ABSTRACT
This chapter explains how to prepare and write an effective speech and to plan audio-visual presentation aids to enhance a speech. It also outlines how to prepare for a question-and-answer session following a speech or as part of an interview or news conference. A speech can be structured in many ways. Speechwriters note three kinds of propositions: factual, value and policy. Testimony from authority and attributions to experts can be persuasive features in a speech. Games and strategies can help an audience remember a speech. Effective speeches display a soundness of thinking. Ineffective speeches have easy-to-recognize flaws in their reasoning. Visual aids can greatly enhance speeches and other oral presentations. The news conference stands at the confluence of a speech, news release, multimedia presentation, advocacy statement and interview. Public relations practitioners invite media representatives to news conferences. A news statement is a combination of a news release, position paper and speech.
