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We know writing and presenting speeches can get a little scary sometimes. That's why we've collated these 5 must haves you need for a perfect speech!
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Are you struggling to write that awesome speech? Fear not! In this article, we are going to show you the 5 must-haves for a perfect speech and how to include them!
A speech will normally have some sort of introduction, body, and conclusion… However, that doesn’t mean they’re written exactly like an essay.
Speeches are not essays! Speeches are speeches and need to cater to listeners, not readers!
Instead, speech structures are more of a mix between an essay and a narrative’s 3 Act structure.
Essays arrange their arguments to make them more persuasive and informative, whereas narratives create an engaging story that draws your audience’s attention.
So, your speech will need to present information in a narrative form to engage your audience! Here is an example of one of the most common speech structures:
Let’s explore these parts in a little more detail.
The first 3 seconds of your speech are crucial! You want to capture your audience’s attention before they begin to think about their dinner or weekend plans!
Always start off with something engaging, like rhetorical questions, “imagine” or “what if” situations, strong and powerful statements, or something funny. Then introduce your thesis or gravitas of the issue you are discussing. Remember, try to present your thesis in a storytelling form to hook your audiences.
For example,
“I’m sure you’ve all sat down with your grandparents as a child and listened intently to the wondrous stories of their lives back in China, back in Turkey, back in 1940s Australia. Did you ever feel this great desire to experience everything they’ve experienced as well? Because I sure did.
But you see, we come from very, very different worlds.
Our narrative is not one of riding horses and picking strawberries. Our narrative is one riddled with the internet, phones, cars, and the busy office life.
This is why composers like Melissa Harrison try to warn us about our lack of connection with nature in her novel, ‘Clay’.”
This introduction captures the audience’s attention within 3 seconds because it introduces the thesis and issue in an engaging storytelling way!
Your body paragraph shouldn’t look like 3 structured bodies like an essay. Instead, it should present your arguments in a storytelling form.
the body paragraph is also where you analyse your techniques (if you are analysing a text). Just remember, make sure that you’re writing it in a speech form, and not an essay.
Note: it is always a good idea to structure your arguments in order of strength or importance like an essay!
For example:
“Throughout the novel, Daisy writes these letters to her grandmother, Sophia, along the lines of “I want to play in the garden but I can’t … your park is much nicer”.
It is innocent. Cute.
However, this line foreshadows the problem to come. “I can’t”
Our modern world has become so urbanised, so busy, so disconnected to nature, that the idea of a little girl playing in her garden is outrageous.”
Don’t end your speech with “thank you for listening to my presentation”. This is boring and doesn’t have an impact on your audience.
End your speech with a bang!
Conclusions are very important because it’s the last thing the audience hears.
Whilst the body of the speech goes into the details of the argument, the conclusion offers a solution to the issues. This is your call to action.
You want to make your conclusion memorable so your audience remembers your argument and is inspired to take action.
For example:
“You will experience the same joy and peace as the characters if you maintained a strong connection to nature.
The ability of nature to extend its power in us.
We don’t live in the same world as our grandparents. Unlike them, we watch people ride horses and pick strawberries from the screens in our hands.
But that doesn’t matter, because we have our own narrative.
The narrative of our urban world. The narrative where we must adapt to our changing landscape. However, we must find time in our busy lives to go and reconnect with nature. To feel its power in us.
To feel what you just felt before.”
You want your audience to continually listen and engage with your speech. One of the easiest ways to do this is to use rhetorical and persuasive language.
Rhetorical and persuasive devices are techniques that speakers use to convey meaning and persuade their audience.
This is one of the main ways to distinguish your speech from an essay!
Here are some examples of rhetorical and persuasive devices you can use in your speeches.
| Technique | Definition | Example |
| Alliteration | The first sound/letter of the word is repeated | Kitty cat |
| Anaphora | The word of phrase at the beginning of a sentence is repeated | This is the time to act. This is the time to make a change |
| Anecdote | A short recount/story | 3 years ago, I visited the Botanic Gardens and my life changed forever |
| Emotive Language | Words or phrases that are deliberately chosen to evoke a certain emotion | That poor girl had no choice but to leave her home. |
| High Modality Words | Words that show high certainty | Must, need, have to, will etc. |
| Humour | Something funny, comical, or amusing | What did 50 do when it got hungry? 58 |
| Hyperbole | An exaggeration | It’s so hot, I feel like I’m melting. |
| Metaphor | Saying that one thing is another | The cold is a piercing knife. |
| Pronouns | Words that substitute nouns that refer to people/person | We, I, You, Us etc. |
| Puns | A play on words where the words have similar sounds but different meanings | What did one avocado say to the other avocado? Let’s avo-cuddle! |
| Repetition | Repeating words or phrases | No. No. No! |
| Sarcasm | Saying one thing but meaning another | We have all the time in the world. |
As you are planning your speeches, you should already have a list of evidence you want to use. Remember, always spend some time searching for more evidence if you need to do so!
Having strong evidence will add depth to your speeches and help you solidify your arguments.
Here is some evidence you can look at:
Once you’ve found your evidence, you need to evaluate it to see if it’s strong enough to use. To do this, you need to ask yourself:
Pathos, egos, and logos are three crucial elements in a speech. All strong public speakers like Barack Obama or JK Rowling utilise pathos, egos, and logos to create rapport with the audience, and add credibility.
In simple terms, these elements are used to persuade the audience.
Pathos is using language to evoke emotions in the audience. This can be done with emotive language, high modality words, metaphors, or other rhetorical and persuasive techniques we went through above.
Here, let’s take a look at these two examples:
1. “Hurry! We need to act now because our actions are killing our planet.”
2. “Our actions are affecting our planet negatively.”
Which one of these examples is better at creating a sense of urgency? The first one!
This is because they are using emotive language, hyperbole and high modality to create pathos.
Ethos is about presenting authority and credibility for the arguments you raise in your speech.
It shows your wisdom and knowledge as a speaker!
If you come across 2 essays about new vaccine methods and one was written by a scientist and the other is written by a high school student… who is more believable?
The high school student may have put a lot of work and research into their essay. However, the scientist will always seem more credible because they are writing about their specialised field of work.
As such, you want to create ethos either through your experience, authority (i.e. status or work) or through the evidence you use in your speeches.
Logos is using logic and rationality to support your arguments.
You can write a very entertaining and engaging speech. However, if it lacks logos, then it’s still not very persuasive.
So, you will need to build a logical case and arguments to be more persuasive.
This can be done by presenting your arguments in a logical and cohesive manner, or by finding strong evidence to support your argument.
You might have written a perfect speech by this point. However, that’s only half of the job! The other half is presenting it with confidence and flair.
We know that presenting can get a little nerve-wracking and scary. There’s nothing wrong with that! Everyone gets nervous before presentations, even famous public speakers like Martin Luther King.
However, there are some tips that will help you look confident whilst presenting. Let’s go through them now:
Memorising a speech will help you present it with more confidence! It’s like walking into an exam and knowing your content versus walking into an exam with barely any preparation.
It’s a mindset game!
However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use palm cards. They are there to help you remind yourself of what to say because nerves sometimes get in the way!
So, here are some tips to help you memorise your speeches:
Give yourself plenty of time to practise and rehearse your speech at home. You should aim to get comfortable with speaking within the time limit during your rehearsals.
Watching someone present their speech without ever looking up from their palm cards is highly disengaging!
So, try not to rely on your palm cards too much.
Your cards are there as a reminder of what to say next. So, when you are presenting, remember to scan your eyes across the audience as though you are addressing everyone in the room.
As we’ve stated earlier, memorising your speech will be very helpful for this too!
When students get nervous about public speaking, they tend to speak really fast or very softly. So, it is crucial that you are aware of your pace and volume.
You can improve your pace and volume by rehearsing at home! Practise speaking in front of a mirror, your plushies, or in front of your family. When you do this, try to project your voice and speak at an appropriate pace.
If you are presenting in front of your family, you can also ask them to give you feedback on your pace and volume.
A good rule of thumb when presenting in front of people is to speak a little slower than what you feel like speaking. This is because we tend to talk faster when we’re nervous. So, if you’re consciously speaking slower, then it will sound “normal” to the audience.
Did you know smiling helps you relax? It is a good way of helping you calm your nerves during your speech.
Also, smiling is a good way to mask your fears! Your audience will never know you’re nervous if you’re smiling at them. Instead, you will seem friendly and confident.
Mistakes can happen when you’re presenting your speech, but don’t let it get to you! No one knows your speech word-for-word.
So, when you make a mistake, just take a deep breath, and continue on like nothing happened.
Owning your mistakes will help you come across as a more confident presenter.
There will always be people in the audience who are engaged in your speech, and others who are disengaged.
If you see people zoning out or getting distracted during your speech, you will become discouraged. So, a good rule of thumb is to focus on the people who are engaged in your speech!
These are people who are smiling at you, people who are nodding at what you’re saying, and people who are giving their 100% attention to your presentation. This will help you gain confidence with your presentation!
Get ahead of your high school speeches with Matrix+ Online. Learn from our theory video lessons where we break down the class content and gain personalised feedback with our Q&A boards. Learn more about Matrix+ Online English classes now.
Written by Matrix English Team
The Matrix English Team are tutors and teachers with a passion for English and a dedication to seeing Matrix Students achieving their academic goals.
© Matrix Education and www.matrix.edu.au, 2023. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Matrix Education and www.matrix.edu.au with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
