Nib #75 A Speechwriting Cheat Sheet
Now that the Nib has covered all five parts of Classical Rhetorical Structure, this week’s puts them all together into an easy-peasy speech-outlining cheat sheet.
If you’re ever asked to write or give a speech — and you don’t know how — here’s where you start.
First, as always, identify your audience and clarify the purpose of the speech. (If this takes more than 60 seconds, you’re probably overthinking it.)
Then move on to the outline, like this:
Part I. Introduction (Nib #71): Open your speech — paragraph one, sentence one — with a clear, concise statement either of the problem you want to solve or the solution you’re advocating (or both). Don’t bother with opening jokes, stories, or ice breakers at this point. Get right to it.
Part II. Background (Nib #10): Immediately after your intro, give your idea an origin story. Literally use the past tense. Tell your audience a compelling story about how we got here, and they’ll be more receptive to your ideas about where we should go from here.
Part III. Stakes (Nib #70): From the past, jump to the future. Like an advertiser, pitch the audience not on the technical details of your idea, but on the benefits it will yield to them. Paint a picture of how their lives will be better if we adopt your proposal — or worse if we don’t.
Part IV. Substance (Nib #72): Present your solution — your preferred policy, candidate, strategy, whatever — as the bridge that can carry the audience from the broken present to that better future you just described.
Part V. Conclusion (Nib #28): Don’t just “tell ‘em what you told ‘em.” Instead, assume you have proven your point — that we need this reform, this candidate, this solution. And then answer the question “So what?” What action should the audience take now that they are persuaded?
That’s it. Seriously. Just open a new document or pull out a sheet of paper and write:
- Audience: ____________________
- Purpose: ____________________
- Introduction: ____________________
- Background: ____________________
- Stakes: ____________________
- Substance: ____________________
- Conclusion: ____________________
And then fill in the blanks.
In three or four minutes, you’ll have a strong outline. It’s like punching your destination into your GPS at the beginning of a trip. This structured outline won’t take you to where you’re going. But it will make the work of getting there much, much easier.
In coming weeks, the Nib will look at some famous historical speeches to show just how ubiquitous — and useful — this format really is.
Until next week… keep writing!
