Delivering informative

speeches

What is an informative
speech?
The

purpose is to provide information

the audience does not already have.
Even if the audience does have some
general knowledge of your topic, an
informative speech will give them new
knowledge or more in-depth information
on that topic.
The informative speech does not
advocate one idea over another, but
remains nonpartisan.

Types of informative
speeches
Speeches

about objects, people:These types

of informative speeches are about things in
our sensory and physical world - A speech on
a country, an important person, an animal, a
building, would all be a speech about objects.

Speeches

about events:These type of

speeches are about anything that has or will
happen. It can be something like Mardi Gras
or the current volcanoes in Hawaii, WWII, or
even current disasters throughout the world.

Types of informative
speeches
Speeches

about processes:These type of

speeches take the audience through a series of
events which lead them to a specific result or
product. How to succeed in a job interview,
how to learn a foreign language and how to
tune a guitar are all speeches about processes.
Speech about concepts:These type of
speeches are dealing with theories, ideas,
beliefs and other abstract principles. Explaining
democracy, music theory or Martin Luther King,
Jr.'s principle of peaceful revolution would fit
into this category.

How to write an
informative speech

1. Analyze your audience:

This will help you prepare a speech that
is relevant and interesting to your
listeners.
Age range
Gender
Occupation
Economic level
Ethnicity
General background

2. Choose a topic:
To avoid nervousness, you can choose a
topic about something you know a lot
about or that really interests you.
An experience you remember vividly
Something you care a lot about
Something in which you are skilled or
experienced
Something about which you are
knowledgeable

3. Narrow your topic:

If its too general then youll have 2 problems: 1)
Its impossible to say everything there is to say
about a topic in 5 minutes, and 2) Your audience
cant remember too many details after a 5
minute speech.
To narrow your topic ask yourself:
Is your topic specific? (only 1 aspect of the
topic)
Does your topic contain only one idea?
Is your topic achievable? (not very hard to do,
understand or remember)

4. Gather information:
Interviews
Library

research
Internet research: on-line journals and
magazines, databases, google scholar

5. Prepare visual aids:

They help your audience to actually see
and experience what you are talking
about.
Slides
Pictures
Videos
Audios
Objects
Charts
Diagrams

6. Organize your speech:

Step 1. Prepare the body: Decide on an
organizational pattern and write an outline
Arrange the points of your speech in a clear,
logical manner. To do that choose an
organizational pattern:

a) Past-present-future
b) Time
c) Problem-solution
d) Location
e) Cause-effect

6. Organize your speech:

Step 2. Prepare a preview.
You should tell your audience what youre
going to cover . This should be easy,
since you have already determined what
you will cover in your outline

6. Organize your speech:

Step 3. Prepare an attention-getting
opener.
Ask rhetorical questions
Tell a story
State a surprising fact
State a well-known quotation

6. Organize your speech:

Step 4. Prepare a summary.
Repeat the main points covered in the
body of your speech

6. Organize your speech:

Step 5. Prepare a memorable
concluding remark.
Repeat the main points covered in the
body of your speech