Arranging Your Points

Think about creating a Facebook photo album of your recent trip to Europe. How would you arrange all of your pictures? You could work chronologically, simply uploading individual photos to one album in the order in which they were taken. Alternatively, you might arrange them by topic with separate albums for specific cities or countries visited or by types of activities (like one album for historical sites visited and another album for silly photos with friends).

You have similar options when preparing a speech. During the process of sorting out your main points and subpoints, you are taking the initial step of arranging your ideas in some sequence. Here are some common arrangements, or patterns, to consider.

AND YOU?

Question

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Organizing your main points and subpoints for a speech may seem overwhelming, but you’ve likely done this type of work before. Good, clear writing—whether an academic paper or an important letter—requires similar organization. Think of a particular piece of writing you were nervous about—a term paper or a private message to a potential romantic partner. What was the purpose of your writing? How did you go about organizing your main points?