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Just ask any president and his speechwriters: Good speeches are achieved through hard work. They don't simply spring forth, wholly and beautifully formed, like a freshly printed book. The good news is that anyone can do the work it takes to write a good speech -- you just need to know the right steps. They are:
- Gather facts
- Build a strong presentational structure
- Develop effective visual aids, written handouts, and other supporting materials
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Whether you plan to make an informational or a persuasive presentation, you'll need to come to the table with some supporting evidence. That means you may need to do some preliminary research. You'll also need to make careful selections of what research findings you present.
Your goal should be to make sure you provide your listeners with factual, compelling evidence that will ground your assertions in the real world. However, you should be careful not to overload your audience with endless reams of meaningless numbers, or complex research that does not speak directly to the two to five points you have decided to convey.
At its best, evidence is the material that gives your subject life. Selected and used judiciously, it will:
- Clarify your position and main ideas
- Support the truth of what you're saying
- Create a memorable impression
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Types of evidence |
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A well-designed presentation should contain many different kinds of supporting evidence; combining different types of evidence will strengthen your argument. However, you should always make sure you clearly integrate all your evidence into the main body of your presentation. Evidence supports arguments, but doesn't do much when it stands alone.
A few types of supporting evidence you can use in a presentation include:
- Facts and figures: Information that can be verified by an outside source.
- Statistics: Data explaining something in terms of size or frequency. Statistics are powerful; however, they can be easily manipulated. When evaluating statistics, always consider the source. Compare your statistics to others -- seek multiple sources -- to ensure they are accurate. When presenting statistics, quote the statistic completely, and use only current information.
- Statements by authority: Quotes from experts. If the person you're quoting from is not well known, provide his or her credentials along with her quote.
- Testimony: Supporting statements by others. Testimony can be expert, prestige, or lay. Expert testimony has the same authority as statements by authority. People held in high esteem, including well-liked politicians, business personalities, or even actors, are often quoted for prestige testimony. Lay testimony (from an average person with no professional credentials) is often used to show that a problem or issue is identifiable, prevalent, and of concern to others.
- Narratives: Examples in the form of a story. Narratives should have a beginning, middle, and an ending, and should be interesting without including unnecessary details.
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Once you've determined the most important issues to illuminate during your speech, the next thing you'll need to do is identify a good organizational structure. The structure of your argument will depend primarily on your objective. If your purpose is to inform, you'll use the body of your presentation to describe your topic and demonstrate how it relates to your audience. If your goal is to persuade, you'll use the body of the presentation to define the problem and offer your solution.
You should also try to organize the body of your presentation in a manner that makes sense for your subject. In fact, most subjects naturally lend themselves to a particular structure.
The most common organizational patterns are:
- Topical: Use this structure when several ideas relate to your theme; each distinct idea becomes a main point. This structure is useful for informative speeches.
- Chronological: This structure is useful for both informative and persuasive speeches, both of which require the presentation of background information.
- Problem/Solution: In this structure, you outline a problem (for instance, the fact that privacy regulations have changed) and then present a solution (ways your company's privacy policy can be modified to meet new requirements). This structure is useful for persuasive speeches.
- Cause/Effect: In this structure, you describe the cause of a particular challenge, then outline its real-world effects and ways you can mitigate them. This structure is useful for persuasive speeches. For instance, the challenge might be that customers are increasingly concerned about privacy. The result might be that they are less willing to buy online. Methods for addressing that problem might include better customer communications and increased protections.
Your particular topic may lend itself to more than one structure, so be sure to consider alternate structural approaches before deciding which one is best. If you are, say, giving an informative speech on how to build the perfect bookshelf, you can organize your presentation chronologically or topically. In the chronological arrangement, you'll describe the sequence of actions necessary to build the bookshelf. In the topical arrangement, you might cover three main ideas, such as materials and tool selection, building and finishing the shelves, and proper cleanup and storage of your materials.
Note: Whatever organizational structure you choose, make sure to stick with it throughout your presentation.
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Both visual aids and handouts help audiences engage with the material you cover.
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Visual aids |
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Visual aids offer critical reinforcement for both your main points and your supporting evidence. They can also act as a memory spur to help you stay on track when you're standing in front of your audience.
There are a variety of visual aids, including:
- Photographs and slides
- Sketches
- Maps
- Graphs and charts
- Objects and models
- Films or videotape
As you create a structural outline for your presentation, imagine how you might use visual aids to stimulate your audience's attention and underline your main point. Used well, visual aids:
- Enhance understanding of the topic
- Add variety
- Support your claims
- Reinforce your ideas
- Give your presentation lasting impact
Tip: Used poorly, visual aids become distractions that upstage the presenter and bury the message. The Do It section includes a variety of tips for creating effective visual aids.
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Handouts |
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Handouts are great, because your audience can review them later. Unlike the other delivery systems for visual aids, you can include a substantial amount of information in a handout. Consider distributing handouts at the end of your presentation so you won't have to compete with the handouts for your audience's attention. If you'd prefer to use the handout as a presentation guide and plan to refer to the handout during your presentation, use the same guidelines you'd use for all other visual aids.
Tip: You'll find out more about creating effective visual aids and handouts in the next section.
If you want to offer a handout at the end of your presentation, consider using the final draft of your structural outline as that handout. It should lay out all of your main points -- as well as your key supporting evidence -- clearly, simply, and coherently.
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Printable version
