A good presentation is easy to follow because it has a clear beginning, middle, and end.

There are many ways to organize material; the structure should fit your topic and your overall goals. You might use a problem/solution structure, or a cause-and-effect approach, or a risk/benefit analysis. You might analyze an event, showing who was involved and why, or you might explain a complex process in steps. You might ask the audience to imagine two or three contrasting scenarios and then focus your talk on the most satisfying one.

For an informative speech, organize the speech in a way that helps your audience remember key points of information. For a persuasive speech, organize in a way that builds enthusiasm for your position—consider saving your strongest argument or point for last.