150 7.5 deVeloPing your SPeecH
Now that he has narrowed the topic, Ed needs a purpose statement. He
decides that his audience might know something about how players are injured,
but they probably do not know how these injuries are treated. He types, “The
audience will be able to explain how the three most common injuries suffered by
college football players are treated.”
A few minutes later, Ed derives his central idea from his purpose: “Sports
medicine specialists have developed specific courses of treatment for the three
most common kinds of injuries suffered by college football players.”
Generating main ideas is also fairly easy now. Because his central idea men-
tions three kinds of injuries, he can plan his speech around those three ideas
(logical divisions). Under the central idea Ed lists three injuries:- Bruises
- Broken bones
- Ligament and cartilage damage
Now Ed has a plan and is well on his way to developing a successful three-
to five-minute informative speech.