Structuring a Speech: Making it Easy for the Audience to Follow Along

Despite what we might think, the audience is not usually hanging on our every word and paying attention to what we say from beginning to end. On the contrary, the typical adult’s attention span is probably measured in seconds today while the average formal speech is around 20 minutes. That’s a significant gap that needs to be taken into consideration if the speaker is to be successful.

In terms of audience interest, it’s probably highest at the beginning of the speech. People want to hear what you have to say; otherwise, why would they be there? Listeners’ interest begins to wane soon into the speech as they get distracted by other thoughts. And it fluctuates throughout the speech as they tune in and out—based on what you’re saying and what they’re thinking.

“Put a gem in the middle.”

—Mark Twain

The biggest sag in interest is in the middle of the speech and that’s where Mark Twain’s advice about building in a gem—like an emotional story or something startling or surprising—really pays off. His brief speech on stage fright can be found in William Safire’s anthology of great speeches, Lend Me Your Ears: Great Speeches in History (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2004).

Structure is only a fancy way of saying think before you speak. As a speaker, you want to get your message across as clearly as you can. One way you can do that is to use language that your listeners will understand. Another is to make what might be new or unfamiliar more familiar by using analogies or examples that the audience can relate to. Another is to be highly selective in the amount of information that you communicate—limiting yourself to just what is essential to convey your idea and leaving out what is extraneous. Still, other ways are by telling stories and using illustrations or pictures, diagrams, or charts that can be put on the screen or described in words using vivid language and providing specific details.

And structure is another way of making things clear.

The basic structure of a speech is very simple. Like any good story, there’s a beginning, a middle, and an end. The introduction, body, and conclusion. Or, as Safire said: “Tell ‘em what you’re going to tell ‘em; then tell ‘em; then tell ‘em what you told them.”

The introduction gets us into the speech. The body is the meat of the message the speech is conveying. In the case of a persuasive speech, it’s the argument or proof of what you’re contending. In a briefing, it’s the information. In a trial, it’s the recitation of the evidence that supports your case. The conclusion wraps things up at the end and tells the listener what needs to be done about what has been said. It’s the emotional highpoint of the speech (the peroration). It’s what you want people to remember and what moves them to action.

But structure also refers to how you need to arrange the body of the speech so that it’s easy to follow, compelling, and convincing. You’ve seen structure used very effectively if you’ve looked at “The Last Lecture”. There are basically three points that Randy Pausch wants to get across and he proceeds, one by one, to tell you about them in his very easy-to-follow (i.e., well structured) speech. Barbara Jordan makes her case for impeachment so compelling by structuring her argument (before an audience of lawyers) like a prosecutor: this is what the law says, this is what he did (itemizing Nixon’s offenses), and then summarizing by repeating what the law says. Likewise, after reading the Declaration of Independence, there’s no doubt in most reasonable minds why the American colonies deserved to separate from England. After all, the authors stated some basic principles which they defined as inalienable and God-given and then proceeded to list approximately 30 things the King and his government had done to violate these principles.

“Structure is the way you make your case easy to follow; your information easy to understand; your message clear and compelling.”

You break down your message into two to three main points and then support them with subordinate points. Rather than just a list of facts, you put them in chronological or spatial order (time or place) or arrange them in order of importance or reverse order of importance. You use familiar patterns of organization (cause and effect; problem-solution; comparative advantage) if they seem appropriate for your material.

In addition to breaking things down and arranging the parts, structure also includes connecting the parts—the way ligaments connect the bones in our skeleton. This is done through the use of transitional words or phrases. Those transitions like internal summaries that let us know where we are in the speech are called “signposts”.

Another way to connect the pieces is contextually—with a theme—a central word or phrase or image that runs through the speech like a thread, tying the loose ends together. In a sense, the theme is like the rope that connects the guide with her fellow mountain climbers, keeping them together, and enabling all of them to reach the intended destination.

Another very effective structural device is to answer the questions that you think might be on the listeners’ minds. In fact, some of the most effective presentations or briefings are those which simply go through a list of questions that they think members of the audience are asking themselves…and answer them.

This is what Winston Churchill did in his first speech to Parliament after assuming the role of Prime Minister. With Hitler’s troops storming across Europe, this was no time to get bogged down in details or analysis. He does what he needs to do. He succinctly answers their questions about his policies and his aims and inspires them with his confidence.

As the speaker, it’s your responsibility to help your listener. Just as written material is made clearer by the way it is arranged on a page—with headlines and subheads, indentation and white space, bold type and underscoring, illustrations and diagrams, a speech is made clearer by carefully organizing the material: arranging and spacing it out; going from the more familiar to the less familiar; numbering and “flagging”* points; pausing and repeating; defining new terms and providing lots of examples and pictures and stories.

Since introductions and conclusions are so important, we’ll address them in more detail.

*Flagging is merely calling the listeners’ attention to what’s important by simply saying things like: “if there’s one thing I want you to take away, it’s this…”, “what’s really important is…”; “the main thing to remember is…”

Introductions to Speeches

Every speech deserves to be introduced. At the very minimum, you want to let the audience know what you’re going to be talking about. But usually, that’s not nearly enough.

“You can’t communicate if you don’t first connect with the audience.”

First of all, there’s what William Safire calls the “handshake” function. That’s where the speaker metaphorically extends his or her hand in a respectful gesture to the audience. Sometimes it’s a humorous remark.* More often than not it’s a warm, ingratiating word or two about the audience or the organization who invited you to speak or the location or the occasion. All of this is intended to help the speaker connect with the audience. You can’t communicate if you don’t first connect with the audience. And it’s also going to help break down the distance between speaker and audience and get things started on a positive note.

Bill Clinton was a master of the warm and gracious handshake. Before going to a city to speak or hold a town hall meeting, he’d have his staff collect copies of the local newspaper so that he could show his awareness of what was happening in the area and what they cared about. Clinton’s Memphis speech (Church of God, 1993) is classic Clinton. Not only does he give them the verbal handshake, but because he actually knows some of these people he brings them up to the podium and hugs them. What a way to greet an audience and begin a speech. After seeing this, do you think this audience will be favorably disposed to listen to him?

It’s interesting to note that he continues to “hold their hand” and acknowledge their importance throughout the speech, thereby strengthening the connection he has with them. And keeping them listening and engaged.

Congresswoman Barbara Jordan’s handshake expresses her appreciation for the chance to speak and acknowledges the chairman of her committee and the stress that he has been under during the lengthy and weighty impeachment hearings they’ve been conducting.

Dr. King flatters his audience of over 200,000 people by saying that they’re part of a historical event.

Honestly praising and showing respect for the audience ingratiates the speaker with them and gets them ready and willing to hear what he or she has to say.

Introductions also get the audience interested in the topic. King does it in a dramatic fashion. He uses the special site of the speech, the Lincoln Memorial, to allude to the president it’s dedicated to and one of his most significant actions, The Emancipation Proclamation. But he quickly contrasts the ray of hope that document represented to what’s actually going on in America “one hundred years later”. From that point on, he’s got the audience hooked. While the speech is known as the “I Have a Dream” speech, it first has to set up the nightmare that needs to be addressed before that dream can be attained.

Another function of the introduction is to establish the credibility of the speaker to speak about the subject. Barbara Jordan does this when she refers to the preamble of the US Constitution and notes that in the original document because slaves weren’t considered citizens, she wasn’t included in “we the people”. But, over time, the Constitution’s provisions allowed for the changes in the law that made her a citizen. She has a personal stake in preserving the sanctity of the document and she won’t let the president do anything to undermine it.

“The introduction can also serve to inform the audience how you’re going to proceed. This is called a roadmap…”

Besides telling the audience what the speech is about, the introduction can also serve to inform the audience how you’re going to proceed. This is called a “roadmap” and it’s simply a matter of outlining for your listeners the structure of your speech. It’s particularly helpful in a longer speech and is tantamount to putting up a slide at the beginning of a meeting with your agenda on it. It gives you and the audience a snapshot of what’s to come and helps each of you to stay on track. Randy Pausch did a masterful job of laying out his lengthy speech by first making clear what he wasn’t going to talk about and then telling them what he was.

To summarize: introductions tell us what the speech is about and get us ready to listen. They also serve to get the audience favorably disposed toward the speaker which helps the speaker connect with the audience. Introductions can also set the tone for what’s to come and give a snapshot or roadmap of how the speaker will get there. Finally, introductions can help establish the speaker’s credibility to talk about the topic.

Ways to introduce a speech

These are the functions of the introduction. If you’re a president or a well-known preacher or a member of congress, you don’t really need to resort to any devices to get people’s attention and get them listening to what you have to say. But for the rest of us, it helps to do something memorable at the beginning. One way to get people’s attention is to start with a rhetorical question. It’s a question you want to pose, but you don’t really expect an answer to; for example, “What is time?” A good question gets people thinking.

Another way to start is with a question you do want an answer to. Make sure your audience knows you want an answer by looking out at them and pausing after asking it to let them answer it and acknowledging them when they do. (For example, “Who has served in Iraq or Afghanistan?”) But also be prepared for getting different answers so that you aren’t thrown off when you hear someone say something you didn’t expect.)

Another way to start is with a quotation. But it should be fairly short—no more than a sentence or two—and preferably by someone the audience will know and respect. It should also be germane to the topic. Particularly effective are quotes your listeners wouldn’t think would come out of the mouth of the person you’re quoting.

“The most effective way to get an audience involved in your speech is to begin with a story.”

Giving a startling statistic is also an effective way to begin; “Almost forty percent of women on life-saving, anti-cancer drugs stop taking their medications without telling their doctors. Forty percent.” (Repeat important numbers to make sure they sink in.) But the most effective way to get an audience involved in your speech is to begin with a story. Human beings are wired for narrative. We love to hear a story and if you start with one, we’ll listen. Take a look at Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address. It consists of three powerful, personal stories and it engages us from beginning to end.

NOTE: Some people feel they can’t start a speech without first telling a joke. Unless you’re a really good joke teller and you know the audience very well, this is not recommended. First of all, what might be funny to you may not to be to people in your audience. It’s very easy to offend someone and a joke is certainly not worth that risk. Second, unless the joke has something to do with the occasion or the speech, it’s really a distraction and is seen as such by a discerning audience who came to hear what you have to say, not to hear a joke. Far better to tell a humorous anecdote or use self-effacing humor that sort of takes you down a notch and allows people to connect with you more easily. Both Jack and Bobby Kennedy did this very effectively.

Conclusions to Speeches

The conclusion should be what the speech has been building toward from the beginning. It’s the message that the listener should leave the room with. Since it frequently calls him or her to action, it’s got to be strong enough to make an impression and move people to act. And that requires lots of thought and good writing. Unfortunately, since the conclusion is usually the last thing written, it’s composed under less than ideal conditions—when the writer is tired and just wants to get it over with. That’s not conducive to creating a strong exit.

“One way to deliver a strong conclusion is to write the conclusion first—before the rest of the speech.”

And keep thinking about it and tinkering with it throughout the speechwriting process—adjusting it as you develop the rest of the speech. Conclusions have several roles. First and foremost, they end the speech: let the audience know that the speech is over. Conclusions also offer the speaker the chance to sum things up, to recap his or her major points in a very succinct fashion. And conclusions produce the appropriate emotion in the audience and give them the next steps that the speaker wants them to take. I don’t know if Abraham Lincoln followed this prescription, but I do know that he took great care with his speeches. He never gave major remarks without first writing them out. And he was an inveterate note-taker—constantly writing down thoughts as they came to mind and saving them to incorporate in his speeches. And he obviously spent a lot of time and care on his conclusions since they are still resonating with audiences more than a century and a half later. Read his Second Inaugural Address.

If one of the functions of a speech’s introduction is to extend a hand to connect with the listeners, one of the roles of the conclusion is to express appreciation for the audience’s time and attention. Sometimes it can be as simple as a sincere “thank you” at the end. But more often than not, the conclusion gives the listeners a gift: words of wisdom. This is especially true of commencement speeches and eulogies. The speaker gives the audience something to leave the room with—to celebrate the accomplishment of graduation or the living of a life.

Steve Jobs’ Stanford speech is a great example of the former. After revealing his less than perfect beginning to life and how he coped with some of its biggest challenges, he shares with these graduates words that he lived by: “stay hungry; stay foolish.” I must admit that I was not very impressed with this advice when I first heard it. But after hearing the speech a number of times, I appreciate it much more. After all, he led a very successful life despite some of the obstacles he faced. And this mantra worked for him. Moreover, this advice is great for this particular audience of new graduates. Most have never been hungry and many would do everything they could to avoid being considered a fool. And yet, acting out of hunger—being driven by some primal urge like a passion—and being willing to be seen as foolish; that is, to break the norms and risk making mistakes is what they need to hear. It’s indeed a gift he left them with. 

Lincoln’s best-known speeches (his Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural) are perhaps two of the most beautifully written calls to action in American history. In the one, he’s charging his listeners to re-create the union based on the principles of the founding fathers. In the other, he’s asking the victors of a long and bloody war to do something even harder, to offer charity and forgiveness to their former enemies.

With regard to ending a speech on an emotional high note, nothing surpasses Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. He’s been building up to it throughout the speech. He began the speech slowly and solemnly—befitting the serious and nightmarish plight of America’s Blacks. But once he has fully described the current reality and recognized those who’ve sacrificed for civil rights, he can shift to his dream and end on the vision of what freedom feels like. What better way to end this “pep rally” for civil rights activists? What better way to get them to be willing to go back to the dangers and go on with the fight for justice than to give them a glimpse of the “promised land”—what life will be like when the battle is won? It’s truly inspiring—in wording as well as delivery.

Some of the same techniques that make effective introductions also make good conclusions. Stories and anecdotes, personal experiences or insights, compliments or kudos to the people in the room, short but appropriate quotations can help increase audience interest and engagement at the end.

Conclusions are short. Don’t drag them out. Once you’ve hinted that the end is near, stick to your promise. Nothing’s worse for an audience who has been sitting there awhile than to be told that the end is coming and then having to wait for it to happen. All the goodwill you might have built up over the course of the speech evaporates in a matter of seconds. And the listeners leave with a sour taste in their mouths. What’s the right length? It depends on the length of the speech, but for a typical (15-20 minute) speech no more than one to two minutes of conclusion.

“Let people know that the end is coming.”

As mentioned earlier, listeners are not plugged into every word you’re saying. They tune in and out—depending on what you’re saying and what’s going on in their own mind. To get all of them to come back into the room and pay attention, let people know that the end is coming. Sometimes just a little longer pause or shift in your tone of voice is sufficient. Other times, a “signpost” like “Let me wrap this up…” or “Before I end, let me quickly recap what I’m suggesting…” These are much more natural and more conversational ways to alert the audience to the conclusion than saying “in conclusion”. The latter is too formal and calls attention to the structure, not the content. Whatever way you transition to the ending it should be consistent with the tone and style you’ve been using throughout the speech.