The Working Outline:

There are three main types of outlines: the working outline, the speaking outline and the formal outline. Each one has a specific purpose.

The purpose of the working outline is to help you organize and start to gather information for your speech. As you gather information, you will be organizing it in a specific pattern. The working outline shows you where the holes are located, how well the speeech is balanced, and what types of supporting materials you will need. An example of a working outline is at the bottom of this page.

The speaking outline is the most simple - it will consist of a few key words to help you, the speaker, remember your speech as you are presenting it.

The formal outline is the most complete type of outline, consisting of more complete sentences and including any bibliography.

There are certain things which must be included in the outline:

1. A specific purpose statement
2. The working introduction either written in full or outlined in close to complete sentences
3. The thesis statement labeled
4. All transitions labeled and written in full
5. The points of the body with enough information so that it is clear to me what you are saying and where you are going
6. The working conclusion either written in full or outlined in close to complete sentences

DO NOT write your speech out in full, but outline the content. Do not use complete sentences in the outline (except where asked). Give me enough information so that I can use this outline to help you. That is the purpose of sending this to me - to be able to help you if I see problems. If I have your specific purpose statement, thesis statement and transitions, I can see if there are any problems in the organization, focus and supporting material. If I do not have enough information in the body of the speech, I can not help you. If I can't help you - and you need it - then your presentation will suffer.

Good example:

Specific Purpose: To demonstrate how to make three simple toys for your cat

Introduction: I work hard and after a day at school or work, just like all of us, I look forward to getting home and settling in for a rest. I look forward to that chair in my frontroom that leans back and allows me to put my feet up. I want a cool drink, a bit of soothing music and my cat curled up on my lap.

That didn't happen. Instead I came home to THAT chair ripped to shreds, tuffs of chair cushion scattered around the living room like a snow storm had hit, and THAT cat prowling around, looking for something else to damage...what a night!

Central idea: I learned something important about owning a pet: cats get bored just like we do if they do not have something to do while the owner is gone.

Thesis statement: There are some simple toys you can make that will entertain your cat for hours while you are away.

Body:

I. Inside toys are easy to assemble.

A. Odds and ends
B. Glue, knots, bells and catnip
C. Find the best spot to hang

Transition: while the inside cat is the most often bored, outside cats need playthings, too

II. Outside toys need to be more hardy

A. Jute and feathers
B. Knots, string and catnip
C. Trees and picnic tables are wonderful spots to hang

Transition: the best of both worlds is for the cat who can easily go in and out during the day

III. Jungle Fever is what I call this combination of toys

A. Grass, leaves, bells and catnip
B. Combine areas for placement

Conclusion: So you can see how easy it is to create some fun playthings for your cat, whether or not it is an indoor cat or an outdoor one. If I had known what was needed to entertain my cat and how easy these were to create, I could have been spared the tedious clean up of my favorite chair...and saved the furniture from a long lingering death.

Now when I leave school and want a cool drink, some soothing music and my cat curled on my lap, I am confident it will happen......that is, until I got THAT dog!

Bad example of what not to do:

Specific Purpose: To talk about cats

Introduction
Body: Cats

I. inside toys
II. outside toys
III.jungle fever

Conclusion

Notice how each area of the speech is labeled? Notice how clear the focus is in the specific purpose statement? The body had just enough information (more would be useful - I might question the length of this speech and suggest the speaker cut it down to two points if she finds it to be over the time limit) to give me an idea where the speaker is going with the speech. I would also suggest to this speaker to lengthen the conclusion just a bit (a couple sentences is all that is needed) in order to bring a balance to the speech

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