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How to Write a Great Speech

TED Talks, here we come.

  • Course Length: 3 weeks
  • Course Type: Short Course
  • Category:
    • English
    • Life Skills
    • High School

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You can't avoid it. Someday, somewhere, you will have to be the best man or maid of honor at a dear friend's wedding. And when that time comes, you will have to stand up and give a speech. This course is your ticket to making sure that your speech has the bride or groom laughing and crying tears of joy rather than avoiding your gaze as they shift uncomfortably in their seat. Here, you'll learn

  • how to hook your audience. No sharp pointy objects required; instead you'll use the Greek techniques of pathos, ethos, and logos.
  • what not to do with your hands and feet. 
  • the best way to vary up your sentences and avoid putting people to sleep. Would you believe it involves grammar? Grammar: life of the party since the Stone Age.
  • how to use personal anecdotes to make your audience feel like you're BFFs—and listen to what you have to say.
  • the difference one voice can make, and how to use yours to enhance your message.

You'll learn all these techniques from the best, most impassioned speech givers of today and yesterday, all the while writing and delivering speeches about what you're passionate about, whether it's healthier snacks in your school vending machines, harsher punishments for parole violators, or world peace.

Twenty years from now when you're giving that speech at your dear friend's wedding, you'll think to yourself, "I'm so happy I took that speech class with Shmoop." And also, "When do we get to eat the cake?"

Unit Breakdown

1 How to Write a Great Speech - How to Write a Great Speech

This 12-lesson nano course is designed to teach students about rhetoric, introduce them to some great speakers, and teach them how to write and give a speech, all while hitting the Common Core 9-10 ELA standards.


Sample Lesson - Introduction

Lesson 1.03: Persuade Me, I Dare You


"Hey, there's nothing wrong with us wild hyenas."
(Source)

Some of the best public speakers are super enthusiastic. We're talking three venti double-shot lattés enthusiastic. But before we get into hand waving, shouting out to the audience, and jumping around on stage, let's start with what it is you're actually saying in a speech. You can jump around like a wild hyena on stage all you want, but if what you're saying is dull, pointless, or confusing, you just look like a wild hyena.

So, what should you say in your speech? Well, that depends on your goal. A persuasive speech's goal is to convince our audience to think like we do, to make a change, to go out and do something or say something. Sometimes we even want someone to stop doing something. Want to convince your mom to stop driving past you at school and hollering out the window at you about visiting Grandma's later? That's fair game for a persuasive speech.

But even once you've got your topic figured out, you have to remember that you are not writing an essay. Nope, you're writing something that people will hear, rather than read, which means that you need to present your ideas differently than you might in writing. That said, you can apply a few essay-writing tricks to speechwriting. We're talking stuff like

  • having a clear argumentative statement, or thesis.
  • presenting boatloads of supporting evidence.
  • linking it all together with strong topic and concluding sentences.
  • grabbing your audience from the get-go with a killer intro.
  • wrapping it all up in a bow with a great conclusion.

Doing this stuff takes some hardcore planning. You should plan your speech as seriously as you plan your approach to a Las Vegas all-you-can-eat buffet. 

We call this the Essential Element of Speech #1: Organize and plan your content to reach the listener emotionally and mentally. And you're actually closer to nailing this than you realize.

Sample Lesson - Activity

Activity 1.03: More Than Just Baloney

Essential Element of Speech #1: The meat. The stuff in the middle of the sandwich. The substance of your speech has to be more like the best roast beef you've ever had, not like baloney that's been in the fridge for two weeks.

When it comes to planning your speech sandwich, you've got plenty of options. And what you choose should depend as much on your audience as your topic. Think about it: You wouldn't try to appeal to a vegan with a heap of pastrami on rye, would you? In the same way, the persuasive techniques you use in speechwriting will be different if you're trying to convince your parents versus your best friends, or an audience of preschoolers versus your teachers. (Although, everybody likes a good cookie bribe.)

That's because you're not just out to convey information. You're also trying to appeal to your audience's eyes, ears, heads, and hearts through what we call ethos, logos and pathos. If these terms sound like Greek to you, continue on to discover the strategies that will become the lifeblood of your persuasive techniques.

First, watch our handy dandy video to get a handle on ethos, pathos, and logos:

  1. Now we'll walk through each one of these modes of persuasion, complete with examples and some follow-up questions.

    Logos

    First up: logos is an appeal to logic and reason, often using statistics or facts. For an example, check out this speech on texting and driving. Then answer the questions below.

    1. What was the speaker's point? What did he want you to do?

    2. What were some of the stats and facts he used to persuade you?

  2. Pathos

    Pathos is an appeal to emotion. For example, did you notice how that last speaker may have been trying to create a bit of fear with his statistics? And have you ever seen your mom cry at an AT&T commercial? Yup, they really know what they're doing.

    Example 1

    To do pathos well, you have to know your audience like the back of your hand and be able to predict what's going to wring their hearts. Like these guys.

    1. What did the coaches want the players to do?

    2. To what emotions did the coaches appeal, and how?

  3.   

    Example 2

    Want another example? No problem. (We're just full of 'em today.) Watch a few minutes of this student's speech to the UN. 

    1. What did she want the members of the UN to do?

    2. To what emotions did she appeal and how?

  4. Ethos

    Ethos is an appeal through establishing credibility. In other words, the speaker's out to prove that she knows what she's talking about. She owns this topic. She's an expert.

    Remember that first texting and driving speech? Check out how the speaker establishes credibility at 3:49.

    1. What are the speaker's credentials? What makes him an expert?

    2. How does the speaker's credibility strengthen his argument?

Expository Writing Rubric - 25 Points

OutstandingProficientDevelopingNeeds Improvement
Evidence / Support

All support is clearly and logically connected to the topic. Examples, evidence, and details are thorough and relevant with effective explanation.

(10)

All support about the main topic is relevant. Examples, evidence, and details are explained.

(9)

Most support is related to the topic. Examples, evidence, or details are given.

(8)

Insufficient examples, evidence, or details. Support may be irrelevant.

(7)
Content Understanding

All content is accurate and analysis is interesting and sophisticated.

(10)

All content is accurate.

(9)

May contain minor errors.

(8)

Major errors.

(7)
Style

Language is clear and interesting. Enhances presentation of information. No errors.

(5)

Language is clear and appropriate to topic. Minor spelling or grammatical errors.

(4)

Language is occasionally unclear, but meaning is generally understandable. Frequent spelling/grammar errors that do not impede comprehension.

(4)

Language use makes writing very difficult to understand. Frequent spelling or grammar errors that impede comprehension.

(3)