Tips on Writing an Informative Speech

The purpose of an informative speech is to inform an audience about a certain event, process, or concept. You may describe some historical events or explain how to do something. A distinctive feature of informative writing is a straightforward approach. To write a good informative speech, you should be perfectly familiar with your topic so you need to do some research. You should also create the right logical structure so that your audience can follow your thoughts easily. Besides, you should practice before delivering your speech. CollegeWriters prepared this step-by-step guide so that you can write an outstanding informative speech that will impress your audience.

Research

1. First, you should choose a subject that is interesting to you. Students often get their speech topics assigned by a professor. However, if you have a chance to choose your own subject, we recommend that you choose something familiar and interesting. After this, make sure to narrow down your topic to meet the requirements in your prompt.

• For example, if you’ve been asked to write about your favorite activity, write down a list of your hobbies and choose the most interesting one. Your speech must focus on a particular aspect of the topic.
• If you’re writing about football, you won’t be able to consider every aspect of this game in one speech. Focus on a particular technique that looks most interesting to you.

2. Search for sources that will help you support your claims. You may use your personal experiences to illustrate the subject matter, but you should also do your research and find reliable sources. We recommend that you use articles, encyclopedias, government documents, etc.

• When writing about historical events, look for primary sources, such as newspaper articles published at that time, or letters. You can also use secondary sources, such as articles written by experts in this area. When writing about a medical condition, use scientific journals, encyclopedias, and government health websites.
• Organize your sources. Even if your paper shouldn’t have a works cited page, it will still be easier for you to keep track of the used sources.

3. You should clearly understand the concept or process in question because you must know your topic to describe it concisely and clearly. Do your research and talk to others about the subject to understand what questions you need to answer in your speech. When talking to others, you can see what things need more explanation. For example, you might need to explain some terms if your audience is not familiar with the subject.

4. Write a thesis statement that will explain the purpose of your speech. Your speech must be focused and specific. Talk to your instructor and ask about the formatting requirements. For instance, you must figure out whether you can use informal expressions or not. Even though an informative speech shouldn’t necessarily be based on a defensible claim, your thesis statement still must be specific.

5. Don’t forget that your main goal is to inform your audience, not to persuade them. Therefore, you shouldn’t develop an argument based on emotions. Your speech must be objective, clearly describing the subject matter. Organize your speech in a step-by-step manner instead of using argumentative approaches.

• For example, speeches aimed to persuade an audience to support certain political ideas rely on various rhetorical devices, which makes them emotional. In contrast, an informative speech must present facts instead of persuading the audience to agree with certain ideas.

Writing a Draft

1. First, you should write an outline. You may start by writing short sentences so that you can create a skeleton outline later. A skeleton outline consists of short words and fragments of sentences. You can use this outline to make notecards that will help you when delivering your speech.

2. Write the introduction. It must include a catchy hook, your thesis statement, and a preview of your speech so that your audience can understand what you will talk about. To write a hook, you may use an anecdote, quote, or rhetorical question. The purpose of the hook is to grab attention and to make your audience interested in the topic. After this, state your thesis and provide a concise road map of your speech. Briefly explain what you’re going to discuss.

• Some students write the introduction first to organize the main part of their speech, while others prefer to write it when the body of the speech is completed.

3. Now it’s time to develop your ideas in the body of the speech. You need to organize your speech logically. For example, when writing about a process, create a step-by-step structure. In other cases, you can organize your ideas in order of importance, or presenting effects after causes. Make sure to include smooth transitions so that your audience can follow your thoughts easily.

4. In the concluding section of your speech, summarize your main points. Restate your thesis and review the key ideas but don’t repeat them word for word. You may also provide a connection between the topic of your speech and your audience.

5. Write your draft and memorize the speech. You need a complete draft with complete sentences. It will look somewhat similar to research papers, including every sentence of your speech. You will use this draft as a script when delivering the speech. While writing, read your draft out loud so that you can hear every sentence and get rid of the parts that sound awkward. Keep your sentence structure clear and simple. If you choose a complicated language, your audience won’t be able to follow your flow of thoughts.

Practice

1. Make notecards and write down the main points of your speech. Memorize the introduction, conclusion, and the most important information. Don’t try to memorize the entire speech, unless your teacher requires you to do so. A completely memorized speech will sound a bit unnatural so just focus on memorizing the main content.

• Stick to your outline but don’t be afraid to use different phrasing. However, mind your time limit and don’t use too many additional and unnecessary words.
• Your outline will help you stay focused while delivering your speech. Memorizing it will be much easier if you break your speech into smaller sections and memorize them separately.

2. Stay confident. You must have a good posture and maintain eye contact with your audience. You can emphasize some ideas and words by using the right gestures. Look at different sections of your audience from time to time so that you won’t stare in one direction. Your posture must project confidence, engaging your audience.

3. Practice delivering your speech to a friend or in front of a mirror. Once you have memorized the speech, you need to polish your delivery. You can also record yourself to make sure that you sound confident. Ask other people for feedback. You need to figure out what parts of your speech may seem disorganized or difficult to understand so that you can improve them. Ask for feedback on your tone, language, and gestures.

4. Mind your time limit. We recommend that you practice delivering your speech with a stopwatch. Don’t rush and speak clearly, but make sure that you stay within the time limit. If you exceed the time limit again and again, it means that you have to change your outline. Get rid of unnecessary or overcomplicated phrases. If your speech isn’t long enough, you might want to consider some aspects of the subject in more detail.