Organizing and Outlining your Speech

Summary

In this instructional video, the presenter guides viewers through creating a speech outline, utilizing a template and sample outline. The focus is on organizing a speech effectively, covering aspects like determining main points, organizing them, and crafting a thesis statement. The video emphasizes the importance of an engaging introduction, credible citations, and clear transitions between main points. It also stresses the significance of an impactful conclusion that resonates with the audience, ensuring they remember key points. The presenter uses the topic of domestic cats to illustrate the process, making it relatable and practical.

Takeaways

• 😺 The video provides a tutorial on creating a speech outline using a template.
• 📝 The outline includes sections for title, general purpose, specific purpose, central idea, main points, introduction, body, and conclusion.
• 🐱 The example speech topic is 'Domestic Cats', aiming to inform the audience about cats as pets.
• 📊 The importance of organizing main points in a logical order is emphasized, with methods like chronological, spatial, and topical organization discussed.
• 📈 The video highlights the significance of an attention-getter at the beginning of a speech to capture the audience's interest.
• 🗣️ The presenter stresses the need for credibility by citing sources and sharing personal experiences or expertise.
• 🔗 Transitions are crucial for guiding the audience through the speech, connecting one main point to the next.
• 📝 The body of the speech should include support for each main point, with facts, statistics, or personal anecdotes.
• 🏁 The conclusion should summarize main points, relate back to the audience, and provide a memorable closing statement.
• 📖 The outline concludes with a works cited page, emphasizing the importance of proper citation for research used in the speech.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the video?

The main purpose of the video is to guide viewers through creating a speech outline using a provided template and to review public speaking concepts.

What are the three types of general purposes for speeches mentioned in the video?

The three types of general purposes for speeches mentioned are to entertain, to inform, and to persuade.

What is the specific purpose of the sample speech about domestic cats?

The specific purpose of the sample speech about domestic cats is to inform the audience about them.

How does the speaker suggest organizing the main points of a speech?

The speaker suggests organizing the main points of a speech by using chronological, spatial, or topical methods, depending on the subject matter.

What is the importance of stating the main points in the introduction of a speech?

Stating the main points in the introduction helps the audience follow along by providing signposts and a clear understanding of the speech's direction.

Why is it crucial to use transitions in a speech?

Transitions are crucial as they help the audience understand when the speaker has moved from one main point to the next, enhancing the speech's flow and coherence.

What are the three main points discussed in the sample speech about domestic cats?

The three main points discussed are the diet, activity, and health of domestic cats.

How does the speaker suggest starting the introduction of a speech?

The speaker suggests starting the introduction with an attention-getter, such as a startling statistic, a question, or a visual aid, to capture the audience's interest.

What is the role of the credibility statement in a speech?

The credibility statement establishes the speaker's authority on the topic, which can be achieved by sharing relevant experience or expertise.

How should the speaker end the speech to make it memorable?

The speaker should end the speech with a vivid and memorable conclusion, such as stating another shocking statistic, showing a picture, or using a creative visual or statement that relates back to the audience.

What is the significance of the works cited page in a speech outline?

The works cited page is significant as it lists the sources used for the speech, providing proper credit to the original authors and allowing the audience to verify the information.

Outlines

00:00

📝 Introduction to Speech Outline Template

The speaker begins by introducing the purpose of the video, which is to guide viewers through a speech outline template and a sample outline assignment. The video serves as a review of public speaking concepts and offers a preview of upcoming topics. The speaker shares their screen to display a Microsoft Word document containing the outline template. The sample speech topic chosen is 'Domestic Cats', and the speaker discusses the importance of organizing a speech and determining main points. The speaker also touches on the different ways to organize main points, such as chronologically, spatially, or topically, and decides to use a topical organization for the sample speech.

05:02

🐾 Structuring the Speech Body

The speaker delves into the structure of the speech body, focusing on the organization of main points. They discuss the three chosen topics for the 'Domestic Cats' speech: cat diet, activity and behavior, and basic health and fitness. The speaker emphasizes the importance of audience relevance when selecting main points. They also provide a detailed explanation of how to write a thesis statement that encapsulates the main points. The introduction of the speech is then outlined, including an attention-getter, a credibility statement, and the restatement of the three main points. The speaker stresses the significance of engaging the audience from the start and establishing credibility.

10:04

📈 Enhancing Speech with Credibility and Transitions

The speaker discusses the importance of credibility in a speech, suggesting ways to establish it, such as citing personal experience or research. They also address the use of transitions to guide the audience through the speech. The speaker provides examples of how to transition from one main point to another, emphasizing the need for clear and logical connections. They also touch on the importance of not over-relying on notes during delivery, suggesting the use of key terms and phrases instead of full sentences.

15:10

🍽️ Discussing Cat Diet and Activity in the Speech

The speaker continues to build the speech outline by focusing on the first main point: cat diet. They provide examples of how to support this point with facts and citations, even if some of the information is common knowledge. The speaker also includes a personal anecdote to add a touch of personal experience. They then discuss the importance of transitioning from the discussion of diet to the next main point, which is cat activity. The speaker provides a template for a connected statement that smoothly moves the speech from one topic to the next.

20:10

🏋️‍♀️ Concluding the Speech and Adding a Memorable Ending

The speaker concludes the speech outline by discussing the final main point: basic cat healthcare. They reiterate the importance of summarizing the main points in the conclusion and relating the information back to the audience. The speaker also emphasizes the need for a memorable ending that leverages the primacy and recency effects, suggesting the use of a shocking statistic, a picture, or a video clip. They provide an example of how to end the speech with a cute video of kittens, ensuring the audience leaves with a positive impression. Lastly, the speaker mentions the inclusion of a works cited page for the sources used in the speech.

Keywords

💡Outline Template

An outline template is a structured format used to organize the main points and subpoints of a speech or presentation. In the video, the outline template is central to the theme as it guides the audience through the process of creating a speech. The template includes sections for the title, general purpose, specific purpose, central idea, main points, introduction, body, and conclusion. The video script uses the template to demonstrate how to structure a speech about domestic cats, showing how each section contributes to the overall flow and coherence of the speech.

💡General Purpose

The general purpose of a speech refers to the broad category of what the speaker intends to achieve, which can be to entertain, inform, or persuade. In the script, the general purpose is mentioned as a foundational element of the outline template, setting the tone for the type of speech being delivered. For the sample speech on domestic cats, the general purpose is to inform, which means the speaker aims to educate the audience about cats.

💡Specific Purpose

The specific purpose is a more detailed and focused objective of the speech, building upon the general purpose. It specifies what exactly the speaker wants to achieve with the audience. In the video script, the specific purpose for the domestic cat speech is to inform the audience about domestic cats, indicating that the speech will provide detailed knowledge about the subject.

💡Central Idea or Thesis Statement

The central idea or thesis statement is a one-sentence summary of the main points of a speech. It encapsulates the core message that the speaker wants to convey. In the context of the video, the central idea for the domestic cat speech is to discuss the diet, activity, and health of domestic cats, which serves as the backbone around which the entire speech is structured.

💡Main Points

Main points are the key topics or arguments that the speaker will cover in the body of the speech. They are the building blocks of the speech, each usually expanded upon with supporting details. The video script outlines three main points for the domestic cat speech: cat diet, activity, and health. These points are used to organize the body of the speech, ensuring that the audience receives a comprehensive understanding of the subject.

💡Attention Getter

An attention getter is a technique used at the beginning of a speech to capture the audience's interest. It can be a startling fact, a question, or a visual aid. In the script, the speaker uses a made-up statistic about cat ownership to grab the audience's attention, setting the stage for the informative content to follow.

💡Credibility Statement

A credibility statement is where the speaker establishes their authority or expertise on the topic. This helps to build trust with the audience. In the video, the speaker humorously claims to have done extensive research on cats and even suggests having a PhD in cat allergies, although these are stated as jokes, the concept illustrates how one might establish credibility.

💡Transitional Statements

Transitional statements are used to move smoothly from one point to another in a speech. They help to signal to the audience that a shift in topic or idea is occurring. The video script includes transitional statements such as 'now that we've discussed the cat's diet, let's look at cat activity,' which clearly indicates a move to the next main point.

💡Conclusion

The conclusion of a speech is the final section where the speaker wraps up their presentation. It often includes a summary of main points and a closing statement that leaves a lasting impression. In the video, the speaker discusses the importance of summarizing the main points about cat diet, activity, and health, and then relates this back to the audience, potentially ending with a memorable image or statement.

💡Works Cited

Works cited is a list of sources that the speaker has used to gather information for the speech. It is crucial for academic integrity and for providing the audience with the ability to explore the topic further. The video script mentions that the speaker will include a works cited page, indicating that even though the information is made up for the sample speech, in a real speech, proper citation would be necessary.

Highlights

Introduction to the outline template for speeches and a sample outline assignment.

Review of organizing a speech and a preview of the public speaking unit.

Explanation of the general purpose of a speech: to entertain, inform, or persuade.

Clarification of the specific purpose of the sample speech: to inform the audience about domestic cats.

Discussion on determining main points and organizing speech content.

Different ways to organize main points: chronological, spatial, and topical.

Choosing the topical method to organize the sample speech on domestic cats.

Identifying the central idea or thesis statement for the speech.

Importance of the attention-getter in the introduction of a speech.

Strategies for creating an engaging attention-getter using statistics or visuals.

Establishing credibility through personal experience or research.

The significance of stating the three main points in the introduction.

Using transitions effectively to guide the audience through the speech.

Writing out the speech in an organized manner using key terms and phrases.

Supporting main points with facts, expert opinions, and personal anecdotes.

The importance of citing sources for credibility and avoiding plagiarism.

Creating a memorable conclusion that ties back to the introduction and leaves a lasting impression.

The process of compiling sources in a works cited page with proper citation formats.

Transcripts

hi everyone in this video I'm going to

walk you through the outline template

that we've that I've provided for your

speeches as well as your sample outline

assignment and in the process of that

I'm off we're going to go over

organizing a speech this is really going

to be a review on pretty much everything

that we've already learned in this

public speaking unit and a little bit of

preview of what's to come

so I'm going to go ahead and share my

screen here and I'm going to open up the

outline template so now you should see

me in the corner and you should see

Microsoft Word up here and what we's

going to join me I think here as well

which is pretty timely because I'm going

to actually do this sample speech about

okay and the reason why is we had a

feeling she's probably doing me she

usually does for a lot of these videos

that I make so the first thing we're

going to do is we're going to put a

title over and we're going to talk about

domestic cat or in other words cats and

cats as pets I'm going to put my name

and topic we'll just a domestic cat now

general purpose you remember from the

readings the general purpose is either

to entertain to inform or to persuade so

in this class could be doing three

speeches will be doing a persuasive

speech laugh an informative speech and a

self introduction speech so ideally you

kind of one for each me self

introduction speech I would say a little

bit more informative than perhaps to

entertain but I think to entertain

really is a good way to describe that

now mainly because you're just

introducing yourself and kind of this is

the first impression that the students

are going to get um you see or I'm

trying to entertain your audience as

well as inform them about you but for

this speech of a sample speech here

domestic cats we're going to just say

this is to inform and we're going to

inform our audience and notice here that

the general purpose is just really that

signal to inform or to persuade or to

entertain the specific purpose is where

we get a little bit more

specifics but not that much more

specific we just always want to include

around to our audience because again the

whole reason L public speaking is to do

something to share something with our

audience so we're going to say to inform

my audience about domestic cats really

it's that simple we have the general

purpose a reference to the audience and

then a little bit more specific on our

topic now before we get into the central

idea or thesis statement which is really

a one sentence summary of our main

points we need to talk about determining

main points and organizing these points

so we're going to come down here to the

body of the speech we'll just take a

look at this and there are several ways

we can organize the main point so

domestic cats is a really really broad

topic and I chose this on purpose

there's a lot of different ways we could

go with this so we could talk about the

history of domestic cat then we would

really want to make probably our

specific purpose to inform my audience

about the history of domestic cat but

then it would be really easy to organize

our main point we're talking about the

history we would Alyssa very much a

chronological way of organizing main

points in that we could talk about cat

from the past you know history of cat

maybe in the Middle Ages and then we

could talk about cat during the Civil

War period to World War two and then we

could talk about cat in the present I've

also seen a lot of people for self-intro

speeches do a very chronological of past

present future who was I who am I now

Who am I going to become another really

again a great way to organize that very

chronologically another way is facially

so spatial is more a geographical

location so you could talk about three

different countries you could talk about

domestic cats in Canada the US and

Mexico and you can do them in that order

now if you did

the cats in the US and then Mexico and

in Canada how to order there's not

really a logical order for that unless

you make some sort of logical order for

it but ideally when we use more than

geographical we're looking at there

you've got the north to south

Canada u.s. Mexico so that's another one

that spatial that works really well for

speeches about things that are in

different locations like again you think

about like west to east if you're

describing the parts of something like

the parts of the computer maybe you

start on the outside like where the

buttons are and work your way inward

that's more of that geographical or

spatial if you are describing it

something like again the the geography

or something are you going to talk about

three different countries that you

visited it makes sense to go of like

instead of you could do them

chronologically in the order you visited

them or you could talk about how they

are organized again north to south with

each of us I think you get the idea the

last way though in the way we're going

to organize the sample speech is topical

and that just means choosing three

topics in some sort of logical order so

again you don't want them to be in any

random order but they're not necessarily

organized by chronological or marked

geographical so for this speech when

we're thinking talking about domestic

cats we're thinking like what do people

really need to know about domestic cats

what are people going to want to care

about them all because really again when

we speak to others it's about the

audience and we're thinking they're

going to want to know about cat foods

what they can see so what they can't

diet um we're thinking about probably

they want to know about cat activity and

behavior and main point three we could

talk about basic okay

um health and fit so that's what we

would talk about many things like

changing litter and cat health and stuff

like that so again this is kind of basic

information example purposes and just

ever disclaimer can they go through

these main points and add support all

this stuff is going to be totally made

up so now we can really get into the

speech we have our main points now we

can write a thesis statement in this

stage I will discuss cat diet activity

and health of domestic yeah

notice here I stated my three main

points I'm going to see this again in a

minute when we get to the introduction

which is the next area the first thing

in the introduction is the attention

getter research is actually shown how

primacy and recency effects that people

tend to remember the very beginning of

speeches and the very end the most

they're going to remember what you say

sure so it's important to start with

something exciting

don't just say hi my name's Emily I'm

here to talk to you about cat okay well

guess what

for those people that don't like cats

and there are quite a few people that

don't like cat you just lost all them in

your audience so you really want to

start with something more exciting um

you could be you be cheesy and corny and

seeing the meow Mix on you know meow

meow meow meow meow meow guidance would

probably remember that so there might be

a few that are not cover their ears walk

away you could state some sort of

startling statistics you could ask the

audience a question you could show some

sort of visual aid you could show a

really cute video of like cute little

kittens going yeah I'm yelling a little

mewing kittens

something like that those would all be

things that would be in the audience's

attention so for this purpose of this

speech let's just go ahead and start

with a statistic

and we'll say did you know that 80% of

the u.s. population owned a cat Wow big

number

yeah totally made it up and do not quote

me on this so now we'll reveal our topic

and relate to be honest it's kind of

like hinted at is that peach is probably

going to be something about cat but we

can easily relate this to the audience

and we stated the statistic so now we

can say perhaps you or someone you know

is part of that 80% if not us are good

that at some point you will have contact

with a cat so it's important to know the

basics 6e and does them because it

bothers me okay so notice what we just

did here we've kind of just related back

for the statistic and said if you're not

part of that 80% you're part of that 20%

it doesn't have a cat maybe you don't

like cats but you'll probably have a

contact of the cats as important notes

and basics now in credibility statement

why am i personally credible so here you

don't want to just state like a random

fact or something you want to say why

you a person incredible

I own a cat and have done extensive

research on this topic I could even say

I have a PhD in cat allergy again I made

that up so then we say our three main

points again and in order to do that I'm

just going to actually come up here and

I'm just going to copy and paste this so

this is my introduction we started with

the attention getter we related to the

onion I've established my credibility in

a state of my streaming point the test

image asked me before why do I need to

state my three main points in a turd

okay one of me I want it to be a

surprise and ideally you want to state

your three main points in the

introduction you really want to give the

audience some signposts and ideas of

where you're going with the speech that

helps them follow along a little bit

easier knowing like okay yeah now

they've moved on to the third topic so

now I know where they're at in the

speech um I think it makes us all a

little bit uncomfortable when someone

starts speaking we're wondering to

ourselves where are they going with this

there's kind of that like level of

uncertainty when you just make it clear

right from the beginning it just makes

it so much more so much better for the

audience to listen to so well organized

that way now there may be some starts in

certain situations where you would not

want to do that but for the purposes of

this class I don't see any reason why

you would not want to state the three

main points in the introduction I didn't

miss something in this introduction if

you didn't notice I stated a statistic

here eighty percent of US population on

the cat I didn't do that research be

honest yes I realize I made it up but I

didn't do the research I didn't survey

the population someone else did but this

needs a citation so according to Jack

cat author of the book Cat Cat nation so

if you know that 80% of the population

according to Jack Kapp author of the cat

nation on the cat notice my citation in

there I've got the author and I've got

the name of the book so same thing when

you do a citation you're going to want a

co-author and the name of the either the

article or the book but we'll talk about

that here in a second so the other thing

transitions and I'm going to talk about

transitions a little bit more here in a

minute

transition to the body will just start

saying let's first look at the diet of

so in preparation outline you always

want to use complete sentences notice we

did that for the Sena really helps you

organize your thoughts then write out

your speech as much as you should write

it up it should never write it out word

for word you should never write it out a

paragraph form write it out about this

much and then when you actually speak

you're going to be speaking off like two

three word terms

put your note card put your outline on

note cards but we've out the things like

I and have on this still in those that

you go along that's how it's going to be

more spontaneous trust me as you speak

you won't miss those filler words you'll

fill those in as you go

the problem that I tend to see is you

know you have your sentences written out

and it's really hard to follow all those

other words you're trying to read those

off of paper if you just have the key

term and you put like own cat done

research on your note cards it's going

to be a lot easy to remember to just

fill in the rest and say I've owned a

cat for seven years and I've done

extensive research on this topic but

you'll fill in that as you go it will be

much more natural to you that way but

again that's for delivery that's a

little bit later in this unit that he'll

extemporaneous delivery okay so we're

going to move on to the body of our

speech what I was getting out there with

that your main point can be in this

basic form that's really the only part

of your outline that shouldn't have a

something fun so again here I'm going to

support main point one and I'm going to

say according to dr. Mike this Mike

that's best and I'm not going to try to

spell out veterinarian right now we'll

say a dr. Mike that a vet at Cedar

Rapids Animal Clinic again is all made

up cap should have either

what for canned food or dry food

everyday he also states that cats should

have water every day and will say he

maybe will use a different citation for

this one according to Nicole calf ink in

a good name - Nicole Paddington cat

generally graze throughout the day

instead of eating meals at the time okay

and you fix the indent on that alright

so we have a couple facts here and I

notice everything in here excited so you

don't always have to cite if it's common

knowledge it's not something that needs

to be cited probably what cats should

eat whether they eat wet or dry so

that's that's a pretty common-sense

factum we would maybe want to interview

the vet in sizes that if it's we're

actually speeding research about what

our canned food or what kind of

preferable or brands or things like that

but this is fairly common knowledge but

I'm just showing you this is time you

would be with vacation one thing that I

did miss here with Nicole Carrington I

didn't say she is so that's like half a

citation there it's better to say the

offer you're giving credit to the person

but it doesn't really help your

credibility because it doesn't tell me

who Nicole cannons in it so now we can

say author of the book a cast diet

that's much better now you know okay

that's cuz she is she wrote a book okay

so we've got our first main point and

again one more thing to mention here

with your support support to me a lot of

different things here if they did a lot

of facts generally when you're thinking

informatively you will have a lot of

facts like this for some features you

can throw in some personal experience

obviously that doesn't necessarily need

to be cited so I might actually have

included four main point three they're

my cat eats usually about one can of cat

food a day and greater than even a

driver so the next thing then is

transitional statement leaving your

transitions or you're connected

statement ideally they want to connect

the main point so we're going to say now

that we've discussed the cat's diet left

look at the cat activity so notice there

I restated the last main point and

mentioned the next main point these

zionism these transitional statements

are actually very important because they

help you figure out when the speaker has

moved from one main point to the next

these are one areas that students tend

to really lose a lot of points on

speeches for are having really clear

connected statements so again you don't

have to be this specific this cheesy of

you know now that we've discussed this

let's look at this you can be a little

bit more creative with this but ideally

you really want to try to connect those

main points so you'll have one sentence

that discusses the cat diet in

activities together that connects it

together connected statement so I don't

really like the term transition as much

as connected segment alright I'm not

going to come up with three more facts

here you kind of have the idea I think

of how to do this I am going to talk

about the transition one more time we'll

try to come up with a more creative

transition we'll say

as you can see cats are pretty active if

your cat isn't acting so app is perhaps

the best about general health will help

you understand if it's time to see a vet

so now we're going into my basic cat

health and health care so um notice here

is that grammar error there cats are

pretty active we've kind of concluded

that summarize up what we just said

about connectivity and then connect it

into so maybe if the cat's not so active

let's talk about this so where you can

see that we're shifting here we've

connected the main points and then we're

going to talk about our basic calacatta

healthcare okay we're going to go to a

conclusion next so I'm going to say

something like in conclusion or to sum

up or now let's review what we've talked

about today and the first thing we're

going to do is restate those main points

again so we're just going to review

exactly what we said for purposes of

time here I'm just going to go through

and I'm going to copy this and we'll

make that I up the diet activity and

health or domestic cat now I'm going to

relate it back to the audience this is

where you can say something like it's

going to see a lot hopefully you gained

a basic understanding about this if it

starts to sound a little cheesy corny so

we might want to be a little bit more

direct with it and saying something like

if you are one of the 20 percent that

doesn't Paulo cat in the US

the next time you have contact with a

cat you will better understand their

behaviors and basic care and then the

dividend a visit an ending is always and

the attention-getter probably always

where I end up spending the most time

because again the primacy and recency

effects people are going to remember

what they hear in the beginning and what

they hear in the end do you really want

to put some thought into this you don't

want to just say hope you like my speech

thing or the worst when I hear and I

hear this a lot is and that's it

Thanks not very memorable so think about

like what are we you here to provide a

more vivid ending something the audience

is going to remember we could state

another shocking statistic we could show

a picture of those cute chins we can

show a picture of our own cat I can show

a picture of Lily to disappear self but

the way she made a little bit of it

appear there's a lot of things we could

do here so you want to kind of be

creative and try to think of something

that the audience is going to remember

so for this I'm actually going to say

here's a I'll take something like I'll

leave you with this cute video of

kittens and I might show like it 10

second clip a little kitten thing on

their level and being really cute

because even if you don't really like

cat it's hard to not think that cute

little baby kittens aren't cute okay so

then the last thing on my outline is

going to be my works cited page and this

is where I'm going to enter the sources

that I use I'm not going to do this here

in the video we will talk about this

later in the research area you're going

to enter min either APA or MLA format so

that does not mean copying pasting

websites now I don't really go over this

with you there are websites like EasyBib

there's also actually a couple chrome

plugins that you can use that will help

you cite sources you just put in the

information that will create that

expectation for you so I don't care

whether it's APA or MLA I just want them

in some sort of format so that wraps it

up hopefully you now have a better

understanding of how to create an

outline so this is what I just did there

sorry I don't have much more of a vivid

ending except I can I guess now that she

just jumped on me I can end with a

picture of my cute cat