If you're a high school or college student in a public speaking class, there are three kinds of speeches you're almost definitely going to be assigned: informative, persuasive, and ceremonial. Here's what each of these kinds of speeches is all about, and some tips on how to deliver these kinds of speeches effectively.
Informative Speeches. The purpose of an informative speech is to teach the audience a small but useful tidbit of information. If your speech is a success, the audience will walk away with some new knowledge. Here are some tips to keep in mind for effective informative speaking:
- Don't cram too much information into your speech or you'll lose your audience. Keep it simple.
- Be careful not to include information your audience does not understand. Avoid using terms that all or some of the audience will not recognize. If you do use unfamiliar terms, be sure to define them very clearly.
- Choose a topic your audience will find interesting and relevant.
- Make sure your speech is not persuasive. You're trying to teach your audience something, not change their mind.
Persuasive Speeches. The purpose is a persuasive speech is to change people's minds or behavior about something. This is a very difficult thing to do. For a persuasive speech to be truly effective, it's not enough to simply present your arguments in an eloquent way. You need to actually get the audience to change their minds. Here are some tips for how to deliver a persuasive speech:
- Deliver your speech with passion. No one's going to be convinced unless it's clear that you really care.
- Look for common ground with the people in your audience who disagree with you. For example, if you're giving a speech on abortion, include a statement such as, "I know that all of us can agree that preventing unwanted pregnancies is important." By doing so, you reach out to people on the other side and demonstrate that you're not the enemy-- and then they'll be more likely to listen to you.
- Don't choose an impossible task. In your short speech, you won't change anyone's mind about gun control. However, you might change their minds about a smaller part of this issue, such as whether a certain type of weapon should be legal.
- Ask your audience to take a specific action-- and one that they might actually take. Asking people to call their elected officials will not be effective. However, if you ask your audience to recycle their campus newspapers, they just might do that.
Ceremonial Speeches. A ceremonial speech is one that is given to mark an important occasion in someone's life, such as a graduation speech, a wedding toast, or a eulogy at a funeral. These speeches can be both emotionally moving and fun. Here are some ceremonial speech tips:
- Tell lots of stories about whomever you're giving the speech about. Stories are what make the person or people you talk about come alive for your audience in the speech, so replace generic adjectives with stories. For example, instead of saying, "She's a very thoughtful person," say, "She sends birthday and anniversary cards to everyone she knows."
- Tell stories about the people in the audience. This will make them feel included and special. For example, if you're giving a eulogy, talk about nice things the departed did with their loved ones.
- Avoid cliches. If you're giving a graduation speech, don't say "spread your wings and fly." If you're giving a wedding toast, don't say, "today you marry your best friend." Be original.
- Be appropriate. Don't make jokes about the groom's ex-wife in the weeding toast. Don't talk about Aunt Bertha's shoplifting habit in her eulogy. Use common sense.
