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INFORMATIVE SPEECH
An informative speech provides information about a specific subject to an audience. The aim
of an informative speech is to help your audience to understand and to remember the
information you are presenting.
Students will create a five minute informative speech on a topic of their choice. They must
make sure the topic is narrow enough to thoroughly be presented within the five minutes.
(For example: dogs would be too broad of a topic to cover in 5 minutes - a particular breed of
dog, such as the Labrador retriever, might be covered in 5 minutes)
Students will select a topic and gather information from multiple sources - they can use
books, encyclopedias, database articles, or use the Internet as long as they can prove through
a web evaluation that the site is a valid source created by an authority on the subject.
Students will read over their sources and choose three main points that will be covered in the
body of their speech. They will then create notecards (according to specific guidelines
included in this packet) that support the chosen points and create a working outline with a
general and specific purpose statement, a thesis statement, and the three main points with
supporting evidence for each point.
Your general purpose in an informative speech is to inform.
Your specific purpose relates to your topic and to the specific information you want to convey.
Specific Purpose -
The specific purpose of a speech is its goal, stated in a complete sentence. If the general
purpose of your speech is to inform, then your specific purpose will be a statement of the
particular information you will present to the audience.
Example: Joel’s general purpose in his speech about place-kicking is to inform. His specific
purpose could be stated in a complete sentence. “I want to explain the steps in soccer-style
place-kicking.”
1. Express the specific purpose as a declarative sentence.
2. State the specific purpose precisely. “I want to explain the four steps in soccer-style
place-kicking.”
3. Make sure the specific purpose contains only one idea.
4. Include words in the specific purpose that show your intent. Examples: explain, show,
give
Writing a Thesis Statement -
A thesis statement is a complete sentence that expresses the speaker’s most important
idea, or key point, about a topic. A thesis statement guides the development of a speech.
Examples:
1. Specific purpose: “I want to explain the characteristics of the six major
classifications of show dogs.”
Thesis statement: “Show dogs are classified according to their characteristics as
hounds, terriers, working dogs, toys, sporting dogs, and non sporting dogs.”