Creating a Clear Presentation – Tips on How to Arrange Information in Your Child’s Speech
We have been there before – there is just too much information that we want to include in our speech that it becomes a struggle to arrange everything into a short 10-minute speech. This is not something that only plagues adults. For our young communicators, the deluge of ideas in their creative minds often means difficulty in crafting clear structure in the speech. This is important because clarity in a presentation can help with audience engagement.
If you have had to sit through a difficult, technical, draining school lecture, you would not want to inflict that onto your audience. This is why script/speech structures are important in helping speakers ensure that the audience can follow the main message or content. It may be difficult for our young communicators to decide the best structure for their topic. Tailoring the structure type to the main message or speech purpose can help with audience engagement too!
Today, we will share three different methods for your child to arrange their speech or presentation content for maximum engagement!
Once Upon a Time …
Stories in themselves are powerful engagement tools for a speech or presentation. However, not every story is a welcome addition to a speech – a good story allows the audience to follow the events, appreciate the characters, and identify the learning point to be applied. As such, the story-crafting process is often a time-consuming journey and requires dedicated effort. For our young communicators, the same challenge applies.
Fret not – for a story, there are various structures that your child can experiment with to ensure audience engagement. One such structure is the conflict structure – the story starts with a background (e.g., on characters), transit to a conflict, and then grows into a learning point. Beyond this, some stories are more descriptive (e.g., sharing about a public speaking journey). The structure can come in a chronological form, following a specific timeline as the story progresses.
Step 1, Step 2 …
What about speeches or presentations with a lot of information? This may be more common than you think for our young communicators as they encounter sharing sessions, informative speeches, or in-class presentations for school. The challenge here is managing the different content to be delivered to the audience. Instead of leaving it to the audience to navigate the information, a good structure will make the process easier for them.
One of the easier structures to apply is the use of signposting – this involves adding guidance phrases (e.g., first, second) to indicate a sequence or logical flow. For more advanced students, another technique to try is the use of transition phrases. This specific phrase guides the audience to the next point or information (e.g., let me now move to my first point …). Both these techniques act as a map for the audience.
Themes, Groups, Phases
Beyond the techniques above, we can encourage our young communicators to have their broad structure in mind. This habit ensures that the speech or presentation is geared towards a specific purpose or objective. In fact, grouping the speech content into digestible or intuitive groupings can also assist your child in memorising their script (as it is easier to keep track of the bite-sized components).
There are a few methods of grouping the content in the speech/presentation. One creative method involves the use of themes or concepts. For example, when sharing a proposal or an idea for a school event, the script can be divided into the categories of logistics, finance, and manpower. Each of these groups signals specific content to the audience (and helps them navigate your child’s sharing!).
Strength in Clarity!
Your child’s aim is to ensure that the audience has an easier journey with the speech content when it comes to speech structure. Whether it is something more casual or a formal presentation/speech, keeping an eye on the structure ensures that the main message or points are delivered accurately to the audience. The next time your child is crafting their scripts, try out one of the structure tips above!
*** Now that there’s clarity, how to deliver it without memorising the script ***
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