Preparing aPreparing aSpeechSpeechYears 5 & 6

Choosing a Topic

• Is it interesting?• Will your audience find it interesting?• Do you know something about it or will you be

able to find enough information and ideasabout the topic?

The topic that is personal to you is often thebest idea so that you feel relaxed andconfident about what you are saying

Brainstorming and Planning

• Write down everything you can think ofabout your topic:– Key words and phrases– Information– Thoughts and feelings– Ways to present your content

Writing your Speech

• Sort your ideas from brainstorming and planning- order them

• Work out your beginning, middle and end:– Beginning - get the audience’s attention e.g. a

rhetorical question, a riddle, a sudden movementor word. Expression!!

– Middle - your information, give examples, tell a‘story’, make the audience believe in what you aresaying and try to involve them.

– End - sum up with a conclusion that will leave theaudience thinking. What was the main point of youspeech?

Length of your Speech

It should be at least two minutes long andno longer than three minutes

Cue Cards

• Write your speech on cue cards• Make sure that they are not too much

bigger than your palm• The best thing to do is to write notes

and reminders on your cue cards ratherthan your whole speech

Practice• Practise your speech over and over again

until you feel very confident about saying it.• Say it in front of your family, friends, pets and

the mirror• If you can, tape yourself. How do you

sound?

Engagement with youraudience

• Try your best to relax and feel confident whenspeaking to your audience (this isn’t easy)

• Ensure that you have eye contact with a variety ofmembers of the audience, not just one or two and notwith the back wall.

• Make your audience feel involved and relaxed withyou too. A good way to do this is by telling a story asan example of what you are trying to say. When youraudience can relate to what you are saying it makesthem feel involved.

• Humour can often help to relax you and build arapport with your audience

Delivery

• Remember the way you say yourspeech is just as important as what yousay.

• When practising your speech deliveryyou need to consider the following skills– Clarity and volume of voice– Expression and intonation– Pace