Additionally, it is essential to use the thesis statement as a guide. Once you highlight your main points, you then must support your claims with evidence. This evidence is essential to expressing your points.
Chapter 12 is focused on the organizational pattern of your speech. There are many different types of ways to organize your speech. First, the chronological pattern of arrangement presents the sequential order of the main points. This is essential if you are discussing something that happened over some time, or even if the order of your speech is just essential to portraying your main point. The next pattern revolves around discussing your points in a spatial pattern. This is essential when giving the audience a “tour” or explaining where things may be. The next pattern talked about in the test is the problem-solution pattern, which is just explaining the problem and following it with the solution. Chapter 12 gave me insight into many ways to organize my speech. These patterns will be essential when I am attempting to produce the best possible speech for this class.
I thought talking about how many points the brain can take in was really interesting because that is something I tend to think about when listening to people present. I take note of how many topics or ideas they are trying to focus on because I can notice myself becoming overwhelmed by these topics if the speaker does not limit the things they find to be most important for us to walk away with. And while talking about main points and sub points and making them connect I started to realize that this is something I see in the books I read all of the time. I love Brene Brown and read her books all the time and that is something that she (as a researcher and presenter) is really good at doing in order to keep the reader engaged and make sure they walk away feeling like they actually learned something and can understand and explain what they just read or heard. I also continued to see the parallels between speeches and essays as there are ‘thesis’ and then there is also simply unity that needs to be had in a speech, where all of your points come together and tell the same story.
I found that reading about organizing a speech was really interesting because when I am writing I tend to have a general idea and outline of what I want to say and get down on paper but then I have to go back after and organize it and that is something that I hadn’t thought you might also have to do with a speech in order for your listener to not get confused or lost in the story. I immediately considered writing in a chronological sense but I never considered that you can also do it in other ways such a spatial which is definitely something I saw when I was on hiking tours in the Grand Canyon which makes sense as it was a visual experience that we were living through. Cause and effect and problem solving are also ways that interested me as they seem similar to the way that you might tell a story when writing a novel or watching a TED talk so it was interesting to view it in the way of speeches. I personally like to use a narrative pattern because it is the one I like to listen to most and find most engaging but I would definitely be interested in exploring the other options as well.
In Chapter 11, it establishes the key parts of a speech and the outline. The introduction is supposed to establish the purpose and relevance. The body of a speech contains the main points that fulfill the purpose. The conclusion restates the purpose, summarizes the main points, and restates the relevance of the thesis. An outline separates main and supporting ideas. Main ideas express the key ideas of the speech. They represent each of the major ideas or claims being made that support the thesis. Supporting points organize the evidence gathered to explain and justify the main points. An outline should have unity, coherence, and balance. Unity is when an outline contains only points implied by the purpose. Coherence represents organization and points are aligned logically. Balance is when there is appropriate emphasis or weight that is given to each part of the speech relative to the other parts and the thesis. Chapter 12 explains that it is important to organize speech points into 6 main patterns of organizational arrangement. Organization patterns help link points together to maximize purpose and help the audience follow your ideas. The first type is chronological pattern of arrangement, which explains topics that describe a series of events in time or develop in time with a set of patterns or tasks that can be put in chronological order. The next type of pattern is spatial pattern of arrangement. When describing the physical arrangement of a place or an object, it is suggested that the main points can be placed in order of physical proximity. The third pattern is in cause-and-effect pattern which is simply just when you take a usual form of cause and explain the effect, but there can be multiple causes and one effect or one cause and multiple effects. The problem and solution pattern are similar where the significance and nature of a problem is followed by the solution. The topical arrangement arranges the main points by subtopic and category. The final pattern is the narrative pattern which is when a speech consists of a story of multiple stories with characters, problems, and resolutions.
Chapter 11: This chapter addresses how a speech should be structured. It has three main parts, an introduction, body, and a conclusion. It is important to add main points into your speech, kind of like a claim in an essay to let the audience know what your speech will address. I learned that a main point should not introduce more than one idea which I thought was important to know because sometimes it is just easier to clump all of the points into one sentence. Supporting points should be stated within the body of a speech to give the main points evidence to back it up. Something that I thought was interesting but never thought about was that equal weight should be assigned to ideas that are coordinate and less weight to ideas that are subordinate. Finally, you want your speech to flow which is where you incorporate transitions to go from one point to the next.
Chapter 12: This chapter addresses different ways that a speech may be organized so it is not confusing to the audience. Depending on the topic, sometimes it may be beneficial to organize the speech in a chronological order if it describes a series of events. It would not make sense if the events were discussed out of order. Another organization method is for a speech that has topics which represent a cause and effect relationship. Sometimes the topics are also understood if the effects are provided before the causes. Problem-solution is another pattern for organizing. It helps the writer to organize the main points and then add a solution to them. Sometimes you may need more than two points to effectively explain the problem and solution. Speeches can also be organized by category and if storytelling comes naturally then a narrative pattern may work best. All of these are different ways to effectively organize a speech.
Chapter 11:
In chapter 11 “ A pocket guide to public speaking” it is all about how to effectively organize your speech. It covers the importance of having a clear and focused, thesis, creating an organized body that supports your main points, and wrapping up with a strong conclusion it emphasizes how to outline your ideas to make sure your messages communicated clearly and strongly. This chapter also dives into different powders. You can use to relay your information, depending on what fits your topic best. It also emphasizes the importance of transitions to help your audience. Follow along these transitions are there to help your speech thing together and that your points to go together smoothly. Lastly, the chapter also highlights how to insert examples, statistics, and own testimonies to help your main points and make the speech more convincing. If you’re prepping for speech or presentation, referring back to the examples and advice this chapter has given you were hoping, ensuring that you had all your key points in your future speeches.
chapter 12:
In chapter 12, it touches on the structure of your speech in ways of organizing your main points. This chapter talks about using chronological order, special order or problem solution order, depending on what your topic best. Additionally, each order is used to fit a certain type of speech, for example, persuasive and narrative. The pattern you using your speech really depends on the content and purpose of your message. For example, if you’re doing a more historical approach or telling a story, chronological order might be the way to go and hope your audience follows you could’ve event and understand the time on a narrative. To add on, if you’re discussing different aspects of a topic or prison in comparison using spatial order can help you organize your points in a clear and logical manner. Persuasive speeches are problem-solving discussions, the problem solution order can be super effective. It allows you to first highlight an issue, then propose a solution or a series of solutions, making your argument, more compelling and actionable.
Chapter 11: What I found most interesting in chapter 11 was the fact that an audience will only remember 2-5 main points during a speech in a classroom setting. Narrowing down the main points of your speech can significantly increase the likelihood that the audience will remember those points. I learned that it is important to either start off with your most compelling point, or end with it, because of the “primacy” effect and the “recency” effect. These effects explain that audiences have a greater tendency to remember points made at the beginning or the end of speeches. Good main points should always be followed up by supporting points, which demonstrate the importance or relevance of the main points.
Chapter 12: The various different types of organizational patterns were interesting to me in this chapter. For example the topical pattern, which allows the speaker the most amount of wiggle room in terms of organizational pattern. The speaker can state multiple main points that are of equal importance and choose which to give first. This pattern could help when considering the primacy and recency effect that was discussed in chapter 11. Another interesting point from this chapter was the idea of blending organizational patterns. For example, when talking about the history of the automotive industry, it would make most sense to organize the main points in a chronological pattern. However, it might be equally important to explain, in supporting points, why cars are still so popular today.
I believe that Chapter 11 is a very helpful and important chapter in the book because it really helps someone understand the importance of planning and organizing a speech to perfection. As someone who has had difficulties with organization in the past, I find that this whole idea of organizing main points and the idea of setting it up in an introduction, body and conclusion is super important and significant because that is what makes a speech flow properly and become more impactful. I think the concept of what makes a main point an actual main point and impactful is significant because without actual good main points, your speech is not significant. A main point should only introduce one point and not multiple ideas because then you could end up repeating yourself and that makes it seem like you are rambling. Furthermore, your main point or points should primarily show up in the thesis or introduction to show the audience at the top what your speech is about and what the point is you are trying to make. Having the audience know what your main point is at the top is a good way to keep them captivated and intrigued, because the worst thing that could happen when you are giving the speech is that you lose the audience and don’t make an impact with it. That is why main points should be the biggest priority when starting a speech or writing one, as well as making sure that the organization is clear and concise.
On the other hand, in regards to Chapter 12, this chapter has very similar subject matters and topics to Chapter 11, but the biggest difference is that it talks more about patterns in constructing a speech and how to organize those patterns in a way that it can affect the reaction and emotions of your audience. Organizing a speech to the best of your ability captivates your audience and keeps them on track. Organization of a speech can come across as kind of confusing but if you truly think about it, you can fully grasp the idea and put the organization into effect after you come up with the main points you need to make your speech work well. Furthermore, one of the things that stuck out to me about this chapter as a whole was the idea of using a chronological pattern to arrange all your ideas and main points. For example, if your speech is talking about historical events, whether it be in your life or on the spectrum of history, it would work a lot more if the events you are referring to are in chronological history to help your speech flow better, as well as helping the audience understand your story better. If it is a personal speech, it is much more effective if your events are less scattered and more in order to truly captivate the audience. You can’t just throw a bunch of events in and expect it to line up, it requires actual skill and procedure to set it up properly and make it flow better. Overall, the chronological order and arrangement of the speech is important to make it flow and make it make sense, and that is what I think.
Chapter 11 talks about the importance of structuring a speech, as it should have an introduction, body, and conclusion paragraph. I found it interesting that the speech should only have between 2 and 7 main points. However, when I kept reading it made sense to me because the speaker will lose the attention of the audience. I feel like this happened to me during my first speech, I had too many topics I was trying to talk on. I also found it interesting how coordination and subordination play a vital role in the flow of the speech. I never thought about how certain points should receive more weight because they are coordinated. However, it makes sense because it makes the speech have a more focused topic and is clear. Next time I go to outline my speech I need to make sure that it has unity, coherence, and balance in order to be more effective.
Chapter 12 talks about the importance of organization when it comes to speeches in order for the audience to understand what the speech is about. I found it interesting that studies confirm that the way ideas are organized affects your audience’s understanding of them. I found it interesting that different ways speeches are organized have specific pattern names, such as the spatial pattern of arrangement, which is used when describing the physical location of somewhere. I did not realize that specific organization patterns have names to describe them and specific reasons why it is organized that way. I also learned that topical arrangement gives the most freedom when it comes to organizing points in the sequence you want done. This is important because it allows me to know what type of organization is going to fit the speech the best. If I am giving a speech that is more of a story then I know to use the narrative pattern structure or if I am trying to show the relationship between two things, to use the cause-effect pattern structure.
When reading Chapter 11, I was surprised by how different the structure of a speech must be compared to my own. I created my structure to have one main point, then 3 or 4 sub-points that relate to the main point, and then do the same for the next few main points. However, reading chapter 11 has shown me that structuring a speech is so much more than that. My sub-points need sub-points and everything that I talk about has to lead up to one main point. There can’t just be more than one. I was also surprised by the idea that you have to make parallel points and compare what you are talking about to someone else. For Chapter 12, I was surprised to see how there were different forms of giving a speech. To me, they all feel the same and can get their point across while also keeping the audience engaged. I didn’t think that there were actual names for these different forms of public speaking. One of the patterns that the chapter talks about is narrative speaking. Talking about events in order just makes sense to me and I had felt like it was common sense. However, I can understand that people may gloss over that fact and mix the dates around in the wrong order which can throw people off.
Chapter 11 discussed how one should structure their speech. It talked about how there are three major parts to a speech; the introduction, the body, and the conclusion. This stood out to me because it reminded me that a speech, when you think about it, is basically an essay. I think making the speech seem less “big” in my head helps calm me down when I think about public speaking. It reminded me of the advice they give you before interviews for pageants; interviews are just conversations across a table. A speech is just an essay that you’re reading out to people. The part of chapter 12 that stood out to me was the idea of organization. I think my last speech was a bit unorganized, and I enjoyed reading this chapter because it gave me great tips on how to organize my speech so it is easier for my audience to understand. Tips such as arranging my points chronologically, and using a problem-solution approach. Overall, these two chapters made me feel more prepared for our next speech, and I’m planning to use some of what I have read to improve my next attempt at public speaking.
The main topic of chapter eleven was structuring the speech. A speech is like an essay, you need an introduction, body, and conclusion. An important takeaway from this chapter is that when giving a speech you should try and reduce the number of main points. If your speech is on a bunch of different main points, it may be very hard for your audience to hear and understand what you are saying. As opposed to if you have somewhere around 2-3 main points your speech should be a lot easier to follow and understand. Another big takeaway that I got from this chapter was “save the best for last”. Listeners have the best recall of things said at the beginning and end of the speech due to the primary and recency effects. Ending your speech with a conclusion tht summarizes the main points can be very helpful for listeners to grasp the whole point of your speech.
The main topic of chapter twelve was the selecting and organizing pattern of your speech. Without organization in your speech, it can be very difficult to piece together your points as the speaker, as well as the listener being able to piece your speech together too. An important takeaway from this chapter was how many patterns can be used for organization in a speech. Those patterns include a chronological pattern of arrangement, spatial pattern of arrangement, casual pattern, problem-solution pattern, topical pattern, and narrative pattern. I knew that there were many ways to organize a speech but was not aware that there were this many! Another big takeaway that I got was how interesting the spatial pattern of arrangement was. I think giving a speech and talking about experiencing a place from the moment you walk into the door can be very interesting to listen to as well as perform a speech on it.
Chapter 11 spoke about how the structure of the speech should be written. There should be an intro where you talk about what the speech is going to talk about, then the body which you go into detail of what your speech is about. Then is the conclusion which brings closure to the speech by restating the topic, purpose and summarizing the main points. It also explained how to use transitions to go onto another topic. Chapter 12 explains the organizational pattern of the speech and which pattern you should choose for the speech you write. There are 6 different types of patterns. There is chronological, spatial, cause-effect, topical, problem-solution, and narrative pattern. They are all different ways of delivering a speech depending on what type of speech you are giving. You want your speech to blend and flow as it is being spoken. Topical pattern I feel is the most used pattern as it is when you have a topic and you present it as an essay with an intro, body and a conclusion. That’s where organization also comes in, in the patterns. You must have your speech in order and not have it go from one thing to another.
Chapter 11: A speech is composed of three main parts, an introduction, the body, and the conclusion. You should keep your body organized by using main points, it is recommended that you use two to five main points, in order to keep your speech concise and to the point, and keep your listeners engaged. When writing your main points, put the most important one to you either first or last, people tend to remember the beginning or the end of your speech rather than all the details you spoke about in the beginning. You can use supporting points to further add details about a main point in your speech, but be careful it is not a point that should be its own main point. Also, make sure that you give each main point the same amount of talking time and supporting points to show that it is equally important. Use transitions to help move from one point to the next, it helps with the flow of the speech and maintains a sense of naturalness in your speaking.
Chapter 12: organization in speeches is really important, having things chronologically helps the speech seem more like a story you are telling. And allowing your speech to have flow will keep the audience engaged. If you are talking about multiple locations, keep everything about each location near each other in the speech. You can also use a cause-and-effect pattern to help prove your points and add emphasis to certain parts by showing the effect of something, whether positive or negative. This can work similarly to how it can be really impactful to the audience if you state a problem or question, then immediately follow it up with a proposed solution.
Journal 4
One of the takeaways I got from reading chapter 11 is that the audience will lose interest in a speech if it contains too many main points. The research says to keep your number of main points between 2 and 7. Another takeaway about main points is that each of your main points should be different and stated grammatically similar in style. I relate to this because when I’m listening to someone give a speech and it’s really long I find myself easily losing interest. A takeaway that I liked in chapter 12 was at the beginning where it discussed organizational arrangements. It makes sense that if you organize your points into a pattern it will be easier to keep the audience interested. I agree with this point as well because I find when I give a speech I like to have it organized so that I don’t miss a topic I wanted to cover.
Chapter 11
For the number of speeches I have heard, it hasn’t occurred to me that the structure is so similar to writing an essay. There’s the introduction where the audience is hooked and the topic is established, the body that expresses the main points, and the conclusion that ties it all together. In addition to this, there is a lot to be included within this structure to have an effective speech. A tip that resonated with me and is something I keep in mind when writing is to keep the best for last or first so that the audience can remember those ideas and I typically use three to five main points in an essay. I always make sure to tie each of them to the thesis statement. The Roman numeral outline is a similar technique that I have used when writing papers and something that I want to continue to use as I write more speeches and will be helpful when writing outlines. Furthermore, transitions are something that I have always tried to incorporate into my writing and it’s especially important in speeches where someone is listening to you jump across ideas.
Chapter 12
There are many different ways to organize a speech and each serves a different purpose. They add effect to the speech, making it easier for the audience to follow along with the ideas. Chronological patterns explore the sequential order of main points and spatial arrangements can be used when writing about a particular place or direction. Cause and effect patterns are used to show relationships and problem-solution organization explains the problem and what can be done to overcome it. Topical patterns of arrangement follow the main points of the speech as categories, and the last one that is discussed is a narrative which tells a story. Out of all of these organization methods, I have used cause-effect, problem-solution, and narratives the most. A tip that I would like to think about when writing speeches in the future, is to blend the organizational patterns. This could be useful and add to the speech.
In Chapter 11, “Organizing the Body of the Speech,” the key takeaway is the importance of structuring the body of a speech effectively. The chapter emphasizes the simplicity of speech structure, consisting of an introduction, body, and conclusion. This fundamental structure serves as a guide for speakers to lead their audience through a coherent and impactful presentation. The significance lies in the clear delineation of the purpose of each section: the introduction establishes the speech’s relevance, the body presents the main points, and the conclusion provides closure. This understanding is crucial for speakers to effectively engage their audience and deliver a compelling message.
Furthermore, the chapter stresses the need for balance in the body of the speech. It highlights the principle of balance, emphasizing the appropriate emphasis or weight given to each part of the speech relative to the others and to the thesis. This concept is essential for ensuring that all main points receive adequate attention and evidence, preventing the speech from becoming unbalanced or disjointed. The significance of this lies in its role in maintaining the coherence and persuasiveness of the speech, ultimately contributing to the audience’s understanding and retention of the message.
In Chapter 12, “Selecting and Researching Your Main Points,” the key takeaway is the emphasis on the importance of thorough research and careful selection of main points. The chapter underscores the need to substantiate main points with examples, narratives, testimony, facts, and statistics discovered through research. This highlights the significance of evidence-based presentations, ensuring that the main points are supported by credible and relevant information. This not only enhances the speaker’s credibility but also strengthens the persuasiveness of the speech.
Additionally, the chapter provides guidance on the coordination and subordination of ideas within the speech outline. This principle is crucial for organizing main and supporting points logically, ensuring that ideas are presented in a coherent and hierarchical manner. The significance lies in the clarity and effectiveness it brings to the speech, enabling the audience to follow the speaker’s arguments and evidence seamlessly.
Overall, these chapters underscore the fundamental principles of speech organization, balance, evidence-based content, and logical structuring, all of which are essential for delivering impactful and persuasive speeches.
After reading chapter 11 and chapter 12 I had a few big takeaways. I think reading the chapters have felt like just homework for the class until reading chapter 11 and 12 after delivering my first speech. But now I can actually tie things I am doing wrong to the chapters and help me improve my speech for next time. Specifically the chapters talked about the structure of a speech, such as the introduction, body, and conclusion. The chapters also went more in depth of the importance of each of these parts. It also talked about how to deliver each of these parts. The chapters helped to decipher where to put your most important ideas and aspects of your speech to keep the audience hooked. The primary effect talked about putting your main ideas in the beginning and end so it sticks with the reader. This ties to writing an essay when you put the main idea, the thesis, of the essay in the introduction, and then you circle back to this idea in the conclusion or last paragraph of the essay so the last idea sticks with the reader. This section of the book also discussed the importance of having an organized outline. Having an outline with too many words is more like a script and that tempts the person to constantly be looking down at the outline and reading directly from it instead of engaging the audience, and keeping them hooked and interested in what you’re speaking about. Having a more organized outline and plan for your essay makes delivering it much easier. Chapter 12 also discussed the many different patterns of organizing an outline. One important aspect chapter 12 highlighted about outlines was that a good speech can’t be simply telling a story, you need to have organization and structure no matter what pattern or style you have for your outline.
Casey Jordan
Journal 4
Chapter 11
Chapter eleven offered lots of helpful strategies in terms of structuring a speech. A fact that stood out to me is that audiences can only comfortably take in two to seven main points, however during speeches in a classroom the number shortens from two to five main points. Furthermore, Listeners can best recall points of the speech made at the start or end of the speech. This is called the primary effect and recency effect. This is helpful knowledge to understand because it can help a speaker find the sweet spot of the audience’s attention span. While also helping speakers understand when they should reveal their main ideas. Another highlight to the chapter is that main points should not be introducing more than one idea, if they do it should be split up into another main point. If the main points aren’t mutually exclusive to one another it can then become a sub point. These tips are simple but extremely effective in giving a professional sounding speech.
Chapter 12
Chapter twelve gave helpful organizing tips to make a speech go as smoothly as possible. When organizing a speech there are lots of different patterns to consider. This stuck out to me because it gives a lot of freedom for how you deliver your speech. There are six main types of organization highlighted in this chapter. One of these methods that stuck out to me was the problem-solution method. With this method you can juice up your main idea by telling the audience the nature of the problem, next the effects of the problem, followed by examples of unsatisfactory solutions, finally you give your proposed solution. Another point I noted is that you can blend your organizational patterns in your subpoints when necessary. This might offer some unique options when outlining future speeches. Lastly I thought the narrative pattern was interesting because it’s a way to incorporate storytelling into giving a speech. Personally, when I hear stories in a speech it grabs my attention. I’m sure these techniques will help me when i’m organizing my next speech.
Chapter 11 “Structuring the Speech” is about the organization of the three basic parts, the intro, the body, and the conclusion. The main takeaway was the importance of organizing the body of speech. To do this effectively there needs to be a pattern that you follow such as cause-effect, problem-solution, causal, chronological, or topical. Main points should be restricted to about 2-7 points to keep the audience engaged. Having too many could confuse the audience and for me having too many points will make me ramble. The main point shouldn’t be more than one idea which is different from writing an essay where you have multiple points in your introduction. This chapter made me realize that speeches are similar to essays but at the same time, many things are different. It talked about coordination and subordination which essentially make ideas flow better and emphasize the more important ideas.
Chapter 12 “Selecting an Organizational Pattern” it’s about the arrangement of the speech making it seem natural and easier to follow along. You want the audience to grasp the message you are trying to convey without boring them or confusing them. There are five different types of organizational patterns chronological, spatial, causal, topical, narrative, and problem-solution. I didn’t know there were so many types of organizational styles you could use for a speech. Thesis statements are important in getting the attention of the audience right in the beginning so they understand what message you are trying to relay. All the organizational patterns you use will have some type of thesis stating the main points you are going to be talking about.
In chapter 11, it talks a lot about how to limit the number of main points to limit the distractions of your audience. The best number of main points to keep your audience entertained is around two to five points. It explains how a main point should not introduce more than one idea and if it does then it should be broken down into two sub points to create more talking points. You should introduce each main point as a declarative sentence which strongly introduces your points and make all the main points in parallel form which brings power to your words as well as helps the sub-points build off of the main points. The most common way to outline points is by Roman numeral outlines with sub-supporting points branching off supporting points which branch off main points. It also goes through the differences between coordination and subcoordinations being that coordination is the equal weight of the points and subcoordinations being of less importance. In Chapter 12, it talks about organizing speech points using spatial patterns. This means organizing all of your points in order of how they happened, the example they use in the text is a tour. They used their thesis statement to describe where they were going and used the main points as a way to describe how they will be taking the tour and what steps they would be taking. Another pattern they describe is the cause-and-effect pattern. This shows how we arrange our points based on how they are affected by each other. An example of this was lack of funds leading to people dropping out of school. They also show the problem-solving pattern with demonstrates a problem as the thesis and the main points are different solutions that could be used to fix the problem. One of the best tips it gives is to organize categorically to help make the speech flow better since it makes no sense if your speech is about how to take care of a dog, and one of your main points is how to feed them but you include in this part what toys to buy them.
One of the most important takes aways from the beginning of Chapter 11 was the setup, or more specifically, how the roman numerals. My first speech had no outline and I found that it was really hard to follow along to it and it was super easy to get lost. This setup would really help me in the future. I also never use transition words, so my speeches don’t tend to flow out as nicely as they should. Using words like, firstly, therefore, and other words such as those, it would be more clear to my audience what my main point was and it would be easier to keep their attention rather than just simply rambling on. Between my outlines and speech content, along with transition words, the speech could have been much more efficient in its end goal. I hope to take this in to consideration for my future speeches and assignments.