Drafting Your Thesis Statement

After you have determined your specific purpose, create your thesis statement—a single sentence that captures the overall message you want to convey in your speech. This statement conveys the “bottom line” of your speech—the ultimate message that all the points in your speech support. As long as your audience members can remember your thesis statement, they should be able to recall the essence of your speech.

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In this book, we use the term thesis to mean the main position of any type of speech. Some speech instructors may prefer using the term thesis statement when a speaker is advocating a position in a persuasive speech and the term topic statement when a speaker intends to inform or mark a special occasion. Your instructor will let you know if he or she prefers this alternative usage.

Here are some examples of thesis statements:

Here are some guidelines for ensuring that your thesis statement conveys your purpose and topic to the audience efficiently and accurately:

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To compare two thesis statements on the same topic, try Video Activity 6.3, “Thesis Statement” and “Thesis Statement: Needs Focus (Needs Improvement).”