The Formal Speech
Plan, create, rehearse and deliver spoken and multimodal presentations for purpose and audience, using language features, literary devices and features of voice such as volume, tone, pitch and pace.
A speech is written to be heard once. A listener cannot go back a line, so everything is built to be caught first time.
Method
Greet the audience by name
A speech that begins without addressing anyone loses format marks immediately.
Signpost out loud
Say There are three reasons, then count them. A listener has no headings to look at.
Short sentences, repeated key words
Repetition looks clumsy on the page and works perfectly in the ear.
End on the sentence you most want remembered
Never end with thank you for listening alone. Land the point, then thank them.
Worked example
e.g. Deliver a speech to the school assembly arguing that Year 9 should be allowed to run its own fundraising.
- Address the audience, most senior first.Principal, teachers, fellow students.
- Open with a hook — a question, a statistic or a short story.Last year we raised nine hundred dollars. None of us chose where it went.
- State your position in one sentence.I believe Year 9 should decide how the money we raise is spent.
- Signpost your structure aloud.There are three reasons for this.
- Argument one, with evidence. Then say ‘the second reason’ before moving on.First, we know what our year group actually needs.
- Argument two, and then argument three, each signposted.Second… Third…
- Answer the strongest objection before it is raised.Some will say we lack experience. That is exactly the argument for giving us some.
- Close by returning to the opening image, then thank the audience.Nine hundred dollars. Next year, let it be ours to place. Thank you.
Practice
Every one of these is about writing for the ear rather than the eye.
1
Why does a speech repeat key words that an essay would vary?
AnswerA listener hears it once. Repetition is how a spoken argument stays in the ear — an essay can rely on the reader looking back.
2
A speech ends: So that is my speech, thank you for listening. Improve it.
AnswerNine hundred dollars. Next year, let it be ours to place. Thank you. Land the argument first; the thanks come after, not instead.
3
Why answer the opposing argument inside your own speech?
AnswerIt shows you have considered it, and it takes the objection away from the audience before they raise it themselves.
4
What is the single most common format error in a speech?
AnswerStarting without addressing the audience. It costs marks before a single argument has been made.