HOW TO WRITE A SPEECH

WRITING A SPEECH

INSTITUTIONAL WRITING 

A speech is an official verbal presentation that is meant to achieve a certain goal.

 

The main aim or objective of a speech is:

•  To convince your audience to buy into your idea or pay attention to a certain goal
• To make a good impression
• To leave your audience with 2 or 3 takeaways

Words are powerful tools that can move a whole nation or even the whole of humanity. The pen is mightier than the sword. Great orators have always used words to influence large masses of people. These include Barack Obama, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Adolf Hitler, John F. Kennedy, Kijana Wamalwa, PLO Lumumba etc. 

 

 Your speech should sound like a real person talking.

 

Steps to writing an effective speech

• Identify the purpose of your speech
• Analyze your audience
• Condense your message to the basics
• Strike the right tone.
• Pull them in with your introduction
• Your message should flow perfectly and fluently
• End strong

 

HOW TO WRITE A POWERFUL SPEECH  

The idea is to capture the attention of the audience very early on. Deliver a memorable beginning, clear middle and structured ending.

 

Preparation for writing a speech

Know your audience

Do an audience analysis

What are they looking for? Pay attention to their needs

 

Required length for delivery

Know the time limit. Keep your speech short and sweet.

 

Purpose/topic of the speech

What are you trying to do with your speech? Educate, inspire, entertain, argue a point etc. Choose your topic and main points your speech will cover

The goal (aim/objective) dictates the tone and structure.

Define the purpose of the speech. Organize it properly.

 

In your initial planning, you may ask yourself the questions – Why? Who? What?

 

Why am I writing the speech?

• What do I want to achieve?
• Why am I speaking?
• What is the purpose of the speech?

 

What is the speech about?

• What is the main message and key points?
• What specific action is implied?
• What level of information should I include?
• What is important to them?

 

Who am I talking to?

• Who are the audience?
• Whom do I represent?
• What do I know about them? (Their culture, language, level of expertise, age, interests)
• How much influence do they have?

 

Structure/format of a speech

An effective speech must engage the audience and hold their attention from start to end. It usually has three distinct parts:

• Introduction
• Main body
• Conclusion

 

Introduction

Your introduction must be powerful enough to hook your audience’s attention and pique their curiosity.

Make the opening few seconds MEMORABLE.

Use a bold statement to grab the ATTENTION of the audience.

“So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is … fear itself -” Franklin D. Roosevelt (March 4, 1933)

Use NUMBERS to reinforce your point e.g. “After this speech, 50% of you will go out and subscribe to Wekati Wafula YouTube Channel”

 

The audience will be dying to know:

• Who are you?

• Introduce yourself. State something that establishes credibility.

• Why are you giving the speech?
• Introduce your topic and state the purpose of the speech. Make the topic relatable.
• Preview the main points.

 

Use the INTRO formula to write a powerful speech introduction

Interest

Give the audience a reason to listen to you. Introduce yourself in a confident and clear manner.

Needs

How does the audience benefit from your speech? Remind the audience the reason for your speech.

Time

State the length of the speech at the beginning.

Route map

State the main points so that the audience can know which sections of the speech are important “I will cover 3 main points”   

Objective

Clearly state the objective e.g. “By the end of the speech, I would like to …”

 

Main body

Here you deliver your main message. Introduce the SUBJECT and REASON for the speech.

Present your thesis or argument and support your material in a simple, organized manner.   

Share 2-4 points. Provide one piece of information at a time. Don’t overwhelm your audience with too many points.

Convey your ideas logically and provide sufficient supporting evidence to back the ideas. Give examples, data, or illustrations to back your main point. The illustration should be simple, memorable and meaningful.

Paragraphs should follow a pattern of cause and effect.

Use clear logical transitions from idea to idea.

Incorporate rhetorical strategies (ethos, pathos, logos) to convince your audience.

Include your own anecdotes and personal thoughts. Use images, jokes and rhetorical questions to keep your audience engaged.

Use simple language and quotes from simple speeches that your listeners can relate to. Focus on powerful words e.g. “A change is brought about because ordinary people do extraordinary things” Barack Obama.

Condense big ideas into a few memorable words e.g. “I have a dream”, “And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”

 

Conclusion

What do you want your audience to walk out of the room remembering?

The closing statement should be IMPACTFUL.

 

The ending is an opportunity to:

• Leave your audience with a lasting impression of your speech.
• Summarise your speech by restating the main points
• Give one or two takeaways.
• Provide a call-to-action with a strong closing statement to help your audience remember big ideas
• Thank the audience for taking the time to listen

 

Methods to end your speech

1. Quotation close – use a famous quote  
2. Bookend close – refer back to an opening statement and repeat it or add a few extra words to elaborate on it.
3. Open Question – ask the audience a proactive question
4. Call-to-Action – ask the audience to perform some tasks on the back of your speech

 

REMEMBER: the attention span of your audience is greatest at the beginning, reduces at the middle and picks up again at the end when they know you are about to finish.

 

TIPS FOR WRITING A GREAT SPEECH

Introduce yourself

Greet the audience and introduce yourself

 

Make a great opening statement

Begin in a catchy way to captivate your audience 

Keep you opening brief

“I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon of hope to millions of slaves, who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.” Martin Luther King Jr (1963)

Employ language techniques

• A rhetorical question
• To make the audience think
• Ask a question that your audience wants to know the answer to. They will pay attention. Provide the answer in your speech to keep your audience hooked.

 

• A surprising statement
• This is a powerful tool to make the audience sit up and pay attention
• Share a shocking fact or statistic

 

• A famous quote
• Use a relevant quote to demonstrate your creativity and flair

 

• Story
• Tell a humorous anecdote related to your big idea

 

The opening statement should effectively grab the attention of the audience

 

Strike the right tone

Understand your audience and their needs

Meet their expectations – inform, motivate, entertain or challenge them.

Leave the audience with a smile and a greater sense of hope and purpose.

 

 Have a structure

Split your speech into introduction, body and conclusion.

Your audience expects a clear path and destination so keep it simple.

Use transitions.

 

Express your opinion

Write about your topic

Say what you think about it

Be persuasive

 

Use emotive language

Use words that evoke emotions in order to cause an emotional response in the audience.

Your diction should persuade the audience.

Use emotive words purposefully. Don’t overuse them.

“But one hundred years later, the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacle of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.”

 

Stay focused on the topic

Keep it short. This is their time, not yours. Don’t derail.

 

Repeat yourself

Repeat keywords, phrases, themes and critical points.

Repetition is for emphasis

It makes your speech memorable and interesting

“But one hundred years later, the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacle of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.”

“Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that, let freedom, ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi and every mountainside.”

 

Use contrast

Use contrasting statements.

 

Use figurative language e.g. similes, metaphors and other imagery  

It helps to create powerful images in the audience’s mind

“But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and security of justice.”

 

Engage your audience

Write from the first person point of view. Use “I” as you write/speak.

Address your audience directly.

Use “we” and “you” in your writing e.g. “As a school, we need to plant more trees.” 

Use 2-3 rhetorical questions throughout your speech - one in each paragraph.

 

Humanize your speech

Use personal details and anecdotes

Make your audience relate to you by telling short amusing stories about real incidents about yourself and your family. Provide some personal details. They are more likely to agree with you if they relate to you.

Act like you are having a casual chatter with a friend

 

Be memorable

Condense your theme into a 15-word epigram.  Use metaphors, analogies, surprise, axioms etc. preferably near the end.

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”  Winston Churchill

 

End strong

Finish with a memorable statement

“When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every tenement and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!””

FUNCTIONAL WRITING: KCSE PAST QUESTIONS ON SPEECH

KCSE ENGLISH PAPER ONE 2022

Imagine you are the school captain. The school is holding its annual prize giving day and you are required to make a speech during the occasion. Expected guests include the County Director of Education, parents and members of the School Board of Management.

Write down the speech. Ensure your speech addresses issues of discipline, academic performance, co-curricula activities and students' welfare.

KCSE ENGLISH PAPER ONE 2017

Imagine that you are a former drug addict who has recovered after spending three months in a rehabilitation centre. You have been invited to a youth forum to talk about ways of preventing drug and substance abuse among the youth.

Write down the speech you would deliver during the occasion. Students, the County Director of Education, teachers and some school principals will attend. 

KCSE ENGLISH PAPER ONE 2010

You are the chairperson of the Environmental Club which has just been newly introduced in your school. There is going to be an official launching of the club. Write a brief speech you will deliver at the launch. Your speech should include the following: introduction, club officials, the objectives (aims) of the club, the activities to be carried out, conditions for membership, enrolment and any other relevant information.

 

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