your textbook discusses four kinds of informative speeches

14 Informative Speeches

Speeches to Educate, Explain, or Describe

In this chapter . . .

In this chapter we examine our first type of public speech, the informative speech. This is used in lectures, briefings, and anytime you want to transmit fact-based information to an audience. We cover what makes an informative speech unique, the types of informative speeches, and how to construct this type of speech.

What is an informative Speech? Defining what an informative speech is can be both straight-forward and somewhat tricky at the same time. Very simply, an informative speech can first be defined as a speech based entirely and exclusively on facts. An informative speech conveys knowledge, a task that every person engages in every day in some form or another. Whether giving someone who is lost driving directions, explaining the specials of the day as a server, or describing the plot of a movie to friends, people engage in forms of informative speaking daily.

An informative speech does not attempt to convince the audience that one thing is better than another. It does not advocate a course of action or incorporate opinion as its basis. This can be the tricky part of developing an informative speech because some opinion statements sound like facts (since they are generally agreed upon by many people) but are really opinions.

For example, in an informative speech on George Washington, you might want to say, “George Washington was one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States.” While this statement may be agreed upon by many people, it’s not irrefutable, meaning someone could argue against this claim. However, you could include this statement in an informative speech if you present the opinion from a reputable source: “Ron Chernow, in his 2011 best-selling biography of George Washington, describes the first president as one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States.” That is an acceptable way of presenting an opinion within the framework of a factual speech. While you may not be able to avoid opinion, you don’t want your central idea, your main points, and most of your supporting material to be opinion or argument in an informative speech.

Additionally, you should never take sides on an issue in an informative speech, nor should you “spin” the facts to influence the opinions of the listeners. Even if you are informing the audience about differences in views on controversial topics, you should simply and clearly explain the issues.

This doesn’t mean that an informative speech will have no effect on the audience. An audience can learn things from an informative speech that will affect what they do or how they think about something—that’s their choice. Your only focus is to provide the clearest and most factual information you can.

Types of Informative Speeches

While the topics to choose from for informative speeches are nearly limitless, they can be categorized according to five broad categories based on the primary goal of the speech. Understanding the type of informative speech that you will be giving can help you to figure out the best way to research and speechwriting.

Type 1: History

An informative speech on the history or development of something. Your focus is to explain to an audience how something came into existence. History speeches can be about objects, places, ideas, or even events. For example, imagine your informative speech was on the history of the football (the object, not the game). Someone at some point in history was the first to develop what is considered the modern football. Who was it? What was it originally made of? How did it evolve into the football that is used by the NFL today? For the history of a place, like a university, you would describe the specific year it opened, the number of students who were initially enrolled, and how it got its name. It’s also possible to provide the history of an idea, like “democracy.” By explaining the civilizations and cultures that adopted forms of democracy throughout history, it’s possible to provide an audience with a better understanding of how the idea has been shaped into what it has become today.

Type 2: Biography

A biographical speech is similar to a history one, but in this case the subject is a person, whether living or deceased. As with histories of objects, places, or ideas, there are specific and irrefutable facts that provide the details of someone’s life. Your focus is to tell the audience about someone’s life.

Type 3: Processes

Process speeches are informative speeches that explain how to do something or how something is achieved. These speeches require you to provide steps that will help your audience understand how to accomplish a specific task or process. We see examples of “how-to” presentations frequently—especially on YouTube. There’s a second type of process speech that focuses not on how the audience can achieve a result, but on how a process is achieved. The goal is understanding of a process instead of the performance of a process. After a speech on how to change a car tire, for example, the audience members could probably do it (they might not want to, but they would know the steps). However, after a speech on how a bill goes through Congress, the audience would understand this important part of democracy but not be ready to serve in Congress. Either way, if your speech aims at teaching the audience how something works, it’s a process speech.

Type 4: Ideas and Concepts

It is possible to have an informative speech about an idea or concept where your primary focus isn’t on the history of the idea, but how it exists now. In the examples above, we have seen two types of speeches about democracy: democracy as the topic of a speech that focuses on its history and democracy in a speech that focuses on a process in democratic legislation. In this fourth type of informative speech, you could focus on the concept of democracy as interpreted, for example, in three different countries. Your speech is neither about history nor about process but focuses on the definition itself.

Type 5: General

Sometimes an informative speech topic doesn’t lend itself to a focus on history, process, or concept. In those cases, the topics tend to fall into the general category of informative speeches. The focus in this type of informative speech is determined by the topic. For example, imagine a speech about customs to know when traveling in Japan. This isn’t a speech about the history of anime , nor a biography of a former emperor. It’s not about the process of planning a trip to Japan, nor is it about the concept of kawaii . Customs of Japan falls into the “general” type of informative speech.

Tips for Informational Speeches

Use the type of speech to determine the structure.

Identifying the type of informative speech being given can help in several ways (conducting research, writing the introduction and conclusion), but the biggest benefit is that the type of informative speech being given will help determine the organizational pattern that is best for a speech.

For example, a How-To speech must be in chronological order (step 1, step 2, step 3). Similarly, most speeches that focus on providing history or biography will be organized chronologically, but not always. It makes sense to use chronology to explain the history of the football from the moment it was first developed to where it’s today, but for an informative speech on Benjamin Franklin a student might choose a topical pattern (idea 1, idea 2, idea 3) as their three main points: 1) His time as a printer, 2) His time as an inventor, 3) His time as a diplomat. These main points are not in strict chronological order because Franklin was a printer, inventor, and diplomat at the same time during periods of his whole life. However, this example would still be one way to inform an audience about him without using the chronological organizational pattern.

As for general informative speeches, since the topics that can be included in this category are so diverse and cover a range of possible subject matter, the way they are organized will be varied as well and may use chronological, spatial, or topical structures. (Refer to Chapter x on speech structure and organization).

Keep Your Topic Specific

One of the biggest and most common mistakes students make is pursuing a topic that is much too broad. Let’s consider the example of a student who proposes the topic “To inform my audience about the Civil War.” The Civil War was, conservatively speaking, four years long, resulted in over 750,000 casualties, and arguably changed the course of human history. To think that it’s possible to cover all of that in a speech is unrealistic. Even a very experienced professor in American history would find it difficult to deliver a one-hour lecture that accomplished that goal.

The better approach in this case is to be as specific as possible. A revised specific purpose for this speech might be something like “To inform my audience about the Gettysburg Address.” This topic is much more compact (the Gettysburg Address is only a few minutes long) and doing research will be easier—although you will still find hundreds of sources on it. An even more specific topic would be “To inform my classmates of the specific places in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania that are considered haunted.”

Avoid Fake Informative Speech Topics

Sometimes students think that because something sounds like an informative speech topic, it’s one. This happens a lot with political issues that are usually partisan in nature. Some students may feel that the speech topic “To inform my audience why William Henry Harrison was a bad president” sounds factual, but really this is an opinion—in other words, it’s a fake informational speech because it’s a persuasive speech disguised as an informational speech. Similarly, a few topics that include conspiracy and paranormal subject matter are usually mistaken for good informative topics as well. It is common for a student to propose the topic “To inform my audience about the existence of extraterrestrials,” thinking it’s a good topic. After all, there is plenty of evidence to support the claim, right? There are pictures of unidentified objects in the sky that people claim are from outer space, there are people who claim to have seen extraterrestrials, and most powerful of all, there are people who say that they have been abducted by aliens and taken into space.

The problem here, as you have probably already guessed, is that these facts are not irrefutable. Not every single person who sees something unknown in the sky will agree it’s an alien spacecraft, and there can be little doubt that not everyone who claims to have been abducted by a UFO is telling the truth. This isn’t to say that you can’t still do an informative speech on alien sites. For example, two viable options are “To inform my audience about the SETI Project” or “To inform my audience of the origin of the Area 51 conspiracy.” However, these types of speeches can quickly devolve into opinion if you aren’t careful, which would then make them persuasive speeches. Even if you start by trying to be objective, unless you can present each side equally, it will end up becoming a persuasive speech. Additionally, when a speaker picks such a topic, it’s often because of a hidden desire to persuade the audience about them.

Be Selective about Content

Even if you have chosen a specific and focused topic, you must still make choices about what you can and cannot include. Writing an informative speech isn’t about dumping enormous amounts of information on your audience that you can only get to by speaking at breakneck speed. It’s about carefully choosing what to include, making it interesting and clear, and presenting it to your audience at a comfortable pace. What’s better: too much information that audiences can’t grasp or less information for audiences that hear every word? Regardless of the topic, you will never be able to cover everything that is known about your topic, so don’t try. Select the things that will best help the audience gain a general understanding of the topic that will interest them, and that they hopefully will find valuable.

Be Accurate, Clear, and Interesting

A good informative speech conveys accurate information to the audience clearly and keeps the listener interested in the topic. Achieving all three of these goals—accuracy, clarity, and interest—is the key to being an effective speaker. If information is inaccurate, incomplete, or unclear, it will be of limited usefulness to the audience.

Part of being accurate is making sure that your information is current. Even if you know a great deal about your topic or wrote a good paper on the topic in a high school course, you will need to verify the accuracy and completeness of what you know, especially if it’s medical or scientific information.

What defines “interesting?” In approaching the informative speech, you should keep in mind the good overall principle that the audience is asking, “what’s in it for me?” The audience is either consciously or unconsciously wondering “What in this topic for me? How can I use this information? Of what value is this speech content to me? Why should I listen to it?”

Keep in Mind Audience Diversity

Finally, remember that not everyone in your audience is the same, so an informative speech should be prepared with audience diversity in mind. If the information in a speech is too complex or too simplistic, it will not hold the interest of the listeners. Determining the right level of complexity can be hard. Audience analysis is one important way to do this (see Chapter 2). Do the members of your audience belong to different age groups? Did they all go to public schools in the United States, or are some of them international students? Are they all students majoring in the same subject, or is there a mixture of majors? Never assume that just because an audience is made up of students, they all share a knowledge set.

Learning how to give informative speeches will serve you well in your college career and your future work. Keep in mind the principles in this chapter but also those of the previous chapters: relating to the informational needs of the audience, using clear structure, and incorporating interesting and attention-getting supporting evidence.

Something to Think About

Here are three general topics for informative speeches. Write specific purposes for them and explain how you would answer the WIIFM question.

• Type 1 diabetes
• The psychological effects of using social media

Public Speaking as Performance Copyright © 2023 by Mechele Leon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Chapter Fifteen – Speaking to Inform

Functions of informative speeches.

People encounter a number of formal and informal informative presentations throughout their day, and these presentations have several consequences. First, informative presentations  provide people with knowledge . When others share facts or circumstances associated with some topic, our comprehension, awareness or familiarity is increased. The speaker imparts information, and this information is turned into knowledge. A music teacher describes the difference between a note and chord as an introduction to music. When issuing a warning to a teenager, a police officer explains the nature of the moving violation. A travel agent clarifies for customers the policies for airline ticket refunds. Participants at a cultural fair are enlightened by a shaman explaining her spiritual practices. Knowledge helps us to understand the world around us, enables us to make connections, and helps us to predict the future.

All men by nature desire knowledge. – Aristotle

Second, informative presentations  shape our perceptions . These presentations can affect how people see a subject by bringing it to light or may influence what is seen as important by virtue of directing attention to the subject (Osborn & Osborn, 1991). Information helps us to interpret our experiences, it shapes our values and beliefs, it may alter our self-concept, and it gives meaning to situations. Imagine you meet your new boss, and she is very curt and pre-occupied during the first staff meeting. You may at first perceive her as being rude, unless later you find out that just before your meeting with her, she learned that her father had been hospitalized with a stroke. Learning this new information allowed you to see the situation from a different perspective. In the same way, informative presentations enable us to get a sense of “the big picture” and improve our ability to think and evaluate.

Some informative presentations may be aimed at helping listeners understand the number, variety, and quality of alternatives available to them (Hogan et al., 2010). Consequently, informative presentations also serve to  articulate alternatives . A car sales associate might explain to you the features of one car in comparison to another car in order to help you differentiate between the models. A doctor might explain to your grandmother her treatment options for arthritis. A fitness trainer may demonstrate to you several types of exercises to help you strengthen your abdominal muscles and reduce your waistline. If you go to a temporary employment agency, a staff member may provide you will a range of job options that fit your qualifications. Successful informative presentations provide information which improves listeners’ ability to make wise decisions, because they understand all of their options (Jaffe, 1998).

Finally, informative presentations  enhance our ability to survive and evolve . Our existence and safety depend upon the successful communication of facts and knowledge. An informative speech “helps keep countries developing, communicates valuable and useful information in thousands of areas, and continues to change, improve or upgrade the lives of audiences” (Wilbur, 2000, p. 99). For thousands of years, cultural and technical knowledge was passed from generation to generation orally. Even today with the presence of the internet, you are still likely to get a good amount of information verbally. We have all seen “how to” YouTube videos, and although these have a significant visual components, the “experts” still have to give a verbal explanation. Through meetings, presentations and face-to-face interactions, we gain information about how to perform and improve in our jobs. To keep our children safe, we don’t give them an instruction manual, we sit down with them and explain things. All of the knowledge we accumulate while we live will be passed down to (hopefully) improve on the lives of those who come after us. Much of this information will be passed down in the form of a presentation.

Types of Informative Speeches

Erica Minton – Late Night Dry Erase Board Session  – CC BY-NC 2.0.

For some speakers, deciding on a topic is one of the most difficult parts of informative speaking. The following subsections begin by discussing several categories of topics that you might use for an informative presentation. Then we discuss how you might structure your speech to address potential audience difficulties in understanding your topic or information.

The term “objects” encompasses many topics we might not ordinarily consider to be “things.” It’s a category that includes people, institutions, places, substances, and inanimate things. The following are some of these topics:

• Mitochondria
• Dream catchers
• Hubble telescope
• Seattle’s Space Needle
• Silicon chip
• Spruce Goose
• Medieval armor
• DDT insecticide

You will find it necessary to narrow your topic about an object because, like any topic, you can’t say everything about it in a single speech. In most cases, there are choices about how to narrow the topic. Here are some specific purpose statements that reflect ways of narrowing a few of those topics:

• To inform the audience about the role of soy inks in reducing toxic pollution
• To inform the audience about the current uses of the banned insecticide DDT
• To inform the audience about what we’ve learned from the Hubble telescope
• To inform the audience about the role of the NAACP in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
• To describe the significance of the gigantic Spruce Goose, the wooden airplane that launched an airline

These specific purposes reflect a narrow, but interesting, approach to each topic. These purposes are precise, and they should help you maintain your focus on a narrow but deep slice of knowledge.

This category applies both to specific individuals and also to roles. The following are some of these topics:

• Dalai Lamas
• Tsar Nicholas II
• Modern midwives
• Catherine the Great
• Navajo code talkers
• Mahatma Gandhi
• Justice Thurgood Marshall
• Madame Curie
• Leopold Mozart
• The Hemlock Society
• Sonia Sotomayor
• Jack the Ripper

There is a great deal of information about each one of these examples. In order to narrow the topic or write a thesis statement, it’s important to recognize that your speech should not be a biography, or timeline, of someone’s life. If you attempt to deliver a comprehensive report of every important event and accomplishment related to your subject, then nothing will seem any more important than anything else. To capture and hold your audience’s interest, you must narrow to a focus on a feature, event, achievement, or secret about your human topic.

Here are some purpose statements that reflect a process of narrowing:

• To inform the audience about the training program undergone by the first US astronauts to land on the moon
• To inform the audience about how a young Dalai Lama is identified
• To inform the audience about why Gandhi was regarded as a mahatma, or “great heart”
• To inform the audience about the extensive scientific qualifications of modern midwives

Without a limited purpose, you will find, with any of these topics, that there’s simply too much to say. Your purpose statement will be a strong decision-making tool about what to include in your speech.

An event can be something that occurred only once, or an event that is repeated:

• The murder of Emmett Till
• The Iditarod Dogsled Race
• The Industrial Revolution
• The discovery of the smallpox vaccine
• The Bikini Atoll atomic bomb tests
• The Bay of Pigs
• The Super Bowl
• The Academy Awards

Again, we find that any of these topics must be carefully narrowed in order to build a coherent speech. Failure to do so will result in a shallow speech. Here are a few ways to narrow the purpose:

• To explain how the murder of Emmett Till helped energize the civil rights movement
• To describe how the Industrial Revolution affected the lives of ordinary people
• To inform the audience about the purpose of the Iditarod dogsled race

There are many ways to approach any of these and other topics, but again, you must emphasize an important dimension of the event. Otherwise, you run the risk of producing a time line in which the main point gets lost. In a speech about an event, you may use a chronological order but if you choose to do so, you can’t include every detail. The following is an example:

Specific Purpose:  To inform the audience about the purpose of the Iditarod dogsled race.

Central Idea:  The annual Iditarod commemorates the heroism of Balto, the sled dog that led a dog team carrying medicine 1150 miles to save Nome from an outbreak of diphtheria.

Main Points:

• Diphtheria broke out in a remote Alaskan town.
• Dogsleds were the only transportation for getting medicine.
• The Iditarod Trail was long, rugged, and under siege of severe weather.
• Balto the dog knew where he was going, even when the musher did not.
• The annual race commemorates Balto’s heroism in saving the lives of the people of Nome.

In this example, you must explain the event. However, another way to approach the same event would describe it. The following is an example:

Specific Purpose:  To describe the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Central Idea:  It’s a long and dangerous race.

• The 1150-mile, ten- to seventeen-day race goes through wilderness with widely spaced checkpoints for rest, first aid, and getting fresh dogs.
• A musher, or dogsled driver, must be at least fourteen years old to endure the rigors of severe weather, exhaustion, and loneliness.
• Mushers are responsible for their own food, food for twelve to sixteen dogs, and for making sure they don’t get lost.
• Reaching the end of the race without getting lost, even in last place, is considered honorable and heroic.
• The expense of participation is greater than the prize awarded to the winner.

By now you can see that there are various ways to approach a topic while avoiding an uninspiring time line. In the example of the Iditarod race, you could alternatively frame it as an Alaskan tourism topic, or you could emphasize the enormous staff involved in first aid, search and rescue, dog care, trail maintenance, event coordination, financial management, and registration.

Concepts are abstract ideas that exist independent of whether they are observed or practiced, such as the example of social equality that follows. Concepts can include hypotheses and theories.

• The glass ceiling
• Ethnocentrism
• Honor codes
• Fairness theory
• The American Dream
• Social equality

Here are a few examples of specific purposes developed from the examples:

• To explain why people in all cultures are ethnocentric
• To describe the Hindu concept of karma
• To distinguish the differences between the concepts of wellness and health
• To show the resources available in our local school system for children with autism
• To explain three of Dr. Stephen Suranovic’s seven categories of fairness

Here is one possible example of a way to develop one of these topics:

Specific Purpose:  To explain why people in all cultures are ethnocentric.

Central Idea:  There are benefits to being ethnocentric.

• Ethnocentrism is the idea that one’s own culture is superior to others.
• Ethnocentrism strongly contributes to positive group identity.
• Ethnocentrism facilitates the coordination of social activity.
• Ethnocentrism contributes to a sense of safety within a group.
• Ethnocentrism becomes harmful when it creates barriers.

In an example of a concept about which people disagree, you must represent multiple and conflicting views as fully and fairly as possible. For instance:

Specific Purpose:  To expose the audience to three different views of the American Dream.

Central Idea:  The American Dream is a shared dream, an impossible dream, or a dangerous dream, depending on the perspective of the individual.

• The concept of the American Dream describes a state of abundant well-being in which an honest and productive American can own a home; bring up a family; work at a permanent, well-paying job with benefits; and retire in security and leisure.
• Many capitalists support the social pattern of working hard to deserve and acquire the material comforts and security of a comfortable life.
• Many sociologists argue that the American Dream is far out of reach for the 40 percent of Americans at the bottom of the economic scale.
• Many environmentalists argue that the consumption patterns that accompany the American Dream have resulted in the depletion of resources and the pollution of air, water, and soil.

If your speech topic is a process, your goal should be to help your audience understand it or be able to perform it. In either instance, processes involve a predictable series of changes, phases, or steps.

• Soil erosion
• Cell division
• Physical therapy
• Volcanic eruption
• Paper recycling
• Consumer credit evaluations
• Scholarship money searches
• Navy Seal training
• Portfolio building
• The development of Alzheimer’s disease

For some topics, you will need presentation aids in order to make your meaning clear to your listeners. Even in cases where you don’t absolutely need a presentation aid, one might be useful. For instance, if your topic is evaluating consumer credit, instead of just describing a comparison between two different interest rates applied to the same original amount of debt, it would be helpful to show a graph of the difference. This might also be the sort of topic that would strongly serve the needs of your audience before they find themselves in trouble. Since this will be an informative speech, you must resist the impulse to tell your listeners that one form of borrowing is good and another is bad; you must simply show them the difference in numbers. They can reach their own conclusions.

Organizing your facts is crucially important when discussing a process. Every stage of a process must be clear and understandable. When two or more things occur at the same time, as they might in the development of Alzheimer’s disease, it is important to make it clear that several things are occurring at once. For example, as plaque is accumulating in the brain, the patient is likely to begin exhibiting various symptoms.

Here’s an example of the initial steps of a speech about a process:

Specific Purpose:  To inform the audience about how to build an academic portfolio.

Central Idea:  A portfolio represents you and emphasizes your best skills.

• A portfolio is an organized selection containing the best examples of the skills you can offer an employer.
• A portfolio should contain samples of a substantial body of written work, print and electronically published pieces, photography, and DVDs of your media productions.
• A portfolio should be customized for each prospective employer.
• The material in your portfolio should be consistent with the skills and experience in your résumé.

In a speech about the process of building a portfolio, there will be many smaller steps to include within each of the main points. For instance, creating separate sections of the portfolio for different types of creative activities, writing a table of contents, labeling and dating your samples, making your samples look attractive and professional, and other steps should be inserted where it makes the most sense, in the most organized places, in order to give your audience, the most coherent understanding possible.

You’ve probably noticed that there are topics that could be appropriate in more than one category. For instance, the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helen’s could be legitimately handled as an event or as a process. If you approach the eruption as an event, most of the information you include will focus on human responses and the consequences on humans and the landscape. If you approach the eruption as a process, you will be using visual aids and explanations to describe geological changes before and during the eruption. You might also approach this topic from the viewpoint of a person whose life was affected by the eruption. This should remind you that there are many ways to approach most topics, and because of that, your narrowing choices and your purpose will be the important foundation determining the structure of your informative speech.

Developing Informative Speeches

The first sections of this chapter explained the importance of informative speaking, the functions of informative speeches, and the four major types of informative speeches. This final section discusses three goals in developing informative speeches and advice for increasing the effectiveness of your speech. These three goals include 1) arousing the interest of your audience, 2) presenting information in a way that can be understood, and 3) helping the audience remember what you have said (Fujishin, 2000).

Generate and Maintain Interest

Use attention-getting elements.

Before you capture the interest of an audience, you have to get their attention. As you know, attention getters are used in the introduction of a speech, but  attention getters can also be used throughout your speech to maintain an audience’s attention. There are a number of techniques you can use that will naturally draw listeners’ attention (German et al., 2010).

Intensity  refers to something that has a high or extreme degree of emotion, color, volume, strength or other defining characteristic. In a speech about sharks’ senses, showing how sharks smell 10,000 times better than humans would be an example of the intensity principle.

Novelty  involves those things that are new or unusual. Discussing the recent invention of the flesh-eating mushroom death suit developed by Jae Rhim Lee would be novel. This suit is designed to help bodies decompose naturally above ground to avoid the use of dangerous embalming chemicals.

Contrast can also be used to draw attention through comparison to something that is different or opposite. This works best when the differences are significant. If you were showing the audience how to make hot sauce, and you showed a bar graph comparing the Scoville units (level of hotness) of different chili peppers, this would be contrast. Jalapenos rate at 2500–8000 Scoville units, habaneros rate at 100,000–350,000, and the naga jolokia rates at 855,000–1,041,241.

Audiences will also attend to movement or a ctivity . To employ this technique, speakers can either use action words, well-chosen movements, an increased rate of speech, or show action with video. A speech describing or showing extreme sports with high levels of risk, a fast pace, or amazing stunts could be used to illustrate activity.

Finally, h umor can be used to draw attention to a subject or point but be sure that it is relevant and in good taste. In a speech about the devotion of Trekkies (Star Trek fans), you could share the example of Tony Alleyne who designed and outfitted his flat in England as a replica of the deck of the Voyager. You could also direct the audience’s attention to couples who have wedding ceremonies spoken in Klingon.

Tell a Story

Story telling is not only the basis for most of our entertainment; it is also one of the best ways to teach an audience (Carlson, 2005). Also known as narratives, stories typically have a beginning in which the characters and setting are introduced, a rise in action, some complication or problem, and a resolution. Stories with compelling characters can be used in a creative way to weave facts otherwise dry and technical facts together (Walters, 1995), as in a speech about preparing a space shuttle for take-off from a mouse’s perspective. Jaffe (1998) differentiates between three types of narratives that can be used in informative speeches. The first type of story is a natural reality in which natural or scientific facts are brought together in chronological accounts, as in the formation of the Grand Canyon. The second narrative involves social realities which detail historic events, and the development of cultures and institutions. The last kind of story, the ultimate reality, is focused on profound philosophical and spiritual questions like “Where do we come from?” and “What happens to us when we die?”

Nursery rhymes and song lyrics familiar to the audience can also be used in an interactive way to get listeners interested in the topic (Maxey & O’Connor, 2006). In a speech about the global population explosion, you could ask audience to finish the phrase “There was an old woman who lived in a shoe…” Common commercials, lyrics to Beatles songs, holiday songs, and children’s games are universal.

The wisest mind has something yet to learn . – George Santayna

Commercial jingles and song lyrics also work to get the audience involved. You could start a speech on boating safety with these lyrics: Just sit right back / And you’ll hear a tale / A tale of a fateful trip / That started from this tropic port / Aboard this tiny ship (from  Gilligan’s Island ). Depending on the make-up of your audience, you might use lyrics from Johnny Cash, Billy Holiday, The Doors, The Beatles, JayZ, The Judds or the Arctic Monkeys. Just remember you probably can’t read all of the lyrics, you need to make sure the lyrics are directly linked to your topic, and you should be sure to cite the artist and song title.

Just for fun, can you name the artist who sang the lyrics below? Can you think of a speech topic that would correspond to the lyrics? (Answer at the end of the chapter)

Be Creative

Speakers who are different are memorable (Maxey & O’Connor, 2006). To give your speech impact, be imaginative and dare to push the envelope of conformity. When you have spent time researching a topic, you may be able to envision ways to incorporate surprising facts, props or visuals that make your presentation different from others, and therefore more memorable. You could dress like a Shakespearian actor for a speech about the famous playwright. You could have the audience move their chairs and take part in a yoga demonstration. Or you might use your own audience plants to help with a speech entitled “Behind the Scenes of TV Talk Shows.” When one student got up to speak, he drew a row of houses on the blackboard and then began to drink a glass of water and speak about the life giving properties of water. After making a few comments, he threw the glass of water on the blackboard—erasing most of the houses. Then he began his speech on the devastating effects of a flood (be sure to get your professor’s permission before you do something like this!). Another student giving a speech about “Clowning” had two actual clowns wait in the hall until she was ready to bring them in and show off their make-up and costumes. The speaker was wise to have her cohorts in the room just long enough to make the point (but not the entire time which would distract from the speaker), and the audience was attentive and grateful for the variety. Hanks and Parry (1991) explain that anyone can be creative, if they want to be and are willing to make the effort.

For some tips on how to foster your creativity, see Table 15.2. However, you need to remember that creativity is just a tool to help you teach your audience. Do not overlook the requirements of the occasion, the content of your research, or the needs of your audience in your zeal to be creative.

TABLE 15.2 TIPS FOR JUMP STARTING YOUR CREATIVITY FROM EVERYDAY CREATIVITY BY CARLIN FLORA (2009)

• Take a different way to work
• Collaborate with others with complementary skills
• Seek inspiration in beautiful surroundings
• Start working on the problem right away
• Work in a blue room (it boosts creativity)
• Get a hobby or play music
• Think about your problem right before falling asleep

The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.  – Sylvia Plath

Stimulate Audience Intellect

Most people have a genuine desire to understand the world around them, to seek out the truth, and learn how to solve problems. The role of the informative speaker is to satisfy this desire to learn and know. To illustrate our quest for knowledge, consider the success of the Discovery Channel, the Learning Channel, the History Channel, the Food Network and other educational broadcasts. So how do we appeal to the minds of listeners? Think about all of the information we encounter every day but do not have time to pursue. Think about subjects that you would like to know more about. Ask what information would be universally interesting and useful for listeners. Many people fly on airplanes, but do they know how to survive a plane crash? People also share many ordinary illnesses, so what are some common home remedies? All of the people on earth originated someplace, so who were our ancient ancestors?

In addition to finding topics that relate to listeners, the information we supply should be up to date. For instance, Egypt organized a revolution in 2011, and if you are giving a speech on traveling to the Pyramids, you should be aware of this. When you are talking about a topic that your audience is familiar with, you should share little known facts or paint the subject in a new light. In a speech about a famous person, you might depict what they are like behind the scenes, or what they were like growing up. In a speech about a new technology, you might also talk about the inventors. In a speech about a famous city, you could discuss the more infamous landmarks and attractions.

Create Coherence

Organize logically.

Several types of organizational patterns are discussed in Chapter 9. Using these as a starting point, you should make sure the overall logic of the speech is well thought out. If you were giving speech best suited to chronological order, but presented the steps out of order, it would be very difficult to follow. Those of you who have seen the movie  Memento  (which presented the sequence of events backwards), may have noticed how difficult it was to explain the plot to others. In a logical speech, the points you are trying to draw are obvious, the supporting materials are coherent and correspond exactly to the thesis, and the main points are mutually exclusive and flow naturally from start to finish. Clarity of thought is critical in presenting information. As Peggy Noonan (1998, p. 64) argues:

When planning your speech, ask questions like: What information needs to come first? What organizational pattern best suits the topic? What information must be shared or omitted to aid in audience understanding? What points or sub-points should be grouped together to aid listeners’ understanding?

Use Simple Language

One common mistake that speech writers make when they are writing their speech is to use the same language that they would use in a written document. Experienced speech writers know that simple language and ideas are easier to understand than complex ones. “Clear speaking is not an alternative to intelligent discourse, but rather an enabler of intelligent discourse” (Carlson, 2005, p. 79).

Did you know that Lincoln’s Gettysburg address contains only 271 words, and 251 of these words only have one or two syllables (Hughes & Phillips, 2000)? Another benefit of using simple language is that you are less likely to trip over or mispronounce simple words.

Refer to Chapter 12 on Language Use for further differences between the written word and spoken word.

Instead of “protracted,” say “drawn out.” Instead of “conundrum,” say “puzzle.” And instead of “loquacious,” say “talkative.” As you are writing your speech you also want to avoid technical jargon, slang, clichés, and euphemisms. This type of language is difficult to understand and tends to be low impact, as we mentioned previously in the chapter on Language. Compare the Low Impact  language column with the  High Impact column in Table 15.3 above to see examples of ways to make your language more powerful.

Avoid Information Overload

No one is given an unlimited amount of time to speak. You can’t cover everything that there is to know about your topic. And even if you could speak forever about everything there was to know about a subject, your listeners would never be able to take it all in.  Information overload occurs when a person feels that they are faced with an overwhelming amount of information, with the effect that they are unable to process it all or unable to make decision. So, whether you have five minutes to give a presentation or three eight-hour days, you will need to narrow and focus your speech topic and objectives. If you know that you have ten minutes to speak, you will not be able to cover “Car Maintenance for Dummies,” but you probably could give a good speech entitled “How to Change the Oil in Your Car.” When planning your speech, be sure to determine the amount of information that can reasonably be covered in the time allowed. In fact, rather than taking the entire allotted speaking time, you should get into the practice of speaking only for 90—95% of the time that you are given (Reynolds, 2008). More is not always better—and your audience will appreciate it if you can skillfully make your point with time to spare.

Today knowledge has power. It controls access to opportunity and advancement. – Peter Drucker

Make Your Speech Memorable

Build in repetition.

Audience retention is determined by a number of factors including listeners’ interest, knowledge, physical and emotional state, level of stress, background, and other competing demands (Fujishin, 2000). One way to help your audience remember the content of your speech is by repetition (Hughes & Phillips, 2000). There are three ways to incorporate repetition into your speech. The first form repetition involves restating your main points in your introduction, body and conclusion. When you do this, you will restate your points using different language—not repeat the points word for word. The second form of repetition is where a word or a phrase is repeated in a poetic way, either throughout the speech or at a critical point in the speech. One example of this would be Abraham Lincoln’s “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” Another example can be found in Sojourner Truth’s speech, delivered in 1851 at a women’s rights convention.

The final way to use repetition in your speech is through nonverbal communication. When you say the word “four” and you hold up four fingers, or when you verbally agree with a point and nod your head at the same time, you are reinforcing the idea verbally and nonverbally.

Appeal to Different Ways of Learning

Individuals have different learning style preferences, so some people prefer to learn visually [V], some aural [A], some by reading [R] and writing, and some prefer to learn kinesthetically [K] (Fleming, 2001). You can test your own learning style preference at www.varklearn.com . Understanding your own and others’ learning styles is useful for two reasons. First, you will find that you tend to teach others using your own learning style. Second, regardless of your own learning styles, you need to appeal to as many different learning styles as possible in your informative speech. To see how each learning style prefers to be taught, see the table below.

Unfortunately, since the ear alone is a very poor information gathering device, steps must be taken to improve retention. Typically, listeners only retain only a small fraction of what is explained to them verbally. The first way to enhance retention is to appeal to as many of the senses as possible. Studies show that audiences retain 20 percent of what they hear, 30 percent of what they see, and 50 percent of what they hear and  see (Westerfield, 2002). When the audience has an opportunity to  do  something (adding the kinesthetic sense), their retention increases to 80 percent (Walters, 1995). Or, if participation is not possible, a handout will raise retention to an impressive 85 percent—if the audience can review the handout at least once (Slutsky & Aun, 1997).

Another way to help your listeners remember is by the use of techniques like  association , linking the new topic to things that the audience knows about or already understands. If you were giving a speech about rugby, you might compare it to soccer and football to help the audience understand the rules. The use of  acronyms  also aids retention. On the “ Krusty Krab Training Video ” episode of Spongebob Squarepants (a spoof on corporate training videos), they use the acronym “POOP.” When I asked my then eight-year-old son if he remembered (several weeks after watching the episode) what “POOP” stood for, he immediately and correctly answered “People Order Our Patties.” The final technique to help audiences remember information is the  simplicity criterion . Information is best retained when it is explained from top to bottom (rather than bottom to top), when events are presented from first to last (rather than last to first), and when information is presented in the positive voice (rather than in the negative voice) (Devito, 1981).

Link Current Knowledge to New Knowledge

Certain sets of knowledge are common to many people in your classroom audience. For instance, most of them know what Wikipedia is. Many have found it a useful and convenient source of information about topics related to their coursework. Because many Wikipedia entries are lengthy, greatly annotated, and followed by substantial lists of authoritative sources, many students have relied on information acquired from Wikipedia in writing papers to fulfill course requirements. All this is information that virtually every classroom listener is likely to know. This is the current knowledge of your audience.

Because your listeners are already familiar with Wikipedia, you can link important new knowledge to their already-existing knowledge. Wikipedia is an “open source,” meaning that anyone can supplement, edit, correct, distort, or otherwise alter the information in Wikipedia. In addition to your listeners’ knowledge that a great deal of good information can be found in Wikipedia, they must now know that it isn’t authoritative. Some of your listeners may not enjoy hearing this message, so you must find a way to make it acceptable.

One way to make the message acceptable to your listeners is to show what Wikipedia does well. For example, some Wikipedia entries contain many good references at the end. Most of those references are likely to be authoritative, having been written by scholars. In searching for information on a topic, a student can look up one or more of those references in full-text databases or in the library. In this way, Wikipedia can be helpful in steering a student toward the authoritative information they need. Explaining this to your audience will help them accept, rather than reject, the bad news about Wikipedia.

Use Visuals

Visual aids can be a very powerful and efficient way to present facts that might otherwise be difficult to convey verbally. The benefits of visuals used for informative speeches include increasing interest, understanding, retention, and the speed at which your audience can understand complex facts. We live in a mediated culture, where people are visually oriented. This means that they expect to be visually stimulated with pictures, graphs, maps, video images and objects. Speakers who do not make use of visuals may be at a disadvantage when compared to speakers who use them. This is assuming of course that the visuals enhance what you are saying and that you use them well. As you know, plenty of people use Power Point, and it does not necessarily make their speech better or more memorable.

Perhaps the best reason to use visuals aids during an informative speech is to help your audience understand a concept that may be difficult to understand just by explaining it. In a speech about heart bypass surgery, would it be better to verbally describe the parts of the human heart, or to show a picture of it? How about a model of the heart? How about an actual human heart? Be sure to consider your audience! What if your speech is about an abstract concept that does not lend itself well to slick graphic representations? One way trainers get their audiences involved and make their presentations memorable is to provide handouts which the listeners complete (in part) themselves. Regardless of the type of visual media you select for your speech, just make sure that it does not overpower you or the subject. Work to keep the audience’s attention on you and what you are saying and use the visual to complement what you have to say.

Refer to Chapter 14 on Presentation Aids for more in-depth discussion of visual aids.

LICENSES AND ATTRIBUTIONS

• Types of Informative Speeches adapted from Stand up, Speak out. Stand up, Speak out  by University of Minnesota is licensed under a  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.
• Chapter 15 Functions of Informative Speeches.  Authored by : Lisa Schreiber, Ph.D..  Provided by : Millersville University, Millersville, PA.  Located at :  http://publicspeakingproject.org/psvirtualtext.html .  Project : Public Speaking Project.  License :  CC BY-NC-ND: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
• Chapter 15 Developing Informative Speeches.  Authored by : Lisa Schreiber, Ph.D..  Provided by : Millersville University, Millersville, PA.  Located at :  http://publicspeakingproject.org/psvirtualtext.html .  Project : Public Speaking Project.  License :  CC BY-NC-ND: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
• Shark.  Authored by : Bryan Scott.  Located at :  https://www.flickr.com/photos/designloft/126173091/ .  License :  CC BY-NC-ND: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
• D7K_0393-1.  Authored by : Mark Levisay.  Located at :  https://www.flickr.com/photos/mlevisay/10366380585/ .  License :  CC BY: Attribution
• Ron Glass.  Authored by : Raven Underwood.  Located at :  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ron_Glass_@_the_Flanvention.jpg .  License :  CC BY: Attribution
• Dom and Chris.  Authored by : Steve Collis.  Located at :  https://www.flickr.com/photos/swampa/11251024325/ .  License :  CC BY: Attribution
• past present future.  Authored by : fosco lucarelli.  Located at :  https://www.flickr.com/photos/fosco/3915752142/ .  License :  CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
• Speech.  Authored by : Quinn Dombrowski.  Located at :  https://www.flickr.com/photos/quinnanya/8671138498/ .  License :  CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
• Freedom.  Authored by : Osajus.  Located at :  https://www.flickr.com/photos/osajus/14015645419/ .  License :  CC BY: Attribution
• Imagine Cup 2012u2014Day 4 Finalist Presentations.  Authored by : ImagineCup.  Located at :  https://www.flickr.com/photos/imaginecup/7534287602/ .  License :  CC BY: Attribution

Principles of Public Speaking Copyright © 2022 by Katie Gruber is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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7 Types of Informative Speeches

Learning Objectives

• Distinguish types of general informative speech topics.
• Determine an appropriate informative approach.

Informative Speeches

Now that you know the difference between informative and persuasive approaches, this chapter will explore types of topics and approaches suited well for informative speeches. Again, while any topic can be informative or persuasive, certain topics and approaches will help you to ensure you are delivering an informative speech. As you read the chapter, consider specific topics for each category that you may be able to deliver an informative speech on.

Types of Informative Speech Topics

O’Hair, Stewart, and Rubenstein identified six general types of informative speech topics: objects, people, events, concepts, processes, and issues (O’Hair, et al., 2007).

Objects: Your speech may include how objects are designed, how they function, and what they mean. For example, a student of one of our coauthors gave a speech on the design of corsets, using a mannequin to demonstrate how corsets were placed on women and the amount of force necessary to lace one up. Or you may speak about an artifact and what it means to a certain culture. For instance, the belt (and color of the belt) is significant to the karate culture.

People: People-based speeches tend to be biography-oriented. Such topics could include recounting an individual’s achievements and explaining why the person is important in history. Some speakers, who are famous themselves, will focus on their own lives and how various events shaped who they ultimately became. Dottie Walters is most noted as being the first female in the United States to run an advertising agency. In addition to her work in advertising, Dottie also spent a great deal of time as a professional speaker. She often would tell the story about her early years in advertising when she would push around a stroller with her daughter inside as she went from business to business trying to generate interest in her copywriting abilities. You don’t have to be famous, however, to give a people-based speech. Instead, you could inform your audience about a historical or contemporary hero whose achievements are not widely known.

Events: These are typically either historical or contemporary. For example, you could deliver a speech on a specific battle of World War II or a specific event that changed the course of history. If you’re a history buff, event-oriented speeches may be right up your alley. There are countless historical events that many people aren’t familiar with and would find interesting. You could also inform your audience about a more recent or contemporary event. Some examples include concerts, plays, and arts festivals; athletic competitions; and natural phenomena, such as storms, eclipses, and earthquakes. The point is to make sure that an informative speech is talking about the event (who, what, when, where, and why) and not attempting to persuade people to pass judgment upon the event or its effects.

Concepts:  Concepts are “abstract and difficult ideas or theories” (O’Hair, et al., 2007). For example, you may want to explain a specific communication theory, a religious idea, or inflation. Whether you want to discuss theories related to business, sociology, psychology, religion, politics, art, or any other major area of study, this type of speech can be very useful in helping people to understand complex ideas.

Process: A process speech helps audience members understand how a specific object or system works. For example, you could explain how a bill becomes a law in the United States. There is a very specific set of steps that a bill must go through before it becomes a law, so there is a very clear process that could be explained to an audience.

Issues: This informative speech topic is probably the most difficult for novice public speakers because it requires walking a fine line between informing and persuading. If you attempt to deliver this type of speech, remember the goal is to be balanced when discussing both sides of the issue. You are only explaining an issue, you are not proposing solutions or trying to get your audience to agree with your ideas.

If you are struggling with an informative topic, it helps to brainstorm ideas in each of these categories. Once you have a list of potential ideas, you can begin to narrow your ideas. One way to narrow your ideas is to consider the approach you will use with potential topics.

Approaches to Informative Speeches

Once you have decided on a potential topic, you can help to narrow your focus by determining an informative approach. There are three common informative approaches we will discuss in this section. Those are speeches of definition, description, and explanation.

Definitional Speeches

In definitional speeches the speaker attempts to set forth the meaning of concepts, theories, philosophies, or issues that may be unfamiliar to the audience. In these types of speeches, speakers may begin by giving the historical derivation, classification, or synonyms of terms or the background of the subject. In a speech on “How to identify a sociopath,” the speaker may answer these questions: Where did the word ‘sociopath’ come from? What is a sociopath? How many sociopaths are there in the population? What are the symptoms? Carefully define your terminology to give shape to things the audience cannot directly sense. Describing the essential attributes of one concept compared to another (as through the use of analogies) can increase understanding as well. For a speech on “Elderly Abuse,” the speaker may compare this type of abuse to a child or spousal abuse for contrast.

Regardless of the listeners’ level of knowledge about the subject, it is very important in these types of speeches to show the relevance of the topic to their lives. Often the topics discussed in definitional speeches are abstract—distanced from reality. Speakers need to provide explicit, real-life examples and applications of the subject matter to engage audience members. If you were going to give a speech about civil rights, you would need to go beyond commonly held meanings and show the topic in a new light. In this type of speech, the speaker points out the unique and distinguishing properties or boundaries of a concept in a particular context  (Rinehart, 2002). The meaning of “civil rights” has changed significantly over time. What does it mean today compared to the 1960s? How will knowing this distinction help audience members? What are some specific incidents involving civil rights issues in current news? What changes in civil rights legislation might listeners see in their lifetimes?

DEFINITIONAL EXAMPLE

Title:   “Life is suffering,” and Other Buddhist Teachings  (Thompson, 1999)

Specific Purpose:  At the end of my speech, my audience will understand the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path in Buddhism

Central Idea:  Regardless of your religious beliefs, Buddhist philosophy teaches a number of useful lessons you can apply to your own life.

• All life involves  dukkha  (suffering)
• Suffering is caused by  tanha  (longing for things to be other than they are)
• If this longing stops ( nirodha ), suffering will cease
• The way to eliminate longing is to follow the Eightfold Path
• Right intention
• Right speech
• Right action
• Right livelihood
• Right effort
• Right mindfulness
• Right contemplation

Descriptive Speeches

To gaze in wonder at that magnificent dome and elegant gardens will be a moment that you remember for the rest of your life. The Taj Mahal just takes your breath away. What is immediately striking is its graceful symmetry—geometric lines run through formal gardens ending in a white marble platform. Atop this platform is great white bulbous dome complemented by four towering minarets in each corner. The whole image shimmers in a reflecting pool flanked by beautiful gardens—the effect is magical. The first stretch by the reflecting pool is where most people pose for their photos. But we were impressed by the fresh, green gardens. As you approach through the gardens two mosques come into view flanking the Taj—both exquisitely carved and built of red sandstone.

In the descriptive speech, determine the characteristics, features, functions, or fine points of the topic. What makes the person unique? How did the person make you feel? What adjectives apply to the subject? What kind of material is the object made from? What shape is it? What color is it? What does it smell like? Is it part of a larger system? Can it be seen by the naked eye? What is its geography or location in space? How has it changed or evolved over time? How does it compare to a similar object? When preparing for the speech, try to think of ways to appeal to as many of the senses as possible. As an example, in a speech about different types of curried dishes, you could probably verbally describe the difference between yellow, red, and green curry, but the speech will have more impact if the audience can see, smell, and taste samples.

DESCRIPTIVE EXAMPLE

Specific Purpose:  At the end of my speech, my audience will be able to visualize some of the main attractions on Easter Island.

Central Idea:  Easter Island hosts a number of ancient, mysterious, and beautiful attractions that make it an ideal vacation destination.

• Average 13 feet high; 14 tons
• Play sacred role for Rapa Nui (native inhabitants)
• Central Ahu ceremonial sites
• Snorkeling & Scuba
• Giant crater
• Sheer cliffs to ocean

Explanatory Speeches

An  explanatory speech (also known as a briefing) is similar to a descriptive speech in that they both share the function of clarifying the topic. But explanatory speeches focus on reports of current and historical events, customs, transformations, inventions, policies, outcomes, and options. Whereas descriptive speeches attempt to paint a picture with words so that audiences can vicariously experience it, explanatory speeches focus on the  how  or  why  of a subject and its consequences. Thus, a speaker might give a  descriptive  speech on the daily life of Marie Antoinette, or an  explanatory  speech on how she came to her death. Recall that definitional speeches focus on delineating concepts or issues. In this case, a speaker might give a  definitional  speech about the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, or an  explanatory  speech on why the financial bailout was necessary for U.S. financial stability.

If a manager wanted to inform employees about a new workplace internet use policy, s/he might cover questions like: Why was a policy implemented? How will it help? What happens if people do not follow established policies? Explanatory speeches are less concerned with appealing to the senses than connecting the topic to a series of related other subjects to enhance a deep understanding (McKerrow, Gronbeck, Ehninger, & Monroe, 2000). For example, to explain the custom of the Thai  wai  greeting (hands pressed together as in prayer), you also need to explain how it originated to show one had no weapons, and the ways it is tied to religion, gender, age, and status.

EXPLANATORY EXAMPLE

Title:   Giant Waves, Death, and Devastation: The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami  (National Geographic, 2006)

Specific Purpose:  At the end of my speech, my audience will be aware of the nature of the 2004 Tsunami and the destruction it caused.

Central Idea:  The 2004 Asian Tsunami was one of the worst natural disasters in human history in terms of magnitude, loss of human life, and enduring impact.

• Earthquake epicenter and magnitude
• Tsunami forms (waves reach up to 100 feet)
• Tsunami strikes land of various countries with no warning
• The countries and people involved
• Loss of food, water, hospitals, housing, electricity, and plumbing
• Threat of disease
• Environmental destruction
• Economic devastation
• Psychological trauma

Setting yourself up for a successful informative speech begins in the early stages when you first start thinking about your topic. Remember to consider the type of informative speech topics and the informative approaches you can take as you are selecting a topic.

Key Takeaways

• Six general informative speech topics are objects, people, events, concepts, processes, and issues. Use these general categories to brainstorm ideas for your upcoming informative speech.
• Once you have decided on a potential topic, you can help to narrow down your topic by considering which informative approach you will use. Will you define, describe, or explain your topic?

Licenses and Attributions

Chapter 15 Types of Informative Speeches.  Authored by : Lisa Schreiber, Ph.D..  Provided by : Millersville University, Millersville, PA.  Located at :  http://publicspeakingproject.org/psvirtualtext.html .  Project : Public Speaking Project.  License :  CC BY-NC-ND: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives

Taj Mahal, Agra, India.  Authored by : Yann.  Located at :  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Taj_Mahal,_Agra,_India.jpg .  License :  CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike

Maoi at Rano Raraku.  Authored by : Aurbina.  Located at :  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moai_Rano_raraku.jpg .  License :  Public Domain: No Known Copyright

Public Speaking Copyright © by Dr. Layne Goodman; Amber Green, M.A.; and Various is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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6 Chapter 6: Informative Speaking

Tammera Stokes Rice, College of the Canyons, Version B

Adapted by Jamie C. Votraw, Professor of Communication Studies, Florida SouthWestern State College

Figure 6.1 : Princess Reema 1

Introduction

You may have watched a YouTube tutorial to learn how to make or do something, like learning how to make a quiche or how to change a tire on your car. Or, you may have watched a TedTalk in one of your classes that provided factual information about the topic you are learning about, like Nancy Duarte’s 2011 presentation on “ The secret structure of great talks. ” (Google Duarte’s videos; you won’t regret it!) These are samples of informative speeches.

Speaking to Inform

When you inform an audience, your primary goal is to teach them about a topic that is important to you. In fact, there are likely scenarios where you acted as an informative speaker already. Have you ever given a factual presentation in a classroom? Have you ever shown a group of friends how to use a new app on your phone? Have you ever trained a new employee at work? These are all examples of informative speaking.

When delivering formal informative speeches, however, there are additional expectations for the composition and structure of your speech.  For instance, you might begin your speech by telling a story to attract the attention of your audience, and you might ask them a personal question to demonstrate that the topic relates to them. Throughout this chapter, we discuss the purpose of informative speaking, types of informative speeches, organizational speech patterns, and lastly, describe how informative speaking is distinctly different than persuasive speaking.

Informative Speaking Goals

The most fundamental purpose of informative speaking is to teach an audience something. Remember, an informative speech is not opinion-based. It provides factual information that is meaningful to your audience. Thus, your primary purpose is to teach. You ARE NOT trying to change their beliefs or behaviors (that is persuasive speaking, which we cover in chapter 10). Nevertheless, as audience-centered speakers (recall Chapter 5), several audience-specific elements are necessary for effective informative speaking.

Audience Attention

Audience-centered speakers care about their audience and should work to gain and maintain the attention of their audience throughout the speech. In the introduction, it is imperative that public speakers incorporate an attention-grabbing strategy, such as an intriguing story (discussed in greater detail in Chapter 9), and explicitly relate the topic to the audience. When introducing the topic to an audience, effective informative speakers connect the topic to the audience by answering the question, why should you care?

Narratives, found from credible sources, are one way to keep your audience engaged and listening to your speech. Stories help provide a basis for your main points within the speech. Humans are natural storytellers as we want to tell and listen to stories.

Audience Needs

Once your audience recognizes the significance of your topic and how it relates to them, an informative speaker should then strive to provide the audience with information that meets their needs. Consider the classroom, for example. If your algebra teacher tells you that quadratic equations will be on the next exam, what information do you as an audience member need or want? Likely, you’re looking for information to help you succeed on the exam. It would be insufficient to merely provide you with the quadratic formula, ax 2 + bx + c = 0. Instead, as an effective informative speaker, the math teacher would likely demonstrate problem-solving steps and offer examples. When you are the speaker, you must also consider what information your audience needs.

While crafting the informative speech, you want to select the information you will be communicating to the audience carefully.  You’ve already learned how to narrow down your topic, but now you want to make sure your explanation of the narrowed topic accomplishes the speech goal in the time parameters of the speech. An effective informative speaker determines which information is imperative for inclusion in the speech given the time limit. You should not feel pressured to include every piece of information you find. You wouldn’t expect a speaker to discuss everything about Disneyland in seven minutes, right? So, instead, stay focused on the speech goal and audience needs. Maybe you choose to present to the audience just one aspect of Disneyland – The types of rides.

Audience Knowledge

A third key feature of effective informative speaking is audience knowledge. What does your audience already know about the topic? The level of complexity you will be using to inform your audience depends on the audience’s knowledge about your topic, the time allowed for your speech, and its purpose. As we discussed in chapter five, you need to know your audience. It is crucial to always give new information to your audience by relating it to what they already know, and by combining the general information with specific information to keep the attention of your audience throughout the speech. This is why an audience analysis can be so important. You are not going to use architectural or engineering terms to describe the invention of Space Mountain to an audience of high school students, but you might use technical terms when speaking to architecture and engineering students at a college.

Types of Informative Speeches

When you inform, you either describe something, define something, or demonstrate a process. Therefore, there are three different types of informative speeches. This includes:

1. D escriptive speeches (about objects, people, places, or events)

2. Process speeches (also called “how-to” or demonstration speeches)

3. Concept speeches (also called idea speeches)

All three types of informative speeches have the general purpose of “to inform.” However, each type of informative speech maintains a different specific purpose, and therefore, the organizational structure of the speeches can vary. So, before we dive into the specifics of each type of informative speech, let’s review four organizational speech patterns that you could use to structure the content of your speech.

Organizational Speech Patterns

When composing your speech, there are four organizational patterns you can adopt to structure your speech content, including topical, spatial, chronological (temporal), and causal format. The organizational pattern you choose will depend on the topic of the speech and the speech content. Although some organizational patterns are more commonly used for certain types of informative speeches than others, the organization pattern you select should be the one that best fits your speech content.

• A topical layout arranges the information of the speech into different categories. Each main point of the speech is a subtopic of the broader topic.
• A spatial pattern looks at how your ideas are arranged according to their physical or geographic relationships.
• A chronological pattern organizes a speech based on time or sequence.  Some of your instructors might use the term temporal to explain main points ordered in a specific sequence of time.
• A causal pattern of organization can be used to describe the causes and effects of something that occurred.

It is important to remember to choose an organizational pattern that logically aligns with the speech goal and the main points of your speech. For example, a process speech on “how to apply for financial aid” might best be organized chronologically: Step 1, Step 2, Step 3… A chronological pattern for this topic would be most effective for helping the audience follow along.

Let’s take a deeper look at the three major types of informative speeches and some commonly used approaches to organizing the respective speech content . 

Descriptive Speeches

A descriptive speech is given to describe an object, person, place, or event. Descriptive speeches about an “object”  refer to anything tangible; something that can be seen or touched. When organizing an object speech, you might use a spatial, chronological, or topical organizational pattern. The following are some sample topics – Arabian horses, astrology, Bible, boats, career services, drag racing, Ford Mustang, Florida oranges, Godfather trilogy, Golden Gate Bridge, hurricanes, iguanas, surfboards, tattoos, and tornadoes to name a few.

Figure 6.2 : Tattoo 2

Here is an example of how you might set up a speech on an object using a chronological organization pattern:

Topic: Tattoos

General Purpose: To inform

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the history of tattoos in the United States.

Central Idea/Thesis : Tattoos originated in the United States in the 19th century before becoming a staple of fashion trends today.

Preview of Main Points : First, we will look at the history of the word tattoo. Then, we will learn how tattoos became fashionable. Thirdly, we examine the role tattoos have played in the circus. Finally, we will cover tattoos on public figures today.

• Explorer Captain James Hook is credited for the word tattoo after his sailing voyages led him to Tahitian and Polynesian cultures.
• Tattoos became fashionable in the 19th century.
• Tattoos used in sideshow acts in the early 20th century were an integral part of a circus’ success.
• Tattoos are now worn by public figures such as celebrities, athletes, and people within the fashion industry.

This category applies both to specific individuals or to specific roles. When discussing people, you may want to describe them in a chronological (temporal) or topical layout. Here are some sample topics on people: Albert Einstein, Barack Obama, Bruce Lee, CEO of Google, Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, First Lady of the United States, Henry Ford, Jackie Chan, Miley Cyrus, Malala Yousafzai, Marilyn Monroe, Oprah Winfrey, Pope of the Catholic Church, Sacagawea, and Walt Disney to name a few.

Figure 6. 3: Marilyn Monroe 3

Here is an example of how you might set up a speech about Marilyn Monroe using a topical organizational pattern:

Topic: Marilyn Monroe

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about Marilyn Monroe’s interesting love life during the creation of her most famous films.

Central Idea/Thesis : Marilyn Monroe is known for her famous love life and films.

Preview of Main Points : First, we will explore her intriguing love life and marriages. Last, we will examine her various films.

• First, we will examine Marilyn Monroe’s infamous love life.
• Lastly, let’s discuss her most famous films.

Depending on the timeframe allowed for your speech, you might consider the example above, which used a topical order. Another way to organize the main points of the same topic could be in a chronological (temporal) pattern.

Specific Purpose : To inform my audience about the childhood, professional career, and death of Marilyn Monroe.

Central Idea/Thesis : Marilyn Monroe’s early childhood influenced her professional career and ultimately her untimely death.

Preview of Main Points : First, we will examine how Marilyn’s childhood influenced her career. Secondly, we will examine her professional life. Finally, we will discuss her untimely death.

• First, we will discuss Marilyn’s birth and early childhood.
• Second, we will learn about her professional life, and the impact her upbringing had on her career.
• Lastly, we will better understand her untimely death.

You will notice the two speeches above about Marilyn Monroe have many similarities, and both speeches would include details about her professional life. However, the first speech is focused on categories related to her professional life, while the second speech looks at her professional life as one period of time in her life overall. The result is two very different final speeches. This example highlights how you structure your speech should depend on the narrowed focus of your speech topic.

A speech about a place can range from a historic location to a vacation spot. However, you should make sure to check with your instructor because very few speeches should focus on your own personal journey. Rather, the focus should be based on a place you can research. When discussing places, you may want to describe them in a spatial, temporal, or topical layout. Here are some sample places you might do an informative speech on – Alaska, Albania, Australia, Catalina, Ukraine, Honolulu, Lake Okeechobee, Las Vegas, Museum of Tolerance, Sanibel Island, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Stonehenge, and Yosemite to name a few.

Figure 6. 4: Kauai 4

Here is an example of how you might set up a speech about a place:

Topic: The island of Kauai, Hawaii

Specific Purpose : To inform my audience about Kauai’s regions and locations to explore.

Central Idea/Thesis : Kauai has five regions and many beautiful areas to explore.

Preview of Main Points: First, I will break down the five major regions of the island. Lastly, I will share tips for exploring the Hawaiian Islands.

• Five regions (subpoints could be broken down in a spatial pattern of the regions).
• Tips for a Hawaiian exploration

An event can be something that occurred only once or can be a repeated event. When discussing events, you will most likely use a chronological (temporal) or topical layout. Here are some sample events you might do an informative speech on – Academy Awards, Christmas, Coachella, Los Angeles Marathon, Quinceañera, Rose Parade, Stagecoach, or World War II.

Figure 6. 5 : Los Angeles Marathon 5

Here is an example of how you might set up a speech about an event:

Topic: Los Angeles Marathon

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the timeline of events of the L.A. Marathon.

Central Idea/Thesis : The L.A. Marathon consists of three days of events.

Preview of Main Point:  First, I will explain the day of orientation for the race. Second, I will discuss the main event day. Lastly, I will talk about the clean-up and breakdown of the event.

• The first day of the event is Friday, which is Expo Day & Bib pick-up.
• Second, the main event is on Saturday, which is the 5K and 1/2K kids’ run.
• Lastly, Sunday involves marathon running from 3:00 am – 3:00 pm, and ends with the finish festival.

Now that you have a good idea about what comprises a descriptive speech, let’s look at process speeches.

Process Speeches

A process speech is commonly referred to as a “how-to” or demonstration speech. It intends to teach the audience how something works or how to complete a task through step-by-step instructions. It generally uses a chronological (temporal) pattern with each “step” of the process taking the audience through a sequence of time. Here are some sample process speech topics – (How to) avoid ID theft, bake a cake, bath a dog, build a website, change car oil, color Easter eggs, meditate, make ice cream, play tennis, register to vote, snowboard, tie a tie, and write a resume to name a few.

Figure 6. 6 : Bakers 6

Here is an example of how you might set up a process speech:

Topic : Baking a cake

Specific Purpose : To inform my audience how to bake a cake in 30 minutes with the right equipment and ingredients.

Central Idea/Thesis : Baking a cake in 30 minutes is easy with the right equipment and ingredients.

Preview of Main Points: First, I will review the preparation process. Then, I will provide the steps involved in making the cake. Finally, I will explain the process of decorating the cake.

• First, preset the oven and gather other equipment and ingredients.
• Next, mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients to specification before putting them in the pan to bake.
• Finally, let the cake cool and decorate.

You’ve learned about both descriptive and process speeches. Let’s discuss the last type of informative speech, a concept speech.

Concept Speeches

A concept speech deals with explaining a concept or idea. A concept is an idea, belief, principle, or theory. Unlike object speeches which involve tangible things, concept speeches are abstract or general ideas. As a result, speeches about concepts need to be grounded in clear examples. Generally, it is laid out in a topical or chronological (temporal) format. Here are some sample definitive speech topics – Artificial Intelligence, Buddhism, cultural diversity, Democracy, femininity, freedom, hatred, love, respect, Selfie, and Socialism to name a few.

Figure 6. 7 : Music and Dance of Ghana 7

Here is an example of a concept speech:

Topic: Culture

Specific Purpose : To inform my audience about the concept of culture.

Central Idea/Thesis : Culture consists of beliefs, values, norms, and ways of behaving.

Preview of Main Points : First, I will explain what beliefs are. Second, I will discuss various values. Third, I will share different cultural norms. Finally, I will explain various ways of behaving within cultures.

• First, I will explain the role of beliefs within culture.
• Second, I will discuss the role of values in culture.
• Third, I will share different cultural norms.
• Finally, we will put these all together and examine the different ways of behaving in cultures.

Informative vs. Persuasive Speaking

In Chapter 10, we will discuss persuasive speaking in detail, including common organizational patterns and strategies for effective persuasive speaking. But for now, you must be clear on what distinguishes an informative speech and a persuasive speech. By now, you know that you should select a topic that is significant to you and useful for your audience. As a result, there is a good chance you are passionate about the topic and have a personal opinion on the subject matter. Your views are important, but personal opinions are inappropriate for informative speeches.

In an informative speech, you are a teacher, an educator, an informer. Whereas in persuasive speeches, you are an advocate. The information you share in an informative speech should be objective, unbiased, and balanced. It is not the time to argue for a particular viewpoint, advocate for a position, or try to convince the audience to do or believe something. If you are taking a public speaking course, it is likely that you will have an opportunity to do a persuasive speech assignment.

Staying objective and unbiased can be a big challenge, especially if you are passionate about the topic or the topic is controversial. To maintain your role as an educator and not an advocate, you should be especially cognizant of the language you use in your delivery. Focus on explaining the topic with objective language and work hard to avoid using evaluative terms such as good/bad, right/wrong, and moral/immoral. Consider the topic of abortion. Even the framing of the title of your speech can be suggestive. Does the speech title “Female Reproductive Healthcare” communicate the same message as “Women’s Reproductive Rights”? The language you use when composing and delivering your speech will convey certain messages to your audience. When dealing with a controversial issue, a good strategy to prevent interjecting your personal views is to explain to the audience that “some people believe ‘x’ and others believe ‘y’. If relevant and time permits, it is useful to explain the various viewpoints on your topic. If you are successful, at the end of your speech, the audience will be informed about your topic, but they will decide on their own what to think or do.

A variety of different topics can be utilized for informative speaking. If you are educating your audience about a particular topic by describing, demonstrating, or defining it, you are giving an informative speech. It is crucial to always give new information to your audience by relating it to what they already know, and by combining the very general information with very specific information to keep the attention of your audience throughout the speech. We are informative speakers quite often, even if it is to inform a friend about our day.

Reflection Questions

• What is the purpose of an informative speech?
• How can you determine the best pattern of organization for your informative speech topic?
• What do you need to keep in mind about your audience to develop your informative speech?
• How do you distinguish an informative speech from storytelling, even though you may use stories in your speech?

Chronological (temporal)

Concept Speech

Descriptive Speech

Informative speech

Process Speech

Introduction to Public Speaking Copyright © by Jamie C. Votraw, M.A.; Katharine O'Connor, Ph.D.; and William F. Kelvin, Ph.D.. All Rights Reserved.

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49 Types of Informative Speeches

While the topics to choose from for informative speeches are nearly limit- less, they can generally be pared down into five broad categories. Understanding the type of informative speech that you will be giving can help you to figure out the best way to organize, research, and prepare for it, as will be discussed below.

Type 1: History

A common approach to selecting an informative speech topic is to discuss the history or development of something. With so much of human knowledge available via the Internet, finding information about the origins and evolution of almost anything is much easier than it has ever been (with the disclaimer that there are quite a few websites out there with false information). With that in mind, some of the areas that a historical informative speech could cover would include:

(Example: the baseball; the saxophone). Someone at some point in history was the first to develop what is considered the modern baseball. Who was it? What was it originally made of? How did it evolve into the baseball that is used by Major League Baseball today?

(Example: your college; DisneyWorld). There is a specific year that you college or university opened, a specific number of students who were initially enrolled, and often colleges and universities have name and mission changes. All of these facts can be used to provide an overall understanding of the college and its history. Likewise, the DisneyWorld of today is different from the DisneyWorld of the early 1970s; the design has developed over the last fifty years.

(Example: democracy; freedom of speech). It is possible to provide facts on an idea, although in some cases the information may be less precise. For example, while no one can definitively point to a specific date or individual who first developed the concept of democracy, it is known to have been conceived in ancient Greece (Raaflaub, Ober, & Wallace, 2007). By looking at the civilizations and cultures that adopted forms of democracy throughout history, it is possible to provide an audience with a better understanding of how the idea has been shaped into what it has become today.

Type 2: Biography

A biography is similar to a history, but in this case the subject is specifically a person, whether living or deceased. For the purposes of this class, biographies should focus on people of some note or fame, since doing research on people who are not at least mildly well-known could be difficult. But again, as with histories, there are specific and irrefutable facts that can help provide an overview of someone’s life, such as dates that President Lincoln was born (February 12, 1809) and died (April 15, 1865) and the years he was in office as president (1861-1865).

This might be a good place to address research and support. The basic dates of Abraham Lincoln’s life could be found in multiple sources and you would not have to cite the source in that case. But it you use the work of a specific historian to explain how Lincoln was able to win the presidency in the tumultuous years before the Civil War, that would need a citation of that author and the publication.

Type 3: Processes

Examples of process speech topics would be how to bake chocolate chip cookies; how to throw a baseball; how a nuclear reactor works; how a bill works its way through Congress.

Process speeches are sometimes referred to as demonstration or “how to” speeches because they often entail demonstrating something. These speeches require you to provide steps that will help your audience understand how to accomplish a specific task or process. However, How To speeches can be tricky in that there are rarely universally agreed upon (i.e. irrefutable) ways to do anything. If your professor asked the students in his or her public speaking class to each bring in a recipe for baking chocolate chip cookies, would all of them be the exact same recipe?

Probably not, but they would all be similar and, most importantly, they would all give you chocolate chip cookies as the end result. Students giving a demonstration speech will want to avoid saying “You should bake the cookies for 12 minutes” since that is not how everyone does it. Instead, the student should say something like:

“You can bake the cookies for 10 minutes.”

“One option is to bake the cookies for 10 minutes.”

“This particular recipe calls for the cookies to be baked for 10 minutes.”

Each of the previous three statements is absolutely a fact that no one can argue or disagree with. While some people may say 12 minutes is too long or too short (depending on how soft or hard they like their cookies), no one can reasonably argue that these statements are not true.

On the other hand, there is a second type of process speech that focuses not on how the audience can achieve a result, such as changing oil in their cars or cooking something, but on how a process is achieved. The goal is understanding and not performance. After a speech on how to change a car tire, the audience members could probably do it (they might not want to, but they would know the steps). However, after a speech on how a bill goes through Congress, the audience would understand this important part of democracy but not be ready to serve in Congress.

Type 4: Ideas and Concepts

Sometimes an informative speech is designed to explain an idea or concept. What does democracy mean? What is justice? In this case, you will want to do two things. First, use the definition methods listed in Chapter 6, such as classification and differentiation. The second is to make your concept concrete, real, and specific for your audience with examples.

Type 5: Categories or divisions

Sometimes an informative speech topic doesn’t lend itself to a specific type of approach, and in those cases the topics tend to fall into a “general” category of informative speeches. For example, if a student wanted to give an informative speech on the four “C’s” of diamonds (cut, carat, color, and clarity), they certainly wouldn’t approach it as if they were providing the history of diamonds, nor would they necessarily be informing anyone on “how to” shop for or buy diamonds or how diamonds are mined. The approach in this case would simply be to inform an audience on the four “C’s” and what they mean. Other examples of this type of informative speech would be positions in playing volleyball or the customs to know when traveling in China.

As stated above, identifying the type of informative speech being given can help in several ways (conducting research, writing the introduction and conclusion), but perhaps the biggest benefit is that the type of informative speech being given will help determine, to some degree, the organizational pattern that will need to be used (see Chapter 6). For example, a How To speech must be in chronological order. There really isn’t a way (or reason) to present a How To speech other than how the process is done in a time sequence. That is to say, for a speech on how to bake chocolate chip cookies, getting the ingredients (Main Point 1) must come before mixing the ingredients (Main Point 2), which must come before baking them (Main Point 3). Putting them in any other order will only confuse the audience.

Similarly, most Histories and Biographies will be organized chronologically, but not always. It makes sense to explain the history of the baseball from when it was first developed to where it is today, but certain approach es to Histories and Biographies can make that irrelevant. For an informative speech on Benjamin Franklin, a student might choose as his or her three main points: 1) His time as a printer, 2) His time as an inventor, 3) His time as a diplomat. These main points are not in strict chronological order because Franklin was a printer, inventor, and diplomat at the same time during periods of his whole life. However, this example would still be one way to inform an audience about him without using the chronological organizational pattern.

As for general informative speeches, since the topics that can be included in this category are very diverse and cover a range of subject matter, the way they are organized will be varied as well. However, if the topic is “types of” something or “kinds of” something, the organizational pattern would be topical; if it were the layout of a location, such as the White House, it would be spatial (refer to Chapter 6 for more on Organization).

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Module 2: Informative Speech

Developing informative speeches.

The first sections of this chapter explained the importance of informative speaking, the functions of informative speeches, the role of the informative speaker, and the four major types of informative speeches. This final section of the chapter discusses three goals in developing informative speeches and advice for increasing the effectiveness of your speech. These three goals include 1) arousing the interest of your audience, 2) presenting information in a way that can be understood, and 3) helping the audience remember what you have said (Fujishin, 2000).

Generate and Maintain Interest

Use attention-getting elements.

Before you capture the interest of an audience, you have to get their attention. As you know, attention getters are used in the introduction of a speech, but attention getters can also be used throughout your speech to maintain an audience’s attention. There are a number of techniques you can use that will naturally draw listeners’ attention (German, et al., 2010).

Novelty involves those things that are new or unusual. Discussing the recent invention of the flesh-eating mushroom death suit developed by Jae Rhim Lee would be novel. This suit is designed to help bodies decompose naturally above ground to avoid the use of dangerous embalming chemicals.

Audiences will also attend to movement or Activity . To employ this technique, the speaker can either use action words, well-chosen movements, an increased rate of speech, or s/he can show action with video. A speech describing or showing extreme sports with high levels of risk, a fast pace, or amazing stunts could be used to illustrate activity.

Tell a Story

Story telling is not only the basis for most of our entertainment; it is also one of the best ways to teach an audience (Carlson, 2005). Also known as narratives, stories typically have a beginning in which the characters and setting are introduced, a rise in action, some complication or problem, and a resolution. Stories with compelling characters can be used in a creative way to weave facts otherwise dry and technical facts together (Walters, 1995), as in a speech about preparing a space shuttle for take-off from a mouse’s perspective. Jaffe (1998) differentiates between three types of narratives that can be used in informative speeches. The first type of story is a natural reality in which natural or scientific facts are brought together in chronological accounts, as in the formation of the Grand Canyon. The second narrative involves social realities which detail historic events, and the development of cultures and institutions. The last kind of story, the ultimate reality, is focused on profound philosophical and spiritual questions like “Where do we come from?” and “What happens to us when we die?”

Nursery rhymes and song lyrics familiar to the audience can also be used in an interactive way to get listeners interested in the topic (Maxey & O’Connor, 2006). In a speech about the global population explosion, you could ask audience to finish the phrase “There was an old woman who lived in a shoe…” Common commercials, lyrics to Beatles songs, holiday songs, and children’s games are universal.

The wisest mind has something yet to learn. – George Santayna

Just for fun, can you name the artist who sang the lyrics below? Can you think of a speech topic that would correspond to the lyrics? (Answer at the end of the chapter)

Be Creative

Speakers who are different are memorable (Maxey & O’Connor, 2006). To give your speech impact, be imaginative and dare to push the envelope of conformity. When you have spent time researching a topic, you may be able to envision ways to incorporate surprising facts, props or visuals that make your presentation different from others, and therefore more memorable. You could dress like a Shakespearian actor for a speech about the famous playwright. You could have the audience move their chairs and take part in a yoga demonstration. Or you might use your own audience plants to help with a speech entitled “Behind the Scenes of TV Talk Shows.” When one student got up to speak, he drew a row of houses on the blackboard and then began to drink a glass of water and speak about the life giving properties of water. After making a few comments, he threw the glass of water on the blackboard—erasing most of the houses. Then he began his speech on the devastating effects of a flood (be sure to get your professor’s permission before you do something like this!). Another student giving a speech about “Clowning” had two actual clowns wait in the hall until she was ready to bring them in and show off their make-up and costumes. The speaker was wise to have her cohorts in the room just long enough to make the point (but not the entire time which would distract from the speaker), and the audience was attentive and grateful for the variety. Hanks and Parry (1991) explain that anyone can be creative, if s/he wants to be and is willing to make the effort. For some tips on how to foster your creativity, see Table 16.2. However, you need to remember that creativity is just a tool to help you teach your audience. Do not overlook the requirements of the occasion, the content of your research, or the needs of your audience in your zeal to be creative.

Table 16.2 Tips for Jump Starting Your Creativity From Everyday Creativity by Carlin Flora (2009)

• Take a different way to work
• Collaborate with others with complementary skills
• Seek inspiration in beautiful surroundings
• Start working on the problem right away
• Work in a blue room (it boosts creativity)
• Get a hobby or play music
• Think about your problem right before falling asleep

The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.  – Sylvia Plath

Stimulate Audience Intellect

Most people have a genuine desire to understand the world around them, to seek out the truth, and learn how to solve problems. The role of the informative speaker is to satisfy this desire to learn and know. To illustrate our quest for knowledge, consider the success of the Discovery Channel, the Learning Channel, the History Channel, the Food Network and other educational broadcasts. So how do we appeal to the minds of listeners? Think about all of the information we encounter every day but do not have time to pursue. Think about subjects that you would like to know more about. Ask what information would be universally interesting and useful for listeners. Many people fly on airplanes, but do they know how to survive a plane crash? People also share many ordinary illnesses, so what are some common home remedies? All of the people on earth originated someplace, so who were our ancient ancestors?

In addition to finding topics that relate to listeners, the information we supply should be up to date. For instance, Egypt recently had a revolution, and if you are giving a speech on traveling to the Pyramids, you should be aware of this. When you are talking about a topic that your audience is familiar with, you should share little known facts or paint the subject in a new light. In a speech about a famous person, you might depict what they are like behind the scenes, or what they were like growing up. In a speech about a new technology, you might also talk about the inventors. In a speech about a famous city, you could discuss the more infamous landmarks and attractions.

Create Coherence

Organize logically.

When planning your speech, ask questions like: What information needs to come first? What organizational pattern best suits the topic? What information must be shared or omitted to aid in audience understanding? What points or sub-points should be grouped together to aid listeners’ understanding?

Use Simple Language

Instead of “protracted,” say “drawn out.” Instead of “conundrum,” say “puzzle.” And instead of “loquacious,” say “talkative.” As you are writing your speech you also want to avoid technical jargon, slang, clichés, and euphemisms. This type of language is difficult to understand and tends to be low impact. Compare the Low Impact language column with the High Impact column in Table 16.3 above to see examples of ways to make your language more powerful.

Avoid Information Overload

No one is given an unlimited amount of time to speak. You can’t cover everything that there is to know about your topic. And even if you could speak forever about everything there was to know about a subject, your listeners would never be able to take it all in. Information overload occurs when a person feels that they are faced with an overwhelming amount of information, with the effect that they are unable to process it all or unable to make decision. So whether you have five minutes to give a presentation or three eight-hour days, you will need to narrow and focus your speech topic and objectives. If you know that you have ten minutes to speak, you will not be able to cover “Car Maintenance for Dummies,” but you probably could give a good speech entitled “How to Change the Oil in Your Car.” When planning your speech, be sure to determine the amount of information that can reasonably be covered in the time allowed. In fact, rather than taking the entire allotted speaking time, you should get into the practice of speaking only for 90—95% of the time that you are given (Reynolds, 2008). More is not always better—and your audience will appreciate it if you can skillfully make your point with time to spare.

Today knowledge has power. It controls access to opportunity and advancement. – Peter Drucker

Make Your Speech Memorable

Build in repetition.

The final way to use repetition in your speech is through nonverbal communication. When you say the word “four” and you hold up four fingers, or when you verbally agree with a point and nod your head at the same time, you are reinforcing the idea verbally and nonverbally.

Appeal to Different Ways of Learning

Individuals have different learning styles, so some people are visual [V] learners, some are aural [A] learners, some learn by reading [R] and writing, and some learn kinesthetically [K] (Fleming, 2001). You can test your own learning style at www.varklearn.com. Understanding your own and others’ learning styles is useful for two reasons. First, you will find that you tend to teach others using your own learning style. Second, regardless of your own learning styles, you need to appeal to as many different learning styles as possible in your informative speech. To see how each learning style prefers to be taught, see the table below.

Unfortunately, since the ear alone is a very poor information gathering device, steps must be taken to improve retention. Typically listeners only retain only a small fraction of what is explained to them verbally. The first way to enhance retention is to appeal to as many of the senses as possible. Studies show that audiences retain 20 percent of what they hear, 30 percent of what they see, and 50 percent of what they hear and see (Westerfield, 2002). When the audience has an opportunity to do something (adding the kinesthetic sense), their retention increases to 80 percent (Walters, 1995). Or, if participation is not possible, a handout will raise retention to an impressive 85 percent—if the audience can review the handout at least once (Slutsky & Aun, 1997).

Another way to help your listeners remember is by the use of techniques like association , linking the new topic to things that the audience knows about or already understands. If you were giving a speech about rugby, you might compare it to soccer and football to help the audience understand the rules. The use of acronyms also aids retention. On the “ Krusty Krab Training Video ” episode of Spongebob Squarepants (a spoof on corporate training videos), they use the acronym “POOP.” When I asked my then eight-year-old son if he remembered (several weeks after watching the episode) what “POOP” stood for, he immediately and correctly answered “People Order Our Patties.” The final technique to help audiences remember information is the simplicity criterion . Information is best retained when it is explained from top to bottom (rather than bottom to top), when events are presented from first to last (rather than last to first), and when information is presented in the positive voice (rather than in the negative voice) (Devito, 1981).

Use Visuals

Perhaps the best reason to use visuals aids during an informative speech is to help your audience understand a concept that may be difficult to understand just by explaining it. In a speech about heart bypass surgery, would it be better to verbally describe the parts of the human heart, or to show a picture of it? How about a model of the heart? How about an actual human heart? Be sure to consider your audience! What if your speech is about an abstract concept that does not lend itself well to slick graphic representations? One way trainers get their audiences involved and make their presentations memorable is to provide handouts which the listeners complete (in part) themselves. You could use fill-in-the blank statements (where you provide the answer), open-ended questions where listeners can write their thoughts, and activities like matching or crossword puzzles. Regardless of the type of visual media you select for your speech, just make sure that it does not overpower you or the subject. Work to keep the audience’s attention on you and what you are saying, and use the visual to complement what you have to say.

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3.4: Developing Informative Speeches

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• Page ID 116352

• Lisa Schreiber
• Millersville University via Public Speaking Project

The first sections of this chapter explained the importance of informative speaking, the functions of informative speeches, the role of the informative speaker, and the four major types of informative speeches. This final section of the chapter discusses three goals in developing informative speeches and advice for increasing the effectiveness of your speech. These three goals include 1) arousing the interest of your audience, 2) presenting information in a way that can be understood, and 3) helping the audience remember what you have said (Fujishin, 2000).

generate and maintain interest

Use attention-getting elements.

Before you capture the interest of an audience, you have to get their attention. As you know, attention getters are used in the introduction of a speech, but attention getters can also be used throughout your speech to maintain an audience’s attention. There are a number of techniques you can use that will naturally draw listeners’ attention (German, et al., 2010).

Intensity refers to something that has a high or extreme degree of emotion, color, volume, strength or other defining characteristic. In a speech about sharks’ senses, showing how sharks smell 10,000 times better than humans would be an example of the intensity principle.

Novelty involves those things that are new or unusual. Discussing the recent invention of the flesh-eating mushroom death suit developed by Jae Rhim Lee would be novel. This suit is designed to help bodies decompose naturally above ground to avoid the use of dangerous embalming chemicals.

Contrast can also be used to draw attention through comparison to something that is different or opposite. This works best when the differences are significant. If you were showing the audience how to make hot sauce, and you showed a bar graph comparing the scoville units (level of hotness) of different chili peppers, this would be contrast. Jalapenos rate at 2500 – 8000 scoville units, habaneros rate at 100,000 – 350,000, and the naga jolokia rates at 855,000 – 1,041,241.

Audiences will also attend to movement or Activity . To employ this technique, the speaker can either use action words, well-chosen movements, an increased rate of speech, or s/he can show action with video. A speech describing or showing extreme sports with high levels of risk, a fast pace, or amazing stunts could be used to illustrate activity.

Finally, Humor can be used to draw attention to a subject or point, but be sure that it is relevant and in good taste. In a speech about the devotion of Trekkies (Star Trek fans), you could share the example of Tony Alleyne who designed and outfitted his flat in England as a replica of the deck of the Voyager. You could also direct the audience’s attention to couples who have wedding ceremonies spoken in Klingon.

The wisest mind has something yet to learn. ~ George Santayna

Tell a Story

Story telling is not only the basis for most of our entertainment; it is also one of the best ways to teach an audience (Carlson, 2005). Also known as narratives, stories typically have a beginning in which the characters and setting are introduced, a rise in action, some complication or problem, and a resolution. Stories with compelling characters can be used in a creative way to weave facts otherwise dry and technical facts together (Walters, 1995), as in a speech about preparing a space shuttle for take-off from a mouse’s perspective. Jaffe (1998) differentiates between three types of narratives that can be used in informative speeches. The first type of story is a natural reality in which natural or scientific facts are brought together in chronological accounts, as in the formation of the Grand Canyon. The second narrative involves social realities which detail historic events, and the development of cultures and institutions. The last kind of story, the ultimate reality, is focused on profound philosophical and spiritual questions like “Where do we come from?” and “What happens to us when we die?”

Nursery rhymes and song lyrics familiar to the audience can also be used in an interactive way to get listeners interested in the topic (Maxey & O'Connor, 2006). In a speech about the global population explosion, you could ask audience to finish the phrase “There was an old woman who lived in a shoe...” Common commercials, lyrics to Beatles songs, holiday songs, and children’s games are universal.

Commercial jingles and song lyrics also work to get the audience involved. You could start a speech on boating safety with these lyrics: Just sit right back / And you'll hear a tale / A tale of a fateful trip / That started from this tropic port / Aboard this tiny ship (from Gilligan’s Island ). Depending on the make-up of your audience, you might use lyrics from Johnny Cash, Billy Holiday, The Doors, The Beatles, Jay- Z, The Judds or the Arctic Monkeys. Just remember you probably can’t read all of the lyrics, you need to make sure the lyrics are directly linked to your topic, and you should be sure to cite the artist and song title.

Just for fun, can you name the artist who sang the lyrics below? Can you think of a speech topic that would correspond to the lyrics? (Answer at the end of the chapter)

Mystery Artist

Money, get away. Get a good job with good pay and you're okay. Money, it's a gas. Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash. New car, caviar, four star daydream, Think I'll buy me a football team.

Be Creative

Speakers who are different are memorable (Maxey & O'Connor, 2006). To give your speech impact, be imaginative and dare to push the envelope of conformity. When you have spent time researching a topic, you may be able to envision ways to incorporate surprising facts, props or visuals that make your presentation different from others, and therefore more memorable. You could dress like a Shakespearian actor for a speech about the famous playwright. You could have the audience move their chairs and take part in a yoga demonstration. Or you might use your own audience plants to help with a speech entitled “Behind the Scenes of TV Talk Shows.” When one student got up to speak, he drew a row of houses on the blackboard and then began to drink a glass of water and speak about the life giving properties of water. After making a few comments, he threw the glass of water on the blackboard --- erasing most of the houses. Then he began his speech on the devastating effects of a flood (be sure to get your professor’s permission before you do something like this!). Another student giving a speech about “Clowning” had two actual clowns wait in the hall until she was ready to bring them in and show off their make-up and costumes. The speaker was wise to have her cohorts in the room just long enough to make the point (but not the entire time which would distract from the speaker), and the audience was attentive and grateful for the variety. Hanks and Parry (1991) explain that anyone can be creative, if s/he wants to be and is willing to make the effort.

For some tips on how to foster your creativity, see Table \(\PageIndex{1}\). However, you need to remember that creativity is just a tool to help you teach your audience. Do not overlook the requirements of the occasion, the content of your research, or the needs of your audience in your zeal to be creative.

The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. ~ Sylvia Plath

Stimulate Audience Intellect

Most people have a genuine desire to understand the world around them, to seek out the truth, and learn how to solve problems. The role of the informative speaker is to satisfy this desire to learn and know. To illustrate our quest for knowledge, consider the success of the Discovery Channel, the Learning Channel, the History Channel, the Food Network and other educational broadcasts. So how do we appeal to the minds of listeners? Think about all of the information we encounter every day but do not have time to pursue. Think about subjects that you would like to know more about. Ask what information would be universally interesting and useful for listeners. Many people fly on airplanes, but do they know how to survive a plane crash? People also share many ordinary illnesses, so what are some common home remedies? All of the people on earth originated someplace, so who were our ancient ancestors?

In addition to finding topics that relate to listeners, the information we supply should be up to date. For instance, Egypt recently had a revolution, and if you are giving a speech on travelling to the Pyramids, you should be aware of this. When you are talking about a topic that your audience is familiar with, you should share little known facts or paint the subject in a new light. In a speech about a famous person, you might depict what they are like behind the scenes, or what they were like growing up. In a speech about a new technology, you might also talk about the inventors. In a speech about a famous city, you could discuss the more infamous landmarks and attractions.

create coherence

Organize logically.

Several types of organizational patterns are discussed in the Selecting and Arranging Main Points chapter. Using these as a starting point, you should make sure the overall logic of the speech is well thought out. If you were giving speech best suited to chronological order, but presented the steps out of order, it would be very difficult to follow. Those of you who have seen the movie Memento (which presented the sequence of events backwards), may have noticed how difficult it was to explain the plot to others. In a logical speech, the points you are trying to draw are obvious, the supporting materials are coherent and correspond exactly to the thesis, and the main points are mutually exclusive and flow naturally from start to finish.

Clarity of thought is critical in presenting information. As Peggy Noonan (1998, p. 64) argues:

The most moving thing in a speech is always the logic. It’s never the flowery words and flourishes, it’s not sentimental exhortations, it’s never the faux poetry we’re all subjected to these days. It’s the logic; it’s the thinking behind your case. A good case well argued and well said is inherently moving. It shows respect for the brains of the listeners. There is an implicit compliment in it. It shows that you are a serious person and that you are talking to other serious persons.

When planning your speech, ask questions like: What information needs to come first? What organizational pattern best suits the topic? What information must be shared or omitted to aid in audience understanding? What points or sub-points should be grouped together to aid listeners’ understanding?

Use Simple Language

One common mistake that speech writers make when they are writing their speech is to use the same language that they would use in a written document. Experienced speech writers know that simple language and ideas are easier to understand than complex ones. “Clear speaking is not an alternative to intelligent discourse, but rather an enabler of intelligent discourse” (Carlson, 2005, p. 79). Did you know that Lincoln’s Gettysburg address contains only 271 words, and

251 of these words only have one or two syllables (Hughes & Phillips, 2000)? Another benefit of using simple language is that you are less likely to trip over or mispronounce simple words. Instead of “protracted,” say “drawn out.” Instead of “conundrum,” say “puzzle.” And instead of “loquacious,” say “talkative. As you are writing your speech you also want to avoid technical jargon, slang, clichés, and euphemisms. This type of language is difficult to understand and tends to be low impact. Compare the Low Impact language column with the High Impact column in Table 16.3 above to see examples of ways to make your language more powerful.

Avoid Information Overload

No one is given an unlimited amount of time to speak. You can’t cover everything that there is to know about your topic. And even if you could speak forever about everything there was to know about a subject, your listeners would never be able to take it all in. Information overload occurs when a person feels that they are faced with an overwhelming amount of information, with the effect that they

are unable to process it all or unable to make decision. So whether you have five minutes to give a presentation or three eight hour days, you will need to narrow and focus your speech topic and objectives. If you know that you have ten minutes to speak, you will not be able to cover “Car Maintenance for Dummies,” but you probably could give a good speech entitled “How to Change the Oil in Your Car.” When planning your speech, be sure to determine the amount of information that can reasonably be covered in the time allowed. In fact, rather than taking the entire allotted speaking time, you should get into the practice of speaking only for 90 – 95% of the time that you are given (Reynolds, 2008). More is not always better --- and your audience will appreciate it if you can skillfully make your point with time to spare.

Today knowledge has power. It controls access to opportunity and advancement. ~Peter Drucker

make your speech memorable

Build in repetition.

Audience retention is determined by a number of factors including listeners’ interest, knowledge, physical and emotional state, level of stress, background, and other competing demands (Fujishin, 2000). One way to help your audience remember the content of your speech is by repetition (Hughes & Phillips, 2000). There are three ways to incorporate repetition into your speech. The first form repetition involves restating your main points in your introduction, body and conclusion. When you do this, you will restate your points using different language --- not repeat the points word for word. The second form of repetition is where a word or a phrase is repeated in a poetic way, either throughout the speech or at a critical point in the speech. One example of this would be Abraham Lincoln’s “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” Another example can be found in Sojourner Truth’s speech, delivered in 1851 at a women’s rights convention.

... That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?

The final way to use repetition in your speech is through nonverbal communication. When you say the word “four” and you hold up four fingers, or when you verbally agree with a point and nod your head at the same time, you are reinforcing the idea verbally and nonverbally.

Appeal to Different Ways of Learning

Individuals have different learning styles, so some people are visual [V] learners, some are aural [A] learners, some learn by reading [R] and writing, and some learn kinesthetically [K] (Fleming, 2001). You can test your own learning style at www.vark- learn.com. Understanding your own and others’ learning styles is useful for two reasons. First, you will find that you tend to teach others using your own learning style. Second, regardless of your own learning styles, you need to appeal to as many different learning styles as possible in your informative speech. To see how each learning style prefers to be taught, see the table below.

Unfortunately, since the ear alone is a very poor information gathering device, steps must be taken to improve retention. Typically listeners only retain only a small fraction of what is explained to them verbally. The first way to enhance retention is to appeal to as many of the senses as possible. Studies show that audiences retain 20 percent of what they hear, 30 percent of what they see, and 50 percent of what they hear and see (Westerfield, 2002). When the audience has an opportunity to do something (adding the kinesthetic sense), their retention increases to 80 percent (Walters, 1995). Or, if participation is not possible, a handout will raise retention to an impressive 85 percent – if the audience can review the handout at least once (Slutsky & Aun, 1997).

Another way to help your listeners remember is by the use of techniques like association , linking the new topic to things that the audience knows about or already understands. If you were giving a speech about rugby, you might compare it to soccer and football to help the audience understand the rules. The use of acronyms also aids retention. On the “Krusty Krab Training Video” episode of Spongebob Squarepants (a spoof on corporate training videos), they use the acronym “POOP.” When I asked my then eight- year-old son if he remembered (several weeks after watching the episode) what “POOP” stood for, he immediately and correctly answered “People Order Our Patties.” The final technique to help audiences remember information is the simplicity criterion . Information is best retained when it is explained from top to bottom (rather than bottom to top), when events are presented from first to last (rather than last to first), and when information is presented in the positive voice (rather than in the negative voice) (Devito, 1981).

Use Visuals

Visual aids can be a very powerful and efficient way to present facts that might otherwise be difficult to convey verbally. The benefits of visuals used for informative speeches include increasing interest, understanding, retention, and the speed at which your audience can understand complex facts. We live in a mediated culture, where people are visually oriented. This means that they expect to be visually stimulated with pictures, graphs, maps, video images and objects. Speakers who do not make use of visuals may be at a disadvantage when compared to speakers who use them. This is assuming of course that the visuals enhance what you are saying and that you use them well. As you know, plenty of people use Power Point, and it does not necessarily make their speech better or more memorable.

Perhaps the best reason to use visuals aids during an informative speech is to help your audience understand a concept that may be difficult to understand just by explaining it. In a speech about heart bypass surgery, would it be better to verbally describe the parts of the human heart, or to show a picture of it? How about a model of the heart? How about an actual human heart? Be sure to consider your audience! What if your speech is about an abstract concept that does not lend itself well to slick graphic representations? One way trainers get their audiences involved and make their presentations memorable is to provide handouts which the listeners complete (in part) themselves. You could use fill-in-the blank statements (where you provide the answer), open-ended questions where listeners can write their thoughts, and activities like matching or crossword puzzles. Regardless of the type of visual media you select for your speech, just make sure that it does not overpower you or the subject. Work to keep the audience’s attention on you and what you are saying, and use the visual to complement what you have to say.

Only one person in a million becomes enlightened without a teacher’s help. ~ Bodhidharma

Short Quiz in English 8 Deliver a self-composed informative speech

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• Q 1 / 5 Score 0 Your textbook discusses four kinds of informative speeches—speeches about objects, speeches about concepts, speeches about processes, and speeches about events. 29 None True False Maybe

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• Q 1 Your textbook discusses four kinds of informative speeches—speeches about objects, speeches about concepts, speeches about processes, and speeches about events. None True False Maybe 30 s EN8F-Id-3
• Q 2 If the specific purpose of your informative speech is to recount the history of an event, you will usually arrange the speech in chronological order. Maybe None True False 30 s EN8F-Id-3
• Q 3 To inform my audience how to grow an indoor herb garden” is a specific purpose statement for an informative speech about a process. False None True Maybe 30 s EN8F-Id-3
• Q 4 To inform my audience about the Olympic Games in ancient Greece” is a specific purpose statement for an informative speech about an event. Maybe None True False 30 s EN8F-Id-3
• Q 5 If you explain complex ideas in clear and simple language, your audience will probably be offended. True Maybe False None 30 s EN8F-Id-3

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8 Types of Speeches to Captivate Any Audience

• The Speaker Lab
• May 8, 2024

Table of Contents

Words have power. In a speech, words can shift mountains, sway opinions, and light the fire for change. For anyone stepping up to the mic, knowing what kind of speech to deliver makes all the difference in winning over listeners. From informative talks to persuasive pitches, each type of speech serves a unique purpose and requires a specific approach. In this post, we’ll explore the 8 essential types of speeches you need to know to become a master communicator:

• Informative speeches
• Persuasive speeches
• Demonstration speeches
• Entertaining speeches
• Special occasion speeches
• Impromptu speeches
• Debate speeches
• Acceptance speeches

Let’s get started!

Types of Speeches to Master for Success

Every single day people across the world stand up in front of some kind of audience and speak. While the core purpose of any speech is to deliver a message to an audience, the type of message and manner in which it’s delivered helps us distinguish a given speech from others. As a result, we can categorize speeches based on four main concepts: entertaining, informing, demonstrating and persuading. Let’s take a look at each.

Informative Speech

In an informative speech , the presenter will share information about a particular person, place, object, process, concept, or issue by defining, describing, or explaining. The primary purpose of informative presentations is to share one’s knowledge of a subject with an audience. Reasons for making an informative speech vary widely.

For example, you might be asked to report to a group of managers how your latest project is coming along. Similarly, a local community group might wish to hear about your volunteer activities in New Orleans during spring break, or your classmates may want you to share your expertise on Mediterranean cooking.

Persuasive Speech

A persuasive speech proposes to change a person’s beliefs or actions on a particular issue. The presenter takes a side and gives his/her opinion with factual evidence to support their viewpoint. The topics tend to be debatable and the speech itself should have a convincing tone.

Demonstrative Speech

As the name suggests, a demonstrative speech is the type of speech you want to give to demonstrate how something works or how to do a certain thing. A demonstrative speech utilizes the use of visual aids and/or physical demonstration along with the information provided. Some might argue that demonstrative speeches are a subclass of informative speeches, but they’re different enough to be considered two distinct types. Think of it as the difference between explaining the history and tradition of gumbo as opposed to actually teaching a crowd how to make gumbo.

Entertaining Speech

The core purpose of an entertaining speech is to amuse the audience, and obviously, entertain them. They’re usually less formal in nature to help communicate emotions rather than to simply deliver facts. Some examples include speeches given by maids of honor or best men at weddings, acceptance speeches at the Oscars, or even the one given by a school’s principal before or after a talent show.

Special Occasion Speech

Beyond the four main types of public speeches we mentioned, there are a few other different types of speeches worth exploring, namely, special occasion speeches. Often shorter than other types of speeches, special occasion speeches focus on the occasion at hand, whether it’s a wedding , funeral , awards ceremony , or other special event. The goal is to connect with the audience on an emotional level and deliver a heartfelt message that resonates with the occasion. Personal stories, anecdotes, and expressions of gratitude are common elements in special occasion speeches.

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How to Deliver an Engaging Informative Speech

In an informative speech, the presenter will share information about a particular person, place, object, process, concept, or issue by defining, describing, or explaining. An informative speech’s purpose is to simplify complex theories into simpler, easier-to-digest and less ambiguous ideas. In other words, the goal of this type of speech is to convey information accurately.

Choose a Specific Topic

The first step in delivering an engaging informative speech is to choose a specific topic. Trying to cover too much ground in a single speech can be overwhelming for both the speaker and the audience. By narrowing your focus to a specific aspect of a larger topic, you can provide more in-depth information and keep your audience engaged. For example, instead of trying to explain the entire history of the internet, you could focus on the development of social media platforms.

Simplify Complex Concepts

One of the main goals of an informative speech is to simplify complex theories and concepts into more easily understandable ideas. This requires breaking down information into smaller, more digestible chunks. Use analogies, examples, and visual aids to help illustrate your points and make the information more relatable to your audience. Remember, your goal is to provide a general understanding of the topic, not to overwhelm your listeners with technical jargon or minute details.

Engage Your Audience

Keeping your audience engaged is crucial for the success of your informative speech. One way to do this is by using storytelling techniques to make the information more interesting and memorable. You can also ask rhetorical questions, encourage audience participation, and use humor when appropriate. By making your speech interactive and dynamic, you’ll be more likely to hold your audience’s attention and effectively communicate your message.

Use Visual Aids

Visual aids can be a powerful tool in an informative speech. They help to reinforce your message, clarify complex ideas, and make your presentation more engaging. Some effective visual aids include charts, graphs, images, videos, and physical objects. Just be sure not to rely too heavily on visuals at the expense of your content.

Practice and Refine

As with any type of public speaking, practice is essential for delivering a successful informative speech. Rehearse your presentation multiple times, paying attention to your pacing, tone, and body language. Consider practicing in front of a mirror, recording yourself, or presenting to a small group of friends or colleagues for feedback. Use their input to refine your speech and make improvements before the big day.

Mastering the Art of Persuasive Speaking

Speeches can be delivered to serve various purposes. A persuasive speech proposes to change a person’s beliefs or actions on a particular issue. Accordingly, the presenter takes a side and gives his/her opinion, supporting their argument with factual evidence.

Know Your Audience

The first step in crafting a persuasive speech is to know your audience. Understanding their beliefs, values, and concerns will help you tailor your message to resonate with them. In particular, consider factors such as age, gender, cultural background, and education level when analyzing your audience. This information will guide you in choosing the most effective arguments and examples to support your position.

Use Persuasive Language

The language you use in your persuasive speech can have a significant impact on how your audience receives your message. Use powerful, emotive words that evoke a strong response from your listeners.

Rhetorical devices such as repetition, metaphors, and rhetorical questions can also be effective in persuading your audience. However, be careful not to overuse techniques like pathos , as they can come across as manipulative or insincere if employed too frequently.

Provide Strong Evidence

To convince your audience to adopt your point of view, you need to provide strong evidence to support your claims. Use facts, statistics, expert opinions, and real-life examples to bolster your arguments. In addition, be sure to cite credible sources and present the information in a clear, logical manner. Finally, anticipate potential counterarguments and address them proactively to strengthen your position.

Inspire Positive Change

The goal of this type of speech is not only to change minds but also to inspire positive action. Conclude your persuasive speech with a clear call-to-action, urging your audience to take specific steps towards implementing the change you advocate for. In addition, paint a vivid picture of the benefits that will result from adopting your position, and make it easy for your listeners to understand how they can contribute to the cause.

Address Counterarguments

No matter how compelling your arguments may be, there will always be those who disagree with your position. To deliver a truly persuasive speech, you must anticipate and address potential counterarguments. That means acknowledging the validity of opposing viewpoints and then providing evidence to refute them. By demonstrating that you have considered alternative perspectives, you’ll come across as more credible and trustworthy to your audience.

Demonstrative Speeches: A Step-by-Step Guide

If you’ve ever watched a cooking show or a DIY tutorial, you’ve seen a demonstrative speech in action. This type of speech is all about teaching your audience how to do something, step by step. The key to a successful demonstrative speech is to be organized and concise. You need to break down the process into clear, easy-to-follow steps that your audience can grasp and replicate themselves.

Choose a Relevant Topic

When selecting a topic for your demonstrative speech, choose something that’s relevant and useful to your audience. It can be about anything that requires a demonstration, such as cooking a recipe, performing a science experiment, using a software program, or even tying a tie.

Consider your audience’s interests and needs. What skills or knowledge would benefit them the most? Choosing a topic that resonates with your listeners will keep them engaged and motivated to learn.

Plan Your Demonstration

Once you have your topic, it’s time to plan your demonstration from start to finish. Break down the process into logical, sequential steps. Consider the supplies or equipment you’ll need and any potential challenges or safety concerns. Creating an outline can help you stay organized and ensure you don’t miss any crucial steps. Remember, your goal is to make the process as clear and straightforward as possible for your audience.

Prepare Your Materials

Gather all the necessary materials, props, or visual aids you’ll need for your demonstration. Visual aids like props, slides, or even live demonstrations are incredibly helpful in illustrating your points. They can help your audience better understand and remember the steps you’re teaching them. During your speech, make sure everything is in working order and easily accessible.

A great demonstrative speech is not only informative but also engaging. You need to ignite a sense of enthusiasm and curiosity in your audience. Encourage them to ask questions and participate in the demonstration if possible.

In addition, use clear, concise language and maintain eye contact with your listeners. Inject some personality and humor into your delivery to keep things interesting and relatable.

Allow Time for Questions

After your demonstration, allow time for your audience to ask questions or seek clarification. This interaction can help reinforce their understanding and show that you’re invested in their learning.

At the end of your presentation, encourage your listeners to try out the skill or technique themselves. Finally, provide any additional resources or tips that can help them succeed. Remember, your ultimate goal is to empower your audience with new knowledge and abilities.

The Power of Entertaining Speeches

Sometimes, the best way to captivate an audience is simply to entertain them. An entertaining speech can range from a humorous anecdote at a conference to a moving story at a fundraiser. If you want to nail this type of speech, you need to engage your listeners and leave them with a memorable message.

As with any speech, understanding your audience is crucial for an entertaining speech. What kind of humor or stories will they appreciate? What tone and style will resonate with them? Consider factors like age, background, and the event itself. A joke that lands well at a casual gathering might not be appropriate for a formal business meeting.

Use Humor Effectively

Humor is a powerful tool in entertaining speeches, but it must be used skillfully. A well-crafted joke can break the ice, lighten the mood, and make your message more memorable. However, humor can also backfire if it’s offensive, inappropriate, or poorly delivered. Make sure your jokes are tasteful, relevant, and well-rehearsed. If you’re not confident in your comedic abilities, it’s better to err on the side of caution.

Share Personal Anecdotes

Personal stories and anecdotes can be incredibly effective in entertaining speeches. They help humanize you as a speaker as well as create a connection with your audience. As such, choose stories that are relevant to your message and that highlight your unique experiences or perspectives. Use descriptive language and engaging delivery to draw your listeners into the narrative.

An entertaining speech is all about engagement. You want your audience to be actively involved and invested in your message. In order to achieve this, use techniques like rhetorical questions, audience participation, or even props to keep your listeners engaged. Additionally, make eye contact, vary your tone and pace, and use gestures to emphasize key points.

End on a High Note

The conclusion of your entertaining speech is just as important as the beginning. You want to leave your audience with a positive, memorable impression. To accomplish this, consider ending with a call to action, a thought-provoking question, or a powerful quote. Tie your conclusion back to your main message and leave your listeners with something to ponder or act upon.

Captivating Your Audience with Special Occasion Speeches

Not all speeches are about imparting knowledge or persuading opinions. Sometimes, a speech’s primary purpose is to entertain, inspire, or commemorate a special event. This type of speech is known as a special occasion speech . Whether it’s a wedding toast, a eulogy , or an acceptance speech, special occasion speeches require a unique approach. Here are some tips for crafting a memorable and impactful special occasion speech.

Understand the Occasion

Every special occasion has its own unique tone, purpose, and expectations. A wedding toast, for example, is typically light-hearted and celebratory, while a eulogy is more somber and reflective. Before you start writing your speech, make sure you understand the nature of the occasion and the role your speech will play. This context will guide your content, tone, and delivery.

Special occasion speeches are often delivered to a specific group of people who share a connection to the event or honoree. As such, it’s crucial to tailor your speech to resonate with this particular audience. Consider their relationship to the occasion, their background, and their expectations. What stories, anecdotes, or insights will they appreciate and relate to?

Use Appropriate Humor

Humor can be a powerful tool in special occasion speeches, especially in celebratory situations like weddings or retirements. A well-placed joke or funny story can help break the ice, engage the audience, and create a warm, positive atmosphere. However, it’s important to use humor appropriately and tastefully. Avoid jokes that might be offensive, insensitive, or ill-suited to the occasion. When in doubt, err on the side of caution.

Share Personal Stories

Special occasion speeches often revolve around honoring or commemorating a person, relationship, or milestone. By sharing personal stories or anecdotes, you can help bring your speech to life and create an emotional connection with your audience. Choose stories that highlight the qualities or experiences you want to celebrate. In addition, use vivid details and descriptive language to help your audience visualize and engage with your memories.

Express Gratitude

Many special occasion speeches, such as wedding toasts or acceptance speeches, involve expressing gratitude to those who have supported or contributed to the occasion. Accordingly, take time to acknowledge and thank the people who have made the event possible or played a significant role in your life. Be specific in your praise and sincere in your appreciation.

Impromptu Speaking: Tips for Thinking on Your Feet

Imagine you’re at a meeting and your boss suddenly calls on you to share your thoughts on the project. Or maybe you’re at a networking event and someone asks you to introduce yourself to the group. These scenarios can be nerve-wracking, especially if you’re not prepared. That’s where impromptu speaking comes in.

Impromptu speeches are delivered without prior preparation or planning. You’re given a topic or question on the spot and must quickly organize your thoughts to deliver a coherent speech. It’s an essential skill that tests your ability to think on your feet and communicate effectively in spontaneous situations.

Stay Calm and Focused

When faced with an impromptu speech , the first thing to do is stay calm. Take a deep breath and focus on the task at hand. Remember, the audience wants you to succeed, so don’t let nerves get the best of you.

Use a Simple Structure

To quickly organize your thoughts, use a simple structure like the P-R-E-P method: Point, Reason, Example, Point. Start with your main point, give a reason to support it, provide an example, and then reiterate your point. This structure will help you stay on track and deliver a clear message.

Draw from Personal Experiences

When you’re put on the spot, it’s easier to draw from personal experiences than to try to come up with something completely new. Share a relevant story or anecdote that supports your point. This will help you communicate emotions and connect with your audience.

Even though you’re speaking off the cuff, don’t forget to engage your audience. Make eye contact, use gestures, and vary your tone of voice. These techniques will help you capture and maintain your audience’s attention.

Practice Regularly

Like any skill, impromptu speaking improves with practice. Seek out opportunities to speak on the spot, whether it’s at work, in social situations, or even just with friends and family. The more you do it, the more comfortable and confident you’ll become.

Debate Speeches: Crafting Compelling Arguments

Debate speeches are a common type of speech, especially in school competitions. They involve presenting arguments and evidence to support a particular viewpoint on a topic. Whether you’re a high school or college student, mastering the art of debate can be a valuable skill.

Research Your Topic

The first step in crafting a compelling debate speech is to thoroughly research your topic. Gather facts, statistics, and expert opinions to support your argument. Make sure to use reputable sources and fact-check your information.

Develop Your Argument

Once you’ve done your research, it’s time to develop your argument. Choose your strongest points and organize them in a logical manner. Use persuasive language and rhetorical devices to make your case more compelling.

Anticipate Counterarguments

In a debate, you must be prepared to defend your position against counterarguments. Anticipate what your opponent might say and have rebuttals ready. This requires critical thinking and the ability to think on your feet.

The language you use in your debate speech can make a big difference. Use strong, active verbs and vivid imagery to paint a picture in your audience’s mind. Rhetorical questions, repetition, and tricolons (a series of three parallel elements) can also be effective persuasive devices.

Deliver with Confidence

Finally, deliver your debate speech with confidence. Speak clearly, maintain eye contact, and use gestures to emphasize your points. Remember, your delivery is just as important as the content of your speech.

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Delivering Powerful Acceptance Speeches

Whether you’re accepting an award at work or being honored at a community event, an acceptance speech is your chance to express gratitude and share your story. Here are some tips for delivering a powerful acceptance speech.

First, express gratitude. Thank the organization presenting the award, as well as any individuals who have supported you along the way. Be specific in your thanks and show genuine appreciation.

Share a Personal Story

An acceptance speech is a great opportunity to share a personal story that relates to the award or honor you’re receiving. This could be a story of overcoming obstacles, learning an important lesson, or achieving a goal. Your story will help the audience connect with you on a personal level.

Inspire Your Audience

Use your acceptance speech to inspire your audience. Share the lessons you’ve learned or the wisdom you’ve gained. Additionally, encourage others to pursue their dreams and never give up. Your words have the power to motivate and uplift those listening.

Keep It Concise

While it’s important to express gratitude and share your story, it’s also important to keep your acceptance speech concise. Aim for a speech that’s no more than 3-5 minutes long. Be mindful of the time and the event schedule.

Practice and Prepare

Finally, practice and prepare for your acceptance speech. Write out your key points and practice delivering your speech out loud. This will help you feel more confident and prepared when the big moment arrives.

When it comes to rocking public speaking, getting a grip on the different types of speeches is the first step. Then you know whether to share info, sway opinions, show how it’s done, or just give your audience a good time. As a result, you can really make your speeches hit home and stick with your audience.

Remember, no matter what type of speech you’re giving, the key to success lies in understanding your purpose, knowing your audience, and adapting your message accordingly. With practice and persistence, you’ll soon be able to captivate any crowd, no matter the occasion.

So go forth, speak with confidence, and let your voice be heard. The world is waiting for your message!

• Last Updated: May 7, 2024

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