5. Topical Order.

Topical order results when you divide the speech topic into subtopics, each of which becomes a main point in the speech. Suppose your specific purpose is To inform my audience of the major kinds of fireworks. This topic does not lend itself to chronological, spatial, causal, or problem-solution order. Rather, you separate the subject – kinds of fireworks – into its constituent parts, so that each main point deals with a single kind of fireworks. Your central idea and main points might look like this:

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience of the major kinds of fireworks.

Central Idea: The major kinds of fireworks are skyrockets, Roman candles, pinwheels, and lances.

Main Points:

a) Skyrockets explode high in the air, producing the most dramatic effects of all fireworks.

b) Roman candles shoot out separate groups of sparks and colored flames with a series of booming noises.

c) Pinwheels throw off sparks and flames as they whirl on the end of a stick [28, p.18].

4. Lances are thin, colorful fireworks used in ground displays.

To take another example, letʼs say the specific purpose is “To inform my audience about the achievements of Shokan Ualikhanov.” Shokan Ualikhanov, a Kazakh scholar who lived at the turn of the 19^th century, was an outspoken champion of social and political justice for his nation. The speech could be organized chronologically – by discussing Shokanʼs exploits during each decade of his career. On the other hand, the speech could be arranged topically – by dividing Shokanʼs accomplishments into categories. Then the central idea and main points might be:

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the achievements of Shokan Ualikhanov.

Central Idea: Shokan Ualikhanov was a great Kazakh scientist, historian, ethnographer, geographer, educator, democrat.

Main Points:

a) As a geographer, Shokan gathered orientological, collections, studied the flora and fauna of Zhetysu and the surrounding area of Issyk Kul.

b) As an educator, Shokan Ualikhanov taught Turkic languages in higher school of the Asian Department together with I.I. Zakharov.

c) As a historian, Shokan wrote a work entitled “Genealogy of Kazakhs”, based on the works of Abylgazy “Shaibani- name”,“Shezhre-at-Turk” the theoretical value of which is high [67].

Notice how the main points subdivide the speech topic logically and consistently. Each main point isolates one aspect of Shokan Ualikhanovʼs achievements. But suppose the main points look like this:

a)As a geographer, Shokan gathered orientological, entomological collections, studied the flora and fauna of Zhetysu and the surrounding area of Issyk Kul.

b) As an educator, Shokan Ualikhanov taught Turkic languages in higher school of the Asian Department together with I.I. Zakharov.

c) Shokan returned to his native land in spring 1861, due to the progression of the disease (tuberculosis).

This would not be a good topical order because main point III is inconsistent with the rest of the main points. It deals with a period in Shokan Ualikhanovʼs life, whereas main points I and II deal with kinds of activism.

These are the main organizational orders of the body. But there are some more points to consider about the body of the speech.

Each main point in a speech should be clearly independent of the others.

The same pattern of wording could be used for main points as in the example above.

The amount of time devoted to main points should be balanced. This means allowing sufficient time to develop each main point.

Supporting Materials – by themselves, main points are only assertions. Listeners need supporting materials to accept what a speaker says. Supporting materials are the materials to support a speakerʼs ideas. The three major kinds of supporting materials are examples, statistics, and testimony.

Connective – is a word or a phrase that connects the ideas of a speech and indicates the relationship between them. Without connectives, a speech is disjointed and uncoordinated – much as a person would be without ligaments and tendons to join the bones and hold the organs in place. Four types of connectives are transitions, internal previews, internal summaries, and signposts.

Transitions – are words or phrases that indicate when a speaker has just completed one thought and is moving to another. Technically, the transitions state both the idea the speaker is leaving and the idea he or she is coming up to. In the following examples, the transitions are in italic:

Now that we have a clear understanding of the problem, let me share the solution with you.

I have spoken so far of bravery and patriotism, but it is the sacrifice of our granddads and grandmothers that makes us live in peace and freedom.

Keeping these points in mind about sign language, letʼs return to the sentence I started with and see if we can learn the signs for “You are my friend”.

Notice how these phrases remind the listener of the thought just completed, as well as reveal the thought about to be developed.

Internal previews – let the audience know what the speaker will take up next, but they are more detailed than transitions. In effect, an internal preview works just like the preview statement in a speech introduction, except that it comes in the body of the speech – usually as the speaker is starting to discuss a main point [41, pp.90]. For example:

In discussing how gays and lesbians are discriminated in our society, weʼll look first at the origins of the problem and second at its continuing impact today.

After hearing this, the audience knows exactly what are they going to listen to as the speaker develops the “problem” main point.

Internal previews are often combined with transitions. For example:

(Transition): Now that we have seen how faulty credit reports is, letʼs look at some solutions.(Internal Preview): I will focus on three solutions – instituting tighter government regulation of credit bureaus, holding credit bureaus financially responsible for their errors, and giving individuals easier access to their credit reports.

An internal preview is not a must for each main point in the speech, but itʼs very helpful if you think it will help listeners keep track of your ideas.

Internal summaries – are the reverse of internal previews. Rather than letting listeners know what is coming up next, internal summaries remind listeners of what they have just heard. Such summaries remind listeners of what they have just heard. Such summaries are used when a speaker finishes a complicated or particularly important main point or set of main points [41, pp.93].. For example:

In short, palm reading is an ancient art. Developed in China more than five thousand years ago, it was practiced in classical Greece and Rome, flourished during the Middle Ages, survived in industrial revolution, and remains popular today in many parts of the world.

Internal summaries are an excellent way to clarify and reinforce ideas. By combining them with transitions, you can also smoothly lead your audience into the next main point of your speech.

These were the overall instructions in organizing the body part of the speech. And only the conclusion part is left. Now letʼs move on and discuss the organization of the “Conclusion part of the speech”.

1.2.2.3 The Conclusion part of a monologue speech

The final impression is such a thing that will linger in the listenerʼs minds. “Great is the art of beginning,” said Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “but greater is the art of ending.” Longfellow told these words about poetry, but his insight is equally applicable to speeches as well. Thus, the conclusion part should be crafted with as much care as the introduction. No matter what the topic or the type of the speech is, the conclusion part has two main functions[67]:

1. To let the audience know the speech is about to end.

2. To reinforce the audienceʼs understanding of, or commitment to, the central idea.

Signal the end of the speech.

It may seem obvious that the conclusion parts indicates letting your audience know you are going to stop soon. However, it is a common mistake that people make while speaking about certain subjects, concluding so abruptly that you may be taken by surprise. Too sudden an ending leaves the audience puzzled and surprised.

How to let the audience know that your speech is ending? One way is through what you say. “In conclusion”, “My purpose has been”, “Let me end by saying” – these are all brief cues that will let the listeners know you are going to stop. There are also transitions for summarizing the speech. They are:

(Simple)

After all

All in all

All things considered

Briefly

By and large

In any case

In any event

In brief

In coclusion

On the whole

In summary

In the final analysis

In the long run

To sum up

To summarize

Finally

(More Complicated)

Having told all this, I would like to end by saying...

In this speech, my purpose has been...

As my time with you is coming to its end, the same as my speech...

Let me end by saying...

In the end, I would like you to know that...

I had a great pleasure sharing this all with you and...

My last words about this are that...

And in the end, I deeply feel my duty to tell you that...

As you have been all sitting here to this very end, I would like to let you know that...

So, everything said was of much of importance for me as I hope is the same for you...

What I was hoping you to know is...

Reinforcing the central idea

The above were the transition words and phrases to help you conclude the speech. But there are as well other ways of summarizing the same as introducing the speech. And reinforcing the audience’s understanding of, or commitment to, the central idea is the second major function of a conclusion. Here are the most effective ways to do this:

1. Summarizing your speech.

Restating the main points is the easiest way to end a speech. One student used this technique effectively in his speech about the AIDS epidemic in Africa:

In conclusion, we have seen that the AIDS epidemic is having a devastating effect on African society. An entire adult generation is slowly being wiped out. An entirely new generation of AIDS orphans is being created. Governments in the nations most afflicted have neither the resources nor the expertise to counter the epidemic. Many African economies are being crippled by loss of people in the workplace.

Before itʼs too late, the United Nations and developed countries need to increase their efforts to halt the epidemic and bring it under control. The lives and well-beings of tens of millions of people hang in the balance.

Thank you for your attention!

The value of a summary is that it explicitly restates the central idea and main points one last time. But as we shall see, there are a lot of imaginative and compelling ways to end a speech.

The transition words and phrases for summarizing the speech have been mentioned above so I do not think there is a need to mention them again. Let us move to the next point of reinforcing the central idea.