Organizing the Body of the Speech

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CHAPTER 11

Audience members quickly note the difference between a well-organized speech and one that has been put together haphazardly, with decidedly negative results when the speech is disorganized. The reason for this is simple: Our understanding of information is directly linked to how well it is organized.1 Apparently, a little bit of disorganization won’t ruin a speech for us if the topic and speaker are otherwise engaging, but we quickly lose interest, and even become irritated, when the speech is very disorganized.2 On the other hand, we find speakers whose speeches are well organized more understandable, more believable, and more trustworthy than those who present poorly organized ones.3 Given all this, you won’t want to skip the crucial steps of arranging and outlining speech points.

As in written composition, organizing a speech—a stage in speech development classical speakers called arrangement—is the process of devising a logical and convincing structure for your message. Organizing occurs in stages, in which you decide upon the main points of the speech, select one of several formal patterns or designs for the speech’s structure, and, using that design, complete the outline with subpoints. In an outline, you determine how to order your ideas and evidence into larger and smaller logical categories, or divisions and subdivisions. Your main points are the larger divisions, and your subpoints are the subdivisions or subcategories of these main points. Rather than making the job of drafting a speech harder, an outline lets you check for logical inconsistencies in the placement of speech points and pinpoint weaknesses in the amount and kind of support for them. Outlining your speech provides a vivid snapshot of its strengths and weaknesses and clearly points to how you can fix the flaws. Although a few famous speakers have managed to deliver successful speeches without first arranging and outlining them, for the vast majority of us, the success or failure of a speech will depend on doing so.