Answering the following questions will help you get started on the righttrack．
1．Before starting to prepare a speech，think about who will be in your audience，what they know，what they want to know，and what will interest them．
2．Why are you giving the speech，what do you want to achieve，what is yourmessage？
3．How long should you speak？Where will you deliver your speech？
4．What are you going to say？
In order to answer question number 4，brainstorm，think and discuss with friends，colleagues and teachers．Read and research your subject．Gather information andideas．Make notes．A good speech will have：
1．A clear message and purpose
Many speakers are tempted to try to say everything they know about a topicin order to show that they have done their homework and to prove how clever anddeep thinking they are．This is a mistake！A list of undeveloped ideas is useless．The audience doesn’t have time to think about one idea before the next is spokenand even if they could，they can’t mind read what you think or mean．
A good speech will have one clear message（especially true if it is a shortspeech）that the audience can find convincing．It will attempt to change people’Sperceptions，to provide a new or unusual way of looking at the topic or to provideentertainment．This is why it is necessary to research your topic to find interestingand relevant information．2。Interest to the audience
There is no value in stating the obvious．It is not interesting to talk about howmuch you love your parents or grandparents since this is self-evident．Ninety—ninepercent of people in the world love their family．What would be more interestingwould be to explore why some people don’t love their families，though for that，you may need a PhD in psychology and psychiatry！
Don’t underestimate the intelligence of your audience．People won’t find anidea or information interesting if they already know it or if it is obvious．Don’t say“When 1 was young．I learnt to walk and talk．”That is obvious！Don’t say“Youshould work hard and you will realise your dreams．’’That is nonsense！Manypeople work hard all their lives and don’t realise their dreams because their dreamsare unrealistic or they don’t have and can’t learn the necessary skills or they justdon’t get the lucky breaks．All intelligent people know that hard work is likely tobring some reward，they don’t have to be told SO．3．Adequate development of ideas
Having decided what you will say about the topic，it is important when usingthe English language to develop your ideas．This means looking below the surfaceof the obvious．Many potentially good ideas die for lack of development．
Analyse and think through the implications of what you are asserting．Giveclear reasons and examples for anything that you assert．Provide hard evidence inthe form of acceptable statistics．Make any descriptions vivid by using appropriateaectives and adverbs．
Keep any stories very short and try to make them relevant to your audience．Don’t tell long rambling stories about a friend in your home town who the audi—ence can’t know or care about．Remember you must convince your audience thatwhat you are saying is worthy of their attention．4．A clear structure
A clear structure is important for understanding．It is necessary to help yourlisteners to grasp the main points and to recognise why you are presenting thesepoints，ie．why they are important．The structure is like a map and as you followyour route across the‘‘map”you provide verbal signposts for your audience SO thatthey can follow you（see below）．Of course，you need to ensure that the“route”islogical and is neither repetitious nor irrelevant．The structure requires anintroduction，a body and a conclusion．
The introduction tells your listeners what you are going to speak about：howyou are going to tackle the topic．It should be short and interesting．You need tocapture your audience’S attention．A speaker will often begin a speech by saying，“My topic is…andfirst I‘m going to tell you about A and then I’ll talk about Bandfinally I‘ll conclude by summing up my ideas about A and B．’’This is a goodintroduction but in competition it can be very boring if every speaker starts in thisway．It is not necessary in a short speech to actually say what the structure is，butthere should be one．
In a short speech，it is better to start by making a few general commentsrelating to the topic then to develop those same comments in the body of the speech．The conclusion should emphasise your main argument and concisely repeat themain points and relate them back to the introduction to form a rounded structure．5。Logical flow--transitions and signposting
Within the structure there must be a logical flow of words and ideas．Wordswill flow logically if they are presented in complete sentences．Ideas in a speechwill flow logically if they are presented either deductively or inductively．Thismeans that they can be developed from the general to the specific or vice versa．Probably the easiest way is to start with some general comments and become morespecific and detailed as you progress through the speech．Some people may preferto start with details and come to a general conclusion towards the end，this is oftena better way when giving an impromptu speech where you have had little time toDon’t tell long rambling stories about a friend in your home town who the audi—ence can’t know or care about．Remember you must convince your audience thatwhat you are saying is worthy of their attention．4。A clear structure
A clear structure is important for understanding．It is necessary to help yourlisteners to grasp the main points and to recognise why you are presenting thesepoints，ie．why they are important．The structure is like a map and as you followyour route across the“map’’you provide verbal signposts for your audience SO thatthey can follow you（see below）．Of course，you need to ensure that the“route”islogical and iS neither repetitious nor irrelevant．The structure requires anintroduction，a body and a conclusion．
The introduction tells your listeners what you are going to speak about：howyou are going to tackle the topic．It should be short and interesting．You need tocapture your audience’S attention．A speaker will often begin a speech by saying，”My topic is…and扒rst l：m going to tellyou aboutA and then I‘ll talk about Bandfinal~I’ll conclude by summing up my ideas about A and B．’’This is a goodintroduction but in competition it can be very boring if every speaker starts in thisway．It is not necessary in a short speech to actually say what the structure is，butthere should be one．
In a short speech，it is better to start by making a few general commentsrelating to the topic then to develop those same comments in the body of the speech．The conclusion should emphasise your main argument and concisely repeat themain points and relate them back to the introduction to form a rounded structure．5．Logical flow--transitions and signposting
Within the structure there must be a logical flow of words and ideas．Wordswill flow logically if they are presented in complete sentences．Ideas in a speechwill flow logically if they are presented either deductively or inductively。Thismeans that they can be developed from the general to the specific or vice versa．Probably the easiest way is to start with some general comments and become morespecific and detailed as you progress through the speech．Some people may preferto start with details and come to a general conclusion towards the end。
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