Basic Speech Organization

     I.       Introduction
               A.   Attention-getter -- here are some possibilities:
                         1.   Joke/humor--clean and relevant!
                         2.   Shocking statement
                         3.   Question
                         4.   Story
                         5.   Example
                         6.   Personal experience
                         7.   Poem
                         8.   Facts/Statistics
                         9.   Audio-visual aid (music, picture, movie)
                         10.  Analogy
                         11.  Demonstration
                         12.  Quote
               B.   Introduce general topic/subject
               C.   Preview main points
               D.   Relate the topic to your audience (for later speeches)
               E.   Establish your credibility (for later speeches)
     II.  Body
               A.   Find logical divisions and main points (You don’t have to have the magical 3 main points if you don’t want to)
               B.   Balanced main points
               C.   Write about what you’re assigned to write about
               D.   Use transitions and topic sentences
     III. Conclusion
               A.   Summarize/restate your main points
               B.   Relate topic to the audience (for later speeches)
               C.   Provide closure/Clincher sentence--something clear and creative, like:
                         1.   Tie to your attention-getter
                         2.   Give a lesson or advice
                         3.   Final thoughts