194 9.3 Organizing and Outlining YOur Speech
Expert testimony Father and son physicians Dr. Bradley Maron and
(soft evidence) Dr. Barry Maron explain that the unstable walls of
a sand hole can unexpectedly collapse, leaving no
evidence of a victim’s location.
Statistic During the decade between 1997 and 2007, 52
(hard evidence) documented accidents occurred in dry-sand holes
dug for recreational purposes.^15
The speaker has arranged her supporting material from soft to hard.Quick check
Integrating Your Supporting MaterialStrategy description
primacy Most important material first
recency Most important material last
Specificity From specific information to general overview or from
general overview to specific information
complexity From simple to more complex material
Soft to hard evidence From opinion or hypothetical illustration, for example, to
fact or statisticOrganizing Your Presentation for the
Ears of Others: Signposting
9.3 use verbal and nonverbal signposts to organize a speech for the ears of
others.
You have a logically ordered, fairly complete plan for your speech. But if you de-
livered the speech at this point, your audience might become frustrated or con-
fused as they tried to discern your organizational plan. So your next task is to
develop signposts—organizational cues for your audience’s ears. Three types of
signposts can serve as glue to hold your speech together: transitions, previews,
and summaries.Previews
In Chapter 12, we discuss the differences between writing and speaking styles.
One significant difference is that public speaking is more repetitive. Audience-
centered speakers need to remember that the members of their audience, unlike9.3