The sum of the parts determines the success of the whole speech.

Graciela was a member of her college’s varsity tennis team, so for her informative speech topic, she chose to focus on Title IX—the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination by educational institutions receiving federal aid. As she began her research, one of the first things she discovered is that there are three ways a school can demonstrate compliance with Title IX. Graciela’s first feeling was relief: the assignment called for an eight- to ten-minute speech, and it would take at least six to explain the ways a college could comply. She was more than halfway done!

Then Graciela reconsidered. Of all the points she could make about this important and sometimes controversial law, would the details about compliance be the most interesting and noteworthy aspects to share with her audience? She decided to do more research about how Title IX issues were handled at her college. She found a tremendous amount of material: articles in the school newspaper about the impact of Title IX when it was first applied on campus, stories from athletes about their experiences on the college’s first women’s teams, and even a copy of the program from the first women’s tennis tournament ever held on campus.

Now Graciela had ideas and evidence that would be much more relevant and interesting to her classmates. By going the extra mile to find engaging support, she had the materials she needed to back up her main points soundly.

As we note in chapter 2 and throughout the book, every speech offers a limited number of main points. Supporting materials are the different types of information you use to develop and support your main points. You discover these materials as you research your speech; they then become the building blocks you use to construct a successful speech.

Selecting the best supporting materials for your main points is a key step in the speech preparation process, similar to choosing the right mix of ingredients for a special meal you’ll be preparing. In an outstanding speech, the supporting materials fit together to help your listeners better understand your message, to capture their interest, and to convince them that you’ve done your research and are informed about your topic.

Consider a class in which you learned a lot about a subject, a political argument you found persuasive, or a movie that kept you glued to your seat for hours. Chances are good that the teacher used understandable language and examples that clarified the concepts and made the subject seem relevant. The person making the political argument likely offered convincing proof of his or her claims and touched your emotions in a way that you remembered at the voting booth. And the movie probably combined an interesting story with memorable characters and an exciting plot. With the right supporting materials, you can craft a speech that has an equally strong impact on your audience.

In this chapter, we show you why supporting materials are important, what supporting materials you can use, and how to present supporting materials effectively.