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Specific Purpose

 

Suppose you are planning to give an informative speech about remodeling a home. This is a very broad purpose, and you would have difficulty adequately addressing the subject in a five- to seven-minute speech or even a 30-minute speech. Narrowing the general purpose into a more clearly defined specific purpose will make the presentation more practical and manageable for you, as well as more beneficial for the audience.

The specific purpose is a one-sentence statement about what you hope to accomplish in your speech. It should meet three criteria. The

statement should be:

1. Worded from the audience's viewpoint. What do you want the audience to be able to do after listening to your speech?

2. Specific. The wording is precise.

3. Attainable. The specific purpose should be realistic and possible to achieve.

Write the statement from the audience's viewpoint. Instead of saying your purpose is "to inform the audience about remodeling a home," you could say, "After hearing my presentation, the audience will be able to identify the five steps in hiring a competent contractor." In a persuasive speech, your specific purpose could be, "After hearing my speech, the town council will approve the proposal to build an art center."

Be sure to keep the specific purpose reasonable. "After hearing my speech, the audience will be able to repair a bicycle" is not a realistic statement. This is better: "After hearing my speech, the audience will be able to do two simple maintenance tasks that will keep their bicycles safe."

Keep the specific purpose clear and concise. Write it down, paying careful attention to the verbs you use. If you are giving an informative speech, the specific purpose statement could include verbs such as compare, identify, name, prepare, analyze and list, while a statement for a persuasive speech could include verbs such as buy, contribute, join, offer and vote. Avoid using words like know, understand, recognize and be aware — they're vague and not readily measurable. The statement should

 

be worded so that, after your speech, you could actually test the audience to see if you achieved your specific purpose.

Once you have written your specific speech purpose, you can decide the main points you want to make, the facts and ideas that best support the main points, and the most appropriate speech outline to follow. Occasionally you may be tempted to digress. Be careful to include only the main points and supporting facts and ideas that directly contribute to your specific speech purpose.

As you write the speech, make its purpose clear to the audience. The audience wants to know what you are going to talk about, so the beginning of your speech should tell them this succinctly. The body of your speech should provide the information you promised; the conclusion should reiterate what you've told them. By the time you conclude the speech, the audience should be able to state in one simple sentence the specific purpose of your talk.



Speak with Confidence

In Project 2 you learned the importance of speech organization. Knowing your specific purpose and being able to effectively organize your speech to achieve that purpose provide a big benefit for you as a speaker: increased confidence. When you are clear about what you want to accomplish with the speech and the method by which you will accomplish it, you feel better and more confident about yourself and your speech.

You may have discovered, too, that when you are interested in your topic and have strong feelings about it, it is easier to prepare and present the speech. Why? Because you are enthusiastic about the subject, believe in what you have to say and believe your audience will be interested in it, too. This makes you more convincing and sincere. When you are confident, enthusiastic, sincere and convincing, you have more credibility. As a result, the audience pays attention to you and is willing to consider your viewpoint.

When you speak on a subject that interests you and/or evokes strong feelings, you'll experience yet another benefit: You'll become so involved with your talk that you will forget your nervousness. In Project 1 you learned that some nervousness is normal for any speaker. However, if you have been

 

feeling very nervous when speaking, now is the time to confront it.

First, you should realize that your Toastmasters club members are a receptive, friendly and pleasant audience. They want to help you in your efforts to become a better speaker; you have no reason to be afraid of them. Take advantage of your nervous energy to add excitement to your talk — this will help the audience catch your enthusiasm. Also, use the nervous energy toward thoroughly preparing and rehearsing your speech. When you have a subject that excites you, a clear purpose and well-organized material, and you have rehearsed the speech so much that you are comfortable with it, you no longer have reason to be nervous. You'll find more tips about controlling nervousness on page 71.

Try It Without Notes

For this speech, try not to use notes. You'll want to convey confidence, enthusiasm and sincerity; by relying on notes you might convey the opposite impression. By maintaining eye contact with the audience and speaking from your heart rather than from a script, you'll be more effective.

If you're not ready to abandon notes entirely, try this method: Write each main point of your

 

speech in large letters on a single card in a simple phrase. You can then read each card with a quick glance, which will allow you to keep eye contact with the audience.

Your Assignment

This project focuses on knowing your speech's purpose. You should

4 Select a speech topic and determine its general and specific purposes.

4 Organize the speech in a manner that best achieves those purposes.

4 Ensure that the beginning, body and conclu

sion all tie into and reinforce the purposes.

4 Project sincerity and conviction, and control any nervousness you may feel.

4 Strive not to use notes.

4 Incorporate suggestions from previous evaluations as you prepare and rehearse this speech.

Review the Speaker's Checklist in Project 1 as you prepare your speech.

 


 


Date: 2015-04-20; view: 863


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