Are you expected to deliver a speech in front of the class? We are sure your palms must be sweating profusely thinking of the D Day!
But wait, before you stress yourself, remember that speech writing is a skill. You don’t have to be an expert to write an essay or a speech. As long as you have an excellent command of your language and creative thinking, you are good. In fact, acquiring speech writing skills at the early stage of life can be beneficial in various ways down the line.
And trust us; by the time you finish reading this blog, you will be more than capable of drafting and delivering an excellent speech at your Tokyo International School. So, keep reading to determine how to write a great speech for the school assignment.
What is Speech Writing?
Speech writing is a process of conveying your message to a group of people using words. It is quite similar to writing an essay.
To deliver a successful speech, you must comprehend your speech’s purpose, the time limit allocated, and the length of the speech, as well as conduct an audience analysis.
Since speech writing is all about engaging the audience, it can prove quite challenging to draft an effective one. However, following the right format is all it takes to create a great speech that wows your audience.
Benefits of Speech Writing
By choosing to write your speech, you can benefit in ways like –
1. Gain in-Depth Knowledge Of The Topic=
The confusion about how to write a great speech often leads to students outsourcing the same from an expert or a family member. Well, doing so will refrain you from gaining in-depth knowledge of the topic at hand.
No matter how complex your speech topic is, an hour or two or more of research is enough to comprehend where to start. And once you create a solid foundation for your speech, there is nothing that can stop you from writing further and gaining added knowledge of the topic.
2. Stay Organised With Ideas
You may have immense knowledge of the speech topic, but this knowledge may be scattered and disorganised in your head.
By choosing to write the speech on your own, you make yourself capable of organising your thoughts in a manner that is easy to understand for your audience.
3. Facilitates memorising the Speech
There is a reason why your IB School teacher prioritises writing and remembering over reading and remembering. Writing something down helps in storing the information in the brain better. No wonder why schools give so much written homework.
Also, writing down the speech helps in organising it in a feasible pattern and sequence, thereby making it easy to recall.
4. Time The Speech Effectively
Public speaking engagements have time restrictions. Even your teacher must have allocated a certain time limit to every student asked to give a speech.
By choosing to write the speech, you are able to time the speech before the big day arrives. This way, your teacher won’t shoot you with evil looks to wrap up the speech sooner!
5. Improves The Quality of The Speech
By investing a few hours jotting down the speech, you ensure to include vital pointers that only boost the quality of your speech.
Such speeches are more likely appreciated and accepted by the crowd than those that were mindlessly drafted in the first place.
What Are The Types of Writing Speech?
There are many different types of speech, and each of them falls into different categories.
Listed below are some common types of speech writing used in regular settings –
1. Informative Speech
The idea behind drafting an informative speech is to educate the audience on a particular message or topic. This speech doesn’t use visual aids but features data, facts, statistics and other details that help the target audience grip the concept.
An informative speech can cover economic and social topics. However, their intention is never to make the audience believe in a certain opinion or viewpoint. Instead, inform the relevant details surrounding the topic.
2. Persuasive Speech
This type of speech focuses on convincing the listeners that the speaker has the right opinion on the topic.
Anything from entertainment to a more serious political topic can be covered through persuasive speech. Adding solid evidence is key to persuading the listeners and making them believe in your opinion.
3. Oratorical Speech
Oratorical speech is more formal than other speeches mentioned in this list. These speeches are typically given at graduations and funerals and are lengthier.
However, an oratorical speech given at a special event or as a toast can be short and informal.
4. Special Occasion Speech
This type of speech is given on a special occasion and doesn’t follow any format. Special occasion speech instead focuses on fitting the given occasion – whether it is a wedding, birthday party, get-together or an award show.
These speeches fit the context of the environment to communicate the message and gain the audience’s attention. They are short, upbeat, interesting, and direct.
5. Demonstrative Speech
Demonstrative speech intends to educate the audience about a certain topic they have zero knowledge of. These speeches can include visual aid to better describe the topic in greater detail.
Even though demonstrative and informative speeches seem similar, demonstrative speech deals with actually demonstrating how to do a certain thing.
How to Start a Speech of introduction?
The most important element of any speech is the opening. These first few lines help in inspiring, persuading and influencing the listeners. Hence, it is imperative to focus more on how to start a speech of introduction.
Here Are Some Effective Tips On How To Start A Speech Successfully Every Time.
● Quotes are excellent for both inspiring and motivating the listener. Using a quote at the beginning can help set an influential tone for the speech.
● Add statistics in the introduction to present your speech in the most powerful way. Stats and facts offer a quantifiable and persuasive aspect to the message included in the speech. Stats can also be used to build your arguments, support your claims and prove them right.
● Adding a rhetorical question in the introduction is one of the best ways to start a speech and help get the audience involved. Rhetorical questions also help control the speech and the audience’s thoughts.
● There is no reason why you cannot use humour at the beginning of your speech. In fact, well-timed humour can help get the audience involved in the speech. However, ensure that you are careful with what humour you use in the speech. Things that you find funnier might offend others.
● Or, perhaps start your speech with something personal, something that makes your audience resonate with your thoughts. People tend to get quiet and all ears when they know you are about to begin a story – from your childhood or infancy days.
Tips For Writing Informative Speeches For Students
An impactful speech is a collection of good content that is presented in the most appealing manner.
Listed below are some tips on how to write informative speech and ensure it stands out and appeals to your listeners/readers.
1. Select a fascinating Topic
Choosing the right topic is the very first answer to your question, how to write a speech?
It is best to stick with interesting topics, one that is capable of enticing and engaging your listeners and readers. An interesting topic is your go-to to educate your audience in the best way possible.
2. Create an Excellent Opening
Just because the body of your speech contains vital details doesn’t mean you should overlook the importance of the intro completely.
In fact, we just mentioned above how to start a speech effectively. Use those tips to provoke your audience’s thinking and pique their attention towards the topic.
3. Create an Outline First
When it comes to drafting an informative speech, always start with drafting an outline first. Why? With an outline, you can keep your speech organised and maintain the coherence and flow of the topic.
Start by creating the introduction first, proceed to the body (include subheadings, vital details, discussions, etc., here) and end your speech with a compelling conclusion. One that lingers in the mind even hours after you are done speaking.
4. Focus on the Introduction
Your introduction should feature facts, humour, rhetorical questions etc. – anything that compels the readers and empowers your peers. Also, don’t forget to equally showcase the importance of the topic you wish to discuss further. When ending the introduction, ensure to include a thesis statement that further showcases the importance of the main agenda that you wish to communicate.
Here are some pointers to consider to create a compelling introduction to your speech.
● Start with a provoking idea or aspect in the intro
● Explain the central purpose and idea.
● End with a thesis statement.
5. Add Vital Details In The Body
Your speech’s body can have many paragraphs, between 3 and 5 in total. Here are some tips for writing an effective body of your speech –
● Ensure the body paragraphs feature ideas that are directly linked
● Jot down the main points in an organised manner
● Add a few real-life examples to support the idea
● Maintain a cohesion between the facts and aspects discussed in the body
Every body paragraph must talk about a particular aspect or fact. But they should be connected to each other. One paragraph must give way to the next one, and so on.
6. Ensure To Keep Audience’s Attention Span in Mind
Before we help you comprehend the closing/conclusion, it is important to understand that humans have a limited attention span. Hence, it is best to avoid dragging the speech for insane amounts of time.
No matter how important or vast a topic is, you should find ways to successfully squeeze your ideas into a given time frame.
7. Keep Things Simple
Another thing to keep in mind is the complexity of the speech. The higher the complexity rate, the lower the understanding. Hence, avoid using a dictionary to add heavy words and industry jargon in your speech.
Instead, swap all the complex words with simple words that are easy to understand even by a toddler. This way, you can broaden your audience reach and improve the resonation rate of your speech.
8. Incorporate Storytelling And Humour
It is important to add humour and storytelling aspects to your speech instead of making it an information dump. Adding personal elements can reduce the complexity of your speech.
You can incorporate a few jokes or even anecdotes in your speech. However, don’t just use humour one after another. Sprinkle them wisely across the speech.
9. Never Overlook The Closing
When it comes to the conclusion of the speech, ensure that it is conclusive in nature. Summarise the major facts and information in conclusion.
Here are some tips –
● Restate the thesis statement to reinforce the main idea
● Add quotations or historical points to make the conclusion interesting and memorable
10. Spend Time Proofreading
Before you start memorising your speech, ensure that you proofread it a few times. You can even ask someone to do the proofreading part for you. The idea is to use a fresh set of eyes that can pinpoint errors and issues immediately.
Also, ensure to cross-check the facts and stats that you have added. You certainly don’t want to look foolish in front of your peers while giving the speech.
11. Make Necessary Edits Wherever Needed
Lastly, use editing software to make necessary changes in the speech. Perhaps you or the proofreader you chose found something that needs your attention. A few hours of editing the document will mitigate any and every error and make you capable of more proficient writing down the line.
See Also – Benefits of Time Management for Students
Wrapping Up
By now, you must know how to start, draft and complete a speech with a bang, right?
So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and use the tips suggested above to ensure you draft the most compelling informative speech any student might have ever presented in the classroom. And now that you have an idea of how to write a speech for students, calm your nerves before drafting and presenting the speech. Nervousness can put all your efforts in vain!
