Project 3 - Get to the Point (Part 1: Coaching)

Get your message across, and get it across clearly. That's the essence of this project. ComYOUnicate!

Your manual explains exactly how you can structure your speech in order to get the message across. To make it simple, basically:

Choose Your Intent:
Either give a speech to inform, persuade, entertain or inspire. Do not mix two intents together (e.g. don't try giving a mixed informative-entertaining speech. It won't work unless you're a super-skilled speaker).

Choose Your Purpose:
Your purpose should be different depending upon your intent. For instance, if you want to give an entertaining speech, your purpose should be lighthearted, for instance you could give a speech talking about your love of chocolate, funny things your kids to say to you, or a string of events that happened to you with an amusing consequence. If you want to give an informative speech, your speech could teach your audience the steps involved in setting up a website, how to build a go-kart, or even information about how to be a better cook.

Choose Your Specific Purpose:
Now it's time to narrow-down your purpose, and tailor it to what the audience wants. If, for instance, you talk about your love of chocolate for a whole 7 minutes, your audience will be bored because this doesn't tell them anything really specific about you, and it's not tailored to their needs. You could try any of the following (although the second one is best because it's simple and tailored to your audience):

     -Three reasons why I love chocolate fondue
     (after hearing your speech, the audience should be able to quickly identify the three   
     reasons why you love chocolate fondue)

   -Three reasons why you will love chocolate fondue!
    (after hearing your speech, the audience should be able to quickly identify the three    
    reasons, and may be tempted to try it).

    -Three amusing reasons why you should buy a chocolate fondue set today!
    (after hearing your speech, the audience should be able to identify the three reasons. Since 
    this is probably an entertaining speech, you wouldn't worry about actually persuading them 
    too heavily to buy a fondue set).

Once you've got a clear intent and specific purpose, you can go about structuring your speech (remember: clear opening, body and conclusion). Also, think about your title. To be effective, it should be clearly linked to your specific purpose. If you've defined your specific purpose well, you can even use it as your title. For instance, "Three Reasons Why You Will Love Chocolate Fondue!" would be an awesome speech title!

Good luck! And please give your comments below on whether this post has helped you. Just like you, I need feedback to improve!

Oh, and here's your motivational video for this project - John Farnham's "The Voice".