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The specific purpose and central idea are TOOLS to help you in your thinking about your speech.

The specific purpose


defines your action in the speech, what you want to accomplish. The central idea is like a thesis statement in an essay; it
is a statement of your main points.
Specific Purpose Statement
The general purpose of any speech will be either to Inform; Motivate/Persuade; or Entertain your audience. As soon as you
know the general purpose of your speech you can develop your Specific Purpose Statement (What the speaker will
accomplish). Your Specific Purpose Statement is used to develop your speech. You don't acutally say it in your speech.
Restrict your Specific Purpose to one idea only. In Speech 151 for the informative speech your general purpose is to inform.
For an informative speech you will want to start your specific purpose statement with "I will inform my audience about...." A
Specific Purpose Statement for an informative speech will be phrased much like the following statements.
Informative speech specific purpose statements:

I will inform my audience about the two major forms of hula.


I will inform my audience about what lifegaurds do as part of their jobs.
When you have your specific purpose statement you are ready to compose your Thesis Statement/Central Idea (they are one
in the same). This is the most important part of your speech. This is one sentence that encompasses the central idea of your
speech.
Writing your thesis statement/central idea is a four step process:

1.
2.
3.
4.

Choose your topic


Determine your general purpose
Write your specific purpose statement
Tie it all together by composing a clear concise thesis statement/central idea
The following are effective Thesis Statements/Central Ideas for the informative specific purpose statements above:
Your next step is to compose the main points of your speech. Main points are complete sentences that create a dialogue with
your audience. With your main points you want to create questions in the mind of your audience. You will answer the
question in your support of your main points. You make a claim in your main points and you support your claim in your
subpoints, sub-subpoints, sub-sub-subpoints and so on.
specific Purpose Statement
After a speaker has determined the general purpose for the speech (to inform, persuade, or entertain) and chosen a speech
topic, the specific purpose statement needs to be developed. A specific purpose statement is what you want your audience
to know/understand after theyve listened to your speech. The specific purpose statement helps speakers identify their main
points and narrow the topic sufficiently to fit the time limits. It focuses on precisely what you want your audience to
understand, know, feel, believe, or do.
Note that the verbs for the Informative Speech include: know and understand. The verbs for a Persuasive Speech include:
feel, believe, agree, and do. If your goal is to inform the audience, be careful to avoid any persuasive verbs in your specific
purpose statement. Be careful that your specific purpose is not a persuasive speech in informative-speech-clothing, also
known as The Infomercial. This occurs when the topic is controversial and/or opinions are expressed. In the Infomercial,
the speaker has a hidden agenda of wanting the audience to agree with something or take action of some kind.
An effective specific purpose statement includes both what you will talk about (subject) and what you will say about it
(predicate). However, never, never, never state your specific purpose to the audience. It is considered a Sin of the

Introduction to say your specific purpose to your audience. It is simply part of a speakers organizational plan as the outlines
are developed.
Format for Specific Purpose
1.

The specific purpose begins with the phrase After listening to my speech, my audience will know/understand.

a.

Avoid know/understand about

b.

Avoid know/understand more about

c.

Avoid know/understand better

d.

Avoid know/understand the most important aspects of

e.

Avoid anything other than simply know/understand

2.

The specific purpose includes your speech subject (topic).

a.

No how-to speeches

b.

Avoid persuasive speeches in informative-speech-clothing.(The Infomercial)

3.

The specific purpose includes your speech predicate (what you will say about the topic).

a.

The predicate should be specific.

b.

The predicate should reflect your main points.


A sign language (also signed language or simply signing) is a language which uses manual communication and body
language to convey meaning, as opposed to acoustically conveyed sound patterns. This can involve simultaneously
combining hand shapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to fluidly express a
speaker's thoughts.
Sign language is defined as a way to communicate using hand gestures and symbols for words or letters of the alphabet,
often used by those who are hard-of-hearing.
Action languages are formal models of parts of the natural language that are used for talking about the effects of actions.
Central to this method of formalizing actions is the concept of a transition system Definition:
A type of nonverbal communication that relies on body movements (such as gestures, posture, and facial expressions) to
conveymessages.
Body language may be used consciously or unconsciously. It may accompany a verbal message or serve as a substitute
for speech.
Sign Language:
Sign language includes forms of oral speech where numbers, punctuation and words have been supplanted by gestures.
Gestures and Body Action:
Action Language includes all gestures, posture, facial expressions and movements that are NOT used exclusively as
substitutes for words.
Object Language:
Object language refers to the display of material things -- art objects, clothes, decoration of a room, physical appearance like
hair styles and so on.
Conversation Makes Us Human
Speech opens the door of human relations

Published on December 7, 2011 by Arthur Dobrin, D.S.W. in Am I Right?


"The true spirit of conversation consists in building on another man's observation, not overturning it," wrote Edward G.
Bulwer-Lytton
Some things aren't spoken about because they are secrets that need keeping; some people are quiet because they have
nothing to say. Some are silent because there are times in which only silence allows us to hear the important things; some
are never quiet and their voices rattle like pebbles in an empty can.
While silence may lead to the gate of self-reflection, speech opens the door of human relations. To be cut off from ordinary
conversation is to be cut off from the pleasures and benefits of companionship.
In true conversation there are no roles but there are rules of respect; in true conversation there is no domination, only equals
talking. A conversation is a free and open exchange-of thoughts and feelings. It isn't the building up of ideas that count as
much as weaving the fabric of human intercourse.
To converse is to belong with others. True conversation is fitting into the heart of another and letting others into yours.
Conversation lifts the veil of isolation. Without conversation we are disconnected from the human community; with
conversation we find a place where we belong.
Here is a anecdote about Helen Keller, who was stricken blind and deaf at less than two years old and was plunged into
isolation. So frustrated by not being able to communicate, she threw daily tantrums and became an angry child.
Her life changed dramatically when Annie Sullivan became her teacher. Sullivan taught Keller by finger spelling on her pupil's
palm. In her autobiography, Keller writes: "Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten-a thrill of returning
thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that w-a-t-e-r' meant the wonderful cool
something that was flowing over my hand. That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free!
"Before my teacher came to me, I didn't know that I am. I lived in a world that was a no-world. I cannot hope to describe
adequately that unconscious, yet conscious time of nothingness. I did not know that I knew aught, or that I lived or acted or
desired. I had neither will nor intellect. I was carried along to objects and acts by a certain blind impetus. I can remember all
this, not because I knew that it was so, but because I have tactual memory. It enables me to remember that I never
contracted my forehead in the act of thinking. I never viewed anything beforehand or chose it. I also recall tactually the fact
that never in a start of the body or a heart-beat did I feel that I loved or cared for anything. My inner life, then, was a blank
without past, present, or future, without hope or anticipation."
Now Keller could converse and in that conversation become connected to others.
You see, if we are careful with our speech, whether formal or informal, we can gain a positive perception from our peers,
colleagues, and our superiors. If we are fond of using negative words, for example, people will tend to think that we have a
bad personality. On the other hand, if we talk with grace, finesse, and confidence, then it is common for others to perceive us
as someone with a pleasing personality.
Putting Into Words Our Thoughts and Ideas through Oral Expression
It is, without doubt, very difficult to improve our personality if we cannot even verbalize what it is we want to say. If we
hesitate to speak on fear of being misjudged by others, if we are too shy and scared to open our mouth in a gathering, it will
really be difficult for us to develop our personality.
Part of our development is derived from what we learn from others, but if we have poor oral communication skills and refuse
to do something about it, then we are blocking the doors for growth. Being able to express ourselves through speech is
essential to build relationships with people, but if we keep on holding back and decline any opportunity to improve, then
nothing good will ever come out of it.

The spoken word, properly presented and supported with strength and conviction, still holds sway in every aspect of life as
strongly as it did when the nations weren't connected by the World Wide Web-perhaps even more so, because international
relations are now as commonplace as sitting down in the morning to a bowl of cereal. No one would be able to sway the
conviction of anyone else to their point of view. The arguments would go on for hours with nothing being accomplished.
Take that speech away, and what you're left with is a jumble of ideas without any substance. These interactions cannot be
done with a piece of paper or a cleverly designed website. These mediums, while unarguably useful for presenting ideas on a
wide scale, don't allow for the interchange of ideas that is so vital for progress. Yes, the Internet has chat capability. Yes, the
telephone and the fax machine are marvelous inventions. There is still nothing like a conversation held face to face, looking
into the eye of your ally or adversary as you state your case. It is far more difficult to deny a well formatted argument spoken
in a clear, passionate voice than a screen or a page decorated with the latest graphics capability. Speech is what gives these
ideas the impetus that moves them from the mind out into society. "A great number of men have failed at camp because of
inability to articulate clearly. A man who cannot impart his idea to his command in clear distinct language, and with sufficient
volume of voice to be heard reasonably far, is not qualified to give command upon which human life will depend. It isn't
enough simply to believe in an idea, or to be able to write it down. For an idea to grow and thrive it must first have behind it a
voice to make it understood and believed.

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