CHAPTER 11
Organizing the Body of the Speech
CHAPTER CONTENT OUTLINE
I. Organize the speech.
A. A well-crafted speech contains three main parts: introduction, body, and conclusion.
2. The body presents the main points intended to fulfill the speech purpose, with their
underlying supporting points arranged similarly.
3. The conclusion brings closure to the speech by restating the purpose, summarizing
main points, and reiterating why the thesis is relevant to the audience.
II. Use main points to make your major claims.
A. Main points express the key ideas of the speech. Their function is to represent each of the
main elements or claims being made in support of the speech thesis.
B. Restrict the number of main points.
1. Two to five main points are sufficient for almost any speech, even though research
C. Restrict each main point to a single idea.
2. All of the main points should be presented in parallel form, or in a similar
grammatical form and style.
3. In addition to helping listeners understand and retain speech topics and ideas, parallel
form lends power, elegance, and consistency to the speech and its delivery.
D. Use the purpose and thesis statements as guides.
2. The thesis statement expresses the theme or central idea of the speech.
III. Use supporting points to substantiate your claims.
1. Supporting points should be arranged in order of their importance or relevance to the
main point.
IV. Pay close attention to coordination and subordination.
A. Outlines are based on the principles of coordination and subordination—the logical
1. Ideas that are coordinate are given equal weight; coordinate points are indicated by
their parallel alignment.
3. The most common format is the roman numeral outline in which main points are
enumerated with uppercase roman numerals (I, II, III) and supporting points are
enumerated with capital letters (A, B, C), then Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3), and lowercase
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V. Strive for a unified, coherent, and balanced organization.
A. Well-organized speeches are characterized by unity, coherence, and balance.
B. A speech exhibits unity when it contains only those points that are implied by the purpose
C. A coherent speech is one that is clearly and logically organized.
1. The speech body should follow logically from the introduction, and the conclusion
should follow logically from the body.
2. Main points should follow logically from the thesis statement and supporting points
D. The principle of balance suggests that appropriate emphasis or weight be given to each
part of the speech relative to the other parts and to the theme.
VI. Use transitions to give direction to the speech.
A. Transitions are words, phrases, or sentences that tie a speech’s ideas together and enable
the speaker to move smoothly from one point to the next.
B. Use transitions between speech points.
2. Transitions between supporting points can be single words, phrases, or full sentences.
C. Use internal previews and summaries as transitions.
1. The preview briefly mentions the main points and thesis of the speech.
KEY TERMS
introduction the first part of a speech, in which the speaker establishes the speech purpose and its
relevance to the audience and previews the topic and the main points
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body the part of the speech in which the speaker develops the main points intended to fulfill the
speech’s purpose
conclusion the part of the speech in which the speaker reiterates the speech theme, summarizes the
main points, and leaves the audience with something about which to think or act
supporting points information (examples, narratives, testimony, and facts and statistics) that
clarifies, elaborates, and verifies the speaker’s assertions
indentation in an outline, the plotting of speech points to indicate their weight relative to one
another; subordinate points are placed underneath and to the right of higher-order points
roman numeral outline an outline format in which main points are enumerated with roman
numerals (I, II, III); supporting points with capital letters (A, B, C); third-level points with
another. Thus Main Point II is coordinate with Main Point I.
subordinate points ideas subordinate to others that are thus given relatively less weight. In an
outline, they are indicated by their indentation below the more important points.
transitions words, phrases, or sentences that tie speech ideas together and enable a speaker to
move smoothly from one point to the next
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preview statement that briefly mentions the main points and thesis of the speech
CHAPTER STUDY GUIDE
I. SUMMARY QUESTIONS
What is the function of main points? How are they generated?
Main points express the key ideas and major themes of a speech. Their function is to make
statements or claims in support of the thesis. The first step in creating main points is to identify the
How can the specific purpose and thesis statements help generate main points?
Because the specific purpose statement expresses what you want the audience to learn or do as
a result of the speech and the thesis statement expresses the central idea of the speech, the main
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points should flow directly from them. These two statements can therefore serve as guideposts in
generating main points.
What is the function of supporting points?
Supporting points represent the supporting material or evidence gathered to justify the main
points. They can take a variety of forms, such as information from journals, books, class textbooks,
How do coordinate and subordinate points help create an outline?
They create a visual diagram of speech content. The indented outline can be a great learning
How do the principles of unity, coherence, and balance apply to the organization of a
speech?
A well-organized speech is characterized by unity, coherence, and balance. A speech exhibits
unity when it contains only those points that are implied by the purpose and the thesis statements.
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logically from the introduction and the conclusion should follow logically from the body of the
speech. Within the body itself, the main points should follow logically from the thesis statement
What are transitions, and how are they used in speeches?
Transitions are words, phrases, or sentences that tie together the speech’s ideas and enable the
II. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Why is it important that speeches be organized in a coherent and meaningful way?
The audience’s understanding of a speech is directly linked to how well it is organized.
Unlike a text where a reader can go back and reread a passage, there is no rewind button in a
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2. Why is it important that transition statements be used in the body of speeches?
Transitions help an audience conceptualize the logical direction of the speech. They help
listeners follow the speech. Transitions provide a flow. Without them, speeches are choppy
and abrupt. Also, transitions help the audience see the relationship among the points presented.
CONTENT PRESENTATION IDEAS
I. STUDENT ACTIVITIES
1. Assume that you have been asked to deliver a speech to incoming freshmen on the topic of
social life at your college. Write a specific purpose statement for this speech that reveals three
main points.
Before students write their specific purpose statements, it may be helpful for the entire
class to brainstorm several aspects of college life as well as to review the discussion of specific
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2. Each student should receive a fortune cookie. Write three main points for a speech on the topic
of the fortune found in the cookie. Then develop fictitious evidence for supporting points to
back up each main point.
Students may be creative in their responses to this assignment. The three main points
should be relevant to the topic from the fortune cookie, but the supporting evidence does not
II. GROUP ACTIVITIES
1. Together with four or five of your classmates, find a speech online. Working individually, try
to outline the speech, beginning with elements of the introduction. Note the main points,
supporting ideas, and transitions used by the speaker. Compare your findings with those of
your classmates. What similarities and differences are evident in your observations?
This activity can be used as an in-class writing assignment. Some speeches are organized
well enough to lend themselves to an outline. This type of speech can be used as an assignment
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2. Have each student write down a speech topic of his or her choice. Then have students form
groups of four or five, and ask them to blend their topics into one speech through the use of
creative transitions. Have each group of students make a list of the original speech topics and
the transitions they create to get from one topic to the next.
3. Form a group with four or five classmates and complete the following sentence: “The top three
reasons to attend (insert your university/college) are __________________________.” As a
group, brainstorm the reasons and then in outline form, write down the main points (coordinate
points) and supporting points (subordinate points). Supporting evidence can be made up or be
derived from personal experience.
Have one member from each group write the outline on the board and compare the
III. ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS AND ACTIVITIES
QUESTIONS
The following questions may be used by instructors to help illustrate important points in the
chapter and to facilitate students’ learning of this material. These questions can be used as:
• Homework questions
• Quizzes
1. What are main points? What can you use to develop main points? How many main points
should you use? What grammatical form should they be in?
Main points: Express the key ideas and major themes of a speech; used to make statements or
claims in support of the thesis.
Purpose and thesis as guideposts: You can lay out what the speech is about based on your
purpose and thesis; your main points should flow directly from these two things.
Number of main points: Audiences can comfortably take in from two to seven main points,
2. It is not enough for speakers to simply state the main points. What other two items need to be
present in the body of the speech?
Supporting points: The material or evidence presented to justify the main points.
3. What are the three principles that characterize a well-organized speech? Give an example of a
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ACTIVITIES
Be Supportive: Subpoints
Purpose: To provide students with an opportunity to implement supporting materials, including
examples, narratives, testimony, facts, and statistics.
Instructions: Either provide students with a list of five to ten topics or have them choose their
own. Ask them to generate a list of three points for each of the topics (and the subpoints for each).
Outline Scramble
Purpose: To help students understand how an outline is the building block or foundation of a
speech. A well-organized outline will produce a well-structured speech. The activity promotes
teamwork and collaboration and, through movement, gets students actively participating.
Instructions: Divide the class into two groups. Take a well-written outline and, using a large font,
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Once Upon a Time . . . Transitions
Purpose: To become familiar with transitions when writing a speech outline and presenting a
speech.
Instructions: Write transition words on the board or project them on a presentation slide.
Following is a list of some transitions that you can use. Ask one student to volunteer to go first.
Either give this student the starting line of a story or have the student make one up (e.g., “Once
upon a time there was a princess and a frog”; “I was walking along a beach when I found a bottle,
Transitional Words:
To add to a point: in addition, moreover, furthermore, besides, not only . . . but also, accordingly,
equally important, another, as well as, similarly, likewise
Emphasizing: surely, certainly, to be sure, undoubtedly, indeed, truly, in fact, above all, by all
means, of course, overwhelmingly, without question, as a matter of fact, significantly
Comparing ideas: in the same way, similarly, likewise, in comparison, have in common, in
relation to, also/too, either . . . or, despite, furthermore, as well as, the same, equally important, at
the same time, just as, in like manner, granted, both/and
Conclusion: in short, in conclusion, in summary, in closing, as a result
Occurring in time: first, second, then, next, last, meanwhile, shortly, immediately, earlier,
previously, following, as soon as, seldom/usually, before/after, meanwhile, occasionally,
subsequently, never/always
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Auditory Organization of Speech
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