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Main points are the major ideas you will emphasize in your presentation. By calling attention to these points, you help your audience understand and remember the most important ideas from your speech. When speakers fail to do so, their listeners have difficulty following and retaining a speech’s message.

To determine main points, begin by making a list of ideas you might like to cover. These ideas can come from what you already know and from research you do about your topic. Then select main points by considering which ideas would be most interesting to your audience and best help listeners obtain a deeper understanding of your topic.

Each main point you select must also support your thesis statement. Otherwise, your audience may conclude that you’re straying off course and may lose interest or become confused.