Speech Preparation : Don’t Skip the Speech Outline

This article describes how to support your core message with a speech outline, and provides numerous examples. This is the second step in the six-step speech preparation process.

Writing an outline is, unfortunately, a step that many skip. The most common excuse is simply “No time.” This is unfortunate because time spent on an outline is time well spent. It is necessary to ensure that you craft a coherent and focussed presentation.

Writing a Speech Outline

An outline is a blueprint for your presentation.

• It highlights the key logical elements. i.e. what points are being made to logically support the core message?
• It highlights the key structural elements. e.g. introduction, body, conclusion, stories, high-level concepts
• It links these elements together in a sequence, perhaps allocating very rough timings.
• It can also map out the transitions between elements, although this may be deferred to a later stage of preparation.
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Basic Speech Outlines

“An outline is a blueprint for your presentation.”

The basic speech outline template for structural elements is:

1. Introduction
2. Body
3. Conclusion

Similarly, the basic speech outline template for logical elements is the familiar advice:

1. Tell them what you’re going to say
2. Tell them
3. Tell them what you’ve said

Put these together, and you have the start of a generic speech outline:

1. Introduction — Establish topic and core message; list supporting points
2. Body
1. Supporting Point One
2. Supporting Point Two
3. Supporting Point Three
3. Conclusion — Recap main points; summarize core message; call-to-action

It is surprising how well this simple 3-part outline template works for a wide range of speech topics. Incidentally, this same basic formula can be seen in novels, short stories, movies, plays, reports, business briefings, emails, memos, and many other forms of communication.

Thank you.

A Detailed Speech Outline

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This page explains how to make a detailed outline of a speech. It should be remembered that depending on the type of speech, the outline may vary. However, if you base your speeches on this outline you should be able to make a successful speech.

In order to make a detailed and useful outline you must understand the structure of a speech. The basic structure of a speech and how to make a simple outline has been explained on another page. On that page it was shown that there are three main parts to a speech; The Introduction, The Body, and The Conclusion. These three parts can be further broken down. The structure of these three main parts can be seen in the outline below.

A presentation outline is a way to organize your material logically and clearly. You should make an outline before you start to write a speech. In fact the writing of a speech comes towards the end of the speech creation process (see '11 Steps to Creating a Speech'). By using a presentation outline, you can "see" your speech and determine where you need to add or revise information. It provides the structure for the introduction, body, and conclusion of your speech. In addition, it can serve as your speaking script.

This outline consists of Four parts; The Header, The Introduction, The Body, and The Conclusion. Before you start writing your speech you should make an outline using these 4 headings and their sub headings.

1. Header

Topic

Decide on your topic.

Audience

Analyze your audience. What do they already know about your topic? Are they interested in the topic?

Refine and limit topic

Based on your analysis of the audience you may need to slightly change you topic, by either changing the focus, or the scale of the topic.

Purpose Statement

Write down a clear statement of what it is you intend to achieve. What is the purpose of your speech.

For example; The purpose of this speech is to inform the audience how to travel in Japan without spending to much money.

Organizational Method or Pattern

There is no single way to organize a speech. The pattern you will select will be determined by the information you have and the specific purpose you want to achieve. There are six basic patterns for organizing a speech:

§ Logical or topical

§ Chronological

§ Spatial

§ Classification

§ Problem-Solution

§ Cause-effect

Once you have completed these five parts of the 'Header', you are then ready to start planning the speech itself.

2. Introduction

Greeting and Attention getter

How will you greet the audience? How will you get the audience's attention? Think of a sentence that will make the audience sit up and listen.

Thesis Statement

The 'purpose statement' is where you simply state what your goal is. However, it is not possible to use this in the speech. You need to convert it to a 'thesis statement'. A thesis statement is one sentence in the introduction in which you declare your purpose and topic.

For example, a thesis statement of the above purpose statement would be; 'Traveling in Japan need not be an extravagance.'

Credibility

If the audience do not know who you are, you will not only need to introduce yourself, but you will also need to 'establish your credibility'. This means you will have to explain to the audience why you are 'qualified' to speak about the subject.

Outline of main the points - overview

What are your main points?

Why?

Tell your audience why you think your presentation will be useful to them.

3. The body

Transition

Think of a sentence that will make it clear to the audience that you have finished the introduction, and are now about to start the body of the speech.

Main points and ideas

Main ideas	Supporting ideas	Details & Examples	Visuals
Write your main points and ideas here	What ideas will you tell the audience to support your main points?	What details or examples do you have?	Will you have any visuals to help explain your points?

main ideas = sub-topics

supporting ideas = sub-sub topics

evidence = details and examples

4. The conclusion

Transition

Think of a sentence that will make it clear to the audience that you have finished the body and are now coming to the end of the speech.

Restatement of main points

Summarize your main ideas and think of which piece of information you really want the audience to remember.

Closer

Think of a final sentence to help the audience remember your speech.

Note that the presentation outline is not a word-for-word script for the speech but an outline of ideas to serve as an organizational and presentation tool for the speaker.

Once you have finished the outline you are then ready to start writing.

Copy this into a word processor document, and use the headings to make your own outline for your demonstration speech.

Thank you.

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Good Sample Speech Outline

The sample speech outline below will help clarify what you want to say as well as help organise your material.

Read the page through to familiarise yourself with the terms and the process.

An outline forms the foundation of any successful speech as it guides you logically and sequentially through all the aspects you need to consider before you write.

When completed well it saves you time and helps avoid any anxiety caused by inadequate preparation.

The process is broken down into 4 steps:

• Preparation:- deciding on your topic, considering the audience, refining your topic to suit them, deciding on the purpose of the speech and the organisational method you will use

• Introduction:- opening greeting and attention getter, defining your thesis statement (a summary of what your speech is about) establishing your credibility, an overview and the benefit to the audience

• Body:- transition or link between introduction and body, main ideas with supporting ideas, examples and details

• Conclusion:- summary of main points and closer or call to action

Sample Speech Outline - Step One - Preparation

Topic - decide what you are going to talk about

Audience - consider who will be listening to you and what aspects of your topic is best suited to meet their needs

Refine or Limit Topic - reframe in view of your audience -decide on the angle you will take and whether or not you need to limit the scope

Define Purpose - Is it, for example, to persuade, inform, demonstrate, entertain, or welcome? Is it a combination of these?

Organisational Pattern or Method - There are 6 basic organisational patterns or methods of arranging the body of your material. Choose the one most appropriate for your need.

These are:

• Cause - Effect Because event A happened, event B occurred.

• Problem - Solution The problem is X. The solution is Y.

• Logical This pattern suits a broad topic which is broken down into naturally occurring sub-topics.
  Example:- Broad topic: Vocal Variety Sub-topics: rate of speech, use of pausing, voice tone, volume, articulation...

• Spatial or Geographic Topics dealing with physical space. Example:- The popular tourism areas in New Zealand

• Time or Chronological Historical topics dealing with the sequence of events or demonstration speeches, for example, how to bake a cake

• Advantage - Disadvantage For examining the range of positive and negative aspects to an idea or event

Sample Speech Outline - Step Two - Introduction

• Greeting - Attention Getter - How are you going to greet your audience, grab their attention and compel them to listen?

• Thesis Statement - A one sentence summary of your speech topic and your point of view or angle.
  Example:- Green politics is no longer a fanciful, fringe fad. It is a neccessity.

• Credibility - Establishes your right to speak on the topic, cites your qualification or expertise

• Summative overview - Brief outline of the main points to be covered

• Benefit - What's in your speech for your audience? Why will they want to hear what you've got to tell them?

Sample Speech Outline - Step Three - Body

• Transition - the link between your introduction and the main body of your speech.
  
  
  
• Main Idea 1 - Supporting ideas - Details and examples - Visuals or props - Transition to...
• Main Idea 2 - Supporting ideas - Details and examples - Visuals or props - Transition to...
• Main Idea 3 - Supporting ideas - Details and examples - Visuals or props - Transition to...

Sample Speech Outline - Step Four - Conclusion

• Summary of main ideas - from body of speech

• Re-statement of thesis statement - from introduction

• Re-statement of benefit to audience - from introduction

• Closer, Clincher or Call to Action - final sentence

Thank you.

Variants or Examples of Speech OutlinesVariants or Examples of Speech Outlines

Example: Story-based Outline

Some people believe that stories are the best building blocks for speeches. For example, in The Story Factor (Annette Simmons), the author claims that storytelling is the key to business communications.

1. Attention grabbing opening which introduces the topic and core message
2. Tell a story.
• Make a point
3. Tell another story.
• Make another point.
4. Tell another story.
• Make another point
5. Memorable conclusion which ties together all three stories to support the core message.

Example: Scientific Conference Talk Outline

The outline for many scientific talks mirrors the scientific method:

1. Define the problem needing a solution
2. Describe the hypothesis which will explore one aspect of the problem
3. Describe the experiment performed to test the hypothesis
1. Detail 1 — schematic
2. Detail 2 — photograph
3. Detail 3 — description
4. Show the data collected and subsequent data analysis
1. Data analysis 1 — chart
2. Data analysis 2 — chart
3. Data analysis 3 — table
5. Draw conclusions relating back to the hypothesis
6. Suggest future actions

Example: Community Association Meeting Speech Outline

1. Story to introduce the symptom (e.g. vandalism)
2. Use facts and evidence to trace back to the core problem (e.g. lack of “safe” activities for youth)
1. Statistics
2. Reports
3. Interviews
3. Suggest a solution
1. Budget
2. Volunteers
3. Stakeholders
4. A strong call-to-action motivating the audience to join the cause

Example: Business Proposal to Investors

1. Be direct: “Invest $___ for %___ of the shares”
2. Story to illustrate the need for the product XYZ
3. Story to describe the vision of how product XYZ improves lives
4. Demo of product XYZ
1. Benefit #1 (focus on benefits, not features)
2. Benefit #2
3. Benefit #3
5. Invest now and make product XYZ possible
1. Story illustrating strength of the team
2. Market analysis
3. Financial projections
6. Repeat call-to-action: “Invest $___ for %___ of the shares”

Other Speech Outline Writing Tips

“When sequencing your outline points, try to avoid random order. Seek and extract the meaningful relationship.”

Note that all of these speech outline examples are appropriate for a short six to ten minute speech. Longer time windows will obviously allow for more detailed outlines.

You may be able to customize one of the generic speech outline formats for your speech; more likely, you will need to craft your own to fit your situation. A few other things to consider:

• The granularity of your outline should be roughly one outline point per minute of speaking time, perhaps less for lengthy presentations.
• For presentations which are complemented with slides, your outline might include slide concepts, but no finer details.
• Remember that your presentation is much more than your set of slides. Your outline should reflect your speaking elements which the slides complement.
• When sequencing your outline points, try to avoid random order. Seek and extract the meaningful relationship.
• Chronological – e.g. a biographical speech
• Spatial – e.g. an entertaining travel speech
• Cause-effect – e.g. speech relating crime rate to drug use
• Low to high importance – e.g. reasons to exercise
• Broad vision to specific details – e.g. a management speech outlining new company direction
• Your outline is not the same as cue cards, but they are related (if you use cue cards). An outline contains high-level speech elements; cue cards might additionally contain selected speech details e.g. transition phrases, key words/phrases, key numbers, or punch lines.

Speech Outline Example — Face the Wind

Here is the original outline that I put together for the Face the Wind speech. Comments follow which represent my thinking at the time of writing the outline.

1. Opening humor – connect with audience as typical home owner
2. Story #1 – Backyard tree battle
• “Strong roots… strong tree”
• Foreshadow: neighbour’s monster tree falling
3. Story #2 – Winter storms knock over many trees
• National news (trees falling on houses), but our house okay
• Arborists: “Wind came from a different direction”
• Establish key analogy – Trees cannot face the wind.
4. Story #3 – Baby Maximus
• Michelle and Lance have strong roots
• Maximus is born
5. Conclusion
• Call-to-action: “We must face our problems”

Comments on Face the Wind Outline

At the outline stage, I set up many key elements of the speech. I determined the three main stories, planned humorous opening, identified a few key phrases to incorporate, established contrast (tree/people), used a metaphor (roots of people), and concluded with a call-to-action.

Opening – I wanted to open with humor to offset the drama later in the speech. Also, I wanted to connect with the audience as a homeowner as many in the audience are also homeowners.

Story #1 – I wanted the first story to establish the “strong roots… strong tree” connection. By establishing that trees have strong roots, it makes the fact that they were toppled in the storm (story #2) more dramatic.

Story #2 – This story was essentially an expansion of the “wind came from a different direction” theory of arborists that I picked up several months prior from my friend. The fact that trees cannot face the wind is the key analogy in this speech, although the audience doesn’t know it yet.

Thank you.

Speech Outline Example

Topic of your speech: Your specific purpose statement: Do you want to persuade a fact, value, or policy?
Problem Solution Speech Preparation Outline	Problem Cause Effect Speech Outline
INTRODUCTION
Attention Device Tie to The Audience Build Credibility Preview
BODY
Describe the problem Give examples, statistics, severness, effects, size, who is affected, why should they care?
Present a solution to the problem. Why is your solution the best? What changes in policy you are proposing? Offer expert testimonies, examples, illustrations etc.	Show the cause. Describe the current situation and proof it with reliable evidence.
Tell what the most obvious disadvantages or objections are. Deal with these speech topics carefuly.
What do you want them to do or change? What is your call for action?	Present the effects of the causes.
CONCLUSION
Review the headings of the problem, (cause), solution (and or and effect) Memorable Closer Concluding Device
Works Cited: Library and internet sources used to write this speech preparation outline. Thank you.

How to Write an Outline

What is it?

An outline is a general plan of the material that is to be presented in a speech or a paper. The outline shows the order of the various topics, the relative importance of each, and the relationship between the various parts.

Order in an Outline

There are many ways to arrange the different parts of a subject. Sometimes, a chronological arrangement works well. At other times, a spatial arrangement is best suited to the material. The most common order in outlines is to go from the general to the specific. This means you begin with a general idea and then support it with specific examples.

Thesis Statement of Summarizing Sentence

All outlines should begin with a thesis statement of summarizing sentence. This thesis sentence presents the central idea of the paper. It must always be a complete, grammatical sentence, specific and brief, which expresses the point of view you are taking towards the subject.

Types of Outlines

The two main types of outlines are the topic outline and the sentence outline. In the topic outline, the headings are given in single words or brief phrases. In the sentence outline, all the headings are expressed in complete sentences.

Rules for Outlining

1. Subdivide topics by a system of numbers and letters, followed by a period.

Example:

I.

A.

B.

1.

2.

a.

b.

II.

A.

B.

2. Each heading and subheading must have at least two parts.

3. Headings for parts of the paper of speech such as, Introduction and Conclusion, should not be used.

4. Be consistent. Do not mix up the two types of outlines. Use either whole sentences of brief phrases, but not both.

Examples

Topic Outline

Choices in College and After

Thesis: The decisions I have to make in choosing college courses, depend on larger questions I am beginning to ask myself about my life’s work.

I. Two decisions described

A. Art history or chemistry

1. Professional considerations

2. Personal considerations

B. A third year of French?

1. Practical advantages of knowing a foreign language

2. Intellectual advantages

3. The issue of necessity

II. Definition of the problem

A. Decisions about occupation

B. Decisions about a kind of life to lead

III. Temporary resolution of the problem

A. To hold open a professional possibility: chemistry

B. To take advantage of cultural gains already made: French

Sentence Outline

Choices in College and After

Thesis: The decisions I have to make in choosing college courses, depend on larger questions I am beginning to ask myself about my life’s work.

I. I have two decisions to make with respect to choosing college courses in the immediate future.

A. One is whether to elect a course in art history or in chemistry.

1. One time in my life, I planned to be a chemical engineer professionally.

2. On the other hand, I enjoy art and plan to travel and see more of it.

B. The second decision is whether to continue a third year of French beyond the basic college requirement.

1. French might be useful both in engineering and travel.

2. Furthermore, I am eager to read good books which are written in French.

3. How necessary are these considerations in the light of other courses I might take instead?

II. My problem can be put in the form of a dilemma involving larger questions about my whole future.

A. On the one hand I want to hold a highly-trained position in a lucrative profession.

B. On the other hand I want to lead a certain kind of life, with capacities for values not connected with the making of money.

III. I will have to make a decision balancing the conflicting needs I have described.

A. I will hold open the professional possibilities by electing chemistry.

B. I will improve and solidify what cultural proficiency in another language I have already gained, by electing French.

Thank you.