Chapter Eleven

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Chapter Eleven
Main Points, Supporting Points, and Transitions
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Chapter Eleven

• Table of Contents
• Main Points Making the Claim
• Supporting Points Supplying the Evidence
• Principles of Organizing Main and Supporting
  Points
• Transitions Giving Direction to the Speech

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Main Points, Supporting Points, and Transitions

• Speech structure
• Introduction establishes the purpose and
  relevance
• Body presents main points
• Conclusion ties the purpose and main points
  together.

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Main Points Making the Claim

• Main Points used to express the key ideas and
  major themes
• Also used to make claims in support of the thesis

5
Main Points Making the Claim

• Using the Purpose and Thesis Statements as
  Guideposts
• Number of Main Points
• Form of Main Points

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Main Points Making the ClaimUsing the Purpose
and Thesis Statements as Guideposts

• The specific purpose and thesis statements can
  be guideposts to help generate the main points of
  your speech.

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Main Points Making the ClaimNumber of Main
Points

• Use two to seven main points, depending on
• Topic
• Amount of material
• Length of the speech

8
Main Points Making the ClaimForm of Main Points

• A main point should only introduce one idea.

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Main Points Making the ClaimForm of Main Points

• Parallel Form stating main points in similar
  grammatical form and style

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Supporting Points Supplying the Evidence

• Supporting Points material or evidence gathered
  to justify the main points
• Main points are enumerated with upper-case Roman
  numerals
• Supporting points with capital letters

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Principles of Organizing Main and Supporting
Points

• A well-organized speech is characterized by
  unity, coherence, and balance.

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Principles of Organizing Main and Supporting
PointsUnity

• Unity when a speech contains only points related
  to the purpose and thesis statement.

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Principles of Organizing Main and Supporting
Points Coherence

• Coherence clarity and logical consistency
  throughout
• Subordination and coordination logical placement
  of ideas relative to their importance to one
  another

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Principles of Organizing Main and Supporting
PointsBalance

• Balance an appropriate amount of weight given to
  each part of the speech relative to the other
  parts

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Transitions Giving Direction to the Speech

• Transitions words, phrases, or sentences that
  tie the speech ideas together
• rhetorical question
• restatement of the previous point
• forecast of the next point

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Transitions Giving Direction to the Speech

• Internal preview a transition that tells the
  audience what to expect next.
• Internal summary draws together important ideas
  before proceeding to the next point.