what to include in an informative speech

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How to Write an Informative Speech

Last Updated: April 30, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Lynn Kirkham . Lynn Kirkham is a Professional Public Speaker and Founder of Yes You Can Speak, a San Francisco Bay Area-based public speaking educational business empowering thousands of professionals to take command of whatever stage they've been given - from job interviews, boardroom talks to TEDx and large conference platforms. Lynn was chosen as the official TEDx Berkeley speaker coach for the last four years and has worked with executives at Google, Facebook, Intuit, Genentech, Intel, VMware, and others. There are 13 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 1,392,941 times.

An informative speech tells an audience about a process, event, or concept. Whether you’re explaining how to grow a garden or describing a historical event, writing an informative speech is pretty straightforward. Knowing the topic inside and out is key, so start by conducting thorough research. Organize your speech logically so your audience can easily follow, and keep your language clear. Since speeches are recited out loud, be sure to set aside time after writing to perfect your delivery.

Researching the Topic

• Suppose your prompt instructs you to inform the audience about a hobby or activity. Make a list of your clubs, sports, and other activities, and choose the one that interests you most. Then zoom in on one particular aspect or process to focus on in your speech.
• For instance, if you like tennis, you can’t discuss every aspect of the sport in a single speech. Instead, you could focus on a specific technique, like serving the ball.

• For example, if your speech is about a historical event, find primary sources, like letters or newspaper articles published at the time of the event. Additionally, include secondary sources, such as scholarly articles written by experts on the event.
• If you’re informing the audience about a medical condition, find information in medical encyclopedias, scientific journals, and government health websites.

Tip: Organize your sources in a works cited page. Even if the assignment doesn’t require a works cited page, it’ll help you keep track of your sources. [3] X Trustworthy Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Trusted resource for writing and citation guidelines Go to source

• For instance, if your speech is on growing plants from seeds, explain the process step-by-step to a friend or relative. Ask them if any parts in your explanation seemed muddy or vague.
• Break down the material into simple terms, especially if you’re addressing a non-expert audience. Think about how you’d describe the topic to a grandparent or younger sibling. If you can’t avoid using jargon, be sure to define technical words in clear, simple terms.

• For example, if your speech is on the poet Charles Baudelaire, a strong thesis would be, “I am here to explain how city life and exotic travel shaped the key poetic themes of Charles Baudelaire’s work.”
• While the goal of an informative speech isn't to make a defensible claim, your thesis still needs to be specific. For instance, “I’m going to talk about carburetors” is vague. “My purpose today is to explain how to take apart a variable choke carburetor” is more specific.

• For instance, a speech meant to persuade an audience to support a political stance would most likely include examples of pathos, or persuasive devices that appeal to the audience's emotions.
• On the other hand, an informative speech on how to grow pitcher plants would present clear, objective steps. It wouldn't try to argue that growing pitcher plants is great or persuade listeners to grow pitcher plants.

Drafting Your Speech

• Delivering memorized remarks instead of reading verbatim is more engaging. A section of a speaking outline would look like this: III. YMCA’s Focus on Healthy Living  A. Commitment to overall health: both body and mind  B. Programs that support commitment   1. Annual Kid’s Day   2. Fitness facilities   3. Classes and group activities

• For example, you could begin with, “Have you ever wondered how a figure skater could possibly jump, twist, and land on the thin blade of an ice skate? From proper technique to the physical forces at play, I’ll explain how world-class skaters achieve jaw-dropping jumps and spins.”
• Once you've established your purpose, preview your speech: “After describing the basic technical aspects of jumping, I’ll discuss the physics behind jumps and spins. Finally, I’ll explain the 6 types of jumps and clarify why some are more difficult than others.”
• Some people prefer to write the speech's body before the introduction. For others, writing the intro first helps them figure out how to organize the rest of the speech.

• For instance, if your speech is about the causes of World War I, start by discussing nationalism in the years prior to the war. Next, describe the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, then explain how alliances pulled the major players into open warfare.
• Transition smoothly between ideas so your audience can follow your speech. For example, write, “Now that we’ve covered how nationalism set the stage for international conflict, we can examine the event that directly led to the outbreak of World War I: the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. [11] X Research source

• For instance, your conclusion could point out, “Examining the factors that set the stage for World War I shows how intense nationalism fueled the conflict. A century after the Great War, the struggle between nationalism and globalism continues to define international politics in the twenty-first century.”

• Typically, speeches aren’t read verbatim. Instead, you’ll memorize the speech and use a bare bones outline to stay on track.

Avoid information overload: When you compose your speech, read out loud as you write. Focus on keeping your sentence structures simple and clear. Your audience will have a hard time following along if your language is too complicated. [14] X Trustworthy Source University of North Carolina Writing Center UNC's on-campus and online instructional service that provides assistance to students, faculty, and others during the writing process Go to source

Perfecting Your Delivery

• While it’s generally okay to use slightly different phrasing, try to stick to your complete outline as best you can. If you veer off too much or insert too many additional words, you could end up exceeding your time limit.
• Keep in mind your speaking outline will help you stay focused. As for quotes and statistics, feel free to write them on your notecards for quick reference.

Memorization tip: Break up the speech into smaller parts, and memorize it section by section. Memorize 1 sentence then, when you feel confident, add the next. Continue practicing with gradually longer passages until you know the speech like the back of your hand.

• Instead of slouching, stand up tall with your shoulders back. In addition to projecting confidence, good posture will help you breathe deeply to support your voice.

• Have them point out any spots that dragged or seemed disorganized. Ask if your tone was engaging, if you used body language effectively, and if your volume, pitch, and pacing need any tweaks.

• If you keep exceeding the time limit, review your complete sentence outline. Cut any fluff and simplify complicated phrases. If your speech isn’t long enough, look for areas that could use more detail or consider adding another section to the body.
• Just make sure any content you add is relevant. For instance, if your speech on nationalism and World War I is 2 minutes too short, you could add a section about how nationalism manifested in specific countries, including Britain, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Serbia.

Sample Informative Speeches

Expert Q&A

• You're probably much better at informative speeches than you think! If you have ever told your parents about your day at school or explained to a friend how to make chicken noodle soup, you already have experience giving an informative speech! Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• If you get nervous, try to relax, take deep breaths, and visualize calming scenery. Remember, there’s nothing to worry about. Just set yourself up for success by knowing the material and practicing. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• When composing your speech, take your audience into consideration, and tailor your speech to the people you’re addressing. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-realworldcomm/chapter/11-1-informative-speeches/
• ↑ https://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/a-primer-on-communication-studies/s11-01-informative-speeches.html
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_page_basic_format.html
• ↑ https://open.lib.umn.edu/communication/chapter/11-1-informative-speeches/
• ↑ https://www.comm.pitt.edu/informative-speaking
• ↑ https://rasmussen.libanswers.com/faq/337550
• ↑ Lynn Kirkham. Public Speaking Coach. Expert Interview. 20 November 2019.
• ↑ https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/centers/oralcommunication/guides/how-to-outline-a-speech
• ↑ https://wac.colostate.edu/resources/writing/guides/informative-speaking/
• ↑ https://www.comm.pitt.edu/structuring-speech
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/speeches/
• ↑ https://www.speechanddebate.org/wp-content/uploads/High-School-Competition-Events-Guide.pdf
• ↑ https://open.lib.umn.edu/communication/chapter/10-4-physical-delivery/

About This Article

To write an informative speech, start with an introduction that will grab your audience's attention and give them an idea of where the rest of your speech is headed. Next, choose 3 important points that you want to make to form the body of your speech. Then, organize the points in a logical order and write content to address each point. Finally, write a conclusion that summarizes the main points and ends with a message that you want your audience to take away from it. For tips on researching topics for an informative speech, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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• Speech Crafting →

How to Write an Informative Speech Outline: A Step-by-Step Guide

It’s the moment of truth — the anxiety-inducing moment when you realize writing the outline for your informative speech is due soon. Whether you’re looking to deliver a report on the migratory patterns of the great white stork or give a lecture on the proper techniques of candle making, knowing how to write an effective outline is essential.

That’s why we’ve put together this complete, step-by-step guide on how to write an informative speech outline. From selecting a topic to transitioning during your speech, this guide will have you well on your way to writing a compelling informative speech outline . So grab your pen and paper, put on your thinking cap, and let’s get started!

What is an Informative Speech Outline?

An informative speech outline is a document used to plan the structure and core content of a public speech. It’s used by speakers to ensure their talk covers all the important points, stays on-topic and flows logically from one point to another. By breaking down complex topics into smaller, concise sections, an effective outline can help keep a speaker organized, set objectives for their talk, support key points with evidence and promote audience engagement. A well-structured outline can also make a presentation easier to remember and act as an invaluable reminder if nerves ever get the better of the speaker. On one hand, an informative speech outline enables speakers to cover multiple ideas in an efficient manner while avoiding digressions. On the other hand, it’s important that speakers remain flexible to adjust and adapt content to meet audience needs. While there are some tried-and-tested strategies for creating outlines that work, many successful speakers prefer to tweak and modify existing outlines according to their personal preferences. In conclusion, preparing an informative speech outline can boost confidence and create an effective structure for presentations. With this in mind, let’s now look at how to structure an informative speech outline

How to Structure an Informative Speech Outline

The structure of your informative speech outline should be based on the points you need to cover during your presentation. It should list out all of the main points in an organized and logical manner, along with supporting details for each point. The main structure for an informative speech should consist of three parts: the introduction, body and conclusion.

Introduction

When starting to craft your structure, begin by introducing the topic and giving a brief synopsis of what the audience can expect to learn from your speech. By setting up what they will gain from your presentation, it will help keep them engaged throughout the rest of your talk. Additionally, include any objectives that you want to achieve by the end of your speech.

The body of an informative speech outline typically consists of three parts: main points, sub-points, and supporting details. Main points are the core topics that the speaker wishes to cover throughout the speech. These can be further broken down into sub-points, that explore the main ideas in greater detail. Supporting details provide evidence or facts about each point and can include statistics, research studies, quotes from experts, anecdotes and personal stories . When presenting an informative speech, it is important to consider each side of the topic for an even-handed discussion. If there is an argumentative element to the speech, consider incorporating both sides of the debate . It is also important to be objective when presenting facts and leave value judgments out. Once you have determined your main points and all of their supporting details, you can start ordering them in a logical fashion. The presentation should have a clear flow and move between points smoothly. Each point should be covered thoroughly without getting overly verbose; you want to make sure you are giving enough information to your audience while still being concise with your delivery.

Writing an informative speech outline can be a daunting yet rewarding process. Through the steps outlined above, speakers will have created a strong foundation for their speech and can now confidently start to research their topics . The outline serves as a guiding map for speakers to follow during their research and when writing their eventual speech drafts . Having the process of developing an informative speech broken down into easy and manageable steps helps to reduce stress and anxiety associated with preparing speeches .

• The introduction should be around 10-20% of the total speech duration and is designed to capture the audience’s attention and introduce the topic.
• The main points should make up 40-60% of the speech and provide further detail into the topic. The body should begin with a transition, include evidence or examples and have supporting details. Concluding with a recap or takeaway should take around 10-20% of the speech duration.

While crafting an informative speech outline is a necessary step in order for your presentation to run smoothly, there are many different styles and approaches you can use when creating one. Ultimately though, the goal is always to ensure that the information presented is factual and relevant to both you and your audience. By carefully designing and structuring an effective outline, both you and your audience will be sure to benefit greatly from it when it comes time for delivering a successful presentation .

Now that speakers know how to create an effective outline, it’s time to begin researching the content they plan to include in their speeches. In the next section we’ll discuss how to conduct research for an informative speech so speakers are armed with all the facts necessary to deliver an interesting and engaging presentation .

How to Research for an Informative Speech

When researching an informative speech, it’s important to find valid and reliable sources of information. There are many ways that one can seek out research for an informative speech, and no single method will guarantee a thorough reliable research. Depending on the complexity of the topic and the depth of knowledge required, a variety of methods should be utilized. The first step when researching for an informative speech should be to evaluate your present knowledge of the subject. This will help to determine what specific areas require additional research, and give clues as to where you might start looking for evidence. It is important to know the basic perspectives and arguments surrounding your chosen topic in order to select good sources and avoid biased materials. Textbooks, academic journals, newspaper articles, broadcasts, or credible websites are good starting points for informational speeches. As you search for information and evidence, be sure to use trustworthy authors who cite their sources. These sources refer to experts in the field whose opinions add credibility and can bolster your argument with facts and data. Evaluating these sources is particularly important as they form the foundation of your speech content and structure. Analyze each source critically by looking into who wrote it and evaluating how recent or relevant it is to the current conversation on your chosen topic. As with any research paper, one must strive for accuracy when gathering evidence while also surveying alternative positions on a topic. Considering both sides of a debate allows your speech to provide accurate information while remaining objective. This will also encourage audience members to draw their conclusions instead of taking your word for it. Furthermore, verifying sources from multiple angles (multiple avenues) ensures that information is fact-checked versus opinionated or biased pieces which might distort accuracy or mislead an audience member seeking truth about a controversial issue. At this stage in preparing for an informative speech, research should have been carried out thoroughly enough to allow confidently delivering evidence-based statements about a chosen topic. With all of this necessary groundwork completed, it’s time to move onto the next stage: sourcing different types of evidence which will allow you to illustrate your point in an even more helpful way. It is now time to transition into discussing “Sources & Evidence”.

Sources and Evidence

When crafting an informative speech outline, it is important to include accurate sources and valid evidence. Your audience needs to be sure that the content you are presenting not only reflects a clear understanding of the topic but is also backed up with reliable sources. For example, if you are speaking about climate change, include research studies, statistics, surveys and other forms of data that provide concrete evidence that supports your argument or position. Additionally, be sure to cite any sources used in the speech so that your audience can double-check the accuracy. In some cases, particularly when discussing sensitive topics, each side of the issue should be addressed. Not only does this make for a more balanced discussion, it also allows you to show respect for different points of view without compromising your own opinion or position. Presenting both sides briefly will demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter and show your ability to present a well-rounded argument. Knowing how to source accurately and objectively is key to creating an informative speech outline which will be compelling and engaging for an audience. With the right sources and evidence utilized correctly, you can ensure that your argument is both authoritative and convincing. With these fundamentals in place, you can move on to developing tips for crafting an informative speech for maximum impact and engagement with the listeners.

Tips for Crafting an Informative Speech

When crafting an informative speech, there are certain tips and tricks that you can use to make sure your outline is the best it can be. Firstly, if you are speaking about a controversial issue, make sure you present both sides of the argument in an unbiased manner. Rely on researching credible sources, and discuss different points of views objectively. Additionally, organize and prioritize your points so that they are easy to follow and follow a logical progression. Begin with introducing a succinct thesis statement that briefly summarizes the main points of your speech. This will give the audience a clear idea of what topics you will be discussing and help retain their attention throughout your speech. Furthermore, be mindful to weave in personal anecdotes or relevant stories so that the audience can better relate to your ideas. Make sure the anecdotes have a purpose and demonstrate the key themes effectively. Acquiring creative ways to present data or statistics is also important; avoid inundating the audience with too many facts and figures all at once. Finally, ensure that all visual aids such as props, charts or slides remain relevant to the subject matter being discussed. Visual aids not only keep listeners engaged but also make difficult concepts easier to understand. With these handy tips in mind, you should be well on your way to constructing an effective informative speech outline! Now let’s move onto exploring some examples of effective informative speech outlines so that we can get a better idea of how it’s done.

Examples of Effective Informative Speech Outlines

Informative speeches must be compelling and provide relevant details, making them effective and impactful. In order to create an effective outline, speakers must first conduct extensive research on the chosen topic. An effective informative speech outline will clearly provide the audience with enough information to keep them engaged while also adhering to a specific timeframe. The following are examples of how to effectively organize an informative speech: I. Introduction: A. Stimulate their interest – pose a question, present intriguing facts or establish a humorous story B. Clearly state the main focus of the speech C. Establish your credibility– explain your experience/research conducted for the speech II. Supporting Points: A. Each point should contain facts and statistics related to your main idea B. Each point should have its own solid evidence that supports it III. Conclusion: A. Summarize supporting points B. Revisit your introduction point and explain how it’s been updated/changed through the course of the discussion C. Offer a final statement or call to action IV. Bibliography: A. Cite all sources used in creating the speech (provide an alphabetical list) Debate both sides of argument if applicable: N/A

Commonly Asked Questions

What techniques can i use to ensure my informative speech outline is organized and cohesive.

When crafting an informative speech outline, there are several techniques you can use to ensure your speech is organized and cohesive. First of all, make sure your speech follows a logical flow by using signposting , outlining the main ideas at the beginning of the speech and then bulleting out your supporting points. Additionally, you can use transitions throughout the speech to create a smooth order for your thoughts, such as ‘next’ and ‘finally’. Furthermore, it is important that each point in your outline has a specific purpose or goal, to avoid rambling and confusion. Finally, use visual aids such as charts and diagrams to emphasise key ideas and add clarity and structure to your speech. By following these techniques , you can ensure your informative speech outline is well organized and easy to follow.

How should I structure the order of the information in an informative speech outline?

The structure of an informative speech outline should be simple and organized, following a linear step-by-step process. First, you should introduce the topic to your audience and provide an overview of the main points. Next, give an explanation of each point, offer evidence or examples to support it, and explain how it relates to the overall subject matter. Finally, you should conclude with a summary of the main points and a call for action. When structuring the order of information in an informative speech outline, it is important to keep topics distinct from one another and stick to the logical progression that you have established in your introduction. Additionally, pay attention to chronology if appropriate; when discussing historical events, for example, make sure that they are presented in the correct order. Moreover, use transition phrases throughout your outline to help move ideas along smoothly. Finally, utilize both verbal and visual aids such as diagrams or graphics to illustrate complex knowledge effectively and engage your audience throughout your presentation.

What are the essential components of an informative speech outline?

The essential components of an informative speech outline are the introduction, body, and conclusion. Introduction: The introduction should establish the topic of your speech, provide background information, and lead into the main purpose of your speech. It’s also important to include a strong attention-grabbing hook in order to grab the audience’s attention. Body: The body is where you expand on the main points that were outlined in the introduction. It should provide evidence and arguments to support these points, as well as explain any counterarguments that might be relevant. Additionally, it should answer any questions or objections your audience may have about the topic. Conclusion: The conclusion should restate the purpose of your speech and summarize the main points from the body of your speech. It should also leave your audience feeling inspired and motivated to take some kind of action after hearing your speech. In short, an effective informative speech outline should strongly focus on bringing all of these elements together in a cohesive structure to ensure that you deliver an engaging presentation that educates and informs your audience.

15 Informative Speech Examples to Inspire Your Next Talk

• The Speaker Lab
• May 13, 2024

Table of Contents

A good informative speech is one of the most effective tools in a speaker’s arsenal. But with so many potential topics out there, it can be tough to know where to start. That’s why we’ve compiled 15 informative speech examples to help you find your perfect subject. Whether you’re unearthing secrets from history for your listeners or delving into future technologies, informative speeches can prove to be the recipe for the perfect talk.

But crafting an effective informative speech is about more than just picking a topic. You have to research topics, put your thoughts in order, and speak up clearly and confidently. In this post, we’ll explore strategies for each step of the process, so you can create a speech that informs, engages, and makes a lasting impact on your listeners. Let’s get started.

15 Informative Speech Examples

If you’re looking for some inspiration for your next informative speech, look no further. Below are 15 examples of informative speech topics that are sure to engage and educate your audience.

• The history and evolution of social media platforms
• The benefits and drawbacks of renewable energy sources
• The impact of sleep deprivation on mental and physical health
• The role of emotional intelligence in personal and professional success
• The science behind climate change and its potential consequences
• The importance of financial literacy for young adults
• The influence of artificial intelligence on various industries
• The benefits of regular exercise and a balanced diet
• The history and cultural significance of a specific art form or genre
• The impact of technology on interpersonal communication
• The psychology behind procrastination and effective strategies to overcome it
• The role of diversity and inclusion in fostering innovation and creativity
• The importance of mental health awareness and resources for students
• The future of space exploration and its potential benefits for humanity
• The impact of globalization on local economies and cultures

These topics cover a wide range of subjects, from technology and science to psychology and culture. By choosing one of these informative speech examples, you’ll have plenty of material to work with to create an engaging and educational presentation.

Remember, the key to a successful informative speech is to choose a topic that you’re passionate about and that will resonate with your audience. Do your research, organize your thoughts, and practice your delivery to ensure that your message comes across loud and clear.

What Is an Informative Speech?

If you’ve ever been to a conference or seminar, chances are you’ve heard an informative speech. But what exactly is an informative speech? Simply put, it’s a type of speech designed to educate the audience on a particular topic. The goal is to provide interesting and useful information, ensuring the audience walks away with new knowledge or insights. Unlike persuasive speeches that aim to convince the audience of a viewpoint, informative speeches focus on explaining a subject clearly and objectively.

Types of Informative Speeches

Informative speeches come in various forms, each with its own purpose. The most common types are definition, explanation, description, and demonstration speeches. Depending on the objective, an informative speech can take on different structures and styles.

For example, a definition speech aims to explain a concept or term, while a demonstration speech shows the audience how to perform a task or process. An explanatory speech, on the other hand, provides a detailed account of a complex subject, breaking it down into digestible parts.

Purpose of Informative Speeches

At its core, the purpose of an informative speech is to share knowledge with the audience. These speeches are characterized by their fact-based, non-persuasive nature. The focus is on delivering information in an engaging and accessible way.

A well-crafted informative speech not only educates but also sparks curiosity and encourages further learning. By dedicating yourself to providing valuable information and appealing to your audience’s interests, you can succeed as an informative speaker.

Strategies for Selecting an Informative Speech Topic

Choosing the right topic is crucial for an effective informative speech. You want a subject that is not only interesting to you but also relevant and engaging for your audience. Consider their knowledge level, background, and expectations when selecting your topic.

One strategy is to focus on a subject you’re passionate about or have expertise in. This allows you to speak with authority and enthusiasm, making your speech more compelling. Another approach is to address current events or trending topics that are on people’s minds.

When brainstorming potential topics, consider your speech’s purpose and the type of informative speech you want to deliver. Is your goal to define a concept, explain a process, describe an event, or demonstrate a skill? Answering these questions will help guide your topic selection.

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How to Write an Informative Speech

Now that you’ve selected your topic, it’s time to start writing your informative speech. The key to a successful speech is thorough preparation and a clear, organized structure. Let’s break down the steps involved in crafting an engaging and informative presentation.

Researching Your Topic

Before you start writing, it’s essential to conduct thorough research on your topic. Gather facts, statistics, examples, and other supporting information for your informative speech. These things will help you explain and clarify the subject matter to your audience.

As you research, use reliable sources such as academic journals, reputable websites, and expert opinions to ensure the accuracy and credibility of your information. Take notes and organize your findings in a way that makes sense for your speech’s structure.

Structuring Your Speech

A typical informative speech structure includes three main parts, namely, an introduction, body, and conclusion. The introduction should grab the audience’s attention, establish your credibility , and preview the main points you’ll cover.

The body of your speech is where you’ll present your main points and supporting evidence. Use clear transitions between each point to maintain a logical flow. The conclusion should summarize your key takeaways and leave a lasting impression on your audience.

Outlining Your Speech

Creating an outline is a crucial step in organizing your thoughts and ensuring a coherent flow of information. Start by listing your main points and then add subpoints and supporting details for each section.

A well-structured outline will serve as a roadmap for your speech, keeping you on track and helping you stay focused on your key messages. It also makes the writing process more efficient and less overwhelming.

Writing Your Draft

With your outline in hand, it’s time to start writing your draft. Focus on presenting information clearly and concisely, using simple language and avoiding jargon. Provide examples and analogies throughout your informative speech in order to illustrate complex ideas and make them more relatable to your audience.

As you write, keep your audience in mind and tailor your language and examples to their level of understanding. Use transitions to link your ideas and maintain a smooth flow throughout the speech.

Editing and Revising

Once you’ve completed your draft, take the time to edit and revise your speech. First, check for clarity, accuracy, and logical organization. Then, eliminate unnecessary details, repetition, and filler words.

Read your speech aloud to identify any awkward phrasing or unclear passages. Lastly, seek feedback from others and be open to making changes based on their suggestions. Remember, the goal is to create a polished and effective informative speech.

Delivering an Informative Speech

You’ve written a fantastic informative speech, but now comes the real challenge: delivering it effectively. The way you present your speech can make all the difference in engaging your audience and ensuring they retain the information you’re sharing.

Practicing Your Speech

Practice makes perfect, and this couldn’t be more true when it comes to public speaking. Rehearse your speech multiple times to build confidence and familiarity with the content. Practice in front of a mirror, family members, or friends to get comfortable with your delivery.

As you practice, focus on your pacing, intonation, and body language. Aim for a conversational tone and maintain eye contact with your audience. The more you practice, the more natural and engaging your delivery will become.

Using Visual Aids

Visual aids such as slides, charts, or props can enhance your informative speech by making complex information more accessible and engaging. When utilized in your informative speech, they can help illustrate key points, provide visual examples, and break up the monotony of a purely verbal presentation.

Of course, it’s important to ensure your visuals are clear, relevant, and easy to understand. Otherwise, they may end up obscuring your points instead of clarifying them. In light of this, avoid cluttering your slides with too much text or overwhelming your audience with too many visuals. Use them strategically to support your message, not distract from it.

Engaging Your Audience

Engaging your audience is crucial for a successful informative speech. Use rhetorical questions, anecdotes, or interactive elements to keep them involved and attentive. Encourage participation, if appropriate, and maintain a conversational tone to create a connection with your listeners.

Pay attention to your audience’s reactions and adapt your delivery accordingly. If you sense confusion or disinterest, try rephrasing your points or providing additional examples to clarify your message. Remember, your goal is to educate and inspire your audience, so keep them at the forefront of your mind throughout your speech.

Handling Nerves

It’s normal to feel nervous before and during a speech, but there are strategies to help you manage those nerves . Take deep breaths, visualize success, and focus on your message rather than your anxiety. Remember, your audience wants you to succeed, and a little nervousness can actually enhance your performance by showing enthusiasm and authenticity.

If you find yourself getting overwhelmed, take a moment to pause, collect your thoughts, and regain your composure. Smile, make eye contact, and remind yourself that you’ve prepared thoroughly and have valuable information to share.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

To deliver an effective informative speech, it’s important to be aware of common pitfalls and mistakes. One of the biggest errors is overloading your audience with too much information. Remember, less is often more when it comes to public speaking.

Another mistake is failing to organize your content logically or using complex jargon without explanation. Make sure your speech has a clear structure and that you’re explaining any technical terms or concepts in a way that your audience can understand.

Finally, don’t neglect the importance of practice and preparation. Winging it or relying too heavily on notes can lead to a disjointed and unengaging speech. Take the time to rehearse, refine your delivery, and internalize your key points.

By avoiding these common mistakes and focusing on the strategies we’ve discussed, you’ll be well on your way to delivering an informative speech that educates, engages, and inspires your audience.

Tips for Delivering a Compelling Informative Speech

Once you’ve chosen your topic and done your research, it’s time to focus on delivering a compelling speech. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

• Start with a strong attention-grabbing opening that draws your audience in and sets the tone for your speech.
• Use clear, concise language and avoid jargon or technical terms that your audience may not understand.
• Incorporate storytelling, examples, and anecdotes to make your points more relatable and memorable.
• Use visual aids , such as slides or props, to enhance your message and keep your audience engaged.
• Practice your delivery and timing to ensure that you stay within your allotted time and maintain a natural, conversational tone.

By following these tips and choosing a topic that you’re passionate about, you’ll be well on your way to delivering an informative speech that educates and inspires your audience.

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20 Bonus Topics for Informative Speeches

In case the informative speech examples above didn’t pique your interest, we have several more for you to consider. Ranging from topics like science and technology to history and education, these 20 topics are perfect for your next presentation.

• The history and development of virtual reality technology
• The benefits and challenges of remote work
• The science behind the formation of hurricanes and tornadoes
• The impact of social media on political campaigns and elections
• The importance of sustainable fashion and its environmental benefits
• The role of emotional support animals in mental health treatment
• The history and cultural significance of a specific cuisine or dish
• The impact of plastic pollution on marine ecosystems
• The benefits and risks of gene editing technology
• The psychology behind conspiracy theories and their spread online
• The importance of digital privacy and data security in the modern age
• The role of music therapy in healthcare and wellness
• The impact of deforestation on biodiversity and climate change
• The history and evolution of a specific sport or athletic event
• The benefits and challenges of alternative education models
• The science behind the human immune system and how vaccines work
• The impact of mass incarceration on communities and families
• The role of storytelling in preserving cultural heritage and traditions
• The importance of financial planning for retirement and old age
• The impact of urban agriculture on food security and community development

Choosing a Topic That Resonates With Your Audience

When selecting a topic for your informative speech, it’s important to consider your audience and what will resonate with them. Think about their interests, backgrounds, and knowledge levels, and choose a topic that will be both informative and engaging.

For example, if you’re speaking to a group of high school students, you may want to choose a topic that relates to their experiences or concerns, such as the impact of social media on mental health or the importance of financial literacy for young adults. If you’re speaking to a group of business professionals, you may want to focus on topics related to industry trends, leadership strategies, or emerging technologies.

By choosing a topic that resonates with your audience, you’ll be more likely to capture their attention and keep them engaged throughout your speech. And remember, even if you’re not an expert on the topic, you can still deliver an informative and engaging speech by doing your research and presenting the information in a clear and accessible way.

FAQs on Informative Speech Examples

What is an example of informative speech.

An example includes breaking down the impacts of climate change, detailing causes, effects, and potential solutions.

What are the 3 types of informative speeches?

The three main types are explanatory (breaks down complex topics), descriptive (paints a picture with words), and demonstrative (shows how to do something).

What are the 5 useful topics of an informative speech?

Top picks include technology advances, mental health awareness, environmental conservation efforts, cultural diversity appreciation, and breakthroughs in medical research.

What is an effective informative speech?

An effective one delivers clear info on a specific topic that educates listeners without overwhelming them. It’s well-researched and engaging.

Informative speech examples are everywhere, if you know where to look. From TED Talks to classroom lectures, there’s no shortage of inspiration for your next presentation. All you have to do is find a topic that lights your fire while engaging your audience.

Remember, a great informative speech is all about clarity, organization, and engagement. By following the tips and examples we’ve covered, you’ll be well on your way to delivering an informative speech that educates, enlightens, and leaves a lasting impression. So go ahead, pick your topic, and start crafting your own informative speech today!

• Last Updated: May 9, 2024

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Planning and Presenting an Informative Speech

In this guide, you can learn about the purposes and types of informative speeches, about writing and delivering informative speeches, and about the parts of informative speeches.

Purposes of Informative Speaking

Informative speaking offers you an opportunity to practice your researching, writing, organizing, and speaking skills. You will learn how to discover and present information clearly. If you take the time to thoroughly research and understand your topic, to create a clearly organized speech, and to practice an enthusiastic, dynamic style of delivery, you can be an effective "teacher" during your informative speech. Finally, you will get a chance to practice a type of speaking you will undoubtedly use later in your professional career.

The purpose of the informative speech is to provide interesting, useful, and unique information to your audience. By dedicating yourself to the goals of providing information and appealing to your audience, you can take a positive step toward succeeding in your efforts as an informative speaker.

Major Types of Informative Speeches

In this guide, we focus on informative speeches about:

These categories provide an effective method of organizing and evaluating informative speeches. Although they are not absolute, these categories provide a useful starting point for work on your speech.

In general, you will use four major types of informative speeches. While you can classify informative speeches many ways, the speech you deliver will fit into one of four major categories.

Speeches about Objects

Speeches about objects focus on things existing in the world. Objects include, among other things, people, places, animals, or products.

Because you are speaking under time constraints, you cannot discuss any topic in its entirety. Instead, limit your speech to a focused discussion of some aspect of your topic.

Some example topics for speeches about objects include: the Central Intelligence Agency, tombstones, surgical lasers, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the pituitary gland, and lemmings.

To focus these topics, you could give a speech about Franklin Delano Roosevelt and efforts to conceal how he suffered from polio while he was in office. Or, a speech about tombstones could focus on the creation and original designs of grave markers.

Speeches about Processes

Speeches about processes focus on patterns of action. One type of speech about processes, the demonstration speech, teaches people "how-to" perform a process. More frequently, however, you will use process speeches to explain a process in broader terms. This way, the audience is more likely to understand the importance or the context of the process.

A speech about how milk is pasteurized would not teach the audience how to milk cows. Rather, this speech could help audience members understand the process by making explicit connections between patterns of action (the pasteurization process) and outcomes (a safe milk supply).

Other examples of speeches about processes include: how the Internet works (not "how to work the Internet"), how to construct a good informative speech, and how to research the job market. As with any speech, be sure to limit your discussion to information you can explain clearly and completely within time constraints.

Speeches about Events

Speeches about events focus on things that happened, are happening, or will happen. When speaking about an event, remember to relate the topic to your audience. A speech chronicling history is informative, but you should adapt the information to your audience and provide them with some way to use the information. As always, limit your focus to those aspects of an event that can be adequately discussed within the time limitations of your assignment.

Examples of speeches about events include: the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington, Groundhog's Day, the Battle of the Bulge, the World Series, and the 2000 Presidential Elections.

Speeches about Concepts

Speeches about concepts focus on beliefs, ideas, and theories. While speeches about objects, processes, and events are fairly concrete, speeches about concepts are more abstract. Take care to be clear and understandable when creating and presenting a speech about a concept. When selecting a concept, remember you are crafting an informative speech. Often, speeches about concepts take on a persuasive tone. Focus your efforts toward providing unbiased information and refrain from making arguments. Because concepts can be vague and involved, limit your speech to aspects that can be readily explained and understood within the time limits.

Some examples of topics for concept speeches include: democracy, Taoism, principles of feminism, the philosophy of non-violent protest, and the Big Bang theory.

Strategies for Selecting a Topic

In many cases, circumstances will dictate the topic of your speech. However, if the topic has not been assigned or if you are having difficulty figuring out how to frame your topic as an informative speech,the following may be useful.

Begin by thinking of your interests. If you have always loved art, contemplate possible topics dealing with famous artists, art works, or different types of art. If you are employed, think of aspects of your job or aspects of your employer's business that would be interesting to talk about. While you cannot substitute personal experience for detailed research, your own experience can supplement your research and add vitality to your presentation. Choose one of the items below to learn more about selecting a topic.

Learn More about an Unfamiliar Topic

You may benefit more by selecting an unfamiliar topic that interests you. You can challenge yourself by choosing a topic you'd like to learn about and to help others understand it. If the Buddhist religion has always been an interesting and mysterious topic to you, research the topic and create a speech that offers an understandable introduction to the religion. Remember to adapt Buddhism to your audience and tell them why you think this information is useful to them. By taking this approach, you can learn something new and learn how to synthesize new information for your audience.

Think about Previous Classes

You might find a topic by thinking of classes you have taken. Think back to concepts covered in those classes and consider whether they would serve as unique, interesting, and enlightening topics for the informative speech. In astronomy, you learned about red giants. In history, you learned about Napoleon. In political science, you learned about The Federalist Papers. Past classes serve as rich resources for informative speech topics. If you make this choice, use your class notes and textbook as a starting point. To fully develop the content, you will need to do extensive research and perhaps even a few interviews.

Talk to Others

Topic selection does not have to be an individual effort. Spend time talking about potential topics with classmates or friends. This method can be extremely effective because other people can stimulate further ideas when you get stuck. When you use this method, always keep the basic requirements and the audience in mind. Just because you and your friend think home-brew is a great topic does not mean it will enthrall your audience or impress your instructor. While you talk with your classmates or friends, jot notes about potential topics and create a master list when you exhaust the possibilities. From this list, choose a topic with intellectual merit, originality, and potential to entertain while informing.

Framing a Thesis Statement

Once you settle on a topic, you need to frame a thesis statement. Framing a thesis statement allows you to narrow your topic, and in turns allows you to focus your research in this specific area, saving you time and trouble in the process.

Selecting a topic and focusing it into a thesis statement can be a difficult process. Fortunately, a number of useful strategies are available to you.

Thesis Statement Purpose

The thesis statement is crucial for clearly communicating your topic and purpose to the audience. Be sure to make the statement clear, concise, and easy to remember. Deliver it to the audience and use verbal and nonverbal illustrations to make it stand out.

Strategies For Framing a Thesis Statement

Focus on a specific aspect of your topic and phrase the thesis statement in one clear, concise, complete sentence, focusing on the audience. This sentence sets a goal for the speech. For example, in a speech about art, the thesis statement might be: "The purpose of this speech is to inform my audience about the early works of Vincent van Gogh." This statement establishes that the speech will inform the audience about the early works of one great artist. The thesis statement is worded conversationally and included in the delivery of the speech.

Thesis Statement and Audience

The thesis appears in the introduction of the speech so that the audience immediately realizes the speaker's topic and goal. Whatever the topic may be, you should attempt to create a clear, focused thesis statement that stands out and could be repeated by every member of your audience. It is important to refer to the audience in the thesis statement; when you look back at the thesis for direction, or when the audience hears the thesis, it should be clear that the most important goal of your speech is to inform the audience about your topic. While the focus and pressure will be on you as a speaker, you should always remember that the audience is the reason for presenting a public speech.

Avoid being too trivial or basic for the average audience member. At the same time, avoid being too technical for the average audience member. Be sure to use specific, concrete terms that clearly establish the focus of your speech.

Thesis Statement and Delivery

When creating the thesis statement, be sure to use a full sentence and frame that sentence as a statement, not as a question. The full sentence, "The purpose of this speech is to inform my audience about the early works of Vincent van Gogh," provides clear direction for the speech, whereas the fragment "van Gogh" says very little about the purpose of the speech. Similarly, the question "Who was Vincent van Gogh?" does not adequately indicate the direction the speech will take or what the speaker hopes to accomplish.

If you limit your thesis statement to one distinct aspect of the larger topic, you are more likely to be understood and to meet the time constraints.

Researching Your Topic

As you begin to work on your informative speech, you will find that you need to gather additional information. Your instructor will most likely require that you locate relevant materials in the library and cite those materials in your speech. In this section, we discuss the process of researching your topic and thesis.

Conducting research for a major informative speech can be a daunting task. In this section, we discuss a number of strategies and techniques that you can use to gather and organize source materials for your speech.

Gathering Materials

Gathering materials can be a daunting task. You may want to do some research before you choose a topic. Once you have a topic, you have many options for finding information. You can conduct interviews, write or call for information from a clearinghouse or public relations office, and consult books, magazines, journals, newspapers, television and radio programs, and government documents. The library will probably be your primary source of information. You can use many of the libraries databases or talk to a reference librarian to learn how to conduct efficient research.

Taking Notes

While doing your research, you may want to carry notecards. When you come across a useful passage, copy the source and the information onto the notecard or copy and paste the information. You should maintain a working bibliography as you research so you always know which sources you have consulted and so the process of writing citations into the speech and creating the bibliography will be easier. You'll need to determine what information-recording strategies work best for you. Talk to other students, instructors, and librarians to get tips on conducting efficient research. Spend time refining your system and you will soon be able to focus on the information instead of the record-keeping tasks.

Citing Sources Within Your Speech

Consult with your instructor to determine how much research/source information should be included in your speech. Realize that a source citation within your speech is defined as a reference to or quotation from material you have gathered during your research and an acknowledgement of the source. For example, within your speech you might say: "As John W. Bobbitt said in the December 22, 1993, edition of the Denver Post , 'Ouch!'" In this case, you have included a direct quotation and provided the source of the quotation. If you do not quote someone, you might say: "After the first week of the 1995 baseball season, attendance was down 13.5% from 1994. This statistic appeared in the May 7, 1995, edition of the Denver Post ." Whatever the case, whenever you use someone else's ideas, thoughts, or words, you must provide a source citation to give proper credit to the creator of the information. Failure to cite sources can be interpreted as plagiarism which is a serious offense. Upon review of the specific case, plagiarism can result in failure of the assignment, the course, or even dismissal from the University. Take care to cite your sources and give credit where it is due.

Creating Your Bibliography

As with all aspects of your speech, be sure to check with your instructor to get specific details about the assignment.

Generally, the bibliography includes only those sources you cited during the speech. Don't pad the bibliography with every source you read, saw on the shelf, or heard of from friends. When you create the bibliography, you should simply go through your complete sentence outline and list each source you cite. This is also a good way to check if you have included enough reference material within the speech. You will need to alphabetize the bibiography by authors last name and include the following information: author's name, article title, publication title, volume, date, page number(s). You may need to include additional information; you need to talk with your instructor to confirm the required bibliographical format.

Some Cautions

When doing research, use caution in choosing your sources. You need to determine which sources are more credible than others and attempt to use a wide variety of materials. The broader the scope of your research, the more impressive and believable your information. You should draw from different sources (e.g., a variety of magazines-- Time, Newsweek, US News & World Report, National Review, Mother Jones ) as well as different types of sources (i.e., use interviews, newspapers, periodicals, and books instead of just newspapers). The greater your variety, the more apparent your hard work and effort will be. Solid research skills result in increased credibility and effectiveness for the speaker.

Structuring an Informative Speech

Typically, informative speeches have three parts:

Introduction

In this section, we discuss the three parts of an informative speech, calling attention to specific elements that can enhance the effectiveness of your speech. As a speaker, you will want to create a clear structure for your speech. In this section, you will find discussions of the major parts of the informative speech.

The introduction sets the tone of the entire speech. The introduction should be brief and to-the-point as it accomplishes these several important tasks. Typically, there are six main components of an effective introduction:

Attention Getters

Thesis statement, audience adaptation, credibility statement, transition to the body.

As in any social situation, your audience makes strong assumptions about you during the first eight or ten seconds of your speech. For this reason, you need to start solidly and launch the topic clearly. Focus your efforts on completing these tasks and moving on to the real information (the body) of the speech. Typically, there are six main components of an effective introduction. These tasks do not have to be handled in this order, but this layout often yields the best results.

The attention-getter is designed to intrigue the audience members and to motivate them to listen attentively for the next several minutes. There are infinite possibilities for attention-getting devices. Some of the more common devices include using a story, a rhetorical question, or a quotation. While any of these devices can be effective, it is important for you to spend time strategizing, creating, and practicing the attention-getter.

Most importantly, an attention-getter should create curiosity in the minds of your listeners and convince them that the speech will be interesting and useful. The wording of your attention-getter should be refined and practiced. Be sure to consider the mood/tone of your speech; determine the appropriateness of humor, emotion, aggressiveness, etc. Not only should the words get the audiences attention, but your delivery should be smooth and confident to let the audience know that you are a skilled speaker who is prepared for this speech.

The crowd was wild. The music was booming. The sun was shining. The cash registers were ringing.

This story-like re-creation of the scene at a Farm Aid concert serves to engage the audience and causes them to think about the situation you are describing. Touching stories or stories that make audience members feel involved with the topic serve as good attention-getters. You should tell a story with feeling and deliver it directly to the audience instead of reading it off your notecards.

Example Text : One dark summer night in 1849, a young woman in her 20's left Bucktown, Maryland, and followed the North Star. What was her name? Harriet Tubman. She went back some 19 times to rescue her fellow slaves. And as James Blockson relates in a 1984 issue of National Geographic , by the end of her career, she had a $40,000.00 price on her head. This was quite a compliment from her enemies (Blockson 22).

Rhetorical Question

Rhetorical questions are questions designed to arouse curiosity without requiring an answer. Either the answer will be obvious, or if it isn't apparent, the question will arouse curiosity until the presentation provides the answer.

An example of a rhetorical question to gain the audiences attention for a speech about fly-fishing is, "Have you ever stood in a freezing river at 5 o'clock in the morning by choice?"

Example Text: Have you ever heard of a railroad with no tracks, with secret stations, and whose conductors were considered criminals?

A quotation from a famous person or from an expert on your topic can gain the attention of the audience. The use of a quotation immediately launches you into the speech and focuses the audience on your topic area. If it is from a well-known source, cite the author first. If the source is obscure, begin with the quote itself.

Example Text : "No day dawns for the slave, nor is it looked for. It is all night--night forever . . . ." (Pause) This quote was taken from Jermain Loguen, a fugitive who was the son of his Tennessee master and a slave woman.

Unusual Statement

Making a statement that is unusual to the ears of your listeners is another possibility for gaining their attention.

Example Text : "Follow the drinking gourd. That's what I said, friend, follow the drinking gourd." This phrase was used by slaves as a coded message to mean the Big Dipper, which revealed the North Star, and pointed toward freedom.

You might chose to use tasteful humor which relates to the topic as an effective way to attract the audience both to you and the subject at hand.

Example Text : "I'm feeling boxed in." [PAUSE] I'm not sure, but these may have been Henry "Box" Brown's very words after being placed on his head inside a box which measured 3 feet by 2 feet by 2 1\2 feet for what seemed to him like "an hour and a half." He was shipped by Adams Express to freedom in Philadelphia (Brown 60,92; Still 10).

Shocking Statistic

Another possibility to consider is the use of a factual statistic intended to grab your listener's attention. As you research the topic you've picked, keep your eyes open for statistics that will have impact.

Example Text : Today, John Elway's talents are worth millions, but in 1840 the price of a human life, a slave, was worth $1,000.00.

Example Text : Today I'd like to tell you about the Underground Railroad.

In your introduction, you need to adapt your speech to your audience. To keep audience members interested, tell them why your topic is important to them. To accomplish this task, you need to undertake audience analysis prior to creating the speech. Figure out who your audience members are, what things are important to them, what their biases may be, and what types of subjects/issues appeal to them. In the context of this class, some of your audience analysis is provided for you--most of your listeners are college students, so it is likely that they place some value on education, most of them are probably not bathing in money, and they live in Colorado. Consider these traits when you determine how to adapt to your audience.

As you research and write your speech, take note of references to issues that should be important to your audience. Include statements about aspects of your speech that you think will be of special interest to the audience in the introduction. By accomplishing this task, you give your listeners specific things with which they can identify. Audience adaptation will be included throughout the speech, but an effective introduction requires meaningful adaptation of the topic to the audience.

You need to find ways to get the members of your audience involved early in the speech. The following are some possible options to connect your speech to your audience:

Reference to the Occasion

Consider how the occasion itself might present an opportunity to heighten audience receptivity. Remind your listeners of an important date just passed or coming soon.

Example Text : This January will mark the 130th anniversary of a "giant interracial rally" organized by William Still which helped to end streetcar segregation in the city of Philadelphia (Katz i).

Reference to the Previous Speaker

Another possibility is to refer to a previous speaker to capitalize on the good will which already has been established or to build on the information presented.

Example Text : As Alice pointed out last week in her speech on the Olympic games of the ancient world, history can provide us with fascinating lessons.

The credibility statement establishes your qualifications as a speaker. You should come up with reasons why you are someone to listen to on this topic. Why do you have special knowledge or understanding of this topic? What can the audience learn from you that they couldn't learn from someone else? Credibility statements can refer to your extensive research on a topic, your life-long interest in an issue, your personal experience with a thing, or your desire to better the lives of your listeners by sifting through the topic and providing the crucial information.

Remember that Aristotle said that credibility, or ethos, consists of good sense, goodwill, and good moral character. Create the feeling that you possess these qualities by creatively stating that you are well-educated about the topic (good sense), that you want to help each member of the audience (goodwill), and that you are a decent person who can be trusted (good moral character). Once you establish your credibility, the audience is more likely to listen to you as something of an expert and to consider what you say to be the truth. It is often effective to include further references to your credibility throughout the speech by subtly referring to the traits mentioned above.

Show your listeners that you are qualified to speak by making a specific reference to a helpful resource. This is one way to demonstrate competence.

Example Text : In doing research for this topic, I came across an account written by one of these heroes that has deepened my understanding of the institution of slavery. Frederick Douglass', My Bondage and My Freedom, is the account of a man whose master's kindness made his slavery only more unbearable.

Your listeners want to believe that you have their best interests in mind. In the case of an informative speech, it is enough to assure them that this will be an interesting speech and that you, yourself, are enthusiastic about the topic.

Example Text : I hope you'll enjoy hearing about the heroism of the Underground Railroad as much as I have enjoyed preparing for this speech.

Preview the Main Points

The preview informs the audience about the speech's main points. You should preview every main body point and identify each as a separate piece of the body. The purpose of this preview is to let the audience members prepare themselves for the flow of the speech; therefore, you should word the preview clearly and concisely. Attempt to use parallel structure for each part of the preview and avoid delving into the main point; simply tell the audience what the main point will be about in general.

Use the preview to briefly establish your structure and then move on. Let the audience get a taste of how you will divide the topic and fulfill the thesis and then move on. This important tool will reinforce the information in the minds of your listeners. Here are two examples of a preview:

Simply identify the main points of the speech. Cover them in the same order that they will appear in the body of the presentation.

For example, the preview for a speech about kites organized topically might take this form: "First, I will inform you about the invention of the kite. Then, I will explain the evolution of the kite. Third, I will introduce you to the different types of kites. Finally, I will inform you about various uses for kites." Notice that this preview avoids digressions (e.g., listing the various uses for kites); you will take care of the deeper information within the body of the speech.

Example Text : I'll tell you about motivations and means of escape employed by fugitive slaves.

Chronological

For example, the preview for a speech about the Pony Express organized chronologically might take this form: "I'll talk about the Pony Express in three parts. First, its origins, second, its heyday, and third, how it came to an end." Notice that this preview avoids digressions (e.g., listing the reasons why the Pony Express came to an end); you will cover the deeper information within the body of the speech.

Example Text : I'll talk about it in three parts. First, its origins, second, its heyday, and third, how it came to an end.

After you accomplish the first five components of the introduction, you should make a clean transition to the body of the speech. Use this transition to signal a change and prepare the audience to begin processing specific topical information. You should round out the introduction, reinforce the excitement and interest that you created in the audience during the introduction, and slide into the first main body point.

Strategic organization helps increase the clarity and effectiveness of your speech. Four key issues are discussed in this section:

Organizational Patterns

Connective devices, references to outside research.

The body contains the bulk of information in your speech and needs to be clearly organized. Without clear organization, the audience will probably forget your information, main points, perhaps even your thesis. Some simple strategies will help you create a clear, memorable speech. Below are the four key issues used in organizing a speech.

Once you settle on a topic, you should decide which aspects of that topic are of greatest importance for your speech. These aspects become your main points. While there is no rule about how many main points should appear in the body of the speech, most students go with three main points. You must have at least two main points; aside from that rule, you should select your main points based on the importance of the information and the time limitations. Be sure to include whatever information is necessary for the audience to understand your topic. Also, be sure to synthesize the information so it fits into the assigned time frame. As you choose your main points, try to give each point equal attention within the speech. If you pick three main points, each point should take up roughly one-third of the body section of your speech.

There are four basic patterns of organization for an informative speech.

• Chronological order
• Spatial order
• Causal order
• Topical order

There are four basic patterns of organization for an informative speech. You can choose any of these patterns based on which pattern serves the needs of your speech.

Chronological Order

A speech organized chronologically has main points oriented toward time. For example, a speech about the Farm Aid benefit concert could have main points organized chronologically. The first main point focuses on the creation of the event; the second main point focuses on the planning stages; the third point focuses on the actual performance/concert; and the fourth point focuses on donations and assistance that resulted from the entire process. In this format, you discuss main points in an order that could be followed on a calendar or a clock.

Spatial Order

A speech organized spatially has main points oriented toward space or a directional pattern. The Farm Aid speech's body could be organized in spatial order. The first main point discusses the New York branch of the organization; the second main point discusses the Midwest branch; the third main point discusses the California branch of Farm Aid. In this format, you discuss main points in an order that could be traced on a map.

Causal Order

A speech organized causally has main points oriented toward cause and effect. The main points of a Farm Aid speech organized causally could look like this: the first main point informs about problems on farms and the need for monetary assistance; the second main point discusses the creation and implementation of the Farm Aid program. In this format, you discuss main points in an order that alerts the audience to a problem or circumstance and then tells the audience what action resulted from the original circumstance.

Topical Order

A speech organized topically has main points organized more randomly by sub-topics. The Farm Aid speech could be organized topically: the first main point discusses Farm Aid administrators; the second main point discusses performers; the third main point discusses sponsors; the fourth main point discusses audiences. In this format, you discuss main points in a more random order that labels specific aspects of the topic and addresses them in separate categories. Most speeches that are not organized chronologically, spatially, or causally are organized topically.

Within the body of your speech, you need clear internal structure. Connectives are devices used to create a clear flow between ideas and points within the body of your speech--they serve to tie the speech together. There are four main types of connective devices:

Transitions

Internal previews, internal summaries.

Within the body of your speech, you need clear internal structure. Think of connectives as hooks and ladders for the audience to use when moving from point-to-point within the body of your speech. These devices help re-focus the minds of audience members and remind them of which main point your information is supporting. The four main types of connective devices are:

Transitions are brief statements that tell the audience to shift gears between ideas. Transitions serve as the glue that holds the speech together and allow the audience to predict where the next portion of the speech will go. For example, once you have previewed your main points and you want to move from the introduction to the body of the Farm Aid speech, you might say: "To gain an adequate understanding of the intricacies of this philanthropic group, we need to look at some specific information about Farm Aid. We'll begin by looking at the administrative branch of this massive fund-raising organization."

Internal previews are used to preview the parts of a main point. Internal previews are more focused than, but serve the same purpose as, the preview you will use in the introduction of the speech. For example, you might create an internal preview for the complex main point dealing with Farm Aid performers: "In examining the Farm Aid performers, we must acknowledge the presence of entertainers from different genres of music--country and western, rhythm and blues, rock, and pop." The internal preview provides specific information for the audience if a main point is complex or potentially confusing.

Internal summaries are the reverse of internal previews. Internal summaries restate specific parts of a main point. To internally summarize the main point dealing with Farm Aid performers, you might say: "You now know what types of people perform at the Farm Aid benefit concerts. The entertainers come from a wide range of musical genres--country and western, rhythm and blues, rock, and pop." When using both internal previews and internal summaries, be sure to stylize the language in each so you do not become redundant.

Signposts are brief statements that remind the audience where you are within the speech. If you have a long point, you may want to remind the audience of what main point you are on: "Continuing my discussion of Farm Aid performers . . . "

When organizing the body of your speech, you will integrate several references to your research. The purpose of the informative speech is to allow you and the audience to learn something new about a topic. Additionally, source citations add credibility to your ideas. If you know a lot about rock climbing and you cite several sources who confirm your knowledge, the audience is likely to see you as a credible speaker who provides ample support for ideas.

Without these references, your speech is more like a story or a chance for you to say a few things you know. To complete this assignment satisfactorily, you must use source citations. Consult your textbook and instructor for specific information on how much supporting material you should use and about the appropriate style for source citations.

While the conclusion should be brief and tight, it has a few specific tasks to accomplish:

Re-assert/Reinforce the Thesis

Review the main points, close effectively.

Take a deep breath! If you made it to the conclusion, you are on the brink of finishing. Below are the tasks you should complete in your conclusion:

When making the transition to the conclusion, attempt to make clear distinctions (verbally and nonverbally) that you are now wrapping up the information and providing final comments about the topic. Refer back to the thesis from the introduction with wording that calls the original thesis into memory. Assert that you have accomplished the goals of your thesis statement and create the feeling that audience members who actively considered your information are now equipped with an understanding of your topic. Reinforce whatever mood/tone you chose for the speech and attempt to create a big picture of the speech.

Within the conclusion, re-state the main points of the speech. Since you have used parallel wording for your main points in the introduction and body, don't break that consistency in the conclusion. Frame the review so the audience will be reminded of the preview and the developed discussion of each main point. After the review, you may want to create a statement about why those main points fulfilled the goals of the speech.

Finish strongly. When you close your speech, craft statements that reinforce the message and leave the audience with a clear feeling about what was accomplished with your speech. You might finalize the adaptation by discussing the benefits of listening to the speech and explaining what you think audience members can do with the information.

Remember to maintain an informative tone for this speech. You should not persuade about beliefs or positions; rather, you should persuade the audience that the speech was worthwhile and useful. For greatest effect, create a closing line or paragraph that is artistic and effective. Much like the attention-getter, the closing line needs to be refined and practiced. Your close should stick with the audience and leave them interested in your topic. Take time to work on writing the close well and attempt to memorize it so you can directly address the audience and leave them thinking of you as a well-prepared, confident speaker.

Outlining an Informative Speech

Two types of outlines can help you prepare to deliver your speech. The complete sentence outline provides a useful means of checking the organization and content of your speech. The speaking outline is an essential aid for delivering your speech. In this section, we discuss both types of outlines.

Two types of outlines can help you prepare to deliver your speech. The complete sentence outline provides a useful means of checking the organization and content of your speech. The speaking outline is an essential aid for delivering your speech.

The Complete Sentence Outline

A complete sentence outline may not be required for your presentation. The following information is useful, however, in helping you prepare your speech.

The complete sentence outline helps you organize your material and thoughts and it serves as an excellent copy for editing the speech. The complete sentence outline is just what it sounds like: an outline format including every complete sentence (not fragments or keywords) that will be delivered during your speech.

Writing the Outline

You should create headings for the introduction, body, and conclusion and clearly signal shifts between these main speech parts on the outline. Use standard outline format. For instance, you can use Roman numerals, letters, and numbers to label the parts of the outline. Organize the information so the major headings contain general information and the sub-headings become more specific as they descend. Think of the outline as a funnel: you should make broad, general claims at the top of each part of the outline and then tighten the information until you have exhausted the point. Do this with each section of the outline. Be sure to consult with your instructor about specific aspects of the outline and refer to your course book for further information and examples.

Using the Outline

If you use this outline as it is designed to be used, you will benefit from it. You should start the outline well before your speech day and give yourself plenty of time to revise it. Attempt to have the final, clean copies ready two or three days ahead of time, so you can spend a day or two before your speech working on delivery. Prepare the outline as if it were a final term paper.

The Speaking Outline

Depending upon the assignment and the instructor, you may use a speaking outline during your presentation. The following information will be helpful in preparing your speech through the use of a speaking outline.

This outline should be on notecards and should be a bare bones outline taken from the complete sentence outline. Think of the speaking outline as train tracks to guide you through the speech.

Many speakers find it helpful to highlight certain words/passages or to use different colors for different parts of the speech. You will probably want to write out long or cumbersome quotations along with your source citation. Many times, the hardest passages to learn are those you did not write but were spoken by someone else. Avoid the temptation to over-do the speaking outline; many speakers write too much on the cards and their grades suffer because they read from the cards.

The best strategy for becoming comfortable with a speaking outline is preparation. You should prepare well ahead of time and spend time working with the notecards and memorizing key sections of your speech (the introduction and conclusion, in particular). Try to become comfortable with the extemporaneous style of speaking. You should be able to look at a few keywords on your outline and deliver eloquent sentences because you are so familiar with your material. You should spend approximately 80% of your speech making eye-contact with your audience.

Delivering an Informative Speech

For many speakers, delivery is the most intimidating aspect of public speaking. Although there is no known cure for nervousness, you can make yourself much more comfortable by following a few basic delivery guidelines. In this section, we discuss those guidelines.

The Five-Step Method for Improving Delivery

• Read aloud your full-sentence outline. Listen to what you are saying and adjust your language to achieve a good, clear, simple sentence structure.
• Practice the speech repeatedly from the speaking outline. Become comfortable with your keywords to the point that what you say takes the form of an easy, natural conversation.
• Practice the speech aloud...rehearse it until you are confident you have mastered the ideas you want to present. Do not be concerned about "getting it just right." Once you know the content, you will find the way that is most comfortable for you.
• Practice in front of a mirror, tape record your practice, and/or present your speech to a friend. You are looking for feedback on rate of delivery, volume, pitch, non-verbal cues (gestures, card-usage, etc.), and eye-contact.
• Do a dress rehearsal of the speech under conditions as close as possible to those of the actual speech. Practice the speech a day or two before in a classroom. Be sure to incorporate as many elements as possible in the dress rehearsal...especially visual aids.

It should be clear that coping with anxiety over delivering a speech requires significant advanced preparation. The speech needs to be completed several days beforehand so that you can effectively employ this five-step plan.

Anderson, Thad, & Ron Tajchman. (1994). Informative Speaking. Writing@CSU . Colorado State University. https://writing.colostate.edu/guides/guide.cfm?guideid=52

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Informative Speech Outline – Template & Examples

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Informative speeches are used in our day-to-day lives without even noticing it, we use these speeches whenever we inform someone about a topic they didn’t have much knowledge on, whenever we give someone instructions on how to do something that they haven’t done before, whenever we tell someone about another person. Informative speaking is fairly new to the world of public speaking. Ancient philosophers like Aristotle, Cicero and, Quintilian envisioned public speaking as rhetoric, which is inherently persuasive.

In this article:

What is an Informative Speech?

Here are some ways to prepare for your speech, 1. develop support for your thesis, 2. write your introduction and conclusion, 3. deliver the speech, example of an informative speech outline.

An informative speech is designed to inform the audience about a certain topic of discussion and to provide more information. It is usually used to educate an audience on a particular topic of interest. The main goal of an informative speech is to provide enlightenment concerning a topic the audience knows nothing about. The main types of informative speeches are descriptive, explanatory, demonstrative, and definition speeches. The topics that are covered in an informative speech should help the audience understand the subject of interest better and help them remember what they learned later. The goal of an informative speech isn’t to persuade or sway the audience to the speaker’s point of view but instead to educate. The details need to be laid out to the audience so that they can make an educated decision or learn more about the subject that they are interested in.

It is important for the speaker to think about how they will present the information to the audience.  

Informative Speech Preparation

When you are preparing your informative speech, your preparation is the key to a successful speech. Being able to carry your information across to the audience without any misunderstanding or misinterpretation is very important.

1. Choose Your Topic

Pick a topic where you will explain something, help people understand a certain subject, demonstrate how to use something.

2. Make a Thesis Statement

Think about what point you are trying to get across, What is the topic that you want to educate your audience on? “I will explain…” “I will demonstrate how to…” “I will present these findings…”

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3. Create Points That Support Your Thesis

Take a moment to think about what would support your thesis and take a moment to write the points down on a sheet of paper. Then, take a moment to elaborate on those points and support them. 

Typical Organization for an Informative Speech:

How to Speech: 4 Key steps to doing what you are talking about.

Example: Step One: Clean the chicken of any unwanted feathers and giblets. Step Two: Spice the chicken and add stuffings. Step Three: Set oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Step Four: Place chicken in the oven and cook for an hour. 

History/ What Happened Speech: Points listing from the beginning to the latest events that you want to discuss in your speech.

Example: First, Harry met Sally. Second, Harry took Sally out to the roadhouse. Third, Harry and Sally started their courtship. Fourth, Harry and Sally moved in together and adopted a dog named Paco.

What is it Speech: Two to Four main points that discuss the key elements of your subject.

Example: First, there must be four wheels. Second, the car’s engine must be functioning. Third, the doors must be functional. Fourth, in order to get to your destination, the car’s steering has to be functional.

Explain it Speech: Two to Four main points that go through the key elements of the topic to explain it.

Example: Firstly, the car drives by the engine that powers it to move forward. Secondly, by the wheels that rotate in a forward or backward motion. Thirdly, the car’s engine is powered by gas which gives it the ability to function and essentially move the car.

Write down support for your points. Take some time to research your topic thoroughly. It is good to gather statistics, expert opinions, facts, and much more to make your speech unique and effective. 

There are three main types of support you should use to strengthen your speech: 

Interest supports.

Interest supports are used to increase the audience’s interest in the topic you are presenting.

• Personal experiences
• Interaction (e.g., Questions to the audience)

Evidence Supports

Evidence increases solid factual support in your speech. Examples of evidence supported are statistics, expert opinions, direct quotations. Studies, surveys, and facts.

Multimedia Aids

Multimedia aids such as posters with pictures and writing, DVDs, music or recordings on a stereo player, videotapes, and PowerPoint presentations.

Write your introduction. Provide a quick attention getter, state your thesis, elaborate on why it is important to you and your audience. It is expected that you preview your main points in the introduction by listing all your main points of discussion in your introduction.

Write your conclusion. Tie the speech together, build to a higher point and give it a sense of conclusion.

Practice your speech until you feel confident. Present your material as effectively as possible.

Informative Speech Outline

Creating an outline for an informative speech will help you organize your ideas and information to share with your audience in an effective manner. A well-planned outline will ensure that all the important information is included in your speech and ensure that you don’t wander off-topic.

Topic: This will be the title of your speech.

Purpose: To inform the audience about the topic.

Thesis: A theme statement that clearly describes the topic and points made in the presentation.

• Introduction
• Attention-grabbing opening statement
• Reason to listen to the speech
• Thesis statement
• Preview of points to be covered
• First main point
• First subpoint
• Supporting detail
• Second subpoint
• Second main point
• Third main point
• Restatement of main points
• Restatement of thesis
• Concluding remarks

When developing an outline, follow these rules to ensure a successful speech:

• Include one idea for every point, subpoint, or supporting detail.
• If there is one point, there must be a second point. If there is one supporting point, there should be a second supporting point. 
• Be consistent. If you are using full sentences to describe points and subpoints, use full sentences throughout the outline. Ensure that the verb tense is consistent throughout your outline as well.

Informative Speech Outline Examples

Topic: Adoption

Purpose: To inform people about adoption

Thesis: Adoption is the act of transferring parental rights and duties to someone other than the adopted person’s biological parents. The number of children adopted each year by American families is an estimate only.

• What do Edgar Allan Poe, John Lennon, Steve Jobs, and Eleanor Roosevelt all have in common? They were all adopted. Adoption is the act of transferring parental rights and duties to someone other than the adopted person’s biological parents. The adoption process is lengthy, expensive, and varies from country to country and even state to state. Not only does adoption vary from state to state, but sometimes the adoption process even varies within regions of a state.
• Many children get adopted every year. No one knows how adoption works.
• Adoption is a life-changing event, not just for the children involved but also for every single family made whole through adoption.
• Adoption processes vary from place to place. Types of adoption. Benefits and detriments to adoption. Many children who are adopted have experienced neglect and abuse.
• Adoption processes vary from place to place.
• The adoption process varies from state to state.
• It is more expensive in certain states than in others.
• The amount of paperwork throughout the process also depends on the state legislature.
• The adoption process varies within a state.
• In certain states, the adoption process is different from one region to the next.
• The process is different depending on the child protection laws set in each region inside a state.
• Types of adoption
• There are different types of adoption.
• There is step-parent or other family member adoption
• There is also adoption across state lines
• The more traditional adoption types are commonly known.
• There is private adoption which is most commonly found throughout the U.S.
• Adoption through foster care is a good thing to try for first-time adopters.
• The adoption process is expensive.
• There are a lot of upfront expenses.
• You are subjected to adoption agency fees to help you find a suitable match for your family.
• You also have to pay to adopt the child you want to adopt.
• There are a lot of big expenses in terms of the child too.
• Readying a living space to suit a child’s wants and needs can be expensive.
• Many new expenses come to light like healthcare, school, etc.
• Adoption processes vary from state to state. There are many different types of adoption. Adoption can be expensive, so you have to ensure that you are financially capable of caring for another human being.
• Adoption is the act of transferring parental rights and duties to someone other than the adopted person’s biological parents. The number of children adopted each year by American families is an estimate only.
• Adoption is an absolutely life-changing adventure, but everyone needs to be more educated before walking into a demanding process. There will be many emotions, expenses, and frustration, but it truly is worth it in the end.

Topic: Snakebites and how they’re treated

Purpose: To inform the audience of the dangers of snakes and how to respond to being bitten by a snake.

Thesis: Snakebites are dangerous and could ultimately lead to loss of life if not acted upon correctly.

• Imagine that you and your friend are walking in the woods, one sunny day in the fall when leaves cover the ground. Suddenly, your friend accidentally steps on a snake and gets bitten.
• Your friend’s chance of survival depends on your knowledge of acting promptly and taking proper measures in this situation.
• Today I will inform you about three common poisonous snakes seen in our country and explain to you the effects of a snake bite.
• Three poisonous snakes. Effects of the snake’s venom. How to administer first aid in the event of a snake bite.
• Three poisonous snakes
• There are two types of Rattlesnakes.
• William Pinkston: Responsible for more deaths in this country.
• Western diamondback: found from Texas to Eastern California.
• Copperhead and Cottonmouth
• Before striking, it opens its mouth wide to reveal its white inside.
• That’s how it got its name.
• The effects of snake venom on the human body
• Hepatotoxic
• Destroys blood vessels and red blood cells.
• Deadly and fatal to the victim.
• It affects the optic nerves in the eyes, causing blindness.
• It affects the nerves controlling the respiratory muscles, causing suffocation and eventually leading to death if left untreated.
• How to administer first aid in the event of a snake bite.
• Immobilize the bitten area slightly lower than the heart.
• Apply a flat constricting band 2-4 inches above the bite.
• With a sterile scalpel or knife, make one incision that connects the fang marks.
• Squeeze venom gently from the incision with your fingers for 30 minutes.
• Get the victim to the hospital as soon as possible.
• Snake bites are dangerous and could ultimately lead to loss of life if not acted upon correctly.
• Snake bites are dangerous and could ultimately lead to loss of life if they are not cared for properly, and the victim doesn’t get the necessary treatment in time.

Informative speeches have one main goal: to inform the audience of a specific topic of interest. For you to have an effective and successful informative speech, it is important to do your research and draw up an informative speech outline. The speech outline ensures that you do not wander off topic or get carried away with one point. 

If, on the other hand, you have to prepare persuasive speech, we have a guide on outlining and preparing for it the right way right here .

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Informative speech examples

4 types of informative speeches: topics and outlines

By:  Susan Dugdale  | Last modified: 08-05-2023

The primary purpose of an informative speech is to share useful and interesting, factual, and accurate information with the audience on a particular topic (issue), or subject.

Find out more about how to do that effectively here. 

What's on this page

The four different types of informative speeches, each with specific topic suggestions and an example informative speech outline: 

• description
• demonstration
• explanation

What is informative speech?

• The 7 key characteristics of an informative speech

We all speak to share information. We communicate knowledge of infinite variety all day, every day, in multiple settings.

Teachers in classrooms world-wide share information with their students.

Call centers problem solve for their callers.

News outlets (on and offline) issue reports on local, national and international events and issues, people of interest, weather, traffic flow around cities...

Health care professionals explain the treatment of addictive behaviors, the many impacts of long Covid, the development of new treatments...

Specialist research scientists share their findings with colleagues at conferences.

A pastry chef demonstrates how to make perfect classic croissants.

The range of informative public speaking is vast!  Some of us do it well. Some of us not so well - largely because we don't fully understand what's needed to present what we're sharing effectively. 

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The key characteristics of an informative speech

So, what are the key characteristics or essential elements, of this type of speech? There are seven.

1. Objectivity

The information you give is factual, neutral and objective. You make no attempt to persuade or push (advocate) a particular viewpoint.

Your personal opinions: feelings thoughts, or concerns about the topic you're presenting are not given. This is not a persuasive speech.

As an example,  here's an excerpt from a Statistics Department report on teenage births in New Zealand - the country I live in.

Although it's a potentially a firecracker subject: one arousing all sorts of emotional responses from outright condemnation of the girls and their babies to compassionate practical support, the article sticks to the facts. 

The headline reads: "Teenage births halved over last decade"

"The number of teenage women in New Zealand giving birth has more than halved over the last decade, Stats NZ said today.

There were 1,719 births registered to teenage women (those aged under 20 years) in 2022, accounting for around 1 in every 34 births that year. In 2012, there were 3,786 births registered to teenage mothers, accounting for around 1 in every 16 births that year."

For more see: Statistics Department NZ - Teenage births halved over last decade 

You present your information clearly and concisely, avoiding jargon or complex language that may confuse your audience.

The candidate gave a rousing stump speech , which included a couple of potentially inflammatory statements on known wedge issues .

If the audience is familiar with political jargon that sentence would be fine. If they're not, it would bewilder them. What is a 'stump speech' or a 'wedge issue' ?

Stump speech: a candidate's prepared speech or pitch that explains their core platform.

Wedge issue: a controversial political issue that divides members of opposing political parties or the same party.

For more see: political jargon examples

3. Relevance

The content shared in your speech should be relevant and valuable. It should meet your audience's needs or spark their curiosity.

If the audience members are vegetarians, they're highly unlikely to want to know anything about the varying cuts of beef and what they are used for.

However, the same audience might be very interested in finding out more about plant protein and readily available sources of it.  

4. Organizational pattern

The speech should have a logical sequential structure with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion.

If I am giving a demonstration speech on how to bake chocolate chip cookies, to be effective it needs to move through each of the necessary steps in the correct order.

Beginning with how to spoon the mixture on to the tray, or how to cool the cookies on a wire rack when you've taken them out of the oven, is confusing.   

5. Research and credibility

Informative speeches are based on thorough research and reliable sources to ensure accuracy and credibility. And sources need to be properly cited.

My friend told me, my mother says, or I saw it on Face Book is neither authoritative nor enough. ☺

Example: My speech is on literacy rates in USA. To be credible I need to quote and cite reputable sources.

• https://www.apmresearchlab.org/10x-adult-literacy
• https://www.thinkimpact.com/literacy-statistics/

6. Visual aids

Slides, charts, graphs, or props are frequently used to help the audience fully understand what they're being told.

For example, an informative speech on the rise and fall of a currency's daily exchange rate is made a great deal easier to follow and understand with graphs or charts illustrating the key points.

Or for a biographical speech, photos of the person being talked about will help hold the attention of your audience.  

7. Effective delivery

To be effective your speech needs to be delivered in a way that captures and hold the audience's attention. That means all aspects of it have been rehearsed or practiced. 

If you're demonstrating, you've gone through every step to ensure you have the flow of material right.

If you're using props (visual aids) of any sort you've made sure they work. Can they be seen easily? Do they clearly illustrate the point you're making?

Is your use of the stage (or your speaking space) good? Does your body language align with your material? Can your voice be heard? Are you speaking clearly? 

Pulling together a script and the props you're going to use is only part of the task of giving a speech. Working on and refining delivery completes it.

To give a successful speech each of these seven aspects needs to be fine-tuned: to hook your audience's interest, to match their knowledge level, your topic, your speech purpose and, fit within the time constraints you've been given.

Types of informative speeches

There are four types of informative speeches: definition, description, explanation and demonstration. A speech may use one, or a mix of them.

1. Informing through definition 

An informative speech based on definition clearly, and concisely, explains a concept * , theory, or philosophy. The principal purpose is to inform the audience, so they understand the main aspects of the particular subject being talked about.

* Definition of concept from the Cambridge dictionary - an  abstract principle or idea 

Examples of topics for definition or concept speeches

A good topic could be:

• What is global warming?
• What are organics?
• What are the core beliefs of Christianity?
• What is loyalty?
• What is mental health?
• What is modern art? 
• What is freedom?
• What is beauty?
• What is education?
• What are economics?
• What is popular culture?

These are very broad topic areas- each containing multiple subtopics, any of which could become the subject of a speech in its own right. 

Example outline for a definition or concept informative speech

Speech title:.

What is modern art?

- people who want an introductory overview of modern art to help them understand a little more about what they're looking at - to place artists and their work in context 

Specific purpose:

- to provide a broad outline/definition of modern art 

Modern art refers to a broad and diverse artistic movement that emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and continued to develop throughout the 20th century. 

It is characterized by a radical departure from traditional artistic styles and conventions and encompasses a wide range of artistic styles, techniques, and media, reflecting the cultural, social, and technological changes of the time.

Key characteristics or main points include:

• Experimentation and innovation : Modern artists sought to break away from established norms and explore new ways of representing the world. They experimented with different materials, techniques, and subjects, challenging the boundaries of traditional art forms.
• Abstraction : Modern art often features abstract and non-representational elements, moving away from realistic depictions. Artists like Wassily Kandinsky and Piet Mondrian explored pure abstraction, using shapes, lines, and colors to convey emotions and ideas.
• Expression of the inner self : Many modern artists aimed to convey their inner emotions, thoughts, and experiences through their work. This led to the development of various movements like Expressionism (See work of Evard Munch) and Surrealism (See work of Salvador Dali). 
• Rejection of academic conventions : Artists sought to break free from the rigid rules of academic art and embrace more individualistic and avant-garde approaches. For example: Claude Monet, (1840 -1926) Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Édouard Manet
• Influence of industrialization and urbanization : The rapid changes brought about by industrialization and urbanization in the 19th and 20th centuries influenced modern art. Artists were inspired by the dynamics of the modern world and its impact, often negative, on human life. 
• Multiple art movements : Modern art encompasses a wide array of movements and styles, for example Cubism, Futurism, Dadaism, Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art... Each movement brought its own unique perspective on art and society.
• Focus on concept and process : Modern artists began to emphasize the underlying ideas and concepts behind their work, giving greater importance to the creative process itself. 

Modern art should not be confused with contemporary art. While modern art refers specifically to the artistic developments of the early to mid-20th century, contemporary art encompasses art created by artists living and working in the present day. The transition from modern art to contemporary art happened around the late 20th century- 1950s onward.

References:

• mymodernmet.com/abstract artists
• differencess.com/expressionism vs surrealism
• lorimcnee.com/artists who died without recognition
• industrial revolution the influence on art
• mymodernmet.com/important art movements
• theartstory.org/conceptual-art
• Image: The Scream, Edvard Munch  

2. Informing through description

Informing through description means creating detailed, vivid verbal pictures for your audience to make what you're talking about come to life in the minds of those listening which in turn, will make your subject matter memorable.

Examples of good informative speech topics that could be used for descriptive speeches

• How I celebrate Christmas
• My first day at school
• My home town
• A time I feared for my life
• A time when I felt contented and happy

My first car

• An object I find fascinating: lotus shoes, bustles, corsets, panniers (These are historical items of women's clothing.)
• Working from home: the joys, the hazards
• My dream home, job, or holiday
• An event I'll never forget
• The most valuable or interesting thing I own
• Martin Luther King, Benjamin Franklin, President Lincoln... a notable person from the past or present, including someone you may know: a family member, friend or yourself, or a public figure (an artist, singer, dancer, writer, entrepreneur, inventor...)

Example outline for a descriptive informative speech

- to take the audience with me back to the time when we bought our first car and have them appreciate that car's impact on our lives 

Central idea:

Our Austin A50 was a much-loved car

About the car:

- English, Austin A50, 1950ish model - curvy, solid, a matron of cars

Background to purchase:

• 1974 - we were 20 and 21 - young and broke
• The car cost $200 - a lot of money for me at that time. I raided my piggy bank to buy it.
• It was a trade up from the back of the motorbike - now I could sit side by side and talk, rather than sit behind and poke my husband, when I wanted to say important things like, 'Slow down', or 'I'm cold'. The romance of a motorbike is short-lived in winter. It diminishes in direct proportion to the mountain of clothes needing to be put on before going anywhere - coats, scarf, boots, helmet... And this particular winter was bitter: characterized by almost impenetrable grey fog and heavy frosts. It was so cold the insides of windows of the old house we lived in iced up.
• It was tri-colored - none of them dominating - bright orange on the bonnet, sky blue on the rear doors and the roof, and matt black on the front doors and the boot. (Bonus - no one would ever steal it - far too easily identified!)
• The chrome flying A proudly rode the bonnet.
• The boot, (trunk lid) was detachable. It came off - why I can't remember. But it needed to be opened to fill the tank, so it meant lifting it off at the petrol station and leaning it up against the boot while the tank filled, and then replacing it when done.
• There were bench seats upholstered in grey leather (dry and cracked) front and back with wide arm rests that folded down.
• The windows wound up and down manually and, in the rear, there were triangle shaped opening quarter-windows.
• The mouse-colored lining that had been on the doors and roof was worn, torn and in some patches completely missing. Dust poured in through the crevices when we drove on the metal roads that were common where we lived.
• It had a column gear change - 4 gears, a heater that didn't function, proper old-school semaphore trafficators indicators that flicked out from the top of the door pillars and blinked orange, a clutch that needed a strong push to get it down, an accelerator pedal that was slow to pick up and a top speed of around 50 mph. 

Impact/benefits:

We called her Prudence. We loved, and remember, her fondly because:

• I was taught to drive in her - an unforgettable experience. I won the bunny hopping record learning to coordinate releasing the clutch and pressing down on the accelerator. Additionally, on metal roads, I found you needed to slow before taking corners. Sliding on two wheels felt precarious. The bump back down to four was a relief.  
• We did not arrive places having to disrobe - take off layers of protective clobber.
• We could talk to each without shouting and NOW our road trips had a soundtrack - a large black portable battery driven tape player sat on the back parcel shelf blasting out a curious mix of Ry Cooder, Bach, Mozart's Flute Concerto, Janice Joplin... His choice. My choice. Bliss.
• My father-in-law suggested we park it down the street rather than directly outside his house when we visited. To him Prudence was one eccentricity too many! An embarrassment in front of the neighbors. ☺
• austinmemories.com/styled-33/styled-39/index.html
• wikipedia.org/Austin_Cambridge
• archive.org/1956-advertisement-for-austin-a-50

3. Informing through demonstration

Informing through demonstration means sharing verbal directions about how to do a specific task: fix, or make, something while also physically showing the steps, in a specific chronological order.

These are the classic 'show-n-tell', 'how to' or process speeches.

Examples of process speech topics:

• How to bake chocolate chip cookies
• How to use CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) correctly
• How to prepare and plant a tub of vegetables or flowers
• How to read a topographic map
• How to make a tik-tok reel
• How to knit a hat

How to brainstorm material for a speech

For literally  100s more demonstration topic ideas

A demonstrative informative speech outline example

To demonstrate the brainstorming process and to provide practical strategies (helpful tips) for freeing and speeding up the generation of ideas

Main ideas:

Understanding brainstorming - explanation of what brainstorming is and its benefits

Preparing for brainstorming - the starting point - stating the problem or topic that needs brainstorming, working in a comfortable place free from distractions, encouraging open-mindedness and suspension of judgment.

Techniques for brainstorming : (Show and tell on either white board or with large sheets of paper that everyone can see) mind mapping, and free writing. Take topic ideas from audience to use.

Example : notes for maid of honor speech for sister

Benefits : Demonstrate how mind maps can help visually organize thoughts and connections, how free writing allows ideas to flow without stopping to judge them

Encourages quantity over quality - lots of ideas - more to choose from. May generate something you'd never have thought of otherwise.

Select, refine, develop (show and tell) 

For more see: brainstorm examples

4. Informing through explanation 

Informing through explanation is explaining or sharing how something works, came to be, or why something happened, for example historical events like the Civil War in the United States. The speech is made stronger through the use of visuals - images, charts of data and/or statistics.

Examples of explanatory informative speech topics

• How did the 1919 Treaty of Versailles contribute to the outbreak of World War Two?
• What led to The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865)?
• Why is there an increase in type two diabetes and problems associated with obesity in first world countries, for example, in UK and USA?
• How do lungs work?
• What causes heart disease?
• How electric vehicles work?   
• What caused the Salem witch trials?
• How does gravitation work?
• How are rainbows formed?
• Why do we pay taxes?
• What is cyberbullying? Why is it increasing?

Example explanatory informative speech outline

The Treaty of Versailles: how did it contribute to the outbreak of World War Two

- to explain how the Treaty of Versailles (1919) was a significant causal factor leading up World War two

Central ideas:

Historical context : World War One, 'the war to end all wars' ended in 1918. The Allied Powers: USA, UK, France, Italy and Japan, met in Paris at the Paris Peace Conference 1919 to work out the details and consequences of the Treaty of Versailles, which would impact the defeated Central Powers, principally Germany. 

These included:

• territorial boundary changes which stripped Germany of land in Europe, and established new nations - e.g. Poland and Czechoslovakia
• military restrictions - the disarmament of the German military, restrictions on weapons and technology, demilitarization of the Rhineland
• reparations - demands that they were unable to meet, plus being forced to accept a "war guilt" clause (Article 231) had an enormous impact, economically and psychologically. The country plunged into deep recession - albeit along with many other countries. (The Great Depression 1929-1939 which ended with the beginning of World War Two.)

The League of Nations - The League of Nations was an international diplomatic group developed after World War I as a way to solve disputes between countries before they erupted into open warfare. Despite being active in its set up, USA refused to join it - a stance that weakened its effectiveness.

Controversies within Germany: Public anger and resentment, plus political instability as result of reparations, territory loss and economic hardships

Controversies with Treaty partners: The Treaty's perceived fairness and effectiveness: Italy and Japan felt their settlements were inadequate compared to what had been taken by UK, USA and France.

The rise of 'isms'   Simmering discontent eventually emerged as the rise of Fascism in Italy, Nazism in Germany and Statism (a mix of nationalism, militarism and “state capitalism”) in Japan.

Expansionist Nationalism Spread of expansionist nationalism - a state's right to increase its borders because it is superior in all ways. Therefore, Hitler was 'right' to take back what had previously been regarded as German territory (Czechoslovakia and Austria), and to go after more, all the while goading the Allied Powers to act. When his armies went into Poland, Britain declared war against Germany - 21 years after the end of the last.

• history.com/treaty-of-versailles-world-war-ii-guilt-effects
• tinyurl.com/Treaty-of-Versailles
• Image:  tinyurl.com/signing-Treaty-of-Versailles

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14 Informative Speeches

Speeches to Educate, Explain, or Describe

In this chapter . . .

In this chapter we examine our first type of public speech, the informative speech. This is used in lectures, briefings, and anytime you want to transmit fact-based information to an audience. We cover what makes an informative speech unique, the types of informative speeches, and how to construct this type of speech.

What is an informative Speech? Defining what an informative speech is can be both straight-forward and somewhat tricky at the same time. Very simply, an informative speech can first be defined as a speech based entirely and exclusively on facts. An informative speech conveys knowledge, a task that every person engages in every day in some form or another. Whether giving someone who is lost driving directions, explaining the specials of the day as a server, or describing the plot of a movie to friends, people engage in forms of informative speaking daily.

An informative speech does not attempt to convince the audience that one thing is better than another. It does not advocate a course of action or incorporate opinion as its basis. This can be the tricky part of developing an informative speech because some opinion statements sound like facts (since they are generally agreed upon by many people) but are really opinions.

For example, in an informative speech on George Washington, you might want to say, “George Washington was one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States.” While this statement may be agreed upon by many people, it’s not irrefutable, meaning someone could argue against this claim. However, you could include this statement in an informative speech if you present the opinion from a reputable source: “Ron Chernow, in his 2011 best-selling biography of George Washington, describes the first president as one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States.” That is an acceptable way of presenting an opinion within the framework of a factual speech. While you may not be able to avoid opinion, you don’t want your central idea, your main points, and most of your supporting material to be opinion or argument in an informative speech.

Additionally, you should never take sides on an issue in an informative speech, nor should you “spin” the facts to influence the opinions of the listeners. Even if you are informing the audience about differences in views on controversial topics, you should simply and clearly explain the issues.

This doesn’t mean that an informative speech will have no effect on the audience. An audience can learn things from an informative speech that will affect what they do or how they think about something—that’s their choice. Your only focus is to provide the clearest and most factual information you can.

Types of Informative Speeches

While the topics to choose from for informative speeches are nearly limitless, they can be categorized according to five broad categories based on the primary goal of the speech. Understanding the type of informative speech that you will be giving can help you to figure out the best way to research and speechwriting.

Type 1: History

An informative speech on the history or development of something. Your focus is to explain to an audience how something came into existence. History speeches can be about objects, places, ideas, or even events. For example, imagine your informative speech was on the history of the football (the object, not the game). Someone at some point in history was the first to develop what is considered the modern football. Who was it? What was it originally made of? How did it evolve into the football that is used by the NFL today? For the history of a place, like a university, you would describe the specific year it opened, the number of students who were initially enrolled, and how it got its name. It’s also possible to provide the history of an idea, like “democracy.” By explaining the civilizations and cultures that adopted forms of democracy throughout history, it’s possible to provide an audience with a better understanding of how the idea has been shaped into what it has become today.

Type 2: Biography

A biographical speech is similar to a history one, but in this case the subject is a person, whether living or deceased. As with histories of objects, places, or ideas, there are specific and irrefutable facts that provide the details of someone’s life. Your focus is to tell the audience about someone’s life.

Type 3: Processes

Process speeches are informative speeches that explain how to do something or how something is achieved. These speeches require you to provide steps that will help your audience understand how to accomplish a specific task or process. We see examples of “how-to” presentations frequently—especially on YouTube. There’s a second type of process speech that focuses not on how the audience can achieve a result, but on how a process is achieved. The goal is understanding of a process instead of the performance of a process. After a speech on how to change a car tire, for example, the audience members could probably do it (they might not want to, but they would know the steps). However, after a speech on how a bill goes through Congress, the audience would understand this important part of democracy but not be ready to serve in Congress. Either way, if your speech aims at teaching the audience how something works, it’s a process speech.

Type 4: Ideas and Concepts

It is possible to have an informative speech about an idea or concept where your primary focus isn’t on the history of the idea, but how it exists now. In the examples above, we have seen two types of speeches about democracy: democracy as the topic of a speech that focuses on its history and democracy in a speech that focuses on a process in democratic legislation. In this fourth type of informative speech, you could focus on the concept of democracy as interpreted, for example, in three different countries. Your speech is neither about history nor about process but focuses on the definition itself.

Type 5: General

Sometimes an informative speech topic doesn’t lend itself to a focus on history, process, or concept. In those cases, the topics tend to fall into the general category of informative speeches. The focus in this type of informative speech is determined by the topic. For example, imagine a speech about customs to know when traveling in Japan. This isn’t a speech about the history of anime , nor a biography of a former emperor. It’s not about the process of planning a trip to Japan, nor is it about the concept of kawaii . Customs of Japan falls into the “general” type of informative speech.

Tips for Informational Speeches

Use the type of speech to determine the structure.

Identifying the type of informative speech being given can help in several ways (conducting research, writing the introduction and conclusion), but the biggest benefit is that the type of informative speech being given will help determine the organizational pattern that is best for a speech.

For example, a How-To speech must be in chronological order (step 1, step 2, step 3). Similarly, most speeches that focus on providing history or biography will be organized chronologically, but not always. It makes sense to use chronology to explain the history of the football from the moment it was first developed to where it’s today, but for an informative speech on Benjamin Franklin a student might choose a topical pattern (idea 1, idea 2, idea 3) as their three main points: 1) His time as a printer, 2) His time as an inventor, 3) His time as a diplomat. These main points are not in strict chronological order because Franklin was a printer, inventor, and diplomat at the same time during periods of his whole life. However, this example would still be one way to inform an audience about him without using the chronological organizational pattern.

As for general informative speeches, since the topics that can be included in this category are so diverse and cover a range of possible subject matter, the way they are organized will be varied as well and may use chronological, spatial, or topical structures. (Refer to Chapter x on speech structure and organization).

Keep Your Topic Specific

One of the biggest and most common mistakes students make is pursuing a topic that is much too broad. Let’s consider the example of a student who proposes the topic “To inform my audience about the Civil War.” The Civil War was, conservatively speaking, four years long, resulted in over 750,000 casualties, and arguably changed the course of human history. To think that it’s possible to cover all of that in a speech is unrealistic. Even a very experienced professor in American history would find it difficult to deliver a one-hour lecture that accomplished that goal.

The better approach in this case is to be as specific as possible. A revised specific purpose for this speech might be something like “To inform my audience about the Gettysburg Address.” This topic is much more compact (the Gettysburg Address is only a few minutes long) and doing research will be easier—although you will still find hundreds of sources on it. An even more specific topic would be “To inform my classmates of the specific places in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania that are considered haunted.”

Avoid Fake Informative Speech Topics

Sometimes students think that because something sounds like an informative speech topic, it’s one. This happens a lot with political issues that are usually partisan in nature. Some students may feel that the speech topic “To inform my audience why William Henry Harrison was a bad president” sounds factual, but really this is an opinion—in other words, it’s a fake informational speech because it’s a persuasive speech disguised as an informational speech. Similarly, a few topics that include conspiracy and paranormal subject matter are usually mistaken for good informative topics as well. It is common for a student to propose the topic “To inform my audience about the existence of extraterrestrials,” thinking it’s a good topic. After all, there is plenty of evidence to support the claim, right? There are pictures of unidentified objects in the sky that people claim are from outer space, there are people who claim to have seen extraterrestrials, and most powerful of all, there are people who say that they have been abducted by aliens and taken into space.

The problem here, as you have probably already guessed, is that these facts are not irrefutable. Not every single person who sees something unknown in the sky will agree it’s an alien spacecraft, and there can be little doubt that not everyone who claims to have been abducted by a UFO is telling the truth. This isn’t to say that you can’t still do an informative speech on alien sites. For example, two viable options are “To inform my audience about the SETI Project” or “To inform my audience of the origin of the Area 51 conspiracy.” However, these types of speeches can quickly devolve into opinion if you aren’t careful, which would then make them persuasive speeches. Even if you start by trying to be objective, unless you can present each side equally, it will end up becoming a persuasive speech. Additionally, when a speaker picks such a topic, it’s often because of a hidden desire to persuade the audience about them.

Be Selective about Content

Even if you have chosen a specific and focused topic, you must still make choices about what you can and cannot include. Writing an informative speech isn’t about dumping enormous amounts of information on your audience that you can only get to by speaking at breakneck speed. It’s about carefully choosing what to include, making it interesting and clear, and presenting it to your audience at a comfortable pace. What’s better: too much information that audiences can’t grasp or less information for audiences that hear every word? Regardless of the topic, you will never be able to cover everything that is known about your topic, so don’t try. Select the things that will best help the audience gain a general understanding of the topic that will interest them, and that they hopefully will find valuable.

Be Accurate, Clear, and Interesting

A good informative speech conveys accurate information to the audience clearly and keeps the listener interested in the topic. Achieving all three of these goals—accuracy, clarity, and interest—is the key to being an effective speaker. If information is inaccurate, incomplete, or unclear, it will be of limited usefulness to the audience.

Part of being accurate is making sure that your information is current. Even if you know a great deal about your topic or wrote a good paper on the topic in a high school course, you will need to verify the accuracy and completeness of what you know, especially if it’s medical or scientific information.

What defines “interesting?” In approaching the informative speech, you should keep in mind the good overall principle that the audience is asking, “what’s in it for me?” The audience is either consciously or unconsciously wondering “What in this topic for me? How can I use this information? Of what value is this speech content to me? Why should I listen to it?”

Keep in Mind Audience Diversity

Finally, remember that not everyone in your audience is the same, so an informative speech should be prepared with audience diversity in mind. If the information in a speech is too complex or too simplistic, it will not hold the interest of the listeners. Determining the right level of complexity can be hard. Audience analysis is one important way to do this (see Chapter 2). Do the members of your audience belong to different age groups? Did they all go to public schools in the United States, or are some of them international students? Are they all students majoring in the same subject, or is there a mixture of majors? Never assume that just because an audience is made up of students, they all share a knowledge set.

Learning how to give informative speeches will serve you well in your college career and your future work. Keep in mind the principles in this chapter but also those of the previous chapters: relating to the informational needs of the audience, using clear structure, and incorporating interesting and attention-getting supporting evidence.

Something to Think About

Here are three general topics for informative speeches. Write specific purposes for them and explain how you would answer the WIIFM question.

• Type 1 diabetes
• The psychological effects of using social media

Public Speaking as Performance Copyright © 2023 by Mechele Leon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

How to Write an Informative Speech in 12 Easy Steps

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Public speaking isn’t everyone’s forte. Many people panic when asked to give a speech, whether it’s about a person or on a specific subject.

However, this mustn’t be your story or experience. With proper guidance, you can beat the anxiety and become a master communicator. In this short article, we’ll guide you on how to write a winning informative speech for your targeted audience. Let’s delve into the main issue – the critical steps involved in crafting one!

From novice to orator: 12 simple steps to write an effective informative speech

Choose an interesting topic

Your topic can break or make your speech. Take your time and choose a subject that interests you and your audience. This way, you’ll get everyone involved from start to end. Your topic should be relevant and captivating. For example, talking about the advantages of farming in a local farmer meeting can’t be as impactful as discussing the latest farming techniques.

If you have trouble choosing an updated and relevant subject, you can seek assistance from friends, family, or professionals. Quick speech writing services like FastEssay also have teams of qualified experts in different fields to help you generate ideas. You can place an order with them and get feedback quickly.

Do your research

It’s boring listening to a clueless speaker. Always remember that no audience is stupid. There are always individuals who are more connected, learned, curious, or informed than you are. Respect them by carrying out thorough research before writing and delivering your speech. 

Strive to be ahead of the curve by reading the latest publications on your subject. It wouldn’t hurt to explore fringe or emerging issues in your topic as well.

Create a clear and concise thesis statement

A thesis statement is like a roadmap that guides your speech. It shows the audience your stand on the topic and what to expect, plus it guides your footsteps as you deliver the speech.

Don’t gamble with it because your audience will hold you accountable. Instead, give yourself enough time to write a thesis that resonates with you. Remember, your job is to inform your audience and persuade them to join you.

Adopt a clear outline

A good speech must have an introduction, body, and conclusion. There’s no shortcut to this. 

Know what you’ll include in each section and follow them in chronological order. If you write an informative speech outline that starts with a conclusion and ends with body points, it will be awkward. Stick to the basic structure whether delivering a formal or informal speech.

Start with an attention-grabbing intro

Your introduction can make you win or lose the audience. Some speakers use alarmist statements while others opt for utopian imaginations. Still, others prefer deafening silence, the kind that sends the entire crowd into eerie suspense. Whichever the technique, use it to grab your audience’s attention if you’re to deliver an engaging speech.

Support your points with evidence

We’re talking about an informative speech here, not public speaking at political rallies. While a politician can get away with anything through manipulation or cunning, you can’t do so when delivering informative speeches. You must provide logical points and support them with evidence. Your arguments must also flow and connect seamlessly.

Incorporate stories and anecdotes

It doesn’t matter how informative your speech is if it’s boring. We’ve seen people sleep during some of the most important speeches. This isn’t a unique problem.

However, good orators know when to introduce a short story, proper anecdote, or visual effect to awaken the audience. Give them something to laugh at, be excited about, or even frown upon. The objective is to keep them alert and engaged.

Use simple language

Your objective is to be understood, not revered. While using jargon can earn you respect in some instances, it’s often likely to backfire. In fact, many people consider the use of complex language a showoff. Don’t allow your audience to judge you in the pursuit of self-gratification. Make your speech memorable, but not by using big words.

Use emotional devices

Studies have shown that people respond better to emotions than anything else. So when you write an informative speech, incorporate vivid imagery and powerful metaphors that can deeply connect with the audience. A good example is to share a personal story that evokes people’s empathy. They’ll likely relate to it and get inspired.

Practice delivering your speech

Public speaking has numerous risks, especially when you’re doing it for the first time. For instance, you may expect a lively audience but end up with a dead one. You may plan for an hour’s speech and finish in 10 minutes, or tell a “funny” story that no one laughs at. That’s why it’s important to rehearse your speech before delivery. This helps improve your delivery and timing and creates various scenarios for countering negative responses.

Create a memorable conclusion

How you finish your speech is just as important as how you start it. The conclusion is an opportunity to reinforce your main points. You should treat it like the only thing your audience will remember; a punchline in a comedy show. To write a conclusion for an informative speech, include only your main points. If possible, reframe them in a new, exciting way.

Seek feedback

Real growth comes from small continuous improvements – the principle of Kaizen. You should seek feedback from reliable friends, relatives, and professionals to refine your speech and make it more effective.

The importance of writing an informative speech

Why write a good informative speech? There are many motivations for this:

To educate and inform the masses

To inspire and motivate

To elevate your status and authority on a subject

To help build credibility and trust

To stimulate critical thinking

To help raise awareness about important issues

To enhance communication skills, especially public speaking

It’s all about a solid thesis statement and a punchline

Writing a great informative speech can be both involving and demanding. However, with the right guidance, even novices can be successful.

The 12 steps and examples included in the article can be a good starting point. While the format is flexible, you should include a solid thesis statement and a powerful punchline for maximum impact.

Disclaimer: this article includes a paid product promotion.

Avoiding Clichés: How to Make Your Public Speech Professional and Memorable

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• Informative Speech
• Presentation
• Presentational Speaking
• Public Speaking
• Public Speaking Skills

Education Standards

Aasl 21st century learner standards 2007.

Learning Domain: Knowledge Sharing and Civic Engagement

Standard: Use writing and speaking skills to communicate new understandings effectively.

Standard: Demonstrate leadership and confidence by presenting ideas to others in both formal and informal situations.

Standard: Use knowledge and information skills and dispositions to engage in public conversation and debate around issues of common concern.

Standard: Contribute to the exchange of ideas within and beyond the learning community.

How to Write an Informative Speech

This module features a step-by-step process to create an informative speech. It provides concise instructions supported by topical learning resources (textbook chapters, short online articles, brief videos).

How to Create a Speech Your Audience Cares About

So, you've been tasked with creating an informative speech. How do you do that? Just follow these step-by-step instructions.

Step 1: Analyze Your Audience

Before you begin writing your speech, you should analyze the audience of that speech.  After all, every effective speech is crafted with it's real audience in mind.  When you tailor your speech to your real audience, you give yourself the best opportunity to meet your specific purpose - your goal for your audience.  When analyzing your audience, ask yourself these questions:

• Who will hear/see my message?  
• What are their backgrounds?  
• What do they have in common?  
• Where are their areas of difference?  
• What do they already know about my topic?
• What new information might they find useful?
• How can I connect my speech to my audience members' real lives?

The answers to these questions will help you write a speech that has maximum positive impact.  For even more techniques about connecting to your real audience, read the article  "Common Speaker Pitfalls"  by  Craig Valentine  in  Toastmasters Magazine.

How to Write the Body of Your Speech

Step 2: write your speech body.

"Wait, shouldn't I start with the introduction?" you might ask yourself.

No.  Not unless you are a fan of doing extra, repetitive, unnecessary work.  Are you?  I'm not. :)

While an introduction comes first in your speech (and your outline), you need to know what you're introducing before you can write it.  How can you introduce the content of your speech if you haven't written that content yet?  Sure, you can guess, but one of two things will likely happen:

• You'll guess wrong, and your introduction won't match your speech body when you finally write it.  Then you'll have to either fix it (creating extra work for you), or stick with a disjointed speech that is difficult for the audience to follow.  Neither of these are great options.
• You'll be so worried about making the mistake above that you will force the body of your speech to match the introduction, even when your initial plan isn't the most effective one.  Then, when you do a peer feedback activity in class, you'll get advice from a classmate in which s/he will recommend that you change the introduction and the speech body to make sense (which, again, is more extra work for you).

To Read: 

Save yourself the time and the hassle and write your speech body (approx. 80% of your speech content) first.  How do you do this?  Read  chapter 10, "Creating the Body of a Speech"  in Stand Up, Speak Out: The Ethics and Practice of Public Speaking.

How to Transition Between Your Main Points

You decided on the main points of your speech body.  Good!

You developed those main points with subpoints.  Excellent!

Those subpoints include some combination of examples, definitions, statistics, and testimony to help your audience understand your ideas.  Rock on!

Now you need to tie everything together so your speech body flows logically, which will help your audience follow your speech. Your textbook explained transitions in chapter 10 , but they can be a tricky concept to grasp without an example.  

To Watch: 

Watch this short student speaker video montage to clarify how presenters use transitions to help clarify the organization of their speech body:

Click here for captioned version

How to Write the Introduction to a Speech

You did it!  You wrote the speech body which means you completed about 80% of the speech writing process.  Nice work :)  Only a bit left to do.

Step 3: Write Your Introduction

Now that you have a speech body, you can introduce it to your audience.  Effective introductions intrigue and entice the audience into listening to your message.  They also lay out an organizational plan to help the audience follow your train of thought.  Effective introductions include five important elements to accomplish this goal:

• Attention-getter
• Purpose statement -  I tend to refer to this as a "topic statement"
• Establishment of credibility
• Audience connection
• Main idea preview -  I sometimes refer to this as a "thesis statement preview"

To learn about each of these elements, read  chapter 9 "Introductions Matter: How to Begin a Speech Effectively"  in Stand Up, Speak Out: The Ethics and Practice of Public Speaking.

How to Capture the Audience's Attention

The attention-getter is the most important part of the introduction because it convinces your audience to listen to the rest of your speech.  If you can't catch the audience's attention from the very beginning, getting them to listen to your message later in the speech will be extremely difficult.

Tips for success:

• The attention-getter requires a lot of creativity.  If you get stuck while trying to write it, move on to the easier elements in the intro (topic statement, thesis statement) then circle back around.
• Brainstorm by running through the list of attention-getting devices and consider how you might use them in your speech (ex: "What interesting brief story could I tell about my topic?"  "What thought-provoking question could I ask my audience relating to my topic?"  "What presentation aid could I show to illustrate my topic in a unique way?")
• Don't go with the first attention-getter you think of.  Write down a list of possible ideas (5 - 10) and give yourself time to analyze, refine, and improve them before you commit to one. 
• Don't be afraid to replace your attention-getter with a better one if you have an "aha" moment!

Want some examples of attention-getters?  

Watch this student-produced montage from a variety of public speeches: Click here for captioned version

How to Establish Your Credibility

In addition to convincing the audience to listen to your speech (the attention-getter), you also need to convince them to trust you and the information you're sharing with them.  One way you establish your credibility is nonverbal - how you dress, your posture, eye contact, etc.  Another way is verbal - tell your audience explicitly why they should believe you in a sentence or two in the introduction.

• Do you have personal experience  with your topic?  If so, briefly explain that experience.
• Did your research your topic using credible sources?  If so, briefly preview those.

You will continue to build your credibility throughout the speech body, but mentioning it in the introduction helps the audience trust you from the very beginning of your speech.  

Want to see how real speakers establish their credibility?  Check out this student speaker montage: Click here for captioned version

How to Write the Conclusion of a Speech

Step 4: write your conclusion.

The conclusion of your speech is the shortest part - around 5% - 10% of your total speech length.  Even though it's a small section, it's a powerful one because it helps you reinforce your message for your audience for lasting impact.  An effective conclusion has three specific elements:

Clearly signal the end of your speech by reviewing your topic

• Your textbook authors label this a thesis statement review
• Use a concluding statement at the very beginning of your conclusion.  Common concluding statements include "In conclusion..." "To close..." "Let's review" "To sum it up..." etc.  
• Then add in a reminder of your topic.  For example, "To review, today we learned how to create a natural deodorant from common kitchen products" 

Review your main points

• You may hear me call this a thesis review, because that's how I was trained.  
• I'm trying to switch to the phrasing "main point review" instead to reduce confusion.

End with a concluding device

• I often refer to this as a final thought or memorable ending.
• In a persuasive speech, I'm looking for a clear call to action.  

What are your options for concluding devices?  Read chapter 11, "Concluding with Power,"  in Stand Up, Speak Out: The Ethics and Practice of Public Speaking.

How to Choose the Right Concluding Device

Your concluding device (aka, final thought or memorable ending) is going to be different in an informative speech than it is for a persuasive speech.  

• In an informative speech, you'll leave your audience with a residual message.  You won't ask them to do anything, because doing something is inherently persuasive and thus out of line with your general and specific purpose.
• In a persuasive speech, you will provide a call to action.  

So what's the difference?  Read  the article "How to End a Speech" by Lisa B. Marshall  to find out.

That's it! You just wrote your informative speech. Congratulations :)

Now it's time to create a set of speaking notes, select your presentation aids, rehearse your speech, and present with confidence! Stay tuned for future modules which will cover these topics.

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Informative Speeches — Types, Topics, and Examples

What is an informative speech?

An informative speech uses descriptions, demonstrations, and strong detail to explain a person, place, or subject. An informative speech makes a complex topic easier to understand and focuses on delivering information, rather than providing a persuasive argument.

Types of informative speeches

The most common types of informative speeches are definition, explanation, description, and demonstration.

A definition speech explains a concept, theory, or philosophy about which the audience knows little. The purpose of the speech is to inform the audience so they understand the main aspects of the subject matter.

An explanatory speech presents information on the state of a given topic. The purpose is to provide a specific viewpoint on the chosen subject. Speakers typically incorporate a visual of data and/or statistics.

The speaker of a descriptive speech provides audiences with a detailed and vivid description of an activity, person, place, or object using elaborate imagery to make the subject matter memorable.

A demonstrative speech explains how to perform a particular task or carry out a process. These speeches often demonstrate the following:

How to do something

How to make something

How to fix something

How something works

How to write an informative speech

Regardless of the type, every informative speech should include an introduction, a hook, background information, a thesis, the main points, and a conclusion.

Introduction

An attention grabber or hook draws in the audience and sets the tone for the speech. The technique the speaker uses should reflect the subject matter in some way (i.e., if the topic is serious in nature, do not open with a joke). Therefore, when choosing an attention grabber, consider the following:

What’s the topic of the speech?

What’s the occasion?

Who’s the audience?

What’s the purpose of the speech?

Common Attention Grabbers (Hooks)

Ask a question that allows the audience to respond in a non-verbal way (e.g., a poll question where they can simply raise their hands) or ask a rhetorical question that makes the audience think of the topic in a certain way yet requires no response.

Incorporate a well-known quote that introduces the topic. Using the words of a celebrated individual gives credibility and authority to the information in the speech.

Offer a startling statement or information about the topic, which is typically done using data or statistics. The statement should surprise the audience in some way.

Provide a brief anecdote that relates to the topic in some way.

Present a “what if” scenario that connects to the subject matter of the speech.

Identify the importance of the speech’s topic.

Starting a speech with a humorous statement often makes the audience more comfortable with the speaker.

Include any background information pertinent to the topic that the audience needs to know to understand the speech in its entirety.

The thesis statement shares the central purpose of the speech.

Demonstrate

Preview the main ideas that will help accomplish the central purpose. Typically, informational speeches will have an average of three main ideas.

Body paragraphs

Apply the following to each main idea (body) :

Identify the main idea ( NOTE: The main points of a demonstration speech would be the individual steps.)

Provide evidence to support the main idea

Explain how the evidence supports the main idea/central purpose

Transition to the next main idea

Review or restate the thesis and the main points presented throughout the speech.

Much like the attention grabber, the closing statement should interest the audience. Some of the more common techniques include a challenge, a rhetorical question, or restating relevant information:

Provide the audience with a challenge or call to action to apply the presented information to real life.

Detail the benefit of the information.

Close with an anecdote or brief story that illustrates the main points.

Leave the audience with a rhetorical question to ponder after the speech has concluded.

Detail the relevance of the presented information.

Before speech writing, brainstorm a list of informative speech topic ideas. The right topic depends on the type of speech, but good topics can range from video games to disabilities and electric cars to healthcare and mental health.

Informative speech topics

Some common informative essay topics for each type of informational speech include the following:

Informative speech examples

The following list identifies famous informational speeches:

“Duties of American Citizenship” by Theodore Roosevelt

“Duty, Honor, Country” by General Douglas MacArthur

“Strength and Dignity” by Theodore Roosevelt

Explanation

“Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” by Patrick Henry

“The Decision to Go to the Moon” by John F. Kennedy

“We Shall Fight on the Beaches” by Winston Churchill

Description

“I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Pearl Harbor Address” by Franklin Delano Roosevelt

“Luckiest Man” by Lou Gehrig

Demonstration

The Way to Cook with Julia Child

This Old House with Bob Vila

Bill Nye the Science Guy with Bill Nye

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15.1: What are Informative Speeches?

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• Lisa Coleman, Thomas King, & William Turner
• Southwest Tennessee Community College

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Learning Objectives

• Identify strategies for researching and supporting informative speeches.
• Employ strategies for effective informative speaking, including avoiding persuasion, avoiding information overload, and engaging the audience.

Many people would rather go see an impassioned political speech or a comedic monologue than a lecture. Although informative speaking may not be the most exciting form of public speaking, it is the most common. Reports, lectures, training seminars, and demonstrations are all examples of informative speaking. That means you are more likely to give and listen to informative speeches in a variety of contexts. Some organizations, like consulting firms, and career fields, like training and development, are solely aimed at conveying information. College alumni have reported that out of many different speech skills, informative speaking is most important (Verderber, 1991). Since your exposure to informative speaking is inevitable, why not learn how to be a better producer and consumer of informative messages?

Informative Speaking Defined

Very simply, an informative speech can first be defined as a speech-based entirely and exclusively on facts . Basically, an informative speech conveys knowledge, a task that every person engages in every day in some form or another. Whether giving someone who is lost driving directions, explaining the specials of the day as a server, or describing the plot of a movie to friends, people engage in forms of informative speaking daily. Secondly, an informative speech does not attempt to convince the audience that one thing is better than another. It does not advocate a course of action. Consider the following two statements:

George Washington was the first President of the United States.

In each case, the statement made is what can be described as  irrefutable , meaning a statement or claim that cannot be argued. In the first example, even small children are taught that having two apples and then getting two more apples will result in having four apples. This statement is irrefutable in that no one in the world will (or should!) argue this: It is a fact.

Similarly, with the statement, “George Washington was the first President of the United States,” this again is an irrefutable fact. If you asked one hundred history professors and read one hundred history textbooks, the professors and textbooks would all say the same thing: Washington was the first president. No expert, reliable source, or person with any common sense would argue about this.

(Someone at this point might say, “No, John Hanson was the first president.” However, he was the president under the Articles of Confederation for a short period—November 5, 1781, to November 3, 1782—not under our present Constitution. This example shows the importance of stating your facts clearly and precisely and being able to cite their origins.)

Therefore, an informative speech should not incorporate  opinion . This can be the tricky part of developing an informative speech, because some opinion statements sometimes sound like facts (since they are generally agreed upon by many people), but are really opinions.

Additionally, you should never take sides on an issue in an informative speech, nor should you “spin” the issue in order to influence the opinions of the listeners. Even if you are informing the audience about differences in views on controversial topics, you should simply and clearly explain the issues. This is not to say, however, that the audience’s needs and interests have nothing to do with the informative speech. We come back to the WIIFM principle (“What’s in it for me?) because even though an informative speech is fact-based, it still needs to relate to people’s lives in order to maintain their attention.

The question may arise here, “If we can find anything on the Internet now, why bother to give an informative speech?” The answer lies in the unique relationship between audience and speaker found in the public speaking context. The speaker can choose to present information that is of most value to the audience. Secondly, the speaker is not just overloading the audience with data. As we have mentioned before, that’s not really a good idea because audiences cannot remember great amounts of data and facts after listening. The focus of the content is what matters. This is where the specific purpose and central idea come into play. Remember, public speaking is not a good way to “dump data” on the audience, but to make information meaningful.

Finally, although we have stressed that the informative speech is fact-based and does not have the purpose of persuasion, information still has an indirect effect on someone. If a classmate gives a speech on correctly using the Heimlich Maneuver to help a choking victim, the side effect (and probably desired result) is that the audience would use it when confronted with the situation.

Avoiding Persuasion

We should avoid thinking of informing and persuading as dichotomous, meaning that it’s either one or the other. It’s more accurate to think of informing and persuading as two poles on a continuum, as in Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): “Continuum of Informing and Persuading” (Olbricht, 1968). Most persuasive speeches rely on some degree of informing to substantiate the reasoning. And informative speeches, although meant to secure the understanding of an audience, may influence audience members’ beliefs, attitudes, values, or behaviors.

Speakers can look to three areas to help determine if their speech is more informative or persuasive: speaker purpose, function of information, and audience perception (Verderber, 1991). First, for informative speaking, a speaker’s purpose should be to create understanding by sharing objective, factual information. The specific purpose and thesis statements help establish a speaker’s goal and purpose and can serve as useful reference points to keep a speech on track. When reviewing your specific purpose and thesis statement, look for words like should / shouldn’t , good / bad , and right / wrong , as these often indicate a persuasive slant in the speech.

Second, information should function to clarify and explain in an informative speech. Supporting materials shouldn’t function to prove a thesis or to provide reasons for an audience to accept the thesis, as they do in persuasive speeches. Although informative messages can end up influencing the thoughts or behaviors of audience members, that shouldn’t be the goal.

Third, an audience’s perception of the information and the speaker helps determine whether a speech is classified as informative or persuasive. The audience must perceive that the information being presented is not controversial or disputed, which will lead audience members to view the information as factual. The audience must also accept the speaker as a credible source of information. Being prepared, citing credible sources, and engaging the audience help to establish a speaker’s credibility. Last, an audience must perceive the speaker to be trustworthy and not have a hidden agenda. Avoiding persuasion is a common challenge for informative speakers, but it is something to consider, as violating the speaking occasion may be perceived as unethical by the audience. Be aware of the overall tone of your speech by reviewing your specific purpose and thesis to make sure your speech isn’t tipping from informative to persuasive.

Avoid  Faux  or Fake Informative Speech Topics

Sometimes students think that because something sounds like an informative speech topic, it is one. This happens a lot with political issues that are usually partisan in nature. Some students may feel that the speech topic “To inform my audience why William Henry Harrison was a bad president” sounds factual, but really this is an opinion. Similarly, a number of topics that include conspiracy and paranormal subject matter are usually mistaken for good informative topics as well.

The problem here, as you have probably already guessed, is that these facts are not irrefutable. Not every single person who sees something unknown in the sky will agree it is an alien spacecraft, and there can be little doubt that not everyone who claims to have been abducted by a UFO is telling the truth. This isn’t to say that you can’t still do an informative speech on alien sites. For example, two viable options are “To inform my audience about the SETI Project” or “To inform my audience of the origin of the Area 51 conspiracy.” However, these types of speeches can quickly devolve into opinion if you aren’t careful, which would then make them persuasive speeches. Even if you start by trying to be objective, unless you can present each side equally, it will end up becoming a persuasive speech. Additionally, when a speaker picks such a topic, it is often because of a latent desire to persuade the audience about them.

Pick a Specific or Focused Topic

Perhaps one of the biggest and most common misconceptions students have about informative speech topics is that the topic needs to be broad in order to fill the time requirements for the speech. It is not uncommon for a student to propose an informative speech topic such as “To inform my audience about the history of music.” How is that topic even possible? When does the history of music even begin? The thinking here is that this speech will be easy to research and write since there is so much information available. But the opposite is actually true. A topic that is this broad makes doing research even harder.

Let’s consider the example of a student who proposes the topic “To inform my audience about the Civil War.” The Civil War was, conservatively speaking, four years long, resulted in over 750,000 casualties, and arguably changed the course of human history. So to think that it is possible to cover all of that in five to seven minutes is unrealistic. Also, a typical college library has hundreds of books dealing with the Civil War. How will you choose which ones are best suited to use for your speech?

The better approach, in this case, is to be as specific as possible. A revised specific purpose for this speech might be something like “To inform my audience about the Gettysburg Address.” This topic is much more compact (the Gettysburg Address is only a few minutes long), and doing research will now be exponentially easier—although you will still find hundreds of sources on it. Or, an even more specific topic would be like the one in the outline at the end of this chapter: “To inform my classmates of the specific places in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, that are considered haunted.”

Instead of looking through all the books in your campus library on the Civil War, searching through the library’s databases and catalog for material on the Gettysburg Address will yield a much more manageable number of books and articles. It may sound counterintuitive, but selecting a speech topic that is very specifically focused will make the research and writing phases of the informative speech much easier.

Researching an Informative Speech Topic

Having sharp research skills is a fundamental part of being a good informative speaker. Since informative speaking is supposed to convey factual information, speakers should take care to find sources that are objective, balanced, and credible. Periodicals, books, newspapers, and credible websites can all be useful sources for informative speeches. Aside from finding credible and objective sources, informative speakers also need to take time to find engaging information. This is where sharp research skills are needed to cut through all the typical information that comes up in the research process to find novel information. Novel information is atypical or unexpected, but it takes more skill and effort to locate. Even seemingly boring informative speech topics like the history of coupons can be brought to life with information that defies the audience’s expectations. A student recently delivered an engaging speech about coupons by informing us that coupons have been around for 125 years, are most frequently used by wealthier and more educated households, and that a coupon fraud committed by an Italian American businessman named Charles Ponzi was the basis for the term Ponzi scheme , which is still commonly used today.

As was mentioned earlier, the goal of informative speaking is to teach your audience. An audience is much more likely to remain engaged when they are actively learning. This is like a balancing act. You want your audience to be challenged enough by the information you are presenting to be interested, but not so challenged that they become overwhelmed and shut down. You should take care to consider how much information your audience already knows about a topic. Be aware that speakers who are very familiar with their speech topic tend to overestimate their audience’s knowledge about the topic. It’s better to engage your topic at a level slightly below your audience’s knowledge level than above. Most people won’t be bored by a brief review, but many people become lost and give up listening if they can’t connect to the information right away or feel it’s over their heads.

A good informative speech leaves the audience thinking long after the speech is done. Try to include some practical “takeaways” in your speech. I’ve learned many interesting and useful things from the informative speeches my students have done. Some of the takeaways are more like trivia information that is interesting to share—for example, how prohibition led to the creation of NASCAR. Other takeaways are more practical and useful—for example, how to get wine stains out of clothing and carpet or explanations of various types of student financial aid.

Avoiding Information Overload

Many informative speakers have a tendency to pack a ten-minute speech with as much information as possible. This can result in information overload, which is a barrier to effective listening that occurs when a speech contains more information than an audience can process. Editing can be a difficult task, but it’s an important skill to hone, because you will be editing more than you think. Whether it’s reading through an e-mail before you send it, condensing a report down to an executive summary, or figuring out how to fit a client’s message on the front page of a brochure, you will have to learn how to discern what information is best to keep and what can be thrown out. In speaking, being a discerning editor is useful because it helps avoid information overload. While a receiver may not be attracted to a brochure that’s covered in text, they could take the time to read it, and reread it, if necessary. Audience members cannot conduct their own review while listening to a speaker live. Unlike readers, audience members can’t review words over and over (Verderber, 1991). Therefore competent speakers, especially informative speakers who are trying to teach their audience something, should adapt their message to a listening audience. To help avoid information overload, adapt your message to make it more listenable.

Although the results vary, research shows that people only remember a portion of a message days or even hours after receiving it (Janusik, 2012). If you spend 100 percent of your speech introducing new information, you have wasted approximately 30 percent of your time and your audience’s time. Information overload is a barrier to effective listening, and as good speakers, we should be aware of the limitations of listening and compensate for that in our speech preparation and presentation. I recommend that my students follow a guideline that suggests spending no more than 30 percent of your speech introducing new material and 70 percent of your speech repackaging that information. I specifically use the word repackaging and not repeating . Simply repeating the same information would also be a barrier to effective listening, since people would just get bored. Repackaging will help ensure that your audience retains most of the key information in the speech. Even if they don’t remember every example, they will remember the main underlying point.

Avoiding information overload requires a speaker to be a good translator of information. To be a good translator, you can compare an unfamiliar concept with something familiar, give examples from real life, connect your information to current events or popular culture, or supplement supporting material like statistics with related translations of that information. These are just some of the strategies a good speaker can use. While translating information is important for any oral presentation, it is especially important when conveying technical information. Being able to translate complex or technical information for a lay audience leads to more effective informing because the audience feels like they are being addressed on their level and don’t feel lost or “talked down to.” The History Channel show,  The Universe , provides excellent examples of informative speakers who act as good translators. The scientists and experts featured on the show are masters of translating technical information, like physics, into concrete examples that most people can relate to based on their everyday experiences. Preview statements, section transitions, and review statements are some examples of orienting material that helps focus an audience’s attention and facilitates the process of informing (Verderber, 1991).

Engaging Your Audience

As a speaker, you are competing for the attention of your audience against other internal and external stimuli. Getting an audience engaged and then keeping their attention is a challenge for any speaker, but it can be especially difficult when speaking to inform. As was discussed earlier, once you are in the professional world, you will most likely be speaking informatively about topics related to your experience and expertise. Some speakers fall into the trap of thinking that their content knowledge is enough to sustain them through an informative speech or that their position in an organization means that an audience will listen to them and appreciate their information despite their delivery. Content expertise is not enough to be an effective speaker. A person must also have speaking expertise (Verderber, 1991). Effective speakers, even renowned experts, must still translate their wealth of content knowledge into information that is suited for oral transmission, audience-centered, and well organized. I’m sure we’re all familiar with the stereotype of the absentminded professor or the genius who thinks elegantly in his or her head but can’t convey that same elegance verbally. Having well-researched and organized supporting material is an important part of effective informative speaking, but having good content is not enough.

Audience members are more likely to stay engaged with a speaker they view as credible. So complementing good supporting material with a practiced and fluent delivery increases credibility and audience engagement. In addition, as we discussed earlier, good informative speakers act as translators of information. Repackaging information into concrete familiar examples is also a strategy for making your speech more engaging. Understanding relies on being able to apply incoming information to life experiences.

Repackaging information is also a good way to appeal to different learning styles, as you can present the same content in various ways, which helps reiterate a point. While this strategy is useful with any speech, since the goal of informing is teaching, it makes sense to include a focus on learning within your audience adaptation. There are three main learning styles that help determine how people most effectively receive and process information: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic (Fleming, 2012). Visual learners respond well to information presented via visual aids, so repackage information using text, graphics, charts, and other media. Public speaking is a good way to present information for auditory learners who process information well when they hear it. Kinesthetic learners are tactile; they like to learn through movement and “doing.” Asking for volunteers to help with a demonstration, if appropriate, is a way to involve kinesthetic learners in your speech. You can also have an interactive review activity at the end of a speech, much like many teachers incorporate an activity after a lesson to reinforce the material.

“Getting Real”

Technical Speaking

People who work in technical fields, like engineers and information technology professionals, often think they will be spared the task of public speaking. This is not the case, however, and there is actually a branch of communication studies that addresses public speaking matters for “techies.” The field of technical communication focuses on how messages can be translated from expert to lay audiences. I actually taught a public speaking class for engineering students, and they basically had to deliver speeches about the things they were working on in a way that I could understand. I ended up learning a lot more about jet propulsion and hybrid car engines than I ever expected!

Have you ever been completely lost when reading an instruction manual for some new product you purchased? Have you ever had difficulty following the instructions of someone who was trying to help you with a technical matter? If so, you’ve experienced some of the challenges associated with technical speaking. There are many careers where technical speaking skills are needed. According to the Society for Technical Communication, communicating about specialized or technical topics, communicating by using technology, and providing instructions about how to do something are all examples of technical speaking (Society for Technical Communication, 2012). People with technical speaking skills offer much to organizations and businesses. They help make information more useable and accessible to customers, clients, and employees. They can help reduce costs to a business by reducing unnecessary work that results from misunderstandings of instructions, by providing clear information that allows customers to use products without training or technical support and by making general information put out by a company more user-friendly. Technical speakers are dedicated to producing messages that are concise, clear, and coherent (Society for Technical Communication, 2012). Such skills are used in the following careers: technical writers and editors, technical illustrators, visual designers, web designers, customer service representatives, salespeople, spokespeople, and many more.

• What communication skills that you’ve learned about in the book so far do you think would be important for a technical speaker?
• Identify instances in which you have engaged in technical speaking or received information from a technical speaker. Based on what you have learned in this chapter, were the speakers effective or not, and why?

Key Takeaways

• Getting integrated: Informative speaking is likely the type of public speaking we will most often deliver and be audience to in our lives. Informative speaking is an important part of academic, professional, personal, and civic contexts.
• Effective informative speaking requires good research skills, as speakers must include novel information, relevant and proxemic examples, and “take-away” information that audience members will find engaging and useful.
• An effective informative speaker should avoid persuasion by reviewing the language used in the specific purpose and thesis statements, using objective supporting material, and appearing trustworthy to the audience.
• An effective informative speaker should avoid information overload by repackaging information and building in repetition and orienting material like reviews and previews.
• An effective informative speaker engages the audience by translating information into relevant and concrete examples that appeal to different learning styles.
• Getting integrated: How might you use informative speaking in each of the following contexts: academic, professional, personal, and civic?
• Brainstorm potential topics for your informative speech and identify which topic category each idea falls into. Are there any risks of persuading for the topics you listed? If so, how can you avoid persuasion if you choose that topic?

Fleming, N., “The VARK Helpsheets,” accessed March 6, 2012, http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=helpsheets .

Janusik, L., “Listening Facts,” accessed March 6, 2012, d1025403.site.myhosting.com/f.org/Facts.htm.

Olbricht, T. H., Informative Speaking (Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman, 1968), 1–12.

Oxford English Dictionary Online, accessed March 6, 2012, http://www.oed.com .

The Past in Pictures, “Teaching Using Movies: Anachronisms!” accessed March 6, 2012, www.thepastinthepictures.wild.ctoryunit!.htm.

Scholasticus K, “Anachronism Examples in Literature,” February 2, 2012, accessed March 6, 2012, www.buzzle.com/articles/anachronism-examples-in-literature.html.

Society for Technical Communication, “Defining Technical Communication,” accessed March 6, 2012, http://www.stc.org/about-stc/the-profession-all-about-technical-communication/defining-tc .

Verderber, R., Essentials of Informative Speaking: Theory and Contexts (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1991), 3.

Vuong, A., “Wanna Read That QR Code? Get the Smartphone App,” The Denver Post , April 18, 2011, accessed March 6, 2012, http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_17868932 .

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5 Steps for Writing an Informative Speech

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Consider a topic you're truly passionate about. Imagine you were able to share all your knowledge with a roomful of people. Who knows what kind of a revolution you could begin? You might transform everyone into avid gardeners or spiritual gurus. Below, we've outlined five steps for writing an informative speech. It'll help you take all those thoughts and share them with the audience in a clear and deliberate manner.

1. Choose a Precise Topic

By precise, we mean if there's any way to take a more generalized topic and narrow it down into more specific terms, go that route.

For example, you could inform your audience on the history of yoga, or you could inform your audience on a particular form of yoga. The more specific you get, the easier and more targeted your research will be. Your delivery will benefit tremendously too.

2. Draft an Effective Thesis Statement

With your topic of interest, it's time to draft a thesis statement. If you've done it right, your thesis statement will summarize the entirety of your speech in one concise sentence. It doesn't have to be dry either.

Let's continue with our yoga theme. If you opt to discuss restorative yoga specifically, your thesis statement can be something like, "Restorative yoga is a slow moving practice geared toward gentle healing." Now, your audience understands the direction your informative speech is about to take and will, hopefully, be interested in learning more.

In What Is a Thesis Statement? , we help you understand the importance of this one line. We also provide a few samples to help you get your mind in the right place.

3. Consider Your Crowd

This one may seem like common sense, but it's more than just choosing the right topic. It's true that you wouldn't deliver an informative speech on the V8 engine of a Cobra to a classroom full of fledgling beauticians. But, there's more to consider than appropriateness.

You also want to write an informative speech with language that's simple. Try to forego too many complex terms or inflated language when simpler terms will do. Always speak to the guest in the room, or the person with the least knowledge in the room. This will keep your message clear, your thesis statement apparent, and your audience in tune.

4. Start Your Outline

Armed with your thesis statement and a clear vision of your crowd, it's time to start taking everything you want to say and lining it up in a clear and concise manner. If you've been able to take your topic to more specific terms,you're already one step ahead of the game.

This will vary, based on time constraints, but try to aim for about three poignant points. This will give you three pertinent details to share about your topic while you bolster them with interesting facts, statistics, and narratives. Or, if your informative speech is taking on more of a "how to" formula, then an outline will help ensure you're laying out the proper steps for success.

There are four main types of informative speeches:

• Descriptive - These speeches help the audience develop specific images and understandings of particular people, places, or things. For example, you might deliver an informative speech on a particular region of the world.
• Demonstrative - These speeches describe how to perform a specific action. For example, you might demonstrate to your audience how to setup their new MacBook Pro.
• Explanation - These speeches explain a topic. For example, you might explain the current state of affairs with the election process.
• Definition - This type of speech will require a more in-depth topic. You're explaining a concept or theory. For example, you might define photosynthesis and explain its impact on the ecosystem.

No matter the type of speech you select, a Keyword Outline may be your best friend. It'll help you maintain a clear vision and ensure you've covered all the important components of your topic.

5. End With a Call to Action

Most articles and essays end with a call to action. An informative essay is, of course, different than a persuasive essay . But, if your topic is interesting enough, it'll naturally entice the audience to want to learn more.

Let's return to our example of restorative yoga. Even if your speech is purely information (the history of the practice, the benefits touted by doctors and therapists, the number of people in the world who practice it, and so on), if it's interesting enough, it will persuade the audience to think about it further.

Suggest people read more about your topic. Encourage them to never stop learning. These gentle, altruistic calls to action are a nice way to wrap up and encourage your audience to keep learning.

Steps for writing informative speech

Start sharing your knowledge today.

Informative speeches are a wonderful way to share all that knowledge bouncing around in your brain. With a clear vision, a precise thesis statement, and a tidy outline, you're well on your way!

Choose something you're genuinely interested in and that enthusiasm will naturally shine through with your audience. Take a look at these Tips on Speech Writing next. It'll be a nice review as you wrap up your speech writing process.

13.1 What is an Informative Speech?

An informative speech can first be defined as a speech based entirely and exclusively on facts. Basically, an informative speech conveys knowledge, a task that every person engages in every day in some form or another. Whether giving someone who is lost driving directions, explaining the specials of the day as a server, or describing the plot of a movie to friends, people engage in forms of informative speaking daily. Secondly, an informative speech does not attempt to convince the audience that one thing is better than another. It does not advocate a course of action.

Consider the following two statements:

George Washington was the first President of the United States.

In each case, the statement made is what can be described as irrefutable, meaning a statement or claim that cannot be argued. In the first example, even small children are taught that having two apples and then getting two more apples will result in having four apples. This statement is irrefutable in that no one in the world will (or should!) argue this: It is a fact.

Similarly, with the statement “George Washington was the first President of the United States,” this again is an irrefutable fact. If you asked one hundred history professors and read one hundred history textbooks, the professors and textbooks would all say the same thing: Washington was the first president. No expert, reliable source, or person with any common sense would argue about this.

(Someone at this point might say, “No, John Hanson was the first president.” However, he was president under the Articles of Confederation for a short period—November 5, 1781, to November 3, 1782—not under our present Constitution. This example shows the importance of stating your facts clearly and precisely and being able to cite their origins.)

Informative Speech is Not a Persuasive Speech

Informative speech is fundamentally different from a persuasive speech in that it does not incorporate opinion as its basis. This can be the tricky part of developing an informative speech, because some opinion statements sometimes sound like facts (since they are generally agreed upon by many people), but are really opinion. For example, in an informative speech on George Washington, you might say, “George Washington was one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States.” While this statement may be agreed upon by most people, it is possible for some people to disagree and argue the opposite point of view. The statement “George Washington was one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States” is not irrefutable, meaning someone could argue this claim. If, however, you present the opinion as an opinion from a source, that is acceptable: it is a fact that someone (hopefully someone with expertise) holds the opinion. You do not want your central idea, your main points, and the majority of your supporting material to be opinion or argument in an informative speech.

Unlike in persuasive speeches, in an informative speech, you should never take sides on an issue, nor should you “spin” the issue in order to influence the opinions of the listeners. Even if you are informing the audience about differences in views on controversial topics, you should simply and clearly describe and explain the issues. This is not to say, however, that the audience’s needs and interests have nothing to do with the informative speech. We come back to the WIIFM principle (“What’s in it for me?”) because even though an informative speech is fact-based, it still needs to relate to people’s lives in order to maintain their attention.

Why Informative Speech Is Important

The question may arise here, “If we can find anything on the Internet now, why bother to give an informative speech?” The answer lies in the unique relationship between audience and speaker found in the public speaking context. The speaker can choose to present information that is of most value to the audience. Secondly, the speaker is not just overloading the audience with data. As we have mentioned before, that’s not really a good idea because audiences cannot remember great amounts of data and facts after listening. The focus of the content is what matters. This is where the specific purpose and central idea come into play. Remember, public speaking is not a good way to “dump data” on the audience, but to make information meaningful.

Finally, although we have stressed that the informative speech is fact-based and does not have the purpose of persuasion, information still has an indirect effect on someone. If a classmate gives a speech on correctly using the Heimlich Maneuver to help a choking victim, the side effect (and probably desired result) is that the audience would use it when confronted with the situation.

It’s About Them: Public Speaking in the 21st Century Copyright © 2022 by LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Module 9: Informative Speaking

Organizing the informative speech, learning objectives.

Discern the best organizational approach for types of informative speeches.

Like an essay, a speech should have a clear organizational structure with a recognizable beginning, middle, and end. But unlike an essay where your reader can go back and re-read sections they may not understand or follow, in a speech in front of a live audience your audience can’t stop, rewind, and re-listen to parts of your speech they didn’t follow. For that reason it is especially important to have a clear and easy-to-follow structure to a speech.

In this section, we introduce the characteristic organizational structures of an informative speech. Later on, we’ll explore each of the organizational structural elements in greater detail.

An informative speech can be broken up into three sections:

• Section 1: Introduction.  The first section of the speech contains an attention-getter to grab the interest of the audience and orient them to the topic of the speech, a clear thesis that states the purpose of the speech, and a preview of the main points of the speech.
• Section 2: Body. The heart of the speech is the body. The body is where you provide your audience all the information they will need to understand your topic. To make the body of the speech easier for the audience to follow, divide it up into at least two but no more than five main points . Organize the main points in a clear structure appropriate to the topic and thesis and provide supporting examples and/or evidence for each main point.
• Section 3: Conclusion. The conclusion is a short section that reinforces the thesis, summarizes the main points, and provides a sense of closure.

Video example

To see an example of an informative speech with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion, watch this speech where the speaker informs her audience how to manage the stress that comes with being a college student.

You can view the transcript for “Stress Informative Speech (with captions)” here (opens in new window) .

Specific Purpose Statement

Once you have a speech topic selected, develop a specific purpose statement. Your purpose statement describes what you want your audience to know as a result of listening to your speech. Here are some examples of informative speech purpose statements:

• To inform my audience about different types of coffee makers.
• To inform my audience about the historical significance of Harriet Tubman.
• To inform my audience about how to prune roses.

Central Idea

Your purpose statement helps you determine the thesis or central idea of your speech. You will present your central idea in the introduction to the speech and everything you say in the speech will support that central idea.

For example, if your purpose is to inform your audience about different types of coffee makers you could develop a central idea like this:

• There are two main types of coffee makers, automatic drip machines and manual coffee makers.

Main Points

Once you have a purpose statement you want to develop your main points. The body of the speech is where you will present and provide support for the main points of the speech. Remember that you should generally aim to have at least two but no more than five main points. Keep time constraints in mind when developing your main points. If you are given four minutes to speak, for instance, trying to have four main points might be too ambitious, so you might instead focus on two or at the most three main points.

You’ll want to organize the body of the speech in a way that helps you present your main points in the most effective order. Your purpose statement helps you decide what kind of organizational pattern would make the most sense for your topic.

Organizational Patterns

There are many types of organizational patterns you can use for an informative speech, as you can see in more detail in Module 6: Organizing and Outlining Your Speech. Here are a few examples:

In a topical organization structure, each point fits into one of a few topic categories.

Topical : This is a good, all-purpose organizational pattern where you divide your main points into topics. It works well for speeches where the main points are clearly distinct from each other and the order they are placed in isn’t critical like it would be for some other organizational patterns. The example above about coffee makers, for example, could be divided into two topical main points: 1) automatic drip coffee makers and 2) manual coffee makers. Each main point would be supported by subpoints that elaborate on the characteristics of each type of coffee maker.

Compare/contrast: With compare/contrast organizational patterns, you explain the similarities and differences between two or more things. A speech about the similarities and differences between video game consoles PlayStation and Xbox would fit this type of organizational pattern. You could devote one main point to the qualities they share in common and a second point to how they differ from each other.

A spatially organized speech about the Mississippi River might follow the river from north to south.

Spatial: Do you have a topic that lends itself to being explained in a directional order such as from top to bottom, left to right, or east to west? If so, you could organize your speech in a spatial pattern. This can be a good organizational pattern to use when you want to describe a place to an audience. For instance, if you gave a speech about the major cities the Mississippi River passes through you could start in the north by describing its origin in Minnesota near Minneapolis and St. Paul, then work south and explain how it flows through other cities like St. Louis before it empties into the Gulf of Mexico in New Orleans.

Chronological: This is a speech that follows a time order. This is a good choice for speeches where you want to explain a sequence of events. For example, you could use a chronological pattern for a speech explaining the steps Apple took in developing the iPhone or the significant decisions made by the Supreme Court affecting rights of the LGBTQIA community. Chronological can also be a good organizational choice for speeches where you are explaining a process or demonstrating how to do something.

To describe or demonstrate a process, step by step may be the best structure.

Step-by-Step:  When you’re speaking about a process, the most logical organizational structure may be step by step. Step-by-step organization is useful for “how-to” or demonstration speeches where you are teaching or showing how to do a task. If you were speaking about how to spray-paint a mural, you might describe each layer of the painting step by step.

Biographical : A biographical organization tells the story of a person’s life. The person could be a well-known person or someone who is not. The subject of the speech could even be the speaker themselves. It can be similar to the chronological pattern in that it can be organized by time but it doesn’t have to be. A biographical speech could start by focusing on an important event late in someone’s life and then going back in time to explain how the person got to that point.

A causal structure talks about why something happened.

Causal: If you want to explain a cause/effect relationship, you want to use the causal organizational pattern. Typically with this pattern, you would have two main points: one focused on the causes of an event, the second about its effects. A speech about hurricanes might be organized this way, for example. One main point could be devoted to oceanic and atmospheric causes of hurricanes and the second main point about the effects of hurricanes such as storm surge, strong winds, and flooding.

We cover outlining in detail elsewhere, but at this point once you have a purpose statement, general idea, main points, and an organizational pattern, you are ready to develop an outline.

Some important reminders about outlines:

• Working outlines are what you start with and they help you with speech preparation and planning. This isn’t the outline you will use for speaking.
• The full-sentence outline develops the full details of the message. But, again, it is not the outline you use to speak.
• The speaking outline includes key words or phrases and helps you stay organized in front of the audience without reading to them. This is the outline you will speak from so that you are speaking extemporaneously rather than reading your outline word for word.
• Tip: Using notecards for your speaking outline helps with delivery and makes it easier to find information if you lose your place or draw a blank.
• Silverware. Authored by : Peter Griffin. Located at : https://www.needpix.com/photo/download/1307472/silverware-drawer-utensils-knife-fork-spoon-silverware-free-pictures-free-photos . License : CC0: No Rights Reserved
• Mississippi River Watershed. Authored by : Shannon1. Located at : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mississippiriver-new-01.png . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
• Airplane. Authored by : Spacefem. Located at : https://openclipart.org/detail/274994/draw-a-single-engine-airplane . License : CC0: No Rights Reserved
• Dominoes. Authored by : Clint Budd. Located at : https://flic.kr/p/MN2WaG . License : CC BY: Attribution
• Stress Informative Speech (with captions). Authored by : RITPublicSpeaking. Located at : https://youtu.be/f4RLULR6iNg . License : Other . License Terms : Standard YouTube License
• Organizing the Informative Speech. Authored by : Mike Randolph with Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
• Organizing the Informative Speech. Authored by : Sandra K. Winn with Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution

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6 Chapter 6: Informative Speaking

Tammera Stokes Rice, College of the Canyons, Version B

Adapted by Jamie C. Votraw, Professor of Communication Studies, Florida SouthWestern State College

Figure 6.1 : Princess Reema 1

Introduction

You may have watched a YouTube tutorial to learn how to make or do something, like learning how to make a quiche or how to change a tire on your car. Or, you may have watched a TedTalk in one of your classes that provided factual information about the topic you are learning about, like Nancy Duarte’s 2011 presentation on “ The secret structure of great talks. ” (Google Duarte’s videos; you won’t regret it!) These are samples of informative speeches.

Speaking to Inform

When you inform an audience, your primary goal is to teach them about a topic that is important to you. In fact, there are likely scenarios where you acted as an informative speaker already. Have you ever given a factual presentation in a classroom? Have you ever shown a group of friends how to use a new app on your phone? Have you ever trained a new employee at work? These are all examples of informative speaking.

When delivering formal informative speeches, however, there are additional expectations for the composition and structure of your speech.  For instance, you might begin your speech by telling a story to attract the attention of your audience, and you might ask them a personal question to demonstrate that the topic relates to them. Throughout this chapter, we discuss the purpose of informative speaking, types of informative speeches, organizational speech patterns, and lastly, describe how informative speaking is distinctly different than persuasive speaking.

Informative Speaking Goals

The most fundamental purpose of informative speaking is to teach an audience something. Remember, an informative speech is not opinion-based. It provides factual information that is meaningful to your audience. Thus, your primary purpose is to teach. You ARE NOT trying to change their beliefs or behaviors (that is persuasive speaking, which we cover in chapter 10). Nevertheless, as audience-centered speakers (recall Chapter 5), several audience-specific elements are necessary for effective informative speaking.

Audience Attention

Audience-centered speakers care about their audience and should work to gain and maintain the attention of their audience throughout the speech. In the introduction, it is imperative that public speakers incorporate an attention-grabbing strategy, such as an intriguing story (discussed in greater detail in Chapter 9), and explicitly relate the topic to the audience. When introducing the topic to an audience, effective informative speakers connect the topic to the audience by answering the question, why should you care?

Narratives, found from credible sources, are one way to keep your audience engaged and listening to your speech. Stories help provide a basis for your main points within the speech. Humans are natural storytellers as we want to tell and listen to stories.

Audience Needs

Once your audience recognizes the significance of your topic and how it relates to them, an informative speaker should then strive to provide the audience with information that meets their needs. Consider the classroom, for example. If your algebra teacher tells you that quadratic equations will be on the next exam, what information do you as an audience member need or want? Likely, you’re looking for information to help you succeed on the exam. It would be insufficient to merely provide you with the quadratic formula, ax 2 + bx + c = 0. Instead, as an effective informative speaker, the math teacher would likely demonstrate problem-solving steps and offer examples. When you are the speaker, you must also consider what information your audience needs.

While crafting the informative speech, you want to select the information you will be communicating to the audience carefully.  You’ve already learned how to narrow down your topic, but now you want to make sure your explanation of the narrowed topic accomplishes the speech goal in the time parameters of the speech. An effective informative speaker determines which information is imperative for inclusion in the speech given the time limit. You should not feel pressured to include every piece of information you find. You wouldn’t expect a speaker to discuss everything about Disneyland in seven minutes, right? So, instead, stay focused on the speech goal and audience needs. Maybe you choose to present to the audience just one aspect of Disneyland – The types of rides.

Audience Knowledge

A third key feature of effective informative speaking is audience knowledge. What does your audience already know about the topic? The level of complexity you will be using to inform your audience depends on the audience’s knowledge about your topic, the time allowed for your speech, and its purpose. As we discussed in chapter five, you need to know your audience. It is crucial to always give new information to your audience by relating it to what they already know, and by combining the general information with specific information to keep the attention of your audience throughout the speech. This is why an audience analysis can be so important. You are not going to use architectural or engineering terms to describe the invention of Space Mountain to an audience of high school students, but you might use technical terms when speaking to architecture and engineering students at a college.

Types of Informative Speeches

When you inform, you either describe something, define something, or demonstrate a process. Therefore, there are three different types of informative speeches. This includes:

1. D escriptive speeches (about objects, people, places, or events)

2. Process speeches (also called “how-to” or demonstration speeches)

3. Concept speeches (also called idea speeches)

All three types of informative speeches have the general purpose of “to inform.” However, each type of informative speech maintains a different specific purpose, and therefore, the organizational structure of the speeches can vary. So, before we dive into the specifics of each type of informative speech, let’s review four organizational speech patterns that you could use to structure the content of your speech.

Organizational Speech Patterns

When composing your speech, there are four organizational patterns you can adopt to structure your speech content, including topical, spatial, chronological (temporal), and causal format. The organizational pattern you choose will depend on the topic of the speech and the speech content. Although some organizational patterns are more commonly used for certain types of informative speeches than others, the organization pattern you select should be the one that best fits your speech content.

• A topical layout arranges the information of the speech into different categories. Each main point of the speech is a subtopic of the broader topic.
• A spatial pattern looks at how your ideas are arranged according to their physical or geographic relationships.
• A chronological pattern organizes a speech based on time or sequence.  Some of your instructors might use the term temporal to explain main points ordered in a specific sequence of time.
• A causal pattern of organization can be used to describe the causes and effects of something that occurred.

It is important to remember to choose an organizational pattern that logically aligns with the speech goal and the main points of your speech. For example, a process speech on “how to apply for financial aid” might best be organized chronologically: Step 1, Step 2, Step 3… A chronological pattern for this topic would be most effective for helping the audience follow along.

Let’s take a deeper look at the three major types of informative speeches and some commonly used approaches to organizing the respective speech content . 

Descriptive Speeches

A descriptive speech is given to describe an object, person, place, or event. Descriptive speeches about an “object”  refer to anything tangible; something that can be seen or touched. When organizing an object speech, you might use a spatial, chronological, or topical organizational pattern. The following are some sample topics – Arabian horses, astrology, Bible, boats, career services, drag racing, Ford Mustang, Florida oranges, Godfather trilogy, Golden Gate Bridge, hurricanes, iguanas, surfboards, tattoos, and tornadoes to name a few.

Figure 6.2 : Tattoo 2

Here is an example of how you might set up a speech on an object using a chronological organization pattern:

Topic: Tattoos

General Purpose: To inform

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the history of tattoos in the United States.

Central Idea/Thesis : Tattoos originated in the United States in the 19th century before becoming a staple of fashion trends today.

Preview of Main Points : First, we will look at the history of the word tattoo. Then, we will learn how tattoos became fashionable. Thirdly, we examine the role tattoos have played in the circus. Finally, we will cover tattoos on public figures today.

• Explorer Captain James Hook is credited for the word tattoo after his sailing voyages led him to Tahitian and Polynesian cultures.
• Tattoos became fashionable in the 19th century.
• Tattoos used in sideshow acts in the early 20th century were an integral part of a circus’ success.
• Tattoos are now worn by public figures such as celebrities, athletes, and people within the fashion industry.

This category applies both to specific individuals or to specific roles. When discussing people, you may want to describe them in a chronological (temporal) or topical layout. Here are some sample topics on people: Albert Einstein, Barack Obama, Bruce Lee, CEO of Google, Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, First Lady of the United States, Henry Ford, Jackie Chan, Miley Cyrus, Malala Yousafzai, Marilyn Monroe, Oprah Winfrey, Pope of the Catholic Church, Sacagawea, and Walt Disney to name a few.

Figure 6. 3: Marilyn Monroe 3

Here is an example of how you might set up a speech about Marilyn Monroe using a topical organizational pattern:

Topic: Marilyn Monroe

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about Marilyn Monroe’s interesting love life during the creation of her most famous films.

Central Idea/Thesis : Marilyn Monroe is known for her famous love life and films.

Preview of Main Points : First, we will explore her intriguing love life and marriages. Last, we will examine her various films.

• First, we will examine Marilyn Monroe’s infamous love life.
• Lastly, let’s discuss her most famous films.

Depending on the timeframe allowed for your speech, you might consider the example above, which used a topical order. Another way to organize the main points of the same topic could be in a chronological (temporal) pattern.

Specific Purpose : To inform my audience about the childhood, professional career, and death of Marilyn Monroe.

Central Idea/Thesis : Marilyn Monroe’s early childhood influenced her professional career and ultimately her untimely death.

Preview of Main Points : First, we will examine how Marilyn’s childhood influenced her career. Secondly, we will examine her professional life. Finally, we will discuss her untimely death.

• First, we will discuss Marilyn’s birth and early childhood.
• Second, we will learn about her professional life, and the impact her upbringing had on her career.
• Lastly, we will better understand her untimely death.

You will notice the two speeches above about Marilyn Monroe have many similarities, and both speeches would include details about her professional life. However, the first speech is focused on categories related to her professional life, while the second speech looks at her professional life as one period of time in her life overall. The result is two very different final speeches. This example highlights how you structure your speech should depend on the narrowed focus of your speech topic.

A speech about a place can range from a historic location to a vacation spot. However, you should make sure to check with your instructor because very few speeches should focus on your own personal journey. Rather, the focus should be based on a place you can research. When discussing places, you may want to describe them in a spatial, temporal, or topical layout. Here are some sample places you might do an informative speech on – Alaska, Albania, Australia, Catalina, Ukraine, Honolulu, Lake Okeechobee, Las Vegas, Museum of Tolerance, Sanibel Island, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Stonehenge, and Yosemite to name a few.

Figure 6. 4: Kauai 4

Here is an example of how you might set up a speech about a place:

Topic: The island of Kauai, Hawaii

Specific Purpose : To inform my audience about Kauai’s regions and locations to explore.

Central Idea/Thesis : Kauai has five regions and many beautiful areas to explore.

Preview of Main Points: First, I will break down the five major regions of the island. Lastly, I will share tips for exploring the Hawaiian Islands.

• Five regions (subpoints could be broken down in a spatial pattern of the regions).
• Tips for a Hawaiian exploration

An event can be something that occurred only once or can be a repeated event. When discussing events, you will most likely use a chronological (temporal) or topical layout. Here are some sample events you might do an informative speech on – Academy Awards, Christmas, Coachella, Los Angeles Marathon, Quinceañera, Rose Parade, Stagecoach, or World War II.

Figure 6. 5 : Los Angeles Marathon 5

Here is an example of how you might set up a speech about an event:

Topic: Los Angeles Marathon

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the timeline of events of the L.A. Marathon.

Central Idea/Thesis : The L.A. Marathon consists of three days of events.

Preview of Main Point:  First, I will explain the day of orientation for the race. Second, I will discuss the main event day. Lastly, I will talk about the clean-up and breakdown of the event.

• The first day of the event is Friday, which is Expo Day & Bib pick-up.
• Second, the main event is on Saturday, which is the 5K and 1/2K kids’ run.
• Lastly, Sunday involves marathon running from 3:00 am – 3:00 pm, and ends with the finish festival.

Now that you have a good idea about what comprises a descriptive speech, let’s look at process speeches.

Process Speeches

A process speech is commonly referred to as a “how-to” or demonstration speech. It intends to teach the audience how something works or how to complete a task through step-by-step instructions. It generally uses a chronological (temporal) pattern with each “step” of the process taking the audience through a sequence of time. Here are some sample process speech topics – (How to) avoid ID theft, bake a cake, bath a dog, build a website, change car oil, color Easter eggs, meditate, make ice cream, play tennis, register to vote, snowboard, tie a tie, and write a resume to name a few.

Figure 6. 6 : Bakers 6

Here is an example of how you might set up a process speech:

Topic : Baking a cake

Specific Purpose : To inform my audience how to bake a cake in 30 minutes with the right equipment and ingredients.

Central Idea/Thesis : Baking a cake in 30 minutes is easy with the right equipment and ingredients.

Preview of Main Points: First, I will review the preparation process. Then, I will provide the steps involved in making the cake. Finally, I will explain the process of decorating the cake.

• First, preset the oven and gather other equipment and ingredients.
• Next, mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients to specification before putting them in the pan to bake.
• Finally, let the cake cool and decorate.

You’ve learned about both descriptive and process speeches. Let’s discuss the last type of informative speech, a concept speech.

Concept Speeches

A concept speech deals with explaining a concept or idea. A concept is an idea, belief, principle, or theory. Unlike object speeches which involve tangible things, concept speeches are abstract or general ideas. As a result, speeches about concepts need to be grounded in clear examples. Generally, it is laid out in a topical or chronological (temporal) format. Here are some sample definitive speech topics – Artificial Intelligence, Buddhism, cultural diversity, Democracy, femininity, freedom, hatred, love, respect, Selfie, and Socialism to name a few.

Figure 6. 7 : Music and Dance of Ghana 7

Here is an example of a concept speech:

Topic: Culture

Specific Purpose : To inform my audience about the concept of culture.

Central Idea/Thesis : Culture consists of beliefs, values, norms, and ways of behaving.

Preview of Main Points : First, I will explain what beliefs are. Second, I will discuss various values. Third, I will share different cultural norms. Finally, I will explain various ways of behaving within cultures.

• First, I will explain the role of beliefs within culture.
• Second, I will discuss the role of values in culture.
• Third, I will share different cultural norms.
• Finally, we will put these all together and examine the different ways of behaving in cultures.

Informative vs. Persuasive Speaking

In Chapter 10, we will discuss persuasive speaking in detail, including common organizational patterns and strategies for effective persuasive speaking. But for now, you must be clear on what distinguishes an informative speech and a persuasive speech. By now, you know that you should select a topic that is significant to you and useful for your audience. As a result, there is a good chance you are passionate about the topic and have a personal opinion on the subject matter. Your views are important, but personal opinions are inappropriate for informative speeches.

In an informative speech, you are a teacher, an educator, an informer. Whereas in persuasive speeches, you are an advocate. The information you share in an informative speech should be objective, unbiased, and balanced. It is not the time to argue for a particular viewpoint, advocate for a position, or try to convince the audience to do or believe something. If you are taking a public speaking course, it is likely that you will have an opportunity to do a persuasive speech assignment.

Staying objective and unbiased can be a big challenge, especially if you are passionate about the topic or the topic is controversial. To maintain your role as an educator and not an advocate, you should be especially cognizant of the language you use in your delivery. Focus on explaining the topic with objective language and work hard to avoid using evaluative terms such as good/bad, right/wrong, and moral/immoral. Consider the topic of abortion. Even the framing of the title of your speech can be suggestive. Does the speech title “Female Reproductive Healthcare” communicate the same message as “Women’s Reproductive Rights”? The language you use when composing and delivering your speech will convey certain messages to your audience. When dealing with a controversial issue, a good strategy to prevent interjecting your personal views is to explain to the audience that “some people believe ‘x’ and others believe ‘y’. If relevant and time permits, it is useful to explain the various viewpoints on your topic. If you are successful, at the end of your speech, the audience will be informed about your topic, but they will decide on their own what to think or do.

A variety of different topics can be utilized for informative speaking. If you are educating your audience about a particular topic by describing, demonstrating, or defining it, you are giving an informative speech. It is crucial to always give new information to your audience by relating it to what they already know, and by combining the very general information with very specific information to keep the attention of your audience throughout the speech. We are informative speakers quite often, even if it is to inform a friend about our day.

Reflection Questions

• What is the purpose of an informative speech?
• How can you determine the best pattern of organization for your informative speech topic?
• What do you need to keep in mind about your audience to develop your informative speech?
• How do you distinguish an informative speech from storytelling, even though you may use stories in your speech?

Chronological (temporal)

Concept Speech

Descriptive Speech

Informative speech

Process Speech

Introduction to Public Speaking Copyright © by Jamie C. Votraw, M.A.; Katharine O'Connor, Ph.D.; and William F. Kelvin, Ph.D.. All Rights Reserved.

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16.1 Informative Speaking Goals

Learning objectives.

• Explain the importance of accuracy, clarity, and listener interest in informative speaking.
• Discuss why speaking to inform is important. Identify strategies for making information clear and interesting to your speaking audience.

Cesar bojorquez – target – CC BY 2.0.

A good informative speech conveys accurate information to the audience in a way that is clear and that keeps the listener interested in the topic. Achieving all three of these goals—accuracy, clarity, and interest—is the key to your effectiveness as a speaker. If information is inaccurate, incomplete, or unclear, it will be of limited usefulness to the audience. There is no topic about which you can give complete information, and therefore, we strongly recommend careful narrowing. With a carefully narrowed topic and purpose, it is possible to give an accurate picture that isn’t misleading.

Part of being accurate is making sure that your information is current. Even if you know a great deal about your topic or wrote a good paper on the topic in a high school course, you need to verify the accuracy and completeness of what you know. Most people understand that technology changes rapidly, so you need to update your information almost constantly, but the same is true for topics that, on the surface, may seem to require less updating. For example, the American Civil War occurred 150 years ago, but contemporary research still offers new and emerging theories about the causes of the war and its long-term effects. So even with a topic that seems to be unchanging, you need to carefully check your information to be sure it’s accurate and up to date.

In order for your listeners to benefit from your speech, you must convey your ideas in a fashion that your audience can understand. The clarity of your speech relies on logical organization and understandable word choices. You should not assume that something that’s obvious to you will also be obvious to the members of your audience. Formulate your work with the objective of being understood in all details, and rehearse your speech in front of peers who will tell you whether the information in your speech makes sense.

In addition to being clear, your speech should be interesting. Your listeners will benefit the most if they can give sustained attention to the speech, and this is unlikely to happen if they are bored. This often means you will decide against using some of the topics you know a great deal about. Suppose, for example, that you had a summer job as a veterinary assistant and learned a great deal about canine parasites. This topic might be very interesting to you, but how interesting will it be to others in your class? In order to make it interesting, you will need to find a way to connect it with their interests and curiosities. Perhaps there are certain canine parasites that also pose risks to humans—this might be a connection that would increase audience interest in your topic.

Why We Speak to Inform

Informative speaking is a means for the delivery of knowledge. In informative speaking, we avoid expressing opinion.

This doesn’t mean you may not speak about controversial topics. However, if you do so, you must deliver a fair statement of each side of the issue in debate. If your speech is about standardized educational testing, you must honestly represent the views both of its proponents and of its critics. You must not take sides, and you must not slant your explanation of the debate in order to influence the opinions of the listeners. You are simply and clearly defining the debate. If you watch the evening news on a major network television (ABC, CBS, or NBC), you will see newscasters who undoubtedly have personal opinions about the news, but are trained to avoid expressing those opinions through the use of loaded words, gestures, facial expressions, or vocal tone. Like those newscasters, you are already educating your listeners simply by informing them. Let them make up their own minds. This is probably the most important reason for informative speaking.

Making Information Clear and Interesting for the Audience

A clear and interesting speech can make use of description, causal analysis, or categories. With description, you use words to create a picture in the minds of your audience. You can describe physical realities, social realities, emotional experiences, sequences, consequences, or contexts. For instance, you can describe the mindset of the Massachusetts town of Salem during the witch trials. You can also use causal analysis, which focuses on the connections between causes and consequences. For example, in speaking about health care costs, you could explain how a serious illness can put even a well-insured family into bankruptcy. You can also use categories to group things together. For instance, you could say that there are three categories of investment for the future: liquid savings, avoiding debt, and acquiring properties that will increase in value.

There are a number of principles to keep in mind as a speaker to make the information you present clear and interesting for your audience. Let’s examine several of them.

Adjust Complexity to the Audience

If your speech is too complex or too simplistic, it will not hold the interest of your listeners. How can you determine the right level of complexity? Your audience analysis is one important way to do this. Will your listeners belong to a given age group, or are they more diverse? Did they all go to public schools in the United States, or are some of your listeners international students? Are they all students majoring in communication studies, or is there a mixture of majors in your audience? The answers to these and other audience analysis questions will help you to gauge what they know and what they are curious about.

Never assume that just because your audience is made up of students, they all share your knowledge set. If you base your speech on an assumption of similar knowledge, you might not make sense to everyone. If, for instance, you’re an intercultural communication student discussing multiple identities , the psychology students in your audience will most likely reject your message. Similarly, the term “viral” has very different meanings depending on whether it is used with respect to human disease, popular response to a website, or population theory. In using the word “viral,” you absolutely must explain specifically what you mean. You should not hurry your explanation of a term that’s vulnerable to misinterpretation. Make certain your listeners know what you mean before continuing your speech. Stephen Lucas explains, “You cannot assume they will know what you mean. Rather, you must be sure to explain everything so thoroughly that they cannot help but understand” (Lucas, 2004). Define terms to help listeners understand them the way you mean them to. Give explanations that are consistent with your definitions, and show how those ideas apply to your speech topic. In this way, you can avoid many misunderstandings.

Similarly, be very careful about assuming there is anything that “everybody knows.” Suppose you’ve decided to present an informative speech on the survival of the early colonists of New England. You may have learned in elementary school that their survival was attributable, in part, to the assistance of Squanto. Many of your listeners will know which states are in New England, but if there are international students in the audience, they might never have heard of New England. You should clarify the term either by pointing out the region on a map or by stating that it’s the six states in the American northeast. Other knowledge gaps can still confound the effectiveness of the speech. For instance, who or what was Squanto? What kind of assistance did the settlers get? Only a few listeners are likely to know that Squanto spoke English and that fact had greatly surprised the settlers when they landed. It was through his knowledge of English that Squanto was able to advise these settlers in survival strategies during that first harsh winter. If you neglect to provide that information, your speech will not be fully informative.

Beyond the opportunity to help improve your delivery, one important outcome of practicing your speech in front of a live audience of a couple of friends or classmates is that you can become aware of terms that are confusing or that you should define for your audience.

Avoid Unnecessary Jargon

If you decide to give an informative speech on a highly specialized topic, limit how much technical language or jargon you use. Loading a speech with specialized language has the potential to be taxing on the listeners. It can become too difficult to “translate” your meanings, and if that happens, you will not effectively deliver information. Even if you define many technical terms, the audience may feel as if they are being bombarded with a set of definitions instead of useful information. Don’t treat your speech as a crash course in an entire topic. If you must, introduce one specialized term and carefully define and explain it to the audience. Define it in words, and then use a concrete and relevant example to clarify the meaning.

Some topics, by their very nature, are too technical for a short speech. For example, in a five-minute speech you would be foolish to try to inform your audience about the causes of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear emergency that occurred in Japan in 2011. Other topics, while technical, can be presented in audience-friendly ways that minimize the use of technical terms. For instance, in a speech about Mount Vesuvius, the volcano that buried the ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, you can use the term “pyroclastic flow” as long as you take the time to either show or tell what it means.

Create Concrete Images

As a college student, you have had a significant amount of exposure to abstract terms. You have become comfortable using and hearing a variety of abstract ideas. However, abstract terms lend themselves to many interpretations. For instance, the abstract term “responsibility” can mean many things. Among other meanings, it can mean duty, task, authority, or blame. Because of the potential for misunderstanding, it is better to use a concrete word. For example, instead of saying, “Helen Worth was responsible for the project,” you will convey clearer meaning when you say, “Helen Worth was in charge of the project,” “Helen Kimes made the project a success,” or “Helen Worth was to blame for the failure of the project.”

To illustrate the differences between abstract and concrete language, let’s look at a few pairs of terms:

By using an abstraction in a sentence and then comparing the concrete term in the sentence, you will notice the more precise meanings of the concrete terms. Those precise terms are less likely to be misunderstood. In the last pair of terms, “knowledgeable” is listed as a concrete term, but it can also be considered an abstract term. Still, it’s likely to be much clearer and more precise than “profound.”

Keep Information Limited

When you developed your speech, you carefully narrowed your topic in order to keep information limited yet complete and coherent. If you carefully adhere to your own narrowing, you can keep from going off on tangents or confusing your audience. If you overload your audience with information, they will be unable to follow your narrative. Use the definitions, descriptions, explanations, and examples you need in order to make your meanings clear, but resist the temptation to add tangential information merely because you find it interesting.

Link Current Knowledge to New Knowledge

Certain sets of knowledge are common to many people in your classroom audience. For instance, most of them know what Wikipedia is. Many have found it a useful and convenient source of information about topics related to their coursework. Because many Wikipedia entries are lengthy, greatly annotated, and followed by substantial lists of authoritative sources, many students have relied on information acquired from Wikipedia in writing papers to fulfill course requirements. All this is information that virtually every classroom listener is likely to know. This is the current knowledge of your audience.

Because your listeners are already familiar with Wikipedia, you can link important new knowledge to their already-existing knowledge. Wikipedia is an “open source,” meaning that anyone can supplement, edit, correct, distort, or otherwise alter the information in Wikipedia. In addition to your listeners’ knowledge that a great deal of good information can be found in Wikipedia, they must now know that it isn’t authoritative. Some of your listeners may not enjoy hearing this message, so you must find a way to make it acceptable.

One way to make the message acceptable to your listeners is to show what Wikipedia does well. For example, some Wikipedia entries contain many good references at the end. Most of those references are likely to be authoritative, having been written by scholars. In searching for information on a topic, a student can look up one or more of those references in full-text databases or in the library. In this way, Wikipedia can be helpful in steering a student toward the authoritative information they need. Explaining this to your audience will help them accept, rather than reject, the bad news about Wikipedia.

Make It Memorable

If you’ve already done the preliminary work in choosing a topic, finding an interesting narrowing of that topic, developing and using presentation aids, and working to maintain audience contact, your delivery is likely to be memorable. Now you can turn to your content and find opportunities to make it appropriately vivid. You can do this by using explanations, comparisons, examples, or language.

Let’s say that you’re preparing a speech on the United States’ internment of Japanese American people from the San Francisco Bay area during World War II. Your goal is to paint a memorable image in your listeners’ minds. You can do this through a dramatic contrast, before and after. You could say, “In 1941, the Bay area had a vibrant and productive community of Japanese American citizens who went to work every day, opening their shops, typing reports in their offices, and teaching in their classrooms, just as they had been doing for years. But on December 7, 1941, everything changed. Within six months, Bay area residents of Japanese ancestry were gone, transported to internment camps located hundreds of miles from the Pacific coast.”

This strategy rests on the ability of the audience to visualize the two contrasting situations. You have alluded to two sets of images that are familiar to most college students, images that they can easily visualize. Once the audience imagination is engaged in visualization, they are likely to remember the speech.

Your task of providing memorable imagery does not stop after the introduction. While maintaining an even-handed approach that does not seek to persuade, you must provide the audience with information about the circumstances that triggered the policy of internment, perhaps by describing the advice that was given to President Roosevelt by his top advisers. You might depict the conditions faced by Japanese Americans during their internment by describing a typical day one of the camps. To conclude your speech on a memorable note, you might name a notable individual—an actor, writer, or politician—who is a survivor of the internment.

Such a strategy might feel unnatural to you. After all, this is not how you talk to your friends or participate in a classroom discussion. Remember, though, that public speaking is not the same as talking. It’s prepared and formal. It demands more of you. In a conversation, it might not be important to be memorable; your goal might merely be to maintain friendship. But in a speech, when you expect the audience to pay attention, you must make the speech memorable.

Make It Relevant and Useful

When thinking about your topic, it is always very important to keep your audience members center stage in your mind. For instance, if your speech is about air pollution, ask your audience to imagine feeling the burning of eyes and lungs caused by smog. This is a strategy for making the topic more real to them, since it may have happened to them on a number of occasions; and even if it hasn’t, it easily could. If your speech is about Mark Twain, instead of simply saying that he was very famous during his lifetime, remind your audience that he was so prominent that their own great-grandparents likely knew of his work and had strong opinions about it. In so doing, you’ve connected your topic to their own forebears.

Personalize Your Content

Giving a human face to a topic helps the audience perceive it as interesting. If your topic is related to the Maasai rite of passage into manhood, the prevalence of drug addiction in a particular locale, the development of a professional filmmaker, or the treatment of a disease, putting a human face should not be difficult. To do it, find a case study you can describe within the speech, referring to the human subject by name. This conveys to the audience that these processes happen to real people.

Make sure you use a real case study, though—don’t make one up. Using a fictional character without letting your audience know that the example is hypothetical is a betrayal of the listener’s trust, and hence, is unethical.

Key Takeaways

• One important reason for informative speaking is to provide listeners with information so that they can make up their own minds about an issue.
• Informative speeches must be accurate, clear, and interesting for the listener.
• Strategies to make information clear and interesting to an audience include adjusting the complexity of your information to the audience, avoiding jargon, creating concrete images, limiting information only to what is most relevant, linking information to what the audience already knows, and making information memorable through language or personalization.
• Identify concrete terms with which to replace the following abstractions: motivational, development, fair, natural, and dangerous.
• Make a list of the arguments both for and against gun control. Make them informative, not persuasive. Your goal is to describe the debate that currently exists without taking a clear position.
• How might you go about personalizing a speech about water conservation for your classroom audience?

Lucas, Stephen E. (2004). The art of public speaking . Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Stand up, Speak out Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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50 Interesting Informative Speech Topics for College

26 September, 2020

15 minutes read

Author:  Mathieu Johnson

Informative speeches grant speakers a responsible mission of educating people about significant ideas and themes. They’re also about sharing thoughts and opinions on this or that topic, aimed at expanding understanding and providing listeners with relevant insights for further deliberation. Therefore, it’s a particular type of speeches given to put things into sharp focus and offer food for thought. Read up to know which informative speech topics have the most impact.

What is an informative speech?

As mentioned above, it’s a kind of speech that, well, informs the audience about your topic. Sounds simple enough, but simplicity is deceptive, and there are enough secrets behind this science. Specifically, not all people are fully aware of the fact that the “what” question is a key element that needs to be answered, for with informative speeches, you want to choose a topic most likely to be well received.

Of course, you can speak about something you already know, but you can also talk about the topic which is absolutely new to you. In this case, however, you must make sure that the theme will be relatively easy to research and studied before speech delivery. Another important point worth noticing is that organizational requirements and type of information for informative speech usually intertwines with those for an informative essay, for the latter is often an extension of the first.

How to write an informative speech?

So, now it’s time to move from theory to practice and write an informative speech. But where do you start from?

Although there are many different processes involved in the process, we’ll narrow them to essentials to help you better grasp the idea of how a perfect speech should be tailored.

Stage 1. Research and Brainstorming

Think about the topic.

The first and most crucial step is about choosing the right topic. We’ve mentioned before that it’s vital to select the issue you feel free to talk about. However, there are also cases when professors assign a specific task for you. Either way, the point here is to conduct thorough research based on the given or chosen topic.

If you want to explain the history of some company, band or event, for example, make sure to deliver the message clearly, without going here and there. For this, consider talking about particular points which will cover the whole speech and help the audience quickly digest it. Otherwise, your speech will depart from the topic, and listeners will find it challenging to follow your thoughts.

Gather Evidence

Every scholarly work proves its credibility by the inclusion of relevant sources to show both the audience and the instructor that you’ve put enough effort into the work to sound authoritative. This is a great chance to get a good mark, but more importantly, earn trust from listeners. To cite the evidence correctly, you can search for some facts, stats, or numbers in a variety of sources. These include textbooks, books, and encyclopedias (online ones work as well), scholarly articles, reputable news bureaus, and government documents. If these are hard to find for you, think of alternatives, like online journals and magazines. But be careful and don’t use sources from there if they are not credible and reputable. As an example, use The New York Times, The Guardian, Harvard Business Review, SAJE journals, Forbes, etc.

Also, keep in mind that the evidence you’ll use should depend on the subject of your talk. If it’s about science, check scientific publications. If it’s about medicine – embark upon texts on this specific sphere. Finally, don’t forget to create a works cited page at the end of your speech and put all your sources there. Even if your instructor does not specify such a requirement, create a list anyways. This will help you keep references organized, and you will be able to pick a suitable one from the list.

Generate a Nice Thesis

A thesis is the core of impactful speech that tells listeners about its focal points. It also reveals the purpose of your speech and provides the audience with an insight into what the speech is all about. Notably, your thesis should not exceed the length of one-two sentences and be as precise as possible. More so, thesis, like the speech itself, is not about convincing people to take your topic stance immediately. Rather, it’s about informing listeners about significant events or cases which they could analyze and make relevant conclusions themselves. No need to push them or force to change the perspective, just try to be genuine and honest with people you’re talking to. Considering that it’s a scholarly piece of work, there’s no room for appealing to emotions or subjective claims. So in informative speeches, objectivity is the key player.

Informative speech outline

The outline is a skeleton of your speech that briefly explains each of your points. This is basically a list of short sentences which reveal the meaning of your main speech ideas. Remember that this list is not for the audience; it’s for your own use. So the task here is to write about every point in a way you’ll understand. You can also use notecards instead of paper so that it’ll be much easier for you not to get lost in a sea of ideas and organize the speech properly. Tip: include numbers and capital letters for headings, and bullet points or other figures to mark subheadings.

If you are still unsure on whether you can cope with your task – you are in the right place to get help. Our essay writers will easily answer the to the question “Who can write my speech?”

Stage 2. Writing

Once the sketches are ready and you have a clear understanding of what to speak about, move on straight to writing.

Craft an Engaging Intro

What does engaging stand for in this case? It denotes some speech elements which will be enticing for listeners from the first sentence. It’s a common practice to start speeches with different hooks to call for more people’s attention. There are a plethora of techniques you can use to make an unforgettable first impression: jokes, anecdotes, examples from personal life, interesting statistics, rhetorical questions, quotes of famous people. You can even invent your own attention-grabber which will help you knock down listeners.

Give More Detail in the Main Body

Once you managed to create impact by the introduction and made sure everyone will be eager to listen to you further, you need to expand the explanation of key speech ideas in a well-structured, organized manner. Like in regular life, you start a story from the beginning to the end, while gradually moving from one idea to another. The same goes for informative speech – you need to ensure that the flow of your narration is logical and concise, fully elaborated, and precise. Also, don’t forget about making transitions between sentences. They will make your speech flow naturally, helping the audience to process the information much easier and effortlessly.

Wrap Everything Up in Conclusion

The ending of your informative speech should restate the main idea and the thesis you’ve mentioned in the introduction. There’s no need to say new things that will only confuse your audience. Instead, all the conclusion needs is a nice wrapping of the already stated claims.

So basically you want to review your main points and thereby deliver listeners a message which they will perceive as a major takeaway from what you’ve just told them. However, the introductory part should by no means repeat previous information word by word. It’s just a short restatement that covers up the main points.

Proofread and Edit the Final Version

Once the text is written entirely, it’s a must for you to double check it to avoid possible mistakes. If your informative speech turns out not as informative as expected due to grammatical or lexical errors, you’ll not be taken seriously, which we bet is not the purpose of delivering your talk. So, to prevent casualties from happening, you’ll need to use reliable editing and proofreading tools. Grammarly is an excellent source for this. Its accurate algorithm detects all kinds of mistakes and fixes them on the fly in a matter of seconds. And you can also check the text for plagiarism to make sure that it has no analogs anywhere on the web.

Stage 3. Perfecting Speech Delivery

Memorize your speech.

Half work is done – you have a writing piece. Now it’s time to learn it. Of course, it’ll take you time to do this, but with a little patience and enough time, you can memorize it even faster than expected. Besides, it’s not recommended to learn the speech from A to Z, inside out and upside down by heart. If your instructor is indulgent enough, feel free to memorize your talk in a way that allows you to explain your ideas clearly and consistently. To facilitate the process of learning, you can memorize sentence by sentence until you’re confident. And even if you forget something during delivery, you can always count on the outline that’ll give you a hint on what to talk about next.

Practice Reading Speech Aloud

When the final product is finally ready and polished, you need to concentrate on reading it.

Practice the speech in a mirror, to a friend/relative/pet, or record yourself to trace the tone and intonation. This way, you’ll make sure that your informative speech is brilliant and you deliver it just the way you wanted. Besides, this practice can help you critically evaluate the flaws and correct them before the actual delivery. Have enough time for this, because even experienced speakers always rehearse their speeches. Finally, focus on the way you use gestures, the way you stand and look at the audience, and facial expressions.

List of informative speech topics

There are lots of easy informative speech topics to choose from, but we offer you to review our topics list with some of the most alluring ones to get you started. Let’s examine pro informative topics that’ll help you write a memorable speech.

Topics for informative speech about music

• Frank Sinatra – a beloved father of music
• The drastic evolution of french music
• Deep house – the most popular music style among youngsters
• Why did rock and roll became an epitome of popular dance music
• Why does reggae music most known under the name of Bob Marley
• The psychological and physical benefits of listening to music
• Chill, lounge and electronica has market the era of progressive sound
• The impact of rap music on society at large
• The art of playing the violin
• The evolution of jazz music and its connection to historical movements

Informative speech topics about animals

• Why are so many animals under extinction today and how do we fix it?
• Why dogs are considered as humans best friend?
• The history and evolution of polar bears
• Why does rhinos horn trimming in South Africa still allowed
• How to properly raise chinchillas
• The most dangerous types of dogs on the planet
• Staggering intellectual abilities of elephants baffle even scientists
• How to keep snakes away and save your life
• Different types of butterflies
• The history of bees and their role in the world

Topics for informative speech about global warming

• Patterns in climate change: rising temperatures and flooding
• What Effects does Climate Change have on the Earth and its Inhabitants?
• What are the practical solutions to global warming
• What is global warming and what causes it?
• The future of global warming: dismal predictions and statistics
• Controversial opinions about global warming
• The greenhouse effect as the top one reason of climate change
• The global issue of global warming: what’s next?
• Humans are responsible for the emergence and progress of global warming
• Sanctions against generation of greenhouses: will they ever take place?

Informative speech ideas about sports

• How sports improve human physical and psychological health
• Is golf the game of the past?
• The real life of sport teams: from trainings to furious games
• Can roller skating be considered a kind of sport?
• What’s more dangerous: white water rafting or ice diving?
• The history of sports: whom do we owe respect?
• Hockey 101: gear, playing techniques, team spirit
• Why is boxing the most dangerous type of sports
• The most unusual kinds of sports humans have invented
• The importance and potential threat of football for the world 

Interesting speech topics about food and drinks

• How to bake a cake and not put on weight
• Why does alcohol bring so much trouble to contemporary youth?
• There are no superfoods, the study shows
• Does fast food really cause addiction?
• The secret ingredient of Coca Cola and why you’ll never want to drink it again
• If the fruit diet useful for health?
• Why bananas can save the world
• Eating vegetables and olive oil is a golden ticket to rejuvenation
• What’s the difference between natural and processed foods?
• Why eating pizza is the worst way to get away with cooking

As you can see from the list of topics for speeches, informative speech is a perfect occasion to explore interesting themes in depth and share your knowledge with people who are most likely to learn new things with you. Discovering a variety of topics and writing them on paper is perhaps the most engaging task your instructor has ever assigned you. And if you find it challenging to come with the right idea for a good topic, just send a “ write my speech ” request, and we’ll complete your order in no time.

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