The Speech

The speech is one form of a situational composition. Presentation of a speech is done in a formal
way. The speech is always given to an audience at a meeting or a rally. The person -giving a
speech always holds a certain capacity. He or she can be the chairperson, or a member of the
audience. For speech writing always have a title and then use GASP for the introduction that is
greetings acknowledgement self introduction and then purpose for your speech. Eg Good morning
the Head, teachers ladies and gentlemen. It is a pleasure to talk to you about the need for a
tuckshop at our school. Always remember, a speech is meant to be addressed before a live
audience so the language must also be appropriate for an audience and can also be conversational!

1. In what capacity are you giving the speech? Are you the chairperson or you are a member of
the audience?

2. Whom are you addressing? Are you addressing an honourable official or the public audience?

3. Be respectful and begin by using titles of honour and respect e.g. Mr. Chairman, Secretary,
Ladies and gentleman, comrades and friends.

4. Follow the protocols of the audience.

5. Express your pleasure to have the opportunity to speak.

6. Allude to what they already know and proceed to give your own views.

7. End with closing remarks persuading them to consider your opinions.

8. Express a vote of thanks at the end.

Procedure of Presentation

Observe titles of etiquette or titles. • Be respectful Follow the protocols i.e. the line of authority
and status. Usually you start by addressing the most important person at that meeting going
downwards to the lowest. • Express your pleasure to be given the opportunity to speak. Allude to
what they already know and proceed to give your own views. End the speech with closing remarks
persuading them to consider your opinions express your vote of thanks at the end of your speech.

ZIMSEC English Language Speech writing

As part of your Ordinary Level English Examination you might be asked to write a speech.
Speech questions are found in Paper 1 Section B where they are part of a range of possible
questions that may be set by the examiners. Its a list that includes formal letters,
newspaper/magazine articles, personal letters and reports. The question is as likely to ask you to
write a speech as it would any of these guided essay formats and it is always best to be prepared to
tackle any format instead of only focusing your exam preparation on only a select few formats-a
practice some students call “spotting.”

I say this because speeches are perhaps one of the most neglected guided composition formats and
while there is always a good chance the exam question you will face will ask you to write
something else, there is still a chance of the examiners asking you to write a speech and the result
will be nothing short of disastrous if you were not fully prepared for this.

When you are asked to write speeches you should bear the following things in mind:

Speeches differ slightly with the other guided essays that you will be asked to write. Speeches are
made to inform, share, support/persuade your audience on the topic set out in the examination
question.

You should write in a conversational style i.e. you should write the same way you speak. Imagine
yourself in front of the given audience. Usually the question itself sets out the audience you are
supposed to be facing for example a graduation speech would have you facing your fellow
graduating students in perhaps the school hall/during assembly imagine what you would say to
them.

Start and end with opening quotes either double quotations ” ” or single ‘ ‘quotations can be used
at the beginning and last paragraph of the speech. It is always good practice to use these
alternatively if they are nested. For example let us say you chose the double quotes to open your
speech and somewhere in the speech you decide to include a relevant quotation by some famous
author, it is good practice to use the single quotes to set out the exact words of that author in the
speech instead of using the double quotes again. The converse would be true if you had begun by
using single quotes.

Start by greeting your audience. The degree of formality and tone of the speech depends on your
relationship with the audience and the topic of the speech. For example you could either start by
saying,” Good morning to you my fellow students…” or “Good morning ladies and
gentlemen…”

Depending on the situation the greeting may be followed by a self introduction even if you have
already been introduced and the audience knows you. This maybe in the form of an allusion to
your standing on the matter at hand for example “As your head girl …”

You might want to remind your student of the occasion. This can be done subtly for example,” I
cannot believe this is our graduation day, it only seems only like yesterday when we started out as
little tiny form ones.”

You should always state the purpose of your speech. The intend clause should fall naturally into
place of your speech. This can be done by making sure that it matches the style of your entire
speech. The purpose of the speech is usually given out in the question itself and even when it is
not given you can always surmise from the points given in the speech. You could say for
example,” As we march out into the wide and cruel world, I stand here as your sage, to impart
words of parting wisdom.”

Speeches are written in the way that they are spoken which means a lot of the verbs are in the “-
ing” format for example ” speaking” instead of “spoke” which would be more likely in say a
narrative compositions. Also sentences may not follow the traditional structure.

In informal speeches you can also make use of speech fillers like “Eerr…” and “Ummm..”
although this should be done very sparingly.

Here is an example of a speech. Question:

Your community is worried about a number of things at their primary school. Among other things,
there hasn’t been any development at the school for the past years; there are no qualified teachers
and results are poor. It is believed ’that the poor accommodation is scaring away teachers and
indiscipline at school is rampant. There are also several cases of theft in the school.

Your community meets at the school to discuss the problems affecting the school and to suggest
the way forward. Write a speech you would make at the meeting.

Answer:

A Speech

Mr. Chairman; Comrades, friends, ladies and gentleman, I have great pleasure to have ,this
opportunity to give my views at this meeting.

Mr. Chairman, I agree with the rest of the people that our school has not been developing for the
past three years. It is a fact that there hasn’t been any new structures at the school since’2001. It is
also true that our results for Grade 7 have not been so good. I also repeat what the former speakers
mentioned about the shortage of qualified teachers; text -books and proper houses for teachers. It
is also true that a lot of theft has occurred in the school. All these problems need our immediate
attention to keep the school going.
Mr. Chairman, may I suggest . that we itnmediately select a school- Development Committee that
will oversee matters of the physical development of the school. The committee should be chaired
by a Headman of reputable standing. Secondly may I suggest that the Headmaster be a local
person who has our community at heart, who can remain at the school all times. I also propose that
the Headmaster should look at ways of attracting qualified teachers. He should also be thorough
on supervision of his teachers. Discipline has to be monitored for both teachers and students. I
believe that if these measures are taken our results shall improve.

Mr. Chairman, I agree that the quality of houses for our teachers is deplorable. This is perhaps
why we cannot get qualified teachers. May I suggest that all parents pay a levy fee, which shall be
used to upgrade and renovate all the teachers houses. Coming to the issue of theft, Mr. Chairman,
may I suggest we create a Neighbourhood Watch Committee that would look after the school,
especially in the nighteI also suggest that all school doors and windows should be fitted with
burglarbars. I believe that these measures will go a long way towards solving the problem.

Mr. Chairman, Comrades and friends, may I again express my thanks for the opportunity to speak
out my views at this meeting. I hope that you will consider these views for the good of our school.

Thank you.

Analysis of the Speech:

We observe that the speaker’ is only a member of the community (i.e. capacity). He begins by
addressing the chairman followed by the audience (i.e. etiquette). He then makes an outline of the
problems (i.e. what they know). After that he gives his views in a sincere manner (i.e. persuading
them to consider). The speaker frequently addresses the chairman each time he gives a new view.
Finally the speaker makes a plea that the Chairman and the audience consider his submissions. He
closes by expressing his gratitude for the opportunity to speak, which he had expressed at the very
beginning.

Compiled by:

M Mlilo

Teacher of English Language