Speech Writing

What is the purpose of your speech?

Purpose – Are you writing to explain, argue or
persuade?
Audience – Who are you delivering the speech to? How
much knowledge to they have about your topic?
Layout – How are you going to lay it out?
Style – Formal style – standard English
What features of speech are there?
• Repetition
 Features of speeches Definition

Repetition Repeating key words/messages so the reader

remembers them
Anecdotes Short stories that are linked to the speech
Statistics Use of figures/percentages/numbers to support your
ideas
Rhetorical Questions Questions that do not need answers

Memorable phrases/quotes Phrases and quotes for the audience to remember

Controversial statements Comments that are deliberately intended to provoke a
reaction
Appropriate tone to suit the audience Making sure the tone and language is appropriate for
the audience
Watch Emma Watson’s HeForShe speech
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkjW9PZBRfk

What do you notice about how she delivers her speech?

• Gesture
• Intonation
• Expression
• Stressed words
• Pauses
Structure of speeches
• Opening
• First 30 seconds to draw the audience into the argument or topic you are making

• Body
• Should only have a few points – focus on one point for each paragraph

• Conclusion
• Summarise the main points of your speech
• Provide some further questions for the audience
• End with a final thought/emotion
Today we are launching a campaign called “HeForShe.”
I am reaching out to you because I need your help. We want to end gender
inequality—and to do that we need everyone to be involved.
This is the first campaign of its kind at the UN: we want to try and galvanize as many
men and boys as possible to be advocates for gender equality. And we don’t just
want to talk about it, but make sure it is tangible.
I was appointed six months ago and the more I have spoken about feminism the
more I have realized that fighting for women’s rights has too often become
synonymous with man-hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this
has to stop.
For the record, feminism by definition is: “The belief that men and women should
have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic and How does Emma Watson draw
social equality of the sexes.” us into the issue?
I started questioning gender-based assumptions when at eight I was confused at
being called “bossy,” because I wanted to direct the plays we would put on for our
parents—but the boys were not.
When at 14 I started being sexualized by certain elements of the press.
When at 15 my girlfriends started dropping out of their sports teams because they
didn’t want to appear “muscly.”
When at 18 my male friends were unable to express their feelings.
Opening paragraph
• Write an opening paragraph for your speech

1. Think about PALS

2. Have a way into the topic – how are you going to engage the
audience?
3. Think about what words to stress – show this by underlining the
word
4. Think about when to pause – use ellipses (…) to indicate this
Peer Assessment
• Swap your paragraph with your partner
• Write a WWW and EBI for them

• Have they used a way to engage the audience?

• Have you made the purpose extremely clear?
• What techniques have you used?