Working Outline
A working outline is an outline you use for developing your speech. It undergoes many changes on its way to completion. This is the outline where you lay out the basic structure of your speech. You must have a general and specific purpose; an introduction, including a grabber; and a concrete, specific thesis statement and preview. You also need three main points, a conclusion, and a list of references.
One strategy for beginning your working outline is to begin by typing in your labels for each of the elements. Later you can fill in the content.
When you look ahead to the full-sentence outline, you will notice that each of the three main points moves from the general to the particular. Specifically, each main point is a claim, followed by particular information that supports that claim so that the audience will perceive its validity. For example, for a speech about coal mining safety, your first main point might focus on the idea that coal mining is a hazardous occupation. You might begin by making a very general claim, such as “Coal mining is one of the most hazardous occupations in the United States,” and then become more specific by providing statistics, authoritative quotations, or examples to support your primary claim.
A working outline allows you to work out the kinks in your message. For instance, let’s say you’ve made the claim that coal mining is a hazardous occupation but you cannot find authoritative evidence as support. Now you must reexamine that main point to assess its validity. You might have to change that main point in order to be able to support it. If you do so, however, you must make sure the new main point is a logical part of the thesis statement–three main points–conclusion sequence.
The working outline shouldn’t be thought of a “rough copy,” but as a careful step in the development of your message. It will take time to develop. Here is an example of a working outline:
Name: Anomaly May McGillicuddy
Topic: Smart dust
General Purpose: To inform
Specific Purpose: To inform a group of science students about the potential of smart dust
Main Ideas:
- Smart dust is an assembly of microcomputers.
- Smart dust can be used by the military—no, no—smart dust could be an enormous asset in covert military operations. [That’s better because it is more clear and precise.]
- Smart dust could also have applications to daily life.
Introduction: [Grabber] [fill in later]
[Thesis Statement] Thus far, researchers hypothesize that smart dust could be used for everything from tracking patients in hospitals to early warnings of natural disasters and defending against bioterrorism.
[Preview] Today, I’m going to explain what smart dust is and the various applications smart dust has in the near future. To help us understand the small of it all, we will first examine what smart dust is and how it works. We will then examine some military applications of smart dust. And we will end by discussing some nonmilitary applications of smart dust.
[Transition] [fill in later]
Main Point I: Dr. Kris Pister, a professor in the robotics lab at the University of California at Berkeley, originally conceived the idea of smart dust in 1998 as part of a project funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency [DARPA].
- [supporting point]
- [supporting point]
[Transition] [fill in later]
Main Point II: Because smart dust was originally conceptualized under a grant from DARPA, military uses of smart dust have been widely theorized and examined.
- [supporting point]
- [supporting point]
[Transition] [fill in later]
Main Point III: According to the smart dust project website, smart dust could quickly become a common part of our daily lives.
- [supporting point]
- [supporting point]
[Transition] [fill in later]
Conclusion: [Bring your message “full circle” and create a psychologically satisfying closure.]
This stage of preparation turns out to be a good place to go back and examine whether all the main points are directly related to the thesis statement and to each other. If so, your message has a strong potential for unity of focus. But if the relationship of one of the main points is weak, this is the time to strengthen it. It will be more difficult later for two reasons: first, the sheer amount of text on your pages will make the visual task more difficult, and second, it becomes increasingly difficult to change things in which you have a large investment in time and thought.
You can see that this working outline can lay a strong foundation for the rest of your message. Its organization is visually apparent. Once you are confident in the internal unity of your basic message, you can begin filling in the supporting points in descending detail—that is, from the general [main points] to the particular [supporting points] and then to greater detail. The outline makes it visually apparent where information fits. You only need to assess your supporting points to be sure they’re authoritative and directly relevant to the main points they should support.
Sometimes transitions seem troublesome, and that’s not surprising. We often omit them when we have informal conversations. Our conversation partners understand what we mean because of our gestures and vocal strategies. However, others might not understand what we mean, but think they do, and so we might never know whether they understood us. Even when we include transitions, we don’t generally identify them as transitions. In a speech, however, we need to use effective transitions as a gateway from one main point to the next. The listener needs to know when a speaker is moving from one main point to the next.
In the next type of outline, the full-sentence outline, take a look at the transitions and see how they make the listener aware of the shifting focus to the next main point.
Reasons to Outline
Outlining is an important first step in speech-making; it allows you to ensure your speech flows smoothly and covers all your main points.
Learning Objectives
Justify out the reasons to outline prior to writing a speech or presentation
Key Takeaways
Key Points
- An outline helps you group ideas into main points and see their logical connections.
- It is important to create an outline before you deliver your speech, as it will act as your guide to effectively sequence your information and ensure you touch on all your main points.
- Outlining allows you to ensure your speech flows smoothly.
- Use an outline as a tool for delivery of extemporaneous speaking.
Key Terms
- outline: A list used to present the main points or topics of a given subject, often used as a rough draft or summary of the content of a document.
Reasons to Outline
There are many reasons to create an outline; but in general, it may be helpful to create an outline when you want to show the hierarchical relationship or logical ordering of information. Many people find that organizing a speech or presentation in outline form helps them speak more effectively in front of a crowd.
Below are the primary reasons for creating an outline.
Why Make an Outline?: Creating an outline can help you organize your ideas.
Purpose
An outline helps guide you as you prepare your speech as follows:
- Helps you organize your ideas;
- Presents your material in a logical form;
- Shows the relationships among ideas in your writing;
- Constructs an ordered overview of your speech;
- Groups ideas into main points.
When you clearly outline exactly what points you would like to convey in each section of your speech, it will be much easier to envision. You can ensure you do not skip anything crucial and that your speech follows a logical sequence and order of information.
Organization
Your outline should consist of the three main parts of your speech: the introduction, the body, and the conclusion. Within each of these sections, you’ll need to plan more specifically what you would like to say. You can list your hook in the introduction, identify three or so main points to touch on in the body of your speech, and clearly lay out how you will end your speech and what thoughts you will leave your audience with in your conclusion.
It is important to keep in mind that your outline is only a guide. The purpose of it is to aid you in delivering a clear speech that flows smoothly and effectively, communicating all your ideas. An outline is not a script of your speech with the exact text you want to say, nor is it a rigid structure that you must follow exactly when giving your speech.
Think of your outline as a skeleton — a tool for delivery of extemporaneous speaking. It will serve as the backbone of your speech, providing you with a solid structure on which to build. However, it is your job to then to it flesh out and enrich it. Use your creative flare to make the bare bones more appealing and accessible to your audience.
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