Determine Purpose

Motivational Speaker. Keynote Speaker. Christian Speaker....Helping People Achieve Their Goals

Determining The Purpose Of Your Speech

Choosing your Topic and determining the general purpose of your speech should always be considered together. Does your client want you to inform or instruct the audience, or does the client want you to change the attitude or thinking of the audience? The general purpose is usually going to fall into one of these two main categories: Inform or Persuade.

When your general purpose is to inform, you are expected to act more as a teacher or lecturer. Your ultimate goal is to convey information, and to do so in a clear, concise,accurate, and interesting manner.

When you give an informative speech, you are expected to enhance the knowlede and understanding of the audience members. The Client wants you to give his group information that they have not heard before as well as hoping to hear you reinforce some of the information they have been hearing in the organization.

On the other hand, when your general purpose is to persuade, you areexpected to play the role of advocate. You are not just disseminating information, now you are espousing a cause. You are actually tryingto change the attitude or thinking of your listeners. You want to convince them to take an action, whether it is physical, emotional, or mental. In my book, Invisible Chains, I talk about the stronghold that the democratic party has on the black vote and others. My purpose for writing the book was to cause a change in the way people look at their one vote, and to examine candidates and why they are really voting for the candidate. Their is no doubt that the content of Invisible Chains is persuasive in context.

Determining my purpose and my audience had everything to do with the tone and dialogue of the book. The same principles that I apply togiving an effective speech, I employ when writing a book.

Knowing and analyzing your audience lays the groundwork for your speech. Don't leave home to speak without having done a thorough job of it.

So your job long before you put all that work into writing and memorizing your speech, is to do your research. Find out everything you can about your audience and the expectations of your client.

Good luck on your speech. email me and let me know how it went.

Sherrie Marshall Fort Lauderdale, Florida based, keynote speaker and

speech coach.; She teaches speech, Debate, and Drama, and is the author of Invisible Chains and One Heartbeat Away. sherrimar1@bellsouth.net I954) 309-8432 http://www.sherriemarshall.com