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OPN Speakers
Bureau
Orientation & Training |
Week 4 Lesson
Organize Your Speaking Outline
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After you have researched and found
credible evidence (see week 3’s lesson) you
are ready to organize your ideas into a speaking outline. |
To help you create your speaking
outline, this week’s lesson covers:
·
Organizing all your information
·
Planning for the challenges of oral delivery
·
Keeping the words on your outline to a minimum
·
Outlining the body of your speech
·
Outlining your introduction and conclusion
·
Adding transitions
·
Planning your visual aids
Before your put your outline on paper,
you’ll need to organize all the evidence you’ve gathered.
Organize Your Information
When you put together your own
knowledge with the evidence you’ve researched, all those details may seem
overwhelming. This section briefly
walks you through the organizing process, which will help you sort the information.
First, as a result of your
brainstorming and research you might decide to revise your purpose or
topic. Even if your goals are the same,
you might want to adjust your main points.
Now is the time to make those adjustments. Just keep your team posted.
After you have confirmed your purpose,
topic and main points, you are ready to support your main ideas with evidence.
·
Review all your information: Go over all
of your details and evidence in one sitting.
If possible, spread out the information on a large table so you can see
it all at once.
·
Evaluate the best evidence: As discussed last week, choose evidence and
sources that best satisfy your purpose and audience.
·
Eliminate the rest:
For many speakers the hardest part about organizing is cutting out great
information. However eliminating extra
material will help speakers to
ü Stick to their
planned purpose and main points
ü Avoid
repeating what other speakers are saying
ü Meet time
expectations
·
Assign evidence to key points: The best evidence should be allocated to the
respective main points.
·
Create a speaking outline: Once you’ve grouped the evidence you want to
discuss, you are ready to build the outline you will use to speak.
Plan for Oral Delivery
Planning a speech outline works a lot
the same as planning an outline for a written report. As a matter of fact, those of you who chose the legislative
hearing for your speaking event can easily use your speech outline as the
structure for your written statement.
Still, there are some differences between
oral and written channels that we need to account for in our speech outline.
UNDERSTANDING ORAL VS. WRITTEN
CHANNELS
A communication channel is a method of
delivery. Oral channels and written
channels have different pros and cons.
|
Channel |
Advantages |
Disadvantages |
|
Oral (speech, telephone
conversation, etc.) |
+Provides more nonverbal feedback +Provides immediate feedback +Reduces misunderstandings +Builds connection with audience +Feels more personal +Persuades more |
-Retention of details is low -No permanent record -Inconsistent message distribution -May be costly and/or time consuming |
|
Written (email,
letter, etc.) |
+Conveys details effectively +Provides a permanent record +Distributes message in a consistent
& cost effective manner +Audience can read or reread at
their own pace |
-Missing or delayed feedback -Limited nonverbal information -Time consuming to prepare -Less personal quality |
I ask for four volunteers and then
explain the rules: the goal is to pass along three instructions; no repeating
yourself; no asking questions. Three of
the volunteers go out to the hallway and close the classroom door. I read three instructions to the first
student. Each instruction will have at
least three details, usually a name, time and activity. For example: ·
Take Sasha to soccer practice at 4:30 p.m. ·
At 10:00 a.m., pick up Janelle from school. ·
Make chicken and rice for dinner at 6:00. The first volunteer then brings the
next volunteer into the room and repeats what s/he can remember of the
message. The process continues until
the last volunteer repeats the three instructions to me. Typically, the last person is lucky to get
two or three of the nine details correct. The process repeats itself with a
similar set of instructions that is passed around on paper. Of course the final volunteer can tell me
every detail of the three instructions, because they can be read off the paper. We discuss the advantages and
challenges of oral channels and realize that people don’t remember what they’ve
heard very well. In fact, studies
suggest adult recall is less than 25% of the message after only 24 hours. In this exercise, I created the instructions
to exaggerate the retention problem: ·
Lots of details all at once ·
Information not presented in a logical order ·
Phrasing was inconsistent ·
Uncommon names were used If the issues above make it harder for
the audience to remember, let’s take a look at ways to make it easier for your
audience to remember your speech content. ENHANCING ORAL COMMUNICATION You can help your audience better
understand and remember your message by planning the following into your speech
outline and delivery. ·
Preview and review your points: If you want your audience to store your
information in their memory banks, then you need to tell them where to put
it. Previewing your main points in the
introduction will give them a framework on which they can hang the details. Reviewing your points in the conclusion will
reinforce your message. Remember the
three T’s: 1) Tell them what you are going say (intro); 2) Tell it to them
(body); 3) Tell them what you told them (conclusion). ·
Use repetition effectively: Restate key phrases or “sound bites” (e.g.
“sign up at www.OhioPatient.net”, “marijuana is safe medicine”, “miracle
marijuana”, etc.). Repeating important
sound bites at least three times will help your audience remember. ·
State points clearly: Clearly state your main
ideas. A common mistake of beginning
speakers is to forget to say the main point out loud when delivering the
speech, which causes audience confusion. ·
Present your ideas in a logical order: Organizing your ideas in a way that the
audience will find logical will help your listeners understand your message
better. ·
Use common terms:
Use language that your audience can easily understand. Minimize and explain unfamiliar jargon (e.g.
say Ohio Patient Network instead of OPN).
Rather than trying to impress the audience with complicated words, express
yourself as simply and clearly as possible. ·
Make clear transitions: If your preview is a map of where you are going, transitions let
the audience know when you are turning. Just a few well placed words will tell
your listener when you are moving to a new idea. Good transitions (e.g. “now that we’ve reviewed…”, “another
benefit is…”, “by contrast…”) also clarify how one point relates to the next. ·
Use a visual aid:
Reinforce your spoken words through visual aids. If practical, give the audience a handout so
they have a permanent record of key information. Minimize Words on Your Outline One question my students often ask is
“How much detail should I have on my outline?”
The answer is simple: just enough details to keep you on track. To promote maximum eye contact and connection with your
audience, you should keep the number of words on your outline to a
minimum. List your main points and
important details (percentages, dates, names…) that you will talk about. The more experienced you become as a
speaker, the less information you will need on your outline. To help you keep the word count low
use: ·
Key words only:
Avoid full sentences. Since
using more words actually makes it easier to loose your place, try to use only
1 – 7 words per line. ·
One idea per line:
Don’t be afraid to press the return key. For clarity and ease of reference, give each idea or piece of
evidence its own line. ·
Clear structure: Prepare an introduction, body and
conclusion for your speech. Within each
of those sections, indent for main points and sub-points. You are welcome to use an alpha-numeric
style outline (I, III, A, B, 1, 2, etc.), but you don’t have to. Be sure your structure is clear and
consistent through the outline. Check
out a sample outline format. Now that you know some outlining
basics, let’s start by outlining the body of your speech. Outline the Body of Your Speech I’m one of those people who likes to outline
what I’m going to say, then go back and outline how I will introduce it. If you are a person who likes to hammer out
the introduction first, by all means do so. The body is the main part of the
speech. In the body, you discuss your
main points and explain your details and evidence. The body of the speech should take up about 75 – 85% of your
speech time. In other words, if you
are giving a 10-minute speech, about 8 minutes should be the body. The remaining time will go to the
introduction and conclusion (discussed next).
Note that these guidelines relate to
total speech time. If you will be
answering audience questions after your speech, count that time separately. ORGANIZING YOUR MAIN IDEAS You’ve already decided which main
points you want to use, now it’s time to order them. As mentioned above, placing ideas in a logical order will help
your audience remember them. Most audiences will find your
organization logical if you follow one of these informative speech patterns: ·
Chronological:
If appropriate, order your points by year, date or time (e.g. history of
MJ prohibition). ·
Spatial:
Some topics can be discussed in order of physical location or direction
(e.g. MMJ affect on different parts of the body). ·
Size: Some topics can
be organized by size (e.g. 2.5 mg., 5 mg., 10 mg.). ·
Importance: If your main ideas don’t fall into a
logical order, then order your ideas based on their importance. Since people remember best what you said
first and what you said most recently, place your most powerful points first
and last. To get the best persuasive results,
consider organizing your content using one of these persuasive speech
patterns: ·
Action appeal:
This four-part strategy includes:
1) Gain attention by stating a thought-provoking question, startling
fact, etc. 2) Build interest by
explaining facts, details, and benefits (direct & indirect). 3) Reduce resistance by anticipating and
overcoming objections. 4) Motivate
action by making a specific yet simple action request. (Good for actuating) ·
Comparative advantages: Compare your solution with several alternatives. Show how your plan is better than
others. Great when your solution
competes with other proposals (e.g. MMJ registration cards vs. affirmative
defense vs. no defense). (Good for convincing) ·
Criteria satisfaction: Identify a problem and set up criteria that define a good
solution. Choose criteria that the
audience will accept and that favor your plan (e.g. protect patients, safeguard
children, minimize theft). (Good for
convincing) ·
Problem/solution:
Define the problem in objective terms. State a clear, reasonable
solution. Emphasize the benefits the audience will receive from the
solution. Overcome audience objections.
(Good for convincing) ·
Motivated sequence: This five-part persuasive speaking
strategy is famous in the speech biz.
But really it’s just a variation on the problem – solution pattern. 1) Attention: capture the audience with a
disturbing story and focus on the topic.
2) Need: make the problem clear and show how it affects
decision-makers. 3) Satisfaction:
Propose a solution and overcome objections.
4) Visualization: use positive
imagery to portray the future, emphasizing audience benefits. 5) Action: state specific behavior that you
desire; make it easy to respond. (Good
for actuating) Once you have outlined your main
points (i.e. the big picture of your speech), you are ready to add in the
evidence that goes with each point. SUPPORT EACH IDEA After you’ve gone through the
organizing process discussed above, you will have a good idea about what
evidence you will be using to support each point. Using single words (e.g. Marinol) or
short phrases (e.g. no lethal dose), add your supporting evidence to your
outline under the appropriate main points.
Once you have added the details, consider the following criteria and ask
yourself the related questions: ·
Relevant: Is my evidence the best for my
audience and purpose? ·
Sufficient: Do I have enough support to satisfy
my audience? ·
Variety:
Have I used a variety of evidence (e.g. true stories, research
statistics, etc.) ·
Balance: Is the quantity of information for
each point fairly balanced? ·
Referenced:
Have I included a brief reference to my source? ·
Concise:
Can I cut any empty words off my outline? After outlining the body of your
speech, you may need to make adjustments.
Perhaps more evidence is needed for a point or two. Maybe you have too much information for your
time limit. Maybe the outline has too
many words. Once you are satisfied with the body
of your speech, you can go back and plan your introduction. Outline Your Introduction The saying “first impressions count”
is especially true when giving a speech.
Next week, we’ll talk about how our appearance sends a message before a
word ever leaves our mouth. For now,
let’s focus on making the most of the first words we will speak. Since getting the speech started is
the hardest part, you should plan exactly what you want to say to open the
speech. You could even write part or
all of your first sentence on your outline just to get your first words flowing
on speech day. Be careful not to write
out more than a sentence, because too many words will cause you to look down,
rather than at the audience. You’ll want
to start your speech with strong eye contact, so you can build a connection
with your audience right away. Your introduction should be
brief. Only about 10 – 15% of your
speech time should be spent in the introduction. In other words, if you plan a 10-minute speech, plan about a
1-minute introduction. Don’t go into
detail in your introduction – that is what the body is for. You might be asking what should I do in the
introduction? Well you have five goals
for your introduction (order can vary): 1.
Gain your audience’s attention: Use a powerful opener that is relevant to
the body of your speech (e.g. brief story, audience question, startling
statistic, etc.). 2.
State your purpose: Let your audience know what your
speech is about. NOTE: If your audience
is resistant and doesn’t already know your position, you can defer your
persuasive purpose until after you’ve explained your evidence. 3.
Preview the main points of your speech: Give the audience a map of your speech to
help them better understand and remember.
Don’t give details, just a quick overview of points. 4.
Establish your credibility: To maximize your impact, mention your
qualifications and experience up front.
NOTE: You should also work in
brief mentions of your experience through the whole speech. 5.
Transition to body:
Let the audience know when you are beginning your first point. Outline Your Conclusion Whereas your introduction offers you the chance to start
on the right foot, the conclusion gives you the chance to finish with a flourish. Your conclusion will leave a lasting
impression, so make it good. You can
consider writing out your closing sentence, but not your whole conclusion. Connection with the audience is critical at
this time. The conclusion should be even briefer than
the introduction. Allocate about 5 –
10% of your speech time for the conclusion (i.e. less than a minute out of
10). Avoid new evidence and details in the
conclusion. If the information wasn’t
important enough for the body, then it’s not important enough for the
conclusion either. Your four goals for the conclusion are: 1.
Transition from the body: Letting your audience know you are nearing
the end will give them a sense of closure. 2.
Reinforce your purpose: Make a final appeal to your audience. 3.
Review your main points: Briefly overviewing your main ideas and logic will help your
audience remember your speech content. 4.
Finish strong:
Leave a powerful, positive, confident final impression on your
audience. Preferably relate your closer
back to the opener you used in the introduction. Add Transitions to Your Outline Since good transitions help your
audience to follow your movement through ideas as well as your logic and
reasoning, you can include brief transitions on your outline. Besides the transitions from the
introduction to the body and the body to the conclusion, you should also use
transitions between your main points. Some common methods of transition
include: ·
Announce the beginning of a new idea (now, I’d like to
discuss… my next point is…) ·
Show chronological order (before… after… while… finally… next…) ·
Contrast ideas (on the other hand… in contrast… however…) ·
Complement ideas (in addition to… another…) ·
Summarize the point (to restate… in other words… and so…) ·
Draw conclusions (thus… therefore… so it follows that…) Plan Your Visual Aids If possible, try to use at least one
visual aid in your speech, because visual aids: ·
Grab the audience’s attention ·
Help you clarify complicated ideas ·
Emphasize important points ·
Reinforce your oral message Your analysis of the your speaking
event, especially the facilities, will drive your visual aids options. If the facility has power equipment,
you may be able to use ·
PowerPoint slides ·
Overhead projectors ·
Audio or video recordings Beware technology.
For example, computers may not run the way you expect, programs might
not load properly, or the VCR might not recognize that your tape has
sound. These examples are real. I know because they all happened to me at
least once. Test your visual aids on
the equipment, if possible days before you will speak, if not then before you
start. Always have a backup plan. If your speaking facility is outside
or without equipment, you can ·
Provide copies (i.e. ¼-page OPN flyers) ·
Enlarge your information onto a poster (e.g. chart or graph) ·
Show a sample (e.g. bottle of Marinol) ·
Wear a uniform (e.g. nurse’s uniform can be used to show
credibility) When planning your visual aids,
·
Pick the best content to support your speech’s purpose. Avoid content that is cute but not related. ·
Choose a method of delivering your visual aid that is visible to
everyone in the audience (e.g. provide a copy for everyone, use a large poster,
or project your visual on a screen). ·
Create professional quality visual aids. ·
Note your visual aids on your outline, so you remember to
reference them during your speech. ·
Minimize disruption to your speech. Avoid passing around visuals
while you are talking. ·
Practice your speech with your visual aids. Know where you will put your visuals until
you need them, when you will introduce them, what you will say about them, and
what you will do when you are done with them. Effective visual aids will help your audience to better
understand and remember your speech content. Now that we have reviewed the
processes to organize our information and create a speech outline, it’s time
for you to build your own outline.
Complete this week’s activity, which
asks you to create your speaking outline and plan your visual aids. Speaker Training
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