How to write a speech outline example

Informative Speech Outline Template

Topic Selection

This assignment requires you to research a job field that you already work in or that you may wish to enter someday to show how someone can use it as a platform for promoting something God values in the world. See the Alban text pp. 405–480 for descriptions of several job fields you may wish to consider for the purpose of this project. list of things God values in the world.

Speech Goals: Because this is an informative speech—a speech in which you merely report information from credible sources without expressing your personal opinion—your goal in this presentation is simply to use information from appropriately credited expert sources in 2 ways:

(1) To describe this occupation to your audience; and,

(2) To show through documented examples or expert quotations how people can use this occupation as a platform for advancing something that God values according to the list of things God values that appears in the Alban text, pp. 73–76.

Among the many occupation-related points you could communicate to your audience in this informative speech are the nature of the work, the training or credentials required, employment-related trends, future outlook there, pay scale, etc. See the “Profiles” section on the WebCOM site for examples of people from a variety of occupational fields who have used job skills/situations as platforms for promoting something God values in the world.

Other Topic Criteria: Your topic must satisfy not only the preceding criteria, but also the topic selection criteria set forth in the Alban text and the Liberty University Online Honor Code. In addition, your topic must comply with the following:

· Topic Appropriateness: Avoid any topic that leads you to portray legally or ethically questionable texts or behaviors in a favorable light. This includes but is not limited to theses that advance sexually promiscuous activity, the use of illegal substances, or other behaviors that Liberty University’s statement of values prohibits. Questions about the appropriateness of topics, sources, etc. should be directed to your instructor early in the speech-planning process.

· Topic Originality: Your speech topics MUST be researched, selected, and delivered primarily for this course and not primarily for, or in conjunction with, a presentation for a church group, a Sunday School class, a social group, or any other small group. You may not give a speech that serves a double purpose.

· Topic Grading Criteria: You must choose a topic that enables you to construct the speech in a way that satisfies the specific requirements of the Speeches Grading Rubric, which lists the criteria that your instructor will use when grading your presentation.

Research, Organization, and Outlining

Basic Requirements: For your informative speech, you are required to:

(1) Research credible sources for information about your topic.

(2) Form a main idea for your speech based on your research.

(3) Express this main idea as a complete thought in a single declarative thesis statement sentence.

(4) Choose the information from your research that most powerfully delivers the type of information that this thesis statement requires.

(5) Present this information in a logically sequenced outline of properly documented main points, sub-points, and perhaps even sub-sub-points, using the Informative Speech Outline Template document as your formatting guide. Your outline in its final form will serve as the blueprint that you mentally must follow while extemporaneously delivering the speech to your audience.

· Research Requirements: For your informative speech, you are required to use 3 expert sources. You must use and clearly cite examples, illustrations, statistics, quotations from experts, etc. from at least 3 expert sources in this project. An expert source is a person, group of persons, or organization with documentable expertise in the area it addresses. Information from such sources typically derives from personal interviews with credentialed experts or from documentable print and/or electronic publications

· The Bible as an Expert Source: While you may of course use the Bible as a source when related to your topic, it must be in addition to the 3 required sources.

· Non-Expert Sources: Never use information from anonymous or questionable sources such as Wikipedia or any printed source authored by someone whose credentials for addressing the topic are not clearly established.

· Liberty University Database Source Options: It behooves you to consult the Liberty University Library’s research portal for access to many potentially useful, credible databases.

Organization and Outlining Requirements

Topical Sequencing Required: You must use the Topical organizational pattern for addressing your topic (see the Alban text page 221–222 for more about this).

The Draft and the Final Outlines: The speech outline process involves 2 submissions. If you post the optional draft version of your outline by the Module/Week 3 deadline for it, your instructor will post constructive feedback that you should heed and assimilate as you compose the final outline for submission a week later. The draft outline (if you do it) and the final outline must be submitted as Microsoft Word documents via the designated Blackboard submission links.

Use the Outline Template: You must use the Informative Speech Outline Template document as a guide for constructing your speech outline. Retain the given formatting. Provide information for each category—an audience description, organizational pattern, purpose statement, etc. Include clearly distinguished introduction, body, and conclusion sections.

Outline Parts:

· The introduction must be listed in this order: your attention-getter, motive-for-listening, credibility statement, purpose statement, and preview statement.

· The body must include 2–5 main points, each with supportive subpoints, and perhaps even sub-subpoints. These will consist mainly of documented examples, illustrations, statistics, quotations from experts, etc. that you have derived from the 3 or more expert sources that this project requires.

· The conclusion must include a summary statement and a concluding element that refocuses the audience’s attention on the main point.

· The Works Cited (MLA), Reference page (APA), or Bibliography (Turabian) must properly credit your sources and must do so in the format prescribed by the respective format used.

Document Your Sources Properly:

Your Name:

COMS 101 Section ___

Date Due:

Organization: Identify your outline pattern here. Your only option for this speech is the Topical pattern (see the textbook, pp. 221–222).

Audience analysis: Provide a description of your audience (e.g., its demographics like age, gender, ethnicity, etc. as well as any other information about them that impacts the way you plan and present the speech (see the textbook, pp. 137–145).

Topic: In 1 or 2 sentences, identify the career/job field that you, in this speech, will define, describe, and present to the audience as a platform for promoting what God values. Simply state here that one can use this job field [identify it] to promote specific things that God values [identify them]. (See the Sample Informative Speech document.)

General Purpose: To inform (see p. 98)

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about how this vocation or vocational skill [identify it by name here] can serve as a platform for promoting something that God values according to Scripture [identify this God-valued something here and identify biblical passages that support the idea that He values this]. (See p. 98)

Introduction:

I. Attention-getter

Use an attention-getter to introduce the topic (see the textbook, pp. 238–239, 242–247).

II. Motive for Listening

Show the audience how this topic relates to them (see the textbook, p. 240).

III. Credibility Statement

Identify the credentials or experiences that qualify you to address this topic as an authority (see the textbook, p. 240).

IV. Purpose or Thesis Statement

Present your purpose or thesis statement—a statement that encapsulates your speech’s main idea—here. State it as 1 complete sentence (subject, verb, complete thought).

V. Preview Statement

Present your preview statement here (see the textbook, p. 240). Briefly explain that you will now validate or prove the thesis by presenting Main Point 1 (state it), Main Point 2 (state it), Main Point 3 (state it), etc. Be sure to list each of the body section’s main points, in the order you will cover them.

Transition: Use a word, phrase, or sentence to notify your audience that you now will support your purpose or thesis by presenting the main points in their stated order and in greater detail (see the textbook, pp. 222–224).

Body:

I. Main Point 1. State it as 1 complete, declarative sentence. Works with the other main points to develop the purpose statement. Be sure it consists with the chosen organizational pattern you identified above.

A. An example, illustration, statistic, comparison, quote from an expert or other supportive material that supports or illustrates Main Point 1 (Parenthetical Citation, if this came from a source).

B. Another example, illustration, statistic, comparison, quote from an expert or other supportive material that supports or illustrates Main Point 1 (Parenthetical Citation, if this came from a source).

C. If needed, another example, illustration, statistic, comparison, quotes from an expert, or other supportive material that supports or illustrates Main Point 1 (Parenthetical Citation, if this came from a source).

Transition: Use a word, phrase, or sentence to notify your audience that you are now transitioning from your first main point to your second main point (see the textbook, pp. 222–224).

II. Main Point 2. State it as 1 complete, declarative sentence. Works with the other main points to develop the purpose statement. Be sure it consists with the chosen organizational pattern you identified above.

A. An example, illustration, statistic, comparison, quote from an expert or other supportive material that supports or illustrates Main Point 2 (Parenthetical Citation, if this came from a source).

B. Another example, illustration, statistic, comparison, quote from an expert or other supportive material that supports or illustrates Main Point 2 (Parenthetical Citation, if this came from a source).

C. If needed, another example, illustration, statistic, comparison, quotes from an expert, or other supportive material that supports or illustrates Main Point 2 (Parenthetical Citation, if this came from a source).

Transition: Use a word, phrase, or sentence to notify your audience that you are now transitioning from your second main point to your third main point (see the textbook, pp. 222–224).

III. Main Point 3. State it as 1 complete, declarative sentence. Works with the other main points to develop the purpose statement. Be sure it consists with the chosen organizational pattern you identified above.

A. An example, illustration, statistic, comparison, quote from an expert or other supportive material that supports or illustrates Main Point 3 (Parenthetical Citation, if this came from a source).

B. Another example, illustration, statistic, comparison, quote from an expert or other supportive material that supports or illustrates Main Point 3 (Parenthetical Citation, if this came from a source).

C. If needed, another example, illustration, statistic, comparison, quotes from an expert, or other supportive material that supports or illustrates Main Point 3 (Parenthetical Citation, if this came from a source).

Other Main Points: These are optional, depending on the needs of your speech. If you use them, they function in the same way as the preceding points.

Transition: Use a word, phrase, or sentence to notify your audience that you are now transitioning into your conclusion (see the textbook, pp. 222–224).

Conclusion:

I. Summary

Summarize your presentation’s main points (see the textbook, pp. 250–251). Your wording should be very similar to the wording you used when previewing the main points in the introduction section and when presenting the main points in the body section.

II. Refocus Audience Attention (see the textbook, pp. 251–256).

Works Cited (if MLA) or References (if APA) or Bibliography (if Turabian)

Using MLA, APA, or Turabian style, present an alphabetized, properly formatted list of any sources that you cited parenthetically in the outline. For a helpful online guide to proper formatting in each of these styles, see the Hacker Handbooks “Research and Documentation” site via this link (right-click and select “Open Hyperlink”). For automated source formatting assistance, see Landmark’s Citation Machine via this link (right-click and select “Open Hyperlink”).