Toastmaster Speech Manual Number
Apply Your Skills
Bring together and apply the communication skills you have learned in
the proceeding projects
* To organized your speech
in a logical manner, following one of the suggested outlines.
* To research the facts needed you
support your speech
* To make personal evaluation of
* TIME: five to seven
In the preceding
projects, you're acquired a variety of speaking skills and have received helpful
evaluations on your efforts. Now you will put these experiences together and se
how much you learned in the Communication and Leadership Program. This project
calls for you to use all the skills you're learned in Toastmasters and apply
them to a well constructed and well-delivered speech. This speech should be
carefully organized as described below. To make it effective, you'll also need
to do whatever research is necessary to support your statements.
Developing an Outline
Every good speech must be planned and arranged in
an orderly fashion. Even if you're using the best material possible, your
effectiveness will be lost if you don't organize the speech carefully. We've
already looked at the basics of speech organization in Project 3. Now, we will
take a more detailed approach.
You can arrange a speech in many ways,
depending upon the subject and the occasion. However, ever good speech uses a
basic three-part format:
- The opening.
body , or argument of the speech.
Within this basic structure
are a variety of approaches. Several are offered here, and many others are also
useful. You should use all and all can be adapted to different subjects. The
characteristic they have in common is that they lead listeners, step by step,
from lack of knowledge or interest in a subject to an informed conclusion. They
key phrase here is " step by step ".
The first variation on the basic
opening-body-conclusion method is the AIDA outline. This approach is taught to
many salespeople, and it can be applied to anything you are "selling"
whether it be ideas, objects, or action. The outline is:
|A - Win their attention
I - Arouse their
D - Create a desire
A - Stimulate action or agreement
The second approach was
designed by Richard C.Borden, a speech professor at New York University. Its
four steps represent the listeners' reactions to what you are saying.
||Ho-Hum. This corresponds to your
introduction. The audience is sitting back, expecting to be bored.
It's up to you to make them sit up and listen.
||Why Bring That Up? You must build a
bridge to carry the audience. Show that your subject is important, and
relate it directly to the interests of your listeners.
Instance. Give the audience
concrete evidence - illustrations, facts, and stories. Start your
This is the call for
action. Tell listeners what you want them
to do as a result of your speech. Be specific, and finish
A third approach is the
Problem-Cause-Solution outline. It fits in especially well with a talk on
community or social subjects.
The outline might be used in this form:
|Research the Subject |
The first step in constructing this is to choose a
subject that is significant for your listeners. This subject should be
represented by a vigorous, lively speech title. Next, concentrate your efforts
around a specific purpose for you speech. Determine how you want your audience
to react and plan your speech toward that end.
With your speech purpose in mind, begin
research. You may need information from library, the newspaper, or someone who
is knowledge on the subject. Make this the most thoroughly researched
presentation you've ever given. Concentrate on supporting all your points with
specific facts, examples, and illustrations, rather than just your own opinion.
Build a logical, rational basis for the effect you want this speech to produce
among your listeners.
Now, select one of the three outlines above:
AIDA, Borden, or Problem-Cause-Solution. Use the selected outline as a framework
for your speech. In future talks, you may use any type of outline you wish, but
for this project you should gain experience in one of the three supplied
Preparing Your Talk
Begin building on the outline by planning an introduction that
will attract the interest of the audience and point toward the development of
the main ideas. Among the possible approaches to introduction are:
|- A question or statement that
immediately brings the group into your talk.
- An appropriate story,
illustration, or quote.
- A reference to a common human exp
After your introduction,
organize the body of your speech around the appropriate outline. Your goal in
this portion of the speech is to develop three or four main ideas, with
supporting facts and examples, in a step-by-step progression which leads your
listeners to your pre-planned finish.
Finally, present your conclusion forcefully.
The conclusion should clearly contain the purpose of your speech and should
stress specific responses you want from the group. Strong ending include:
|- A summary of points you have made, showing how
they add up in support of your purpose.
- A definite appeal for listener's action, with
supporting material to motivate the action.
- A story, quotation , or example that illustrates
|Presenting the Talk |
Now you're ready to deliver a well-constructed speech to your
audience. Memorize the opening and use the outline you have selected as an
organizational tool to help you keep the speech points in the proper order.
If you're been using notes for your speeches,
now is a good time to speak without them. Since this speech is constructed along
a well-defined outline with a logical progression from beginning to end, you
should find it easy to take that last step and abandon your notes.
If you would feel more confident, however,
write a brief speech outline on a card and place it face down on the lectern.
Don't turn it over during the talk unless you obviously have to. You'll probably
be pleasantly surprised at your effectiveness without written notes.
|Your Evaluation |
This project is intended to be a milestones at which you
consider your progress. You should apply all the skills and knowledge you have
gained in Toastmasters and make this your best effort.
The central focus of this project is speech
construction. In addition, your evaluator will be looking at the way you deliver
the talk, to see that you see the techniques covered in the preceding six
But don't become so involved with structure
that you forget about meaningful content in your speech. Make sure that your
speech is of value to the audience before you spend time researching and