Speech outline: [Title]
Speech type | |
Occasion | |
Audience | |
Purpose | |
Time allowed |
Timing
Read aloud, a speech runs at 130–150 words a minute: five minutes is about 700 words.
Give the opening and the close about a tenth of the time each, and split the rest evenly between the points.
Aim to finish a little under the limit. Nerves speed some speakers up; laughter and applause slow everyone down.
Time budget
Section | Time | Words |
Opening | ||
Main point 1 | ||
Main point 2 | ||
Main point 3 | ||
Conclusion | ||
Total |
Opening
Hook, word for word:
Why it matters to them:
Why you:
Thesis:
Preview of the three points:
See an example opening
Speech: Keep the Eastside library open on Sundays. Five minutes, to the city council's budget hearing.
Hook: “Every Sunday at ten, before the doors open, there's a line outside the Eastside library. Last week I counted 43 people. Eleven were children with homework; six were adults with job applications.”
Why it matters to them: Sunday is the only day many of them can come, and the budget you vote on in March closes it.
Why you: I have run the homework desk there every Sunday for three years.
Thesis: Sunday opening costs the city $38,000 a year, and it is the best-used $38,000 in the library budget.
Preview: I'll show you who comes, what it really costs, and a way to pay for it.
→ Into point 1:
Main point 1
The point, in one sentence:
Support:
Source, as you'll say it aloud:
Story or example:
So what, for this audience:
→ From point 1 to point 2:
Main point 2
The point, in one sentence:
Support:
Source, as you'll say it aloud:
Story or example:
So what, for this audience:
→ From point 2 to point 3:
Main point 3
The point, in one sentence:
Support:
Source, as you'll say it aloud:
Story or example:
So what, for this audience:
→ Into the close:
Conclusion
Thesis, restated:
Recap of the three points:
Call to action or takeaway:
Last line, word for word:
Delivery notes
Names and numbers to practice saying:
Props or handouts, and when each appears:
Run | Date | Time | What to change |
1 | |||
2 | |||
3 |
Before you speak
Timed out loud at least three times, and under the limit
The opening and the last line memorized
Pauses marked after the thesis and before the call to action
Speaking notes cut down to keywords, on cards or one page
The room checked: the microphone, water, and where you will stand