When you join Toastmasters your speech assignments in Pathways require  you to organise and deliver them. Your pathway has relevant online information to help  you in this. What follows is a quick run-through of critical information.

All well-organised speeches have an opening, a body and a conclusion.

Typically, the opening needs something to arrest the audience’s attention. It may contain the objective of the speech or outline a road map of where it is to take the audience. Typically it is around twenty percent or less of the speech by length.

The body of the speech (seventy to eighty percent by length) sets out the bulk of the subject matter and argument. It may benefit from being presented under a series of sub-headings.

The conclusion of the speech needs to wrap the argument up in a way that meets your stated objective. A good strategy may be to ‘bookend’ your speech by referencing material in the opening.

Be aware of the laws of primacy and recency which refer to the fact that afterwards an audience will best remember what it first heard (primacy) and what it last heard (recency). This suggests special thought needs to be given to what you include in the opening and in the conclusion.

Writing a speech is just part of the task. Delivering it is also a challenge. For this you need to consider public speaking tips.

The surest way to improve a speech is to give it and receive feedback on it in your local Toastmasters club – see home page. Why don’t you join Toastmasters?