A speech should be well organized, meaning that your ideas are structured in a way that enables the audience to follow your message easily. To organize your speech, draft an outline. Your outline contains the text of your speech in complete sentences or briefer phrases (depending on what your instructor prefers).

A speech outline has three major parts—the introduction, the body, and the conclusion. The body is the core of your speech and is where you present your main message about your topic. For this reason, we recommend outlining the body of your speech before outlining the introduction, even though the body follows the introduction when you actually deliver the speech.

To create a full-sentence outline for the body of your speech, first express each of the main points you’ve selected as a single sentence that states a key idea you’re planning to emphasize. Then number each main point with a roman numeral. It is common to have between two and five main points, although your instructor may ask you to develop a single main point in your first speech.

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Next, create subpoints from the supporting materials you have gathered through brainstorming and research. Subpoints explain, prove, or expand on your main points. In your outline, indicate each subpoint with a capital letter, and indent each under its corresponding main point.

An important principle of outlining is subordination. Each main point must relate to your specific purpose, and each subpoint must relate to the main point that it supports. If you include additional supporting material under any subpoint (a sub-subpoint, so to speak), it must relate to that subpoint. Here’s a generic example of how subordination might look in a typical outline: