PUBLIC SPEAKING & INTENDED RESULT OF YOUR SPEECH

The art of giving a speech is usually performed before a large or small audience, like in
a school, the workplace or even a personal gathering. We give speeches every day and
it could take many forms depending on the types of speech that we are delivering.
Whether it be to encourage our friends and colleagues at the office or to convince a
client to buy our products. The advantages and benefits of knowing how to properly give
a speech or even just communicate to an audience are endless, it is an art form that
requires the sharpening of one’s thinking capacity and verbal/nonverbal communication
skills.

The success or failure of those public speaking experiences or speeches is all a result
of how much you have sharpened your public speaking skills. It is important to sharpen
your skills and knowledge of speech giving because the art is not quite the same as
talking to a crowd of people. There is a way information is conveyed in speeches, and
that is what makes it stand apart from just regular talking to people.

When it comes to giving speeches it all comes down to who is saying what, to whom,
using what medium with what effect. Simply put, who is the exact source of the
information? What is the message or information itself? Who is the audience, while the
medium of communication is actually the delivering method being used by the speaker,
then it all ends in an effect.

You can think of the desired effect as the speaker’s intentions for making the speech.
Knowing exactly why and to whom you will deliver the speech helps you navigate and
select the best out of the different types of speech, and use proper techniques to ensure
your speech is relatable, engaging, and memorable.

THIRTEEN DIFFERENT TYPES OF SPEECH

1. Demonstrative speech
The idea behind demonstrative speech is basically to educate the audience that is
listening to something they are not aware of. The unique thing about demonstrative
speeches is that they could include various visual aids which can help further
demonstrate or describe in practical terms how to effectively do something. At first
glance, one can say that demonstrative speech is more like informative, but the
difference is in the fact that informative speeches do not exactly include actual
demonstrating of how to do or perform an action
Imagine that you will give a speech on how to write a blog post, how to sell clothes
online, how to fish successfully, or even how to build a house, these can all be
considered as demonstrative speeches.

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If you’re wondering how to go about getting a speech like demonstrative speech started,
the best way is to start by asking your self-critical questions like how or why or what is.
These questions will help start the process of creating a power demonstrative speech.
Also, as you must know already, a demonstrative speech cannot be considered one
without the use of visual aid to help support the process of demonstration.

A great example of demonstrative speeches nowadays are the ones delivered by Apple,
and other companies when they are unveiling their latest flagship smartphones, or any
other product.

2. Entertaining speech
Entertaining speech is quite a common or should I say a familiar one amongst the types
of speech in our contemporary society. If you have ever been to a birthday party or
wedding, which I know you most certainly must have, then you have experienced what
an entertaining speech is like. The main purpose of a best man’s speech in a wedding
or an after-dinner MC is to entertain the crowd. This form of entertainment is usually
done by using interesting illustrations, hilarious stories, and just flat out humor.

Entertaining speeches are usually quite short and are basically for the purpose of
entertaining the audience. You may think it is a simple task to give an entertaining
speech, but in reality, it actually is not. One must master being witty and humorous to be
considered a good entertaining speaker. So before you think of jumping on a podium
and giving one of those entertaining speeches don’t forget to brush up on some of your
jokes and stories.

3. Informative speech
Informative speeches are speeches mainly performed for the purpose of educating the
audience on new or relevant piece of information on a particular topic.
To convey this information, informative speech givers do not make use of visual aids in
their speeches but rather make use of facts, statistics, educative information, and data,
all this so that the audience can learn something and say they have been informed on
the topic.

A good example of an informative speech is the one you get form your tour guide when
going on a tour of a museum. The tour guide carefully and critically details out certain
information about the objects in the museum as he or she takes you around. Therefore,
any time a speech is given to give the audience details or information on a particular
topic, this can be considered as an informative speech.

When giving an informative speech, the speaker is expected to present statistics and
facts about the topics to back is claims and assertions. Informative speech topics can
range from social and economic changes in our community to climate change and how
it affects our world today.

So, the next time you hear someone dishing out facts, stats and critical information on a
certain topic be sure to note that he or she is giving the audience an informative speech.

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4. Persuasive speech
A persuasive speech is a speech given solely for the purpose of convincing the
audience listening that the opinion of the speaker on a particular topic is the right or
correct one. Whether you are discussing what movie to watch next or which political
standpoint is best for the economy, you are making a persuasive speech.

In order to successfully convince an audience, most speakers tend to use concrete

evidence and facts to back up their argument. The use of those various facts makes
their own argument seem more sensible and believable, thereby persuading the
audience to stand with them and support their claim. This is one of the best ways to
ensure your persuasive speech is very effective, by giving solid facts you can easily get
the audience to rally around you and give you their support.

A close example of a persuasive speech is one a lawyer gives to the jury in order to
convince them to stand with him on the case at hand and vote in his favor. Another
good example is one that a presidential candidate give in form of his campaign speech
in order to convince the citizen to vote him or her as the next president of the country.
Persuasive speeches, depending on the topic, can also be built around emotions and
feelings of the speaker and how they resonate with the audiences; If you are trying to
convince people to raise fundings to a cause, to help children, elderly, oppressed
women, and so on. The facts are a must, but ultimately in these situations appealing to
the audience emotion should yield better results.

5. Oratorical speech
Oratorical speeches are a type of speech that is delivered in the style used by an orator.
Its name and definition are quite humorous because orator and oratorical both relate to
the act of giving a speech.

This type of speech is usually given on very special occasions like a graduation
ceremony, inauguration or ribbon-cutting event. This type of speech can take shape in
two distinct forms, they can be long and quite formal in situations like funerals,
graduations, and inaugurations, or they can be short and informal in situations like the
speech given during a toast in a special event.

There are various events and places where one can give an oratorical speech like a
birthday party, retirement party, coming out party and a bunch of others. Political
speeches are usually considered as oratorical speeches, especially when they are not
used to settle an argument but rather to preach virtue and appeal to common basic
truths.

Although in oratorical speeches the speaker giving the speech is not necessarily trying
to persuade the audience on a particular matter but as fairly general as they are in
nature, oratorical speeches can still address certain issues. Arguably the best and most
common example of a oratorical speech is an inauguration speech. It contains all the
true elements that make a good oratorical speech.

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6. Special occasion speech
Special occasion speeches are speeches that don’t exactly fall into any particular
category of speech. Hence, the name special occasion. They can include speeches that
are given to introduce a speaker or announce the arrival of a guest. They are designed
to be short but interesting and direct to the point.

Another good example of special occasion speeches is a tribute speech given to pay
tribute to a person whether they are dead or alive. An award acceptance speech is also
another form of special occasion speech, it is given solely to appreciate the audience for
the award and Express how much it means to you.

These special occasion speeches are designed to be short, around ten minutes, straight
to the point and somewhat mood setting in nature. Most times, special occasion
speeches are upbeat and fun, you can easily just go online and find out how to get
started on your own little special event.

Special occasion speech

Writing speeches for special events are usually the easiest as they do not require
statistics, demanding need for information and knowledge, just a simple couple of lines
could do the trick for you.

7. Motivational speech
One can consider the motivational speech as a special type of speech in which the
general self-improvement of the audience is the goal to be attained. A speaker generally
engages in this type of speech to encourage and inspire the confidence of his audience
to do better with and for themselves.

These types of speeches can be found in situations like the office where the boss is
talking to his employees, trying to inspire them to put in more effort to get the job done
or a football match where the coach is trying to motivate his players to give the match
everything they got so as win and be crowned champions.

These speeches are great to motivate people, to inspire them and uplift their self-
esteem. There are certain techniques used in given out motivation speech in order for
them to yield the best result.

Examples of motivational speeches are seen in schools, whereby teachers try to

encourage students to put in extra work and do better in order to improve their grades
and overall records.

Motivational speeches are important in society, it is the best way to move a crowd of
people towards achieving a certain goal. They can be given to inspire people to fight for
a cause in society or their various local communities.

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8. Explanatory speech
Explanatory speech is one of the types of speech which is given to critically explain a
situation or thing. They are somewhat similar in nature to the demonstrative speech.
However, the explanatory speech is different from the demonstrative speech in the
sense that the explanatory speech gives a detailed step by step and breaks down of
how to do something. It is also different in the sense that it does not make use of visual
aid to assist in understanding.

The explanatory speech simply just details the step by step to get the know-how on any
task or subject. A good example of explanatory speech is the one being given by a
speaker on a food talk show, explaining the step by step procedures to make various
dishes or the witness explaining how an event took place.

9. Debate speech
During the cause of a formal debate event, there is a lot of verbal exchanges being
made by the two or more parties involved. This act of debating takes shape in many
forms in our contemporary society. These forms include the following; classical,
impromptu, parliamentary, mock trails, extemporaneous and even public forum.

As the normal standard in general debate, all sides are given an equal amount of time
to give a speech on how why they think their opinion or view on a certain matter is the
right one. Debates are not quite like persuasive speeches because rather than trying to
convince the other side to join you on your side, you are simply trying to justify why you
are of an opinion on a certain matter.

Debates have certain rules, regardless of what side of the argument you pick, both or all
parties get an equal amount of time to prepare for it. Being a debater you get to develop
and harness certain skills like public speaking, researching, initiative skills, and even
leadership skills.

10. Forensic speech

The term forensic speech is mainly regarded as the practice and study of public
speaking and debating. This definition is from the American Forensic Association, and
they believe according to their research that millions of high school students and college
students engage in this activity.

The reason why this type of speech is called forensic is because of its strong similarities
to the competitions at public forums during the time of ancient Greece.

This event can take place in a simple place like a classroom or in a more sophisticated
setting like a national or international event. During the activity, students are advised to
research and improve their speaking skills in order to learn other types of speeches.

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11. Impromptu Speech
An Impromptu Speech is one that we have to deliver with no prior preparation or
rehearsal time, it’s one of those moments where you are simply called up to speak in an
event, in an interview, or in so many other situations.

It can be an embarrassing or ackward experience to be in a situation where you have to

speak from the top of your head with no prior preparation. To avoid that, please go
through the tips that we shared in one of our other posts on how you can better deal
with such stressing situations, and still manage to deliver great impromptu speeches.

12. Pitching Presentations / Pitch Speech

The term Pitching Presentation comes from a type of speech that is specifically targeted
at getting buy-in and approval for support, generally financial, for an idea, for a
business, a product prototype, or a solution.

Being in the working environment and working as a Salesperson you’d probably use this
type of speech more often than most people. That is not to say that other professionals,
other than salespeople don’t need to master the skills required to ace this type of
speech, most of us do.

13. Farewell Speech

Farewell speech is, as the name implies, the type of speech where you have to say
goodbye to people. It can be a Farewell speech done at work, when you are moving on
to your next opportunity, or it could be a goodbye speech to your loved ones when
traveling for a long time.

The farewell speech has a unique tone to it, it is both sad and encouraging and most
often it triggers strong emotions in the audience and the speaker. There is a special
level of care with wording and body language that you must have in order to deliver a
memorable one. Please check below our 8-step guide on how to deliver memorable
farewell speeches.

14. Funeral Speeches

Funeral Speeches or Eulogy is a type of speech where the main aim is to praise, honor
and remember the deceased in front of those attending the service. It can be done by
someone who is related to the deceased or by a minister who is asked by the family.
Losing a loved one is one the most difficult experiences you can go through, and being
able to find the right words and give a funeral speech effectively is even more
challenging. Find our guide on how to outline, how to prepare and how to deliver a
heartfelt eulogy in the link below.

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CONCLUSION
The art of public speaking or giving a speech is all embedded in one’s understanding
and mastery of the different types of speech. As a public speaker, you have to know
what occasion deserves what type of speech.

You first have to consider your message and how you what to deliver it, then on a more
important note, you have to consider the desired outcome or effect you want your
speech to have. It could either be to persuade your audience to stand with you on a
particular matter like government policy or Social structure to something as light as
mere entertainment at a dinner party.

Having the ability to speak in public effortlessly and with charisma is a trait and quality
every individual in the society should desire. And with the proper understanding of these
various types of speeches, as well as the techniques required for each, your abilities as
a public speaker are only going to grow, and you will continue to impress and amaze
your audiences.