Arrangement
The strategic process of deciding how to order speech points into a coherent and convincing pattern for your topic and audience; also refers to one of the five parts of the classical canons and rhetoric.
Outlining
The physical process of plotting speech points on the page in hierarchical order of importance.
Introduction
The first part of the speech, in which the speaker establishes the speech purpose and its relevance to the audience and previews the topic and the main points.
Body
The part of speech in which the speaker develops the main points intended to fulfill the speech purpose.
Conclusion
The part of the speech in which the speaker reiterates the speech purpose, summarizes main points, and leaves the audience with something to think about or act upon.
Main Points
The key ideas or primary points intended to fulfill the speech purpose; their function is to make claims in support of the thesis.
Parallel Form
The statement of equivalent speech points in similar grammatical form and style.
Supporting Points
Information (examples, narratives, testimony, and facts and statistics) that clarifies, elaborates, and verifies the speaker's assertions.
Indentation
In an outline, the plotting of speech points to indicate their weight relative to one another; subordinate points are placed underneath and to the right of higher-order points.
Roman Numeral Outline
An outline format in which main points are enumerated with Roman numerals (I, II, III), supporting points with capital letters (A, B, C), third level points with arabic numerals (1, 2, 3), and fourth level points with lowercase letters (a, b, c).
Unity
The quality of a speech in which only those points that are implied by the purpose and thesis statements are included; nothing is extraneous or tangential; each main point supports the thesis, and each supporting point provides evidence for the main point
Coherence
Clarity and logical consistency within speech or an argument.
Coordination and Subordination
The logical placement of ideas relative to their importance to one another; ideas that are ___are given equal weight; an idea that is ___to another is given relatively less weight.
Balance
A principle that suggests that appropriate emphasis or weight be given to each part of the speech relative to the other parts and to the theme.
Transition
Words, phrases, or sentences, that tie speech ideas together and enable a speaker to move smoothly from one point to the next.
Full-Sentence Transition
Signals to listeners, in the form of declarative sentences, that the speaker is turning to another topic.
Signpost
Conjunctions or phrases (such as 'next', 'first', 'second', and so forth) that indicate transitions between supporting points.
Restate-Forecast Form
A type of transition in which the speaker restates the point just covered and previews the point to be covered next.
Rhetorical Question
A question that does not invite an actual response but is used to make the audience think.
Preview Statement
A statement included in the introduction of a speech in which the speaker identifies the main speech points that will be covered in the body of the speech.
Internal Preview
An extended transition used within the body of a speech that alerts audience members to ensuing speech content.
Internal Summary
An extended transition that draws together important ideas before proceeding to another speech point.
Topical Pattern of Arrangement
A pattern of organizing main points as subtopics or categories of the speech topic; of all organizational patterns, this one offers the most freedom to structure speech points as desired; categorical design.
Chronological Pattern of Arrangement
A pattern of organizing speech points in a natural sequential order; it is used when describing a series of events in time or when the topic develops in line with a set pattern of actions or tasks.
Spatial Pattern of Arrangement
A pattern of organizing main points in order of their physical proximity or direction relative to each other; it is used when the purpose of a speech is to describe or explain the physical arrangement of a place, a scene, or an object.
Causal (Cause-Effect) Pattern of Arrangement
A pattern of organizing speech points in order, first of causes and then of effects or vice vers; it is used when the cause-effect relationship is well established.
Problem-Solution Pattern of Arrangement
A pattern of organizing speech points so that they demonstrate the nature and significance of a problem first, and then justification for a proposed solution.
Narrative Pattern of Arrangement
A pattern of organizing speech points so that the speech unfolds as a story, with characters, plot, setting, and vivid imagery.
Circular Pattern of Arrangement
A pattern of organizing speech points so that one idea leads to another, which leads to a third, and so forth until the speaker arrives back at the speech thesis.
Working Outline
A preparation or rough outline that refines and finalizes the specific speech purpose, firms up and organizes main points, and develops supporting material.
Speaking Outline
A delivery outline to be used when practicing and actually presenting a speech.
Sentence Outline
An outline in which each main and supporting point is stated in sentence form and in precisely the way the speaker wants to express an idea.
Phrase Outline
A delivery outline that uses a partial construction of the sentence form of each point instead of using complete sentences that present precise wording for each point.
Key-Word Outline
The briefest of the three forms of outlines, the ___ ___ outline uses the smallest possible units of understanding associated with a specific point to outline the main and supporting points.
Delivery Cues
Brief reminder notes or prompts placed in the speaking outline; can refer to transitions, timing, speaking rate and volume, presentation aids, quotations, statistics, and diffcult-to-pronounce-or-remember names or words.
Anecdote
A brief story of an interesting, humorous, or real-life incident that links back to the speaker's theme.
Ethical Appeal
An attempt to persuade audience members by appealing to speaker credibility.
Call to Action
A challenge to audience members to act in response to a speech, see the problem in a new way, change their beliefs with respect to the problem; placed at the conclusion of a speech.
Style
The speaker's choice of words and sentence structure.
Rhetorical Device
A technique of language to achieve a desired effect.
Jargon
Specialized terminology developed within a given endeavor or field of study.
Contractions
Shortened forms of the verb 'to be' and other auxiliary verbs in conjunction with pronouns; makes the speaker's language more concise.
Biased Language
Any language that relies on unfounded assumptions, negative descriptions, or stereotypes of a given group's age, class, gender, abilities, and geographic, ethnic, racial, or religious characteristics.
Colloquial Expression
An informal expression, often with regional variations of speech.
Sexist Pronoun
A pronoun that is used restrictively to refer to one or the other gender when the antecendent may in fact be either male or female.
Persons with Disabilities (PWD)
A person whose physical or mental impairment substantially limits his or her major life activities.
Cultural Intelligence
The willingness to learn about other cultures and gradually reshape your thinking and behavior in response to what you've learned.
Concrete Language
Specific, tangible, and definite language (nouns or verbs).
Abstract Language
Language that is general or nonspecific.
Figures of Speech
Expressions, such as metaphors, similies, analogies, and hyperbole, in which words are used in a nonliteral fashion.
Simile
A figure of speech used to compare one thing with another by using the word like or as.
Metaphor
A figure of speech used to make an implicit comparison without the use of like or as.
Cliche
An expression that is predictable and stale.
Mixed Metaphor
A metaphor that juxtaposes or compares unlike images or expressions.
Analogy
An extended metaphor or simile that compares an unfamiliar concept or process with a more familiar one in order to help the listener understand the one that is unfamiliar.
Personification
A figure or speech in which the speaker endows an abstract idea or inanimate object with human qualities.
Understatement
A figure of speech in which a speaker draws attention to an idea by minimizing its importance.
Irony
A figure of speech in which the speaker uses humor, satire, or sarcasm to suggest a meaning other than the one that is actually being expressed.
Allusion
A figure of speech in which the speaker makes vague or indirect reference to people, historical events, or concepts to give deeper meaning to the message.
Hyperbole
A figure of speech in which the speaker uses obvious exaggeration to drive home a point.
Onomatopoeia
A figure of speech in which the speaker imitates natural sounds in word form in order to add vividness to a speech.
Malapropism
The inadvertent use of a word or phrase in place of one that sounds like it.
Denotative Meaning
The literal or dictionary definiton of a word.
Connotative Meaning
The individual associations that different people bring to bear on a word.
Active Voice
The feature of a verb indicating that the subject performs the action.
Hedges
Unnecessary words and phrases that qualify or introduce doubt into statements that should be straightforward.
Tag Questions
Unnecessary questions appended to statements or commands; the use of such weak language undermines a speaker's authority.
Anaphora
A rhetorical device in which the speaker repeats a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences.
Alliteration
The repetition of the same sounds, usually initial consonants, in two or more neighboring words or syllables.
Hackneyed
Language that is poorly crafted and lacking in freshness.
Parallelism
The arrangement of words, phrases, or sentences in similar grammactical and stylistic form.
Antithesis
Setting off two ideas in balanced (parallel) opposition to each other to create a powerful effect.
Triad
A rhetorical device that makes use of three parallel elements.