Toastmaster Speech Manual Number Seven
Apply Your Skills
| Objectives |
* To Bring together and
apply the communication skills you have learned in the preceeding projects
* To organized your speech in a logical
manner, following one of the suggested outlines.
* To research the facts needed yo support your
speech
* To make personal evaluation of your progress
* TIME: five to seven minutes
|
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:
1. The opening.
2. The body, or argument of the
speech.
3. The conclusion. |
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 interest
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.
| 1 |
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. |
| 2 |
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. |
| 3 |
For Instance. Give the audience concrete evidence -
illustrations, facts, and stories. Start your listeners thinking. |
| 4 |
So What? This is the call for action. Tell
listeners what you want them to do as a result of your
speech. Be specific, and finish forcefully. |
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:
1. The problem is...
2. The problem is caused by...
3. Some solutions are...
4. The best solution is...
|
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 throughly researched presentation you've ever given.
Concentrate on supporting all your points with specific facts, examples, and ilustrations,
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 formats.
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 experience. |
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 your appeal. |
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 projects.
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 organizing it.