Depends on the theme of the speech, but generally there are a few things to include:
- Make sure to include your thesis, or introduce whatever your main idea is
- For a speech you’ll want some sort of a hook, or a sentence which draws the audience is and makes it interesting or makes people want to hear more. Think of it like ads... they always start off with something either exciting or dramatic to make you keep watching, do something similar
- Try to use devices like literary language, ethos/pathos/logos, etc.
- If it’s a formal speech / analysis / etc., make sure to use formal or advanced vocabulary; on the other hand if it’s more creative-writing based or informal try not to be TOO informal
- If it’s some sort of argumentative speech make sure to include your main ideas.
Example: let’s say you’re giving a speech about why schools should not give homework. Your thesis: schools should not give homework. Your main ideas / reasoning: homework takes up the limited free time of students, it attempts to cram too much work into a short space rendering it useless, students deserve often are required to sacrifice their mental health for homework. For this speech you might do something like:
“Homework is a despicable concept whose detriment to students is something many people still severely underestimate.” < a hook; something interesting and it introduces your main idea, your thesis. Words like “despicable,” “consequences” and “severely” make it seem dramatic and draw your attention since homework is so normal to people. You also show advanced vocab using those words while not sounding too boring or formal.
“Not only does homework subtract from the already-limited amount of free time students are promised each day, but it has been proven to dramatically worsen students’ mental health states; and many studies have shown that homework may not even help students with their education in the long run.” < this lists your main reasoning, the three main ideas / explanations. You use things like logos when describing “studies show,” making your evidence seem solid, and by introducing the ideas here you organize your essay right off the bat.
Finally, it is usually smart to include a sort of “conclusion” to your intros. Sounds weird but it also sounds weird to transition to another paragraph leaving your reasons hanging like that. Something like “schools should consider making homework an optional addition to students’ educational lives, rather than forcing it onto kids who— more often than not— will only suffer because of it” could work, it summarizes your main idea, restates your thesis and provides an original idea; your own idea for “here’s how we could solve this problem.”
Again it depends on your speech. If you’re going for a motivational speech you’d want to focus more on pathos— try to lean away from “studies show” and logic and talk more about things that make people feel (when I think of pathos, I think of those sad dog commercials... “one penny a day can save these poor puppies”)
Hope this helps :)
