Genre Research.
Generally, a good speech has a few key components. Will it be difficult to hit each and every component on my first try? Most definitely. However, in the grand scheme of things, it will still be important to understand all the important parts of a speech.
First, every speech needs a purpose. Duh... Without a strong purpose, not only is it pointless to create a speech that people will waste their time listening to or reading, but it will also be difficult to create the speech in the first place.
Second, the focus needs to be on creating a story that the audience can connect to and be captured by. Thinking about the main details, both examples and takeaways, and how they fit into an overarching story is important in figuring out how the selected audience can easier understand the speech’s purpose. Without it, the audience will be uninterested, confused, or both. Think of it as any other writing piece. A speech should have a beginning, middle, end, an introduction, build-up, climax, and lesson.
After a story is created and outlined, an introduction needs to be created. This might be one of the most important components of a speech. People’s attention span is the highest in the beginning, which makes it extremely important to make the speech as memorable and interesting as possible. There is something called the INTRO model: Interest, Needs, Timing, Roadmap, Objectives. I will be attempting to use this model at the beginning of my speech.
The middle portion of the speech is where the audience begins to lose attention, but it is also the most information-heavy. It is the middle of the speech that contains the evidence and examples for the speech’s main argument/point/message. It is more valuable to have few well- driven points, than an excess of un-detailed points.
Lastly, closing statements should re-emphasize the key messages of the speech. This is also an opportunity to leave the audience wanting more. Give them something to take with them after the speech and something to ponder on.
I also learned it will be important to have a good understanding of who the audience is, what trends they can relate to, where this can be applicable in their lives, and why I feel this is so important for them to read or listen to.