How to Write an Informative Speech for Public Speaking

Being a university professor of public speaking as well as a public relations professional, I have seen how a poorly written informative speech will decrease a speaker's credibility resulting in less people listening the message. The ultimate goal of an informative speech is to convey knowledge and help the audience better understand your communication message. Knowing how to construct an effective informative speech will benefit anyone trying to communicate information in the classroom, business sector, military and nonprofit industry.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Paper and pencil OR word processing software on a computer
• Valid external sources used to support the speech's central idea (i.e., scholarly journal articles, government numbers, newspaper articles, interviews, books )

1. 
    
   What is your message?

   The first step is to decide an appropriate topic. Remember that an informative speech does not advocate a political position, cause, way of thinking or action to take. Think of yourself as a teacher who will be simply presenting the facts in an objective way. If you are stumped for a topic, a great place to look for topics is in the mass media. Look for what is being heavily covered and then speak about some related aspect. This ensures that you find a topic that may already be on the minds of your audience.

2. Next, you should decide on how you would classify your speech. Most public speaking courses divide informative speeches into four categories: (1) speeches about events, (2) speeches about objects, (3)speeches about concepts, and (4) speeches about processes.

3. 
    
   What is your goal?

   Once you decide on the category, you must then develop your specific purpose. Depending on your course structure and theoretical perspective, your specific purpose will either be "speaker-centered" or "audience-centered." If it is speaker-centered, then your specific purpose will usually begin as, "To inform my audience about..." in contrast to an audience-centered speech which typically begins, "At the end of my speech, I want my audience to ..." Determining your specific purpose is important since it will guide you during the speech writing process so that you stay focused on what you hope to accomplish with the speech. It will ensure that you do not stray too far off the topic and discuss irrelevant material that will make your communication message less clear.

4. 
    
   How will you order your speech?

   It is now time to begin your outline. How you organize your outline will depend on your speech's classification.
   
   If it is a speech on an event, you could use a "chronological" order in which you talk about incidents in the order that they actually occurred. If your specific purpose pertains to showing how some event led to something, then you could use a "causal" order. The most common format of causal order is to go from speaking about the cause first, and then moving to the effect. A third option is choosing a "topical" order in which you can talk about event aspects in any logical order.
   An example of when you would use topical would be if you chose to inform your audience about the many events in a high school track meet (pole vault, 100 meter dash, etc.).
   
   If you speech is about an object, then you can adapt a "topical" or "chronological." Another way to arrange an informative speech about an object is to use a "spatial" order. This is most common if you are describing a region on a map. Here, you might discuss the north part first, then move to the south, and finally talk about the east and west portions of a geographic region.
   
   If you choose to give an informative speech over a "concept," then your order choice is rather limited. Most speakers will choose the "topical" order since you want to precisely spell out the main aspects and characteristics of your concept.
   
   Finally, if you choose an informative speech on a "process," then your choices are generally limited to the orders of either "chronological" or "topical."

5. 
    
   Sources, sources, sources.

   After you have decided on your appropriate order, you should always utilize external sources in order to back-up your central idea and main points. Make sure you either verbally cite these sources or include the sources in your PowerPoint slides, while you are presenting. Remember that it is important to have credibility in whatever setting you are giving an informative speech.

6. 
    
   Don't forget basic speech elements.

   Remember to include all of the following parts in your outline: Attention-getter, establishment of ethos, preview of what you will talk about, main points and their sub points, summary in conclusion, memorable ending as well as the transitions you will use to move from topic to topic.

Tips & Warnings

• A key to public speaking is to always relate your material to the audience. What is interesting for your, may not be interesting for somebody else. Once you choose a topic, find out how it relates to the target people in your audience.
• Get some background information on your audience before you decide on a speech topic. Your audience may already know a lot about your subject. Your audience may get offended if you do not prepare for such a possibility. If you are speaking to an organization, find out what their interests/goals are. Always cater your topic to your audience.
• Make sure your speech is not too abstract. Personalize your speech by relating it to your own experiences or using other examples from everyday individuals. You can get around abstraction by using description that appeals to our five senses.
• Avoid expert language. Do not use language that is too technical or jargon that only experts in that field would understand. A good ideas is to have somebody, who does not know anything about your subject, read your outline and see if anything is unclear. See if that person understands your message.

[ceholmes]

on 8/11/2009 I was on the speech team in high school and these are excellent points on how to write a public speaking speech. Once you are confident with the content, it is easy ot remember and is easy to articulate confidently! 5* and recom

[labellefleur100]

on 3/21/2009 Great advice! Combination of research, practice, and confidence! 5*

[Delaplane]

on 3/21/2009 Great advice!

[sneilsen]

on 3/20/2009 Nice Job! 5*

[elyria]

on 3/20/2009 Excellent advice and well written article! 5* and gave you a recommendation!