ABSTRACT
Associating ideas with each other so that there is a coherent connection is critical in a speech because listeners cannot go back and review the words. This chapter focuses on how to develop a general plan for laying out the speeches. It examines speech-centered and audience-centered patterns. Phrasing a central idea is especially critical, because the focus select limits the scope of the speech and frames the relationship with the audience. Organization is the order or sequence of ideas in a pattern that suggests their relationship to each other. There are four general types of organization that arise from the demands of the topic: chronological patterns, spatial patterns, causal patterns, and topical patterns. Familiarity–acceptance order begins with what the audience knows or believes and moves on to new or challenging ideas. A speaking outline uses key words or phrases to jog the memory to deliver the speech.
