Unit 4: Types of speeches

3. Formulating the Main Idea of your Speech

After you have narrowed down your topic and chosen the purpose of your speech, you are ready to formulate the main idea. This is usually one sentence, placed in the introduction to your speech, which describes what you want to say in detail later. Let us consider different examples, depending on the purpose:

Kazimierz Pulaski was a hero of two nations. (An informative speech: a biography)

Driving rules in European countries have many common elements. (An informative speech)

Why high school students should choose a military career. (Persuasive)

I had a really funny experience during my last trip to the Bahamas. (Entertainment/ informative speech during a wedding)

The main idea of a speech will in turn determine what type of organization we are going to use. There are a few different patterns available, the most popular being the topical, the chronological, and the problem/solution. The topical pattern organizes our speech material according to a central idea, often divided into several smaller areas. We may talk about those in order of importance, or just develop one at a time. The chronological pattern organizes the information according to timing and may be used in describing somebody’s life. The problem/solution speech first names the problem and then suggests different solutions.

When you have decided on the main idea of your speech, taken into account the purpose, and chosen a pattern, you may proceed to gathering and organizing the material for your speech. We will talk about the process in Unit 5.