1.2 Outlining your Presentation
Learning Objectives
- Explain the principles of outlining.
- Create a formal outline.
- Explain the importance of writing for speaking.
- Create a speaking outline.
Think of your outline as a living document that grows and takes form throughout your speech-making process. The outline provides you with the initial structure so that when delivering your speech, you can organize your information in a way that is easy for your audience to understand and process. In this course, you will be required to create a formal outline for each presentation.
The Formal Outline
The formal outline is a full-sentence outline that helps you prepare for your speech. It includes the introduction and conclusion, the main content of the body, key supporting materials, citation information written into the sentences in the outline, and a references page for your speech.
It’s important to note that an outline is different from a script. While a script contains everything that will be said, an outline includes the main content. Therefore you shouldn’t include every word you’re going to say on your outline. This allows you more freedom as a speaker to adapt to your audience during your speech. Students sometimes complain about having to outline speeches or papers, but it is a skill that will help you in other contexts. Being able to break a topic down into logical divisions and then connect the information together will help ensure that you can prepare for complicated tasks that can otherwise be overwhelming. Outlining is also a very useful skill for writing a paper, preparing for a meeting or interview
Principles of Outlining
There are principles of outlining you can follow to make your outlining process more efficient and effective. Four principles of outlining are consistency, unity, coherence, and emphasis (DuBois, 1929).
In terms of consistency, you should follow a standard outlining format. In standard outlining format, main points are indicated by capital Roman numerals, and subpoints are indicated by capital letters.
The principle of unity means that each letter or number represents one idea. One concrete way to help reduce the amount of ideas you include per item is to limit each letter or number to one complete sentence. If you find that one subpoint has more than one idea, you can divide it into two subpoints. Limiting each component of your outline to one idea makes it easier to plug in supporting material and helps ensure that your speech is coherent. For example, the main point below can be broken down and supported by subpoints;
Example
- Growing up in a small town has been central to my identity.
A. I have always been an active and involved member of my community.
B. I formed meaningful and lifelong friendships with many of the people I went to school with.
Following the principle of unity should help your outline adhere to the principle of coherence, which states that there should be a logical and natural flow of ideas, with main points, subpoints, and sub-subpoints connecting to each other (Winans, 1917).
Shorter phrases and keywords can make up the speaking outline, but you should write complete sentences throughout your formal outline to ensure coherence.
The principle of emphasis states that the material included in your outline should be engaging and balanced. As you place supporting material into your outline, choose the information that will have the most impact on your audience. Choose information that is proxemic and relevant, meaning that it can be easily related to the audience’s lives because it matches their interests or ties into current events or the local area.
Remember primacy and recency discussed earlier and place the most engaging information first or last in a main point depending on what kind of effect you want to have. Also make sure your information is balanced. The outline serves as a useful visual representation of the proportions of your speech. You can tell by the amount of space a main point, subpoint, or sub-subpoint takes up in relation to other points of the same level whether or not your speech is balanced.
If one subpoint is half a page, but a main point is only a quarter of a page, then you may want to consider making the subpoint a main point. Each part of your speech doesn’t have to be equal. The first or last point may be more substantial than a middle point if you are following primacy or recency, but overall the speech should be relatively balanced.
The following materials in this module will provide a sample outline, complete with an introduction, body/transitions and a conclusion.
Please be sure to follow the samples provided and label all elements of your outline.
References
Araos, C. (2009, December 10). An American tragedy: Two reasons why we don’t like soccer. Bleacher Report: World Football. Retrieved from http://bleacherreport.com/articles/306338-an-american-tragedy-the-two-reasons-why-we-dont-like-soccer
Bialik, C. (2007, May 23). Tracking how far soccer players run. WSJ Blogs: The Numbers Guy. Retrieved from http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/tracking-how-far-soccer-players-run-112
Deford, F. (2012, May 16). Americans don’t like ties in sports. SI.com: Viewpoint. Retrieved from http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/frank_deford/05/16/Americans-do-not-like-ties/index.html
FIFA.com (2007, September 6). Study: Playing football provides health benefits for all. Retrieved from http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/footballdevelopment/medical/news/newsid=589317/index.html
Goldblatt, D. (2008). The ball is round: A global history of soccer. New York, NY: Penguin.
Kane, B. (1970). Soccer for American spectators: A fundamental guide to modern soccer. South Brunswick, NJ: A. S. Barnes.
Nielsen, C. (2009, May 27). “What I do is play soccer.” ESPN. Retrieved from http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=4205057
Pew Research Center. (2006, June 14). Americans to rest of world: Soccer not really our thing. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from http://pewresearch.org/pubs/315/americans-to-rest-of-world-soccer-not-really-our-thing
ScienceDaily.com. (2010, April 7). Soccer improves health, fitness, and social abilities. ScienceDaily.com: Science news. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100406093524.htm
Selle, R. R. (n.d.). Soccer for peace. Wango.org: News. Retrieved from http://www.wango.org/news/news/psmp.htm
Soccer For Peace. (2012). Kicking across Carolina. SFP news. Retrieved from http://www.soccerforpeace.com/2012-10-03-17-18-08/sfp-news/44-kicking-across-carolina.html
Examples of APA Formatting for References
The citation style of the American Psychological Association (APA) is most often used in communication studies when formatting research papers and references. The following examples are formatted according to the sixth edition of the APA Style Manual. Links are included to the OWL Purdue website, which is one of the most credible online sources for APA format. Of course, to get the most accurate information, it is always best to consult the style manual directly, which can be found in your college or university’s library.
Books
For more information on citing books in APA style on your references page, visit http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/08.
Single Author
Two Authors
Warren, J. T., & Fassett, D. L. (2011). Communication: A critical/cultural introduction. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Chapter from Edited Book
Mumby, D. K. (2011). Power and ethics. In G. Cheney, S. May, & D. Munshi (Eds.), The handbook of communication ethics (pp. 84–98). New York, NY: Routledge.
Periodicals
For more information on citing articles from periodicals in APA style on your references page, visit http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/07.
Magazine
Huang, L. (2011, August 1). The death of English (LOL). Newsweek, 152(6), 8.
Newspaper
Kornblum, J. (2007, October 23). Privacy? That’s old-school: Internet generation views openness in a different way. USA Today, 1D–2D.
Journal Article
Bodie, G. D. (2012). A racing heart, rattling knees, and ruminative thoughts: Defining, explaining, and treating public speaking anxiety. Communication Education, 59(1), 70–105.
Online Sources
For more information on citing articles from online sources in APA style on your references page, visit http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/10.
Online Newspaper Article
Perman, C. (2011, September 8). Bad economy? A good time for a steamy affair. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/story/2011-09-10/economy-affairs-divorce-marriage/50340948/1
Online News Website
Fraser, C. (2011, September 22). The women defying France’s full-face veil ban. BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15023308
Online Magazine
Cullen, L. T. (2007, April 26). Employee diversity training doesn’t work. Time. Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1615183,00.html
Government Document or Report Retrieved Online
Pew Research Center. (2010, November 18). The decline of marriage and rise of new families. Retrieved from http://pewsocialtrends.org/files/2010/11/pew-social-trends-2010-families.pdf
Website
Kwintessential. (n.d.). Cross cultural business blunders. Retrieved from http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/cultural-services/articles/crosscultural-blunders.html
The Speaking Outline
The formal outline is a full-sentence outline that helps as you prepare for your speech, and the speaking outline is a keyword and phrase outline that helps you deliver your speech. While the formal outline is important to ensure that your content is coherent and your ideas are balanced and expressed clearly, the speaking outline helps you get that information out to the audience. Make sure you budget time in your speech preparation to work on the speaking outline. Skimping on the speaking outline will show in your delivery.
You may convert your formal outline into a speaking outline using a computer program. I often resave a file and then reformat the text so it’s more conducive to referencing while actually speaking to an audience. You may also choose, or be asked to, create a speaking outline on note cards. Note cards are a good option when you want to have more freedom to gesture or know you won’t have a lectern on which to place notes printed on full sheets of paper. In either case, this entails converting the full-sentence outline to a keyword or key-phrase outline. Speakers will need to find a balance between having too much or too little content on their speaking outlines. You want to have enough information to prevent fluency hiccups as you stop to mentally retrieve information, but you don’t want to have so much information that you read your speech, which lessens your eye contact and engagement with the audience. Budgeting sufficient time to work on your speaking outline will allow you to practice your speech with different amounts of notes to find what works best for you. Since the introduction and conclusion are so important, it may be useful to include notes to ensure that you remember to accomplish all the objectives of each.
Aside from including important content on your speaking outline, you may want to include speaking cues. Speaking cues are reminders designed to help your delivery. You may write “(PAUSE)” before and after your preview statement to help you remember that important nonverbal signpost. You might also write “(MAKE EYE CONTACT)” as a reminder not to read unnecessarily from your cards. Overall, my advice is to make your speaking outline work for you. It’s your last line of defense when you’re in front of an audience, so you want it to help you, not hurt you.
Writing for Speaking
As you compose your outlines, write in a way that is natural for you to speak but also appropriate for the expectations of the occasion. Since we naturally speak with contractions, write them into your formal and speaking outlines. You should begin to read your speech aloud as you are writing the formal outline. As you read each section aloud, take note of places where you had difficulty saying a word or phrase or had a fluency hiccup, then go back to those places and edit them to make them easier for you to say. This will make you more comfortable with the words in front of you while you are speaking, which will improve your verbal and nonverbal delivery.
Tips for Note Cards
- The 4 × 6 inch index cards provide more space and are easier to hold and move than 3.5 × 5 inch cards.
- Find a balance between having so much information on your cards that you are tempted to read from them and so little information that you have fluency hiccups and verbal fillers while trying to remember what to say.
- Use bullet points on the left-hand side rather than writing in paragraph form, so your eye can easily catch where you need to pick back up after you’ve made eye contact with the audience. Skipping a line between bullet points may also help.
- Include all parts of the introduction/conclusion and signposts for backup.
- Include key supporting material and wording for verbal citations.
- Only write on the front of your cards.
- Do not have a sentence that carries over from one card to the next (can lead to fluency hiccups).
- If you have difficult-to-read handwriting, you may type your speech and tape or glue it to your cards. Use a font that’s large enough for you to see and be neat with the glue or tape so your cards don’t get stuck together.
- Include cues that will help with your delivery. Highlight transitions, verbal citations, or other important information. Include reminders to pause, slow down, breathe, or make eye contact.
- Your cards should be an extension of your body, not something to play with. Don’t wiggle, wring, flip through, or slap your note cards.
Key Takeaways
- The formal outline is a full-sentence outline that helps you prepare for your speech and includes the introduction and conclusion, the main content of the body, citation information written into the sentences of the outline, and a references page.
- The principles of outlining include consistency, unity, coherence, and emphasis.
- Coordinate points in an outline are on the same level of importance in relation to the thesis of the speech or the central idea of a main point. Subordinate points provide evidence for a main idea or thesis.
- The speaking outline is a keyword and phrase outline that helps you deliver your speech and can include speaking cues like “pause,” “make eye contact,” and so on.
- Write your speech in a manner conducive to speaking. Use contractions, familiar words, and phrases that are easy for you to articulate. Reading your speech aloud as you write it can help you identify places that may need revision to help you more effectively deliver your speech.
Exercises
- What are some practical uses for outlining outside of this class? Which of the principles of outlining do you think would be most important in the workplace and why?
- Identify which pieces of information you may use in your speech are coordinate with each other and subordinate.
- Read aloud what you’ve written of your speech and identify places that can be reworded to make it easier for you to deliver.
References
DuBois, W. C., Essentials of Public Speaking (New York: Prentice Hall, 1929), 104.
Winans, J. A., Public Speaking (New York: Century, 1917), 407.