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Chapter 12
Organization and Outlines
Speech is power; speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Getting Started
In earlier stages of preparation for a speech, you have gained a good idea of who your
audience is and what information you want to focus on. This chapter will help you
consider how to organize the information to cover your topic. You may be tempted to
think that you know enough about your topic that you can just “wing it” or go
“freestyling.” Your organization might be something like this: “First, I’ll talk about this,
then I’ll give this example, and I’ll wrap it up with this.” While knowledge on your topic
is key to an effective speech, do not underestimate the importance of organization. You
may start to give your speech thinking you’ll follow the “outline” in your mind, and then
suddenly your mind will go blank. If it doesn’t go blank, you may finish what was
planned as a five-minute speech with three minutes remaining, sit down, and then start
to remember all the things you intended to say but didn’t.
Organization in your speech is helpful both to you and to your audience. Your audience
will appreciate hearing the information presented in an organized way, and being well
organized will make the speaking situation much less stressful for you. You might forget
a point and be able to glance at your outline and get back on track. Your listeners will
see that you took your responsibility as a speaker seriously and will be able to listen
more attentively. They’ll be able to link your key points in their minds, and the result
will be a more effective speech.
An extemporaneous speech involves flexibility and organization. You know your
material. You are prepared and follow an outline. You do not read a script or PowerPoint
presentation, you do not memorize every single word in order (though some parts may
be memorized), but you also do not make it up as you go along. Your presentation is
scripted in the sense that it is completely planned from start to finish, yet every word is
not explicitly planned, allowing for some spontaneity and adaptation to the audience’s
needs in the moment. This extemporaneous approach is the most common form used in
business and industry today.
Your organization plan will serve you and your audience as a guide, and help you
present a more effective speech. If you are concerned with grades, it will no doubt help
you improve your score as well. If you work in a career where your “grades” are sales,
and a sales increase means getting an “A,” then your ability to organize will help you
make the grade. Just as there is no substitute for practice and preparation, there is no
substitute for organization and an outline when you need it the most: on stage. Do
yourself and the audience a favor and create an outline with an organization pattern that
best meets your needs.
In the 1991 film What about Bob? a psychiatrist presents the simple idea to the patient,
played by actor Bill Murray. If the patient takes whatever he needs to do step by step,
the process he once perceived as complex becomes simple. In this same way, your
understanding of giving business presentations will develop step by step, as the process
and its important elements unfold. Read and reflect on how each area might influence
your speech, how it might involve or impact your audience, and how your purpose
guides your strategies as you plan your speech.
If you take it step by step, presenting a speech can be an exhilarating experience not
unlike winning a marathon or climbing a high peak. Every journey begins with a first
step, and in terms of communication, you’ve already taken countless steps in your
lifetime. Now we’ll take the next step and begin to analyze the process of public
speaking.
12.1 Rhetorical Situation
L EA RN IN G O B JEC T IV E
1. Label and discuss the three main components of the rhetorical situation.
In the classical tradition, the art of public speaking is called rhetoric; the circumstances
in which you give your speech or presentation are the rhetorical situation. By
understanding the rhetorical situation, you can gauge the best ways to reach your
listeners and get your points across. In so doing, you’ll make the transition from your
viewpoint to that of your audience members. Remember that without an audience to
listen and respond to you, it’s really not much of a speech. The audience gives you the
space and time as a speaker to fulfill your role and, hopefully, their expectations. Just as
a group makes a leader, an audience makes a speaker. By looking to your audience, you
shift your attention from an internal focus (you) to an external (them/others) emphasis.
This “other-orientation” is key to your success as an effective speaker.
Several of the first questions any audience member asks himself or herself are, “Why
should I listen to you?” “What does what you are saying have to do with me?” and “How
does this help me?” We communicate through the lens of personal experience and it’s
only natural that we would relate what others say to our own needs and wants, but by
recognizing that we share in our humanity many of the same basic motivations, we can
find common ground of mutual interest. Generating interest in your speech is only the
first step as you guide perception through selection, organization, and interpretation of
content and ways to communicate your point. Your understanding of the rhetorical
situation will guide you as you plan how to employ various strategies to guide your
listeners as they perceive and interpret your message. Your awareness of the overall
process of building a speech will allow you to take it step by step and focus on the
immediate task at hand.
The rhetorical situation involves three elements: the set of expectations inherent in the
context, audience, and the purpose of your speech or presentation. [1] This means you
need to consider, in essence, the “who, what, where, when, why, and how” of your
speech from the audience’s perspective.
Context
As we consider the rhetorical situation, we need to explore the concept in depth. Your
speech is not given in a space that has no connection to the rest of the world. If you are
going to be presenting a speech in class, your context will be the familiar space of your
classroom. Other contexts might include a business conference room, a restaurant
where you are the featured speaker for a dinner meeting, or a podium that has been set
up outdoors for a sports award ceremony.
The time of your speech will relate to people’s natural patterns of behavior. If you give a
speech right after lunch, you can expect people to be a bit sleepy. Knowing this, you can
take steps to counter this element of the context by making your presentation especially
dynamic, such as having your audience get up from their seats or calling on them to
answer questions at various points in your speech.
You can also place your topic within the frame of reference of current events. If you are
presenting a speech on the importance of access to health care for everyone, and you are
presenting it in October of an election year, the current events that exist outside your
speech may be used to enhance it. Your listeners might be very aware of the political
climate, and relating your topic to a larger context may effectively take into
consideration the circumstances in which your readers will use, apply, or contemplate
your information.
Audience
The receiver (i.e., listener or audience) is one of the basic components of
communication. Without a receiver, the source (i.e., the speaker) has only himself or
herself in which to send the message. By extension, without an audience you can’t have a
speech. Your audience comes to you with expectations, prior knowledge, and
experience. They have a purpose that makes them part of the audience instead of
outside playing golf. They have a wide range of characteristics like social class, gender,
age, race and ethnicity, cultural background, and language that make them unique and
diverse. What kind of audience will you be speaking to? What do you know about their
expectations, prior knowledge or backgrounds, and how they plan to use your
information? Giving attention to this aspect of the rhetorical situation will allow you to
gain insight into how to craft your message before you present it.
Purpose
A speech or oral presentation may be designed to inform, demonstrate, persuade,
motivate, or even entertain. You may also overlap by design and both inform and
persuade. The purpose of your speech is central to its formation. You should be able to
state your purpose in one sentence or less, much like an effective thesis statement in an
essay. You also need to consider alternate perspectives, as we’ve seen previously in this
chapter. Your purpose may be to persuade, but the audience after lunch may want to be
entertained, and your ability to adapt can make use of a little entertainment that leads to
persuasion.
[1] Kostelnick, C., & Roberts, D. (1998). Designing visual language: Strategies for professional
communicators. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
12.2 Strategies for Success
L EA RN IN G O B JEC T IV E
1. Identify and provide examples of at least five of the nine basic cognate strategies in
communication.
Given the diverse nature of audiences, the complexity of the communication process,
and the countless options and choices to make when preparing your speech, you may
feel overwhelmed. One effective way to address this is to focus on ways to reach,
interact, or stimulate your audience. Humans share many of the same basic needs, and
meeting those needs provides various strategies for action.
Charles Kostelnick and David Roberts outline several cognate strategies, or ways of
framing, expressing, and representing a message to an audience, in Designing Visual
Language: Strategies for Professional Communicators. [1] The word “cognate” refers to
knowledge, and these strategies are techniques to impart knowledge to your audience.
Kostelnick and Roberts’s strategies are cross-disciplinary in that they can be applied to
writing, graphic design, and verbal communication. They help the writer, designer, or
speaker answer questions like “Does the audience understand how I’m arranging my
information?” “Am I emphasizing my key points effectively?” and “How does my
expression and representation of information contribute to a relationship with the
audience?” They can serve you to better anticipate and meet your audience’s basic
needs.
Aristotle outlined three main forms of rhetorical proof: ethos, logos, and pathos. Ethos
involves the speaker’s character and expertise. Logos is the logic of the speaker’s
presentation—something that will be greatly enhanced by a good organizational plan.
Aristotle discussed pathos as the use of emotion as a persuasive element in the
speech, [2] or “the arousing of emotions in the audience.” We don’t always make
decisions based on clear thinking. Sometimes we are moved by words, by a scene in a
movie, or by other mediated forms of communication. As the speaker, you may create a
message by selecting some aspects and rejecting others. A close-up picture of a child
starving to death can capture attention and arouse emotions. If you use pathos in a
strategic way, you are following Aristotle’s notion of rhetorical proof as the available
means of persuasion. If logic and expertise don’t move the audience, a tragic picture
may do so.
The cognate strategies are in many ways expressions of these three elements, but by
focusing on individual characteristics, can work towards being more effective in their
preparation and presentation. Many of these strategies build on basic ideas of
communication, such as verbal and nonverbal delivery. By keeping that in mind, you’ll
be more likely to see the connections and help yourself organize your presentation
effectively.
Here we adapt and extend Kostelnick and Roberts’ strategies in order to highlight ways
to approach the preparation and presentation of your message. Across the cognate
strategies, we can see Aristotle’s rhetorical elements through a range of strategies to
communicate better with our audience. There is a degree of overlap, and many of the
strategies draw on related elements, but by examining each strategy as a technique for
engaging your audience, you can better craft your message to meet their expectations.
Tone
From the choice of your words, to the choice of your dress, you contribute to the tone of
the speech. Tone, or the general manner of expression of the message, will contribute to
the context of the presentation. First, consider your voice. Is it relaxed, or shaky and
nervous? Your voice is like a musical instrument that, when played expressively, fulfills
a central role in your ability to communicate your message to your audience. Next
consider how your tone is expressed through your body language. Are your arms
straight down at your sides, or crossed in front of you, or are they moving in a natural
flow to the rhythm and cadence of your speech? Your dress, your use of space, and the
degree to which you are comfortable with yourself will all play a part in the expression of
your message.
Emphasis
If everyone speaks at the same time, it’s hard for anyone to listen. In the same way, if all
your points are equally presented, it can be hard to distinguish one from another, or to
focus on the points that are most important. As the speaker, you need to consider how
you place emphasis—stress, importance, or prominence—on some aspects of your
speech, and how you lessen the impact of others. Perhaps you have a visual aid to
support your speech in the form of a visually arresting picture. Imagine that you want to
present a persuasive speech on preventing skin cancer and you start with a photo of two
people wearing very little clothing. While the image may capture attention, clearly
placing emphasis on skin, it may prove to be more of a distraction than an addition.
Emphasis as a cognate strategy asks you to consider relevance, and the degree to which
your focal point of attention contributes to or detracts from your speech. You will need
to consider how you link ideas through transitions, how you repeat and rephrase, and
how you place your points in hierarchical order to address the strategy of emphasis in
your presentation.
Engagement
Before you start thinking about weddings, consider what key element is necessary for
one to occur? If you guessed a relationship you were correct. Just as a couple forms an
interpersonal relationship, the speaker forms a relationship with the audience members.
Eye contact can be an engaging aspect of this strategy, and can help you form a
connection—an engagement—with individual audience members. Looking at the floor or
ceiling may not display interest to the audience. Engagement strategies develop the
relationship with the audience, and you will need to consider how your words, visuals,
and other relevant elements of your speech help this relationship grow.
Clarity
As a speaker, you may have excellent ideas to present, but if they are not made clear to
the audience, your speech will be a failure. “Clarity strategies help the receiver
(audience) to decode the message, to understand it quickly and completely, and when
necessary, to react without ambivalence.” [3] Your word choices, how you say them, and
in what order all relate to clarity. If you use euphemisms, or indirect expressions, to
communicate a delicate idea, your audience may not follow you. If you use a story, or an
arresting image, and fail to connect it clearly to your main point or idea, your audience
will also fail to see the connection. Depending on the rhetorical situation, the use of
jargon may clarify your message or confuse your audience. You’ll also need to consider
the visual elements of your presentation and how they clarify your information. Is the
font sufficiently large on your PowerPoint slide to be read in the back of the room? Is
your slide so packed with words that they key ideas are lost in a noise of text? Will it be
clear to your listeners how your pictures, motion clips, or audio files relate to topic?
Conciseness
Being clear is part of being concise. Conciseness refers to being brief and direct in the
visual and verbal delivery of your message, and avoiding unnecessary intricacy. It
involves using as many words as necessary to get your message across, and no more. If
you only have five to seven minutes, how will you budget your time? Being economical
with your time is a pragmatic approach to insuring that your attention, and the attention
of your audience, is focused on the point at hand.
Arrangement
As the speaker, you will gather and present information in some form. How that form
follows the function of communicating your message involves strategically grouping
information. “Arrangement means order, the organization of visual (and verbal)
elements [4] “in ways that allow the audience to correctly interpret the structure,
hierarchy, and relationships among points of focus in your presentation. We will discuss
the importance of hierarchy, and which point comes first and last, as we explore
arguments and their impact on the perception of your message.
Credibility
Here we can clearly see Aristotle’s ethos—character and expertise. You will naturally
develop a relationship with your audience, and the need to make trust an element is key
to that development. The word “credibility” comes from the word “credence,” or belief.
Credibility involves your qualities, capabilities, or power to elicit from the audience
belief in your character. Cultivating a sense of your character and credibility may involve
displaying your sense of humor, your ability to laugh at yourself, your academic or
profession-specific credentials, or your personal insight into the topic you are
discussing.
For example, if you are going to present a persuasive speech on the dangers of drinking
and driving, and start with a short story about how you helped implement a “designated
driver” program, the audience will understand your relationship to the message, and
form a positive perception of your credibility. If you are going to persuade the audience
to give blood, practice safe sex, or get an HIV test, your credibility on the subject may
come from your studies in the medical or public health field, from having volunteered at
a blood drive, or perhaps from having had a loved one who needed a blood transfusion.
Consider persuasive strategies that will appeal to your audience, build trust, and convey
your understanding of the rhetorical situation.
Expectation
Your audience, as we’ve addressed previously, will have inherent expectations of
themselves and of you depending on the rhetorical situation. Expectations involve the
often unstated, eager anticipation of the norms, roles and outcomes of the speaker and
the speech. If you are giving an after-dinner speech at a meeting where the audience
members will have had plenty to eat and drink immediately before you get up to speak,
you know that your audience’s attention may be influenced by their state of mind. The
“after-dinner speech” often incorporates humor for this very reason, and the
anticipation that you will be positive, lighthearted and funny is implicit in the rhetorical
situation. If, on the other hand, you are going to address a high school assembly on the
importance of graduating from high school and pursuing a college education, you may
also be motivational, funny, and lighthearted, but there will be an expectation that you
will also discuss some serious issues as a part of your speech.
Reference
No one person knows everything all the time at any given moment, and no two people
have experienced life in the same way. For this reason, use references
carefully. Referenceinvolves attention to the source and way you present your
information. If you are a licensed pilot and want to inform your audience about the
mistaken belief that flying is more dangerous than driving, your credibility will play a
role. You might also say “according to the Federal Aviation Administration” as you cite
mortality statistics associated with aviation accidents in a given year. The audience
won’t expect you to personally gather statistics and publish a study, but they will expect
you to state where you got your information. If you are talking to a group of children
who have never flown before, and lack a frame of reference to the experience of flying,
you will need to consider how to reference key ideas within their scope of experience.
A good way to visualize this is as a frame, where some information you display to the
audience is within the frame, and other information (that you do not display) lies
outside the frame. You focus the information to improve clarity and conciseness, and the
audience will want to know why the information you chose is included and where you
got it. That same frame may also be related to experience, and your choice of terms,
order or reliance on visual aids to communicate ideas. If you are giving a speech on
harvesting crops on an incline, and your audience is made up of rural Bolivians who
farm manually, talking about a combine may not be as effective as showing one in action
in order to establish a frame of reference.
Table 12.1 “Nine Cognate Strategies” summarizes the nine cognate strategies in relation
to Aristotle’s forms of rhetorical proof; it also provides areas on which to focus your
attention as you design your message.
Table 12.1 Nine Cognate Strategies
Aristotle’s Forms of Rhetorical
Proof
Pathos
Logos
Ethos
Cognate Strategies
Focus
Tone
Expression
Emphasis
Relevance
Engagement
Relationship
Clarity
Clear understanding
Conciseness
Key points
Arrangement
Order, hierarchy, placement
Credibility
Character, trust
Expectation
Norms and anticipated outcomes
Reference
Sources and frames of reference
You’ll want to consider the cognate strategies and how to address each area to make
your speech as effective as possible, given your understanding of the rhetorical situation.
TABLE 12.2 HOW I WILL APPLY THE COGNAT E STRATEGIES
Aristotle’s Forms of
Rhetorical Proof
Pathos
Cognate Strategies
Focus
o
Tone
o
Expression
o
Emphasis
o
Relevance
o
Engagement
o
Relationship
o
Clarity
o
Clear
Logos
My speech will address each
element and strategy by (verbal
and visual)
Aristotle’s Forms of
Rhetorical Proof
Cognate Strategies
Focus
o
Conciseness
o
Arrangemen
o
Key points
t
o
Order, hierarchy,
My speech will address each
element and strategy by (verbal
and visual)
understanding
placement
o
Character, trust
o
Norms and
anticipated
outcomes
Ethos
o
Credibility
o
Expectation
frames of
o
Reference
reference
o
Sources and
[1] Kostelnick, C., & Roberts, D. (1998). Designing visual language: Strategies for professional
communicators. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
[2] Wisse, J. (1989). Ethos and pathos: From Aristotle to Cicero. Amsterdam, Netherlands:
Adolph M. Hakkert.
[3] Kostelnick, C., & Roberts, D. (1998). Designing visual language: Strategies for professional
communicators (p. 17). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
[4] Kostelnick, C., & Roberts, D. (1998). Designing visual language: Strategies for professional
communicators (p. 14). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
12.3 Building a Sample Speech
L EA RN IN G O B JEC T IV ES
1. Demonstrate how to build a sample speech by expanding on the main points you wish to
convey.
2. Demonstrate how to use the five structural parts of any speech.
As you begin to investigate your topic, make sure you consider several sides of an issue.
Let’s say you are going to do a speech to inform on the history of the First
Transcontinental Railroad. At first you may have looked at just two sides, railroaders
versus local merchants. Railroad tycoons wanted to bring the country together—moving
people, goods, and services in a more efficient way—and to make money. Local
merchants wanted to keep out competition and retain control of their individual
markets.
Take another look at this issue and you see that several other perspectives have bearing
on this issue. Shipping was done primarily by boat prior to the railroad, so shippers
would not want the competition. Recent Chinese immigrants were in need of work.
Native Americans did not want to lose their culture or way of life, and a railroad that
crossed the country would cut right through the buffalo’s migration patterns. We now
have five perspectives to the central issue, which makes the topic all the more
interesting.
The general purpose is to inform the audience on the First Transcontinental Railroad
and its impact on a young but developing United States. The thesis statement focuses on
shipping, communication, and cultures across America.
Topic. First Transcontinental Railroad
General purpose statement. I want the audience to be more informed about the
impact of the First Transcontinental Railroad.
Thesis statement. The First Transcontinental Railroad changed shipping,
communication, and cultures across America.
With the information we have so far, we can now list three main points:
1. Change in shipping
2. Change in communication
3. Change in cultures
Think of each one of these main points as a separate but shorter speech. The point is to
develop each of these main points like you have developed your overall speech. What do
you want to focus on? The major types of shipping at the time of the First
Transcontinental Railroad? One aspect you may want consider is to what degree is your
audience familiar with this time in history. If they are not very familiar, a little
background and context can help make your speech more meaningful and enhance its
relevance to your thesis statement. By taking time to consider what you want to
accomplish with each point, you will help yourself begin to address how you need to
approach each point. Once you have thought about what you want to focus on for each
point, list each subheading next to the main points. For example,
1. Change in shipping
A.
Navigating the waterways via barges and boats
B.
Overland stagecoaches
C.
Timetables for modes of travel
Change in communication
.
Letters in the days of the Pony Express
A.
How the Morse Code telegraph system followed railroad lines
B.
Bringing people together across distances
Change in cultures
.
Prerailroad immigration
A.
Impact on Native Americans
B.
Territories become States
By now you’ve identified your key points and are ready to start planning your speech in
more detail. While your organizational structure will vary from speech to speech, there
are nonetheless five main parts of any speech: attention statement, introduction, body,
conclusion, and residual message. These are basic to the rhetorical process and you will
see time and time again, regardless of audience or culture, these same elements in some
form utilized to communicate in public. They will serve to guide you, and possibly even
save you should you get a last minute request to do a speech or presentation.
Place your hand on the table or desk and you’ll more likely see a thumb and four fingers.
Associate your hand with these five elements. Each digit is independently quite weak,
but together they make a powerful fist. Your thumb is quite versatile and your most
important digit. It’s a lot like your attention statement. If you don’t gain the audience’s
attention, the rest of the speech will be ineffective.
Each successive digit can represent the remaining four parts of any speech. One day you
will be asked to speak with little or no time for preparation. By focusing on this
organizational model, and looking down at your hand, you can quickly and accurately
prepare your speech. With the luxury of time for preparation, each step can even be
further developed. Remember the five-finger model of public speaking , as summarized
in Table 12.3 “Five-Finger Model of Public Speaking”, and you will always stand out as a
more effective speaker.
Table 12.3 Five-Finger Model of Public Speaking
Attention
Statement
The attention statement is the way you focus the audience’s attention on you and
your speech.
Introduction
Your introduction introduces you and your topic, and should establish a relationship
with your audience and state your topic clearly.
Body
In the body, or main content area of your speech, you will naturally turn to one of the
organizational patterns.
Conclusion
You conclusion should provide the audience with a sense of closure by summarizing
the main points and relating the points to the overall topic.
Residual
Message
The residual message is an idea or thought that stays with your audience well after
the speech.
12.4 Sample Speech Outlines
L EA RN IN G O B JEC T IV E
1. Understand how to create two different styles of outlines for a speech.
Chances are you have learned the basic principles of outlining in English writing
courses: anoutline is a framework that organizes main ideas and subordinate ideas in a
hierarchical series of roman numerals and alphabetical letters. The center column
of Table 12.4 “Speech Outline A” presents a generic outline in a classical style. In the left
column, the five main structural elements of a speech are tied to the outline. Your task is
to fill in the center column outline with the actual ideas and points you are making in
your speech. Feel free to adapt it and tailor it to your needs, depending on the specifics
of your speech. Next, fill in the right column with the verbal and visual delivery features
of your speech.
Table 12.4 Speech Outline A
Attention Statement
Introduction
Body
Device
Main idea
Common ground
I. Main idea: Point 1
Subpoint 1
A.1 specific information 1
A.2 specific information 2
II. Main idea: Point 2
Subpoint 1
B.1 specific information 1
B.2 specific information 2
III. Main idea: Point 3
Subpoint 1
C.1 specific information 1
Verbal and Visual Delivery
Attention Statement
Device
Verbal and Visual Delivery
C.2 specific information 2
Conclusion
Summary, main points 1–3
Residual Message
Main idea
There is no law that says a speech outline has to follow a classical outline format,
however. Table 12.5 “Speech Outline B” is an alternate outline form you may want to use
to develop your speech. As you can see, this outline is similar to the one above in that it
begins with the five basic structural elements of a speech. In this case, those elements
are tied to the speech’s device, thesis, main points, summary, and recap of the thesis. In
the right column, this outline allows you to fill in the cognate strategies you will use to
get your points across to your audience. You may use this format as a model or modify it
as needed.
Table 12.5 Speech Outline B
Attention
Statement
Device
Introduction
Body
General purpose statement or thesis
statement
Common ground
Point 1:
Point 2:
Point 3:
Conclusion
Summarize main points and reinforce common
ground
Residual Message
Reiterate thesis
Cognate Strategies, Verbal
and Visual
12.5 Organizing Principles for Your Speech
L EA RN IN G O B JEC T IV E
1. Identify and understand how to use at least five different organizing principles for a
speech.
There are many different ways to organize a speech, and none is “better” or “more
correct” than the others. The choice of an organizing principle, or a core assumption
around which everything else is arranged, depends on the subject matter, the rhetorical
situation, and many other factors, including your preference as speaker.
The left column of Table 12.6 “Sample Organizing Principles for a Speech” presents
seventeen different organizing principles to consider. The center column explains how
the principle works, and the right column provides an applied example based on our
sample speech about the First Transcontinental Railroad. For example, using a
biographical organizing principle, you might describe the journey of the Lewis and Clark
expedition in 1804; the signing of the Pacific Railroad Act in 1862, and the completion
of the first Transcontinental Express train trip in 1876. As another example, using a
spatial organizing principle, you might describe the mechanics of how a steam
locomotive engine works to turn the train wheels, which move on a track to travel across
distances.
As you read each organizational structure, consider how the main points and
subheadings might change or be adapted to meet each pattern.
Table 12.6 Sample Organizing Principles for a Speech
Organizing
Principle
Explanation
1. Time
(Chronological)
Structuring your speech by time shows a
series of events or steps in a process,
which typically has a beginning, middle,
and end
