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As part of your Ordinary Level English Examination you might be
asked to write a speech. The question is as likely to ask you to write a speech
as it would any of these guided essay formats and it is always best to be
prepared to tackle any format instead of only focusing your exam preparation on
only a select few formats-a practice some students call “spotting.”
Writing
Speeches
When you are asked to write speeches you should bear the following
things in mind:
Speeches differ slightly with the other guided essays that you
will be asked to write. Speeches are made to inform, share, and
support/persuade your audience on
the topic set out in the examination question.
You should write in a conversational style i.e. you should write
the same way you speak. Imagine yourself in front of the given audience.
Usually the question itself sets out the audience you are supposed to be facing
for example a graduation speech would have you facing your fellow graduating
students in perhaps the school hall/during assembly imagine what you would say
to them.
Start and
end with opening quotes either double quotations” ” or single
‘‘quotations can be used at the beginning and last paragraph of the speech. It is
always good practice to use these alternatively if they are nested. For example
let us say you chose the double quotes to open your speech and somewhere in the
speech you decide to include a relevant quotation by some famous author, it is
good practice to use the single quotes to set out the exact words of that
author in the speech instead of using the double quotes again. The converse
would be true if you had begun by using single quotes.
Start by
greeting your audience. The degree of formality and tone of the
speech depends on your relationship with the audience and the topic of the
speech. For example you could either start by saying,” Good morning to you my
fellow students…” or “Good morning ladies and gentlemen…”
Depending on the situation the greeting may be followed by a self-introduction
even if you have already been introduced and the audience knows you.
This may be in the form of an allusion to your standing on the matter at hand
for example “As your head girl …”
You might want to remind your student
of the occasion. This can be done subtly for example,” I cannot believe
this is our graduation day, it only seems only like yesterday when we started
out as little tiny form ones.”
You should always state the purpose of your speech. The intend
clause should fall naturally into place of your speech. This can be done by
making sure that it matches the style of your entire speech. The purpose of the
speech is usually given out in the question itself and even when it is not
given you can always surmise from the points given in the speech. You could say
for example,” As we march out into the wide and cruel world, I stand here as
your sage, to impart words of parting wisdom.”
Speeches are written in the way that they are spoken which means a
lot of the verbs are in the “-ing” format for example ” speaking” instead of
“spoke” which would be more likely in say a narrative compositions. Also
sentences may not follow the traditional structure, see tips below for more on
this.
In informal speeches you can also make use of speech fillers like
“Err…” and “Ummm..” although this should be done very sparingly.
It is considered bad form however to make use of fillers like “you
know”,”so” where so is supposed to be a superlative for example “He was so
short.”
Good speeches make use of rhetorical questions.
Elaborate the points given in the essay question adding relevant
material of your own based on your experience.
End your speech by thanking the audience for their patience and
attentiveness.
Another popular way to end a speech is to use a quote or a call to
action. For example you could say,” Julius
Ceaser said,’ I came, I saw, I conquered.’ I hope you too came to this
school, saw enlightenment and will now go into the world and conquer It.” or
you could say “Go out into the world and prosper!”
More tips
You can (this is a polite way of saying you must) also use
discourse markers. There are three types of discourse markers and all these are
indispensable when writing your speech.
While it is not required the best speeches often make use of
poetic devices in order to captivate the hearts of their audience and if you
are up to it you would do well to use the following techniques:
-Mock heroic writing
-Make sure that each sentence has roughly the same amount of
syllables in each sentence (line).
-Make use of rhyming words to create a “rhythmic feel” to your
speech. Do not sacrifice meaning just so you can get the rhyme that you want,
the examiners will not be impressed.
-Repeat ideas and thoughts for emphasis, for good example see
Martin Luther King Junior’s I have a dream speech.
-You can also change the traditional sentence structure to suit
your needs so long as you do not violate the rules of grammar. For example
instead of the more traditional structure statement,” This man I am speaking of
is a tall and handsome.” You can instead say,” Tall and handsome is the man I
speak of.” Both statements contain the exact same number of words but the
second line sounds more poetic.
-Think of the paragraphs as more of stanzas instead.
-Make use of rhetorical questions to force the audience to think
more deeply on the subject at hand.
As with all English topics you will need to practice more
extensively in order to become proficient.
