Chapter 9, "Organizing the Body of the Speech"

The Art of Public Speaking - Notes by Ron Compton

An effective speech has a body with main points and their relevant supporting materials clearly,
creatively and strategically organized with the method best for audience impact, and with the connectives
best for relating them.

Organization Is Important - Coherent organization is vitally important for speechmaking. It helps (1) the
audience follow, understand and remember main ideas, and helps (2) the speaker critically prepare valid
key ideas, and have confidence and success in the delivery of them. Strategic organization: “Putting a
speech together in a particular way to achieve a particular result with a particular audience.”

Main Points – “The major points developed in the body of a speech.” Main points flow naturally and
logically from the speech’s Specific Purpose and Central Idea.

Number of Main Points – Two to five Main Points are manageable and effective in a classroom speech.
As appropriate, organize points into categories of Main Points to reduce the number.

Strategic Order of Main Points:

1. Chronological: “A method of speech organization in which the main points follow a time pattern.”
2. Spatial: “ . . . follow a directional pattern.”
3. Causal: “ . . . show a cause-effect relationship.”
4. Problem-Solution: “ . . . the first main point deals with the existence of a problem and the second main
point presents a solution to the problem.”
5. Topical: “ . . . the main points divide the topic into logical and consistent subtopics.”

Tips for Preparing Main Points:

Keep Main Points Separate – They need to be independent.
Try to Use the Same Pattern of Wording for Main Points – Helps understanding and remembering.
Balance the Amount of Time Devoted to Main Points – Each needs adequate emphasis.

Supporting Materials – “The materials used to support a speaker’s ideas. The three major kinds of
supporting materials are examples, statistics, and testimony.” Main points are assertions; they must have
supporting materials to substantiate them. Supporting materials must be organized to be directly relevant
to the main points they need to support.

Connectives – “A word or phrase that connects the ideas of a speech and indicates the relationship
between them.” These greatly help listeners follow and remember the main points of a speaker.
1. Transition – “A word or phrase that indicates when a speaker has finished one thought and is moving
on to another.”
2. Internal Preview – “A statement in the body of the speech that lets the audience know what the speaker
is going to discuss next.”
3. Internal Summary – “A statement in the body of the speech that summarizes the speaker’s preceding
point or points.”
4. Signposts – “A very brief statement that indicates where a speaker is in the speech or that focuses
attention on key ideas.”