Why is important for a speech to be well organized?

Have you had this experience? You have an instructor who is easy to take notes from because he or she helps you know the main ideas and gives you cues as to what is most important to write down and study for the test. And then you might have an instructor who tells interesting stories, says provocative things, and leads engaging discussions, but you have a really hard time following where the instruction is going. If so, you already know that structure makes a difference for your own listening. In this chapter we will examine why that is true and how you can translate that type of structure to your own speeches.

Table of Contents Show

What is an organized speech?
How to create an organized speech
1. Establish your thesis
2. Conduct research
3. Find the major points
4. Determine delivery method
5. Outline the presentation

Significant psychological and communication research has been done about how an audience needs and desires clear organization in a speech as they listen. Those sources are listed in the references at the end of the book, but they are summarized here.

First, as we listen, we have limits as to how many categories of information we can keep in mind. You have probably heard that this number of items or categories is seven, or as one source says, “seven plus or minus two” (Miller, 1956; Gabriel and Mayzner, 1963; Cowan, Chen, & Rouder, 2004). In public speaking, to be on the safe side, the “minus two” is advised: in other words, you should avoid having more than five main points in a speech, and that would only be for a speech of some length where you could actually support, explain, or provide sufficient evidence for five points.

For most speeches that you would give in class, where you have about 5-7 minutes, three points is probably safe territory, although there could be exceptions, of course. It is also acceptable for short speeches to just have two main points, if doing so supports your specific purpose. That last phrase is bolded for emphasis because ultimately, your organization is going to depend on your specific purpose.

Secondly, the categories of information should be distinct, different, and clear. You might think about organization in public speaking as having three steps. These steps are grouping, labeling, and ordering (putting into a good order). Before you can label your main points clearly or put them in the right order, you have to group your information.

Here we might use the analogy of having a yard sale at your home, something you might have done or helped a family member to do. The first step, before putting up signs or pricing items, is to go through your closets and garage and creating “piles” of items: what you want to sell, what should probably just be discarded, what you want to keep but store elsewhere, what you might want to give away. Then you take the “sell” pile and separate it into categories such as children’s items, tools, kitchen items, furniture, etc. This second phase of sorting items is so you can put them outside on your lawn or driveway in a way people expect to see items and would be more likely to buy. You would probably not sort items by color or size, although you could. It’s just that your customers are not looking for “blue” items or “big” items as much as they are looking for kitchen items, baby clothes, or furniture.

Researchers have found that “chunking” information, that is, the way it is grouped, is vital to audience understanding, learning, and retention of information (Beighly, 1954; Bodeia, Powers, & Fitch-Hauser, 2006; Whitman & Timmis, 1975; Daniels & Whitman, 1981). How does this work in practice? When you are doing your research, you look at the articles and websites you read and say, “That information relates to what I read over here” and “That statistic fits under the idea of . . .” You are looking for similarities and patterns. That is exactly what you do when you group anything, such as the items at a yard sale, where you group according to customer interest and purpose of the items. Finally, if a piece of information you found doesn’t fit into a group as you do your research, it may just not belong in the speech. It’s what we would call “extraneous.”

A good example of this principle is if you are doing a demonstration speech. It may or may not be required in your class but is the kind of speech you may be called upon to do in your future work. For example, a nurse may be teaching patients how to do self-care for diabetes, or a computer trainer may be showing how to use software. The temptation is to treat the procedure as a list of steps, which may number as many as twenty or thirty steps.

There are very few times we can remember a list of twenty or thirty items. Yes, you learned the alphabet of 26 letters when you were a child, or all the state capitals, but you have probably forgotten how long it took. Plus, you probably learned a song to help with the alphabet, and you also did not understand the point of the alphabet; it was just something you did with other children or to please your parents. In the case of the state capitals, you probably used flashcards or memory aids.

Adult learning and listening is different. We need information “chunked” or grouped into manageable categories. So, instead of listing twenty or thirty discrete steps in the process you are demonstrating or explaining, you would want to group the steps into three to five logical categories to help the audience’s reception and retention of the message, using the separate minor steps as “subpoints.”

Finally, because your audience will understand you better and perceive you as organized, you will gain more credibility as a speaker if you are organized, assuming you also have credible information and acceptable delivery (Slagell, 2013; Sharp & McClung, 1966). Yun, Costantini, and Billingsley (2012) also found a side benefit to learning to be an organized public speaker: your writing skills will improve, specifically your organization and sentence structure. This was no surprise to one of the authors, whose students often comment that they were able to organize their essays and papers for other classes much better after learning good organization principles for speaking.

This preview shows page 1 - 3 out of 5 pages.

Career development
How To Write an Organized Speech

By Indeed Editorial Team

Updated May 6, 2022 | Published April 26, 2021

Updated May 6, 2022

Published April 26, 2021

Related: How to Overcome a Fear of Public Speaking

In this video, Jenn, a certified Career Coach, explains the common causes of a fear of public speaking.

When giving a speech, it's important that the material is coherent and delivered in an organized fashion. If you have a presentation in need of a rewrite, it helps to understand the process of creating an organized speech and how it can help you. In this article, we discuss what an organized speech is and offer tips on how to improve your presentation.

Related: How To Give a Memorable Speech

What is an organized speech?

An organized speech conveys information to an audience to inform, persuade or entertain them. A well-organized speech is complete, concise and accurate with an introduction, body and conclusion. It should be presented in such a way that the audience can easily understand what you are telling them.

Organizing your speech will take time, preparation and practice. Your efforts, however, can pay off since an audience is more likely to remember information from speeches that are clearly organized. By practicing your presentation, you can communicate more effectively by focusing on what you want your audience to hear rather than on what you are going to say.

Related: 18 Strategies To Improve Your Public Speaking Skills

How to create an organized speech

Here are steps to enhance the clarity of your message and deliver a powerful and effective idea to an audience.

1. Establish your thesis

The thesis is the main idea in a speech. It helps create a solid message that audiences can follow throughout the presentation. When creating a thesis, it may benefit from being short and succinct. Most often, an effective thesis is no more than two sentences.

For example, if you're creating a presentation on the effects of hiring more marketing professionals, your thesis statement might read, "Hiring additional employees for the marketing department can help the company increase its advertising productivity and overall revenue.”

Related: How To Write a Thesis Statement (With Tips and Examples)

2. Conduct research

Once you've established your thesis, you can conduct thorough research on the topic and gather information and materials that support your argument or claim. Consider using facts, data and other material from a variety of sources including case studies, interviews, statistics and more. The more detailed information you have to support your thesis statement, the easier it can be to create an effective speech for your audience. If your research conflicts with your thesis argument, consider re-examining your statement and adjusting it if necessary.

Research may provide you with a personal story to include in your speech. For example, if you discovered that hiring short-term employees was more effective than hiring full-time personnel, your speech could include an anecdote such as, "When I first started, I believed that hiring full-time employees was the most beneficial choice for the company. Through my research, I discovered that hiring freelance employees for a short time is a better option for the company."

Related: Research Skills: Definition and Examples

3. Find the major points

Find the major points for your presentation by looking through your research and picking out three facts or pieces of information that best support your thesis. This information can help you create the key points of your speech's body, outline it more efficiently and allow listeners to understand the message more easily. As you develop your outline, understand how each point contributes to your thesis and how you can support it by using other facts and statistics from your research.

4. Determine delivery method

Determining the delivery method of your speech can help you outline your speech and create an effective presentation. When deciding on which delivery method to use, determine what methods are available and how they can benefit your oral address. Delivery methods include:

Sequential order: Sequential order is one of the most common types of speech delivery methods. It sets up the presentation’s major points in the introduction and talks about them one at a time in the order you've established.
Problem and solution: The problem and solution method involves first establishing a problem that the audience is facing and then providing the solution using your thesis. Some presentations might even address a different problem with every major point and reiterate how the thesis solves each one.
Compare and contrast: The compare and contrast method uses unique ideas and relates them to a thesis statement establishing how the thesis is the best idea overall.

5. Outline the presentation

Outlines can be an important part of creating, practicing and presenting a powerful speech. They help to organize thoughts and supporting material and ensure the chosen delivery method is the most effective choice. There are two types of outlines that speechwriters frequently use when crafting their presentation:

Read more: FAQ: What Is an Outline Used For?

Preparation outline

A preparation outline is a document used when initially creating a speech. It can help with structuring a presentation’s key points and finding the most efficient way to present them to an audience. This type of outline can also help identify if any points lack evidence to support your claims and if further research is required.

When creating a preparation outline, organize the information in the order it will be delivered including transitions from point to point. It can also be beneficial to write out major points and supporting evidence using complete sentences. This can help you identify how the speech flows and if there are areas that need further adjustment or fixing.

Speaking outline

The speaking outline is a document that lists the major points in a speech using brief descriptive language. . When giving a speech or presentation, using a speaking outline rather than a written script helps the presentation feel more natural and conversational. This can allow audiences to connect with the material more easily.

As you create a speaking outline, write out the pertinent information for each point as a short bulleted list for helpful reference. If you've already written a full preparation outline, consider using that as a starting point for the speaking outline by reducing some of the information into shortened sentence fragments.

Practicing the speech with a speaking outline can help you determine its length and how it flows during an oral presentation. When practicing, consider asking a colleague or friend to listen to the speech to see if they understand the thesis and the major points. Ask them for feedback and see if there's anything you should change or add to improve the presentation.

Related: 13 Types of Speeches