ABSTRACT
In strategic writing, a speech is a scripted monologue designed to be performed in front of an audience. A speech contains a main point—a strategic message—and it elaborates on that main point. Speeches have a speaker—and that speaker often is not the speechwriter. Besides the speaker, the medium of a speech can be paper or a display screen, depending on the speaker’s preference and the location’s technological capacities. Presidential candidates, for example, often use Teleprompters. A teleprompter is a see-through screen that allows the speaker to see the speech’s words while appearing to maintain eye contact with a camera or an audience. Effective speeches are short, well-organized and focused on the audience’s self-interest. Format guidelines for speech scripts focus on making the text easy for the speaker to read while maintaining frequent eye contact with members of the audience. Most business speeches have what and why: what announces the main point, and the why explains or justifies that main point.
