rules of writing speech

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How to write a speech that your audience remembers

Whether in a work meeting or at an investor panel, you might give a speech at some point. And no matter how excited you are about the opportunity, the experience can be nerve-wracking . 

But feeling butterflies doesn’t mean you can’t give a great speech. With the proper preparation and a clear outline, apprehensive public speakers and natural wordsmiths alike can write and present a compelling message. Here’s how to write a good speech you’ll be proud to deliver.

What is good speech writing?

Good speech writing is the art of crafting words and ideas into a compelling, coherent, and memorable message that resonates with the audience. Here are some key elements of great speech writing:

• It begins with clearly understanding the speech's purpose and the audience it seeks to engage. 
• A well-written speech clearly conveys its central message, ensuring that the audience understands and retains the key points. 
• It is structured thoughtfully, with a captivating opening, a well-organized body, and a conclusion that reinforces the main message. 
• Good speech writing embraces the power of engaging content, weaving in stories, examples, and relatable anecdotes to connect with the audience on both intellectual and emotional levels. 

Ultimately, it is the combination of these elements, along with the authenticity and delivery of the speaker , that transforms words on a page into a powerful and impactful spoken narrative.

What makes a good speech?

A great speech includes several key qualities, but three fundamental elements make a speech truly effective:

Clarity and purpose

Remembering the audience, cohesive structure.

While other important factors make a speech a home run, these three elements are essential for writing an effective speech.

The main elements of a good speech

The main elements of a speech typically include:

• Introduction: The introduction sets the stage for your speech and grabs the audience's attention. It should include a hook or attention-grabbing opening, introduce the topic, and provide an overview of what will be covered.
• Opening/captivating statement: This is a strong statement that immediately engages the audience and creates curiosity about the speech topics.
• Thesis statement/central idea: The thesis statement or central idea is a concise statement that summarizes the main point or argument of your speech. It serves as a roadmap for the audience to understand what your speech is about.
• Body: The body of the speech is where you elaborate on your main points or arguments. Each point is typically supported by evidence, examples, statistics, or anecdotes. The body should be organized logically and coherently, with smooth transitions between the main points.
• Supporting evidence: This includes facts, data, research findings, expert opinions, or personal stories that support and strengthen your main points. Well-chosen and credible evidence enhances the persuasive power of your speech.
• Transitions: Transitions are phrases or statements that connect different parts of your speech, guiding the audience from one idea to the next. Effective transitions signal the shifts in topics or ideas and help maintain a smooth flow throughout the speech.
• Counterarguments and rebuttals (if applicable): If your speech involves addressing opposing viewpoints or counterarguments, you should acknowledge and address them. Presenting counterarguments makes your speech more persuasive and demonstrates critical thinking.
• Conclusion: The conclusion is the final part of your speech and should bring your message to a satisfying close. Summarize your main points, restate your thesis statement, and leave the audience with a memorable closing thought or call to action.
• Closing statement: This is the final statement that leaves a lasting impression and reinforces the main message of your speech. It can be a call to action, a thought-provoking question, a powerful quote, or a memorable anecdote.
• Delivery and presentation: How you deliver your speech is also an essential element to consider. Pay attention to your tone, body language, eye contact , voice modulation, and timing. Practice and rehearse your speech, and try using the 7-38-55 rule to ensure confident and effective delivery.

While the order and emphasis of these elements may vary depending on the type of speech and audience, these elements provide a framework for organizing and delivering a successful speech.

How to structure a good speech

You know what message you want to transmit, who you’re delivering it to, and even how you want to say it. But you need to know how to start, develop, and close a speech before writing it. 

Think of a speech like an essay. It should have an introduction, conclusion, and body sections in between. This places ideas in a logical order that the audience can better understand and follow them. Learning how to make a speech with an outline gives your storytelling the scaffolding it needs to get its point across.

Here’s a general speech structure to guide your writing process:

• Explanation 1
• Explanation 2
• Explanation 3

How to write a compelling speech opener

Some research shows that engaged audiences pay attention for only 15 to 20 minutes at a time. Other estimates are even lower, citing that people stop listening intently in fewer than 10 minutes . If you make a good first impression at the beginning of your speech, you have a better chance of interesting your audience through the middle when attention spans fade. 

Implementing the INTRO model can help grab and keep your audience’s attention as soon as you start speaking. This acronym stands for interest, need, timing, roadmap, and objectives, and it represents the key points you should hit in an opening. 

Here’s what to include for each of these points: 

• Interest : Introduce yourself or your topic concisely and speak with confidence . Write a compelling opening statement using relevant data or an anecdote that the audience can relate to.
• Needs : The audience is listening to you because they have something to learn. If you’re pitching a new app idea to a panel of investors, those potential partners want to discover more about your product and what they can earn from it. Read the room and gently remind them of the purpose of your speech. 
• Timing : When appropriate, let your audience know how long you’ll speak. This lets listeners set expectations and keep tabs on their own attention span. If a weary audience member knows you’ll talk for 40 minutes, they can better manage their energy as that time goes on. 
• Routemap : Give a brief overview of the three main points you’ll cover in your speech. If an audience member’s attention starts to drop off and they miss a few sentences, they can more easily get their bearings if they know the general outline of the presentation.
• Objectives : Tell the audience what you hope to achieve, encouraging them to listen to the end for the payout. 

Writing the middle of a speech

The body of your speech is the most information-dense section. Facts, visual aids, PowerPoints — all this information meets an audience with a waning attention span. Sticking to the speech structure gives your message focus and keeps you from going off track, making everything you say as useful as possible.

Limit the middle of your speech to three points, and support them with no more than three explanations. Following this model organizes your thoughts and prevents you from offering more information than the audience can retain. 

Using this section of the speech to make your presentation interactive can add interest and engage your audience. Try including a video or demonstration to break the monotony. A quick poll or survey also keeps the audience on their toes. 

Wrapping the speech up

To you, restating your points at the end can feel repetitive and dull. You’ve practiced countless times and heard it all before. But repetition aids memory and learning , helping your audience retain what you’ve told them. Use your speech’s conclusion to summarize the main points with a few short sentences.

Try to end on a memorable note, like posing a motivational quote or a thoughtful question the audience can contemplate once they leave. In proposal or pitch-style speeches, consider landing on a call to action (CTA) that invites your audience to take the next step.

How to write a good speech

If public speaking gives you the jitters, you’re not alone. Roughly 80% of the population feels nervous before giving a speech, and another 10% percent experiences intense anxiety and sometimes even panic. 

The fear of failure can cause procrastination and can cause you to put off your speechwriting process until the last minute. Finding the right words takes time and preparation, and if you’re already feeling nervous, starting from a blank page might seem even harder.

But putting in the effort despite your stress is worth it. Presenting a speech you worked hard on fosters authenticity and connects you to the subject matter, which can help your audience understand your points better. Human connection is all about honesty and vulnerability, and if you want to connect to the people you’re speaking to, they should see that in you.

1. Identify your objectives and target audience

Before diving into the writing process, find healthy coping strategies to help you stop worrying . Then you can define your speech’s purpose, think about your target audience, and start identifying your objectives. Here are some questions to ask yourself and ground your thinking : 

• What purpose do I want my speech to achieve? 
• What would it mean to me if I achieved the speech’s purpose?
• What audience am I writing for? 
• What do I know about my audience? 
• What values do I want to transmit? 
• If the audience remembers one take-home message, what should it be? 
• What do I want my audience to feel, think, or do after I finish speaking? 
• What parts of my message could be confusing and require further explanation?

2. Know your audience

Understanding your audience is crucial for tailoring your speech effectively. Consider the demographics of your audience, their interests, and their expectations. For instance, if you're addressing a group of healthcare professionals, you'll want to use medical terminology and data that resonate with them. Conversely, if your audience is a group of young students, you'd adjust your content to be more relatable to their experiences and interests. 

3. Choose a clear message

Your message should be the central idea that you want your audience to take away from your speech. Let's say you're giving a speech on climate change. Your clear message might be something like, "Individual actions can make a significant impact on mitigating climate change." Throughout your speech, all your points and examples should support this central message, reinforcing it for your audience.

4. Structure your speech

Organizing your speech properly keeps your audience engaged and helps them follow your ideas. The introduction should grab your audience's attention and introduce the topic. For example, if you're discussing space exploration, you could start with a fascinating fact about a recent space mission. In the body, you'd present your main points logically, such as the history of space exploration, its scientific significance, and future prospects. Finally, in the conclusion, you'd summarize your key points and reiterate the importance of space exploration in advancing human knowledge.

5. Use engaging content for clarity

Engaging content includes stories, anecdotes, statistics, and examples that illustrate your main points. For instance, if you're giving a speech about the importance of reading, you might share a personal story about how a particular book changed your perspective. You could also include statistics on the benefits of reading, such as improved cognitive abilities and empathy.

6. Maintain clarity and simplicity

It's essential to communicate your ideas clearly. Avoid using overly technical jargon or complex language that might confuse your audience. For example, if you're discussing a medical breakthrough with a non-medical audience, explain complex terms in simple, understandable language.

7. Practice and rehearse

Practice is key to delivering a great speech. Rehearse multiple times to refine your delivery, timing, and tone. Consider using a mirror or recording yourself to observe your body language and gestures. For instance, if you're giving a motivational speech, practice your gestures and expressions to convey enthusiasm and confidence.

8. Consider nonverbal communication

Your body language, tone of voice, and gestures should align with your message . If you're delivering a speech on leadership, maintain strong eye contact to convey authority and connection with your audience. A steady pace and varied tone can also enhance your speech's impact.

9. Engage your audience

Engaging your audience keeps them interested and attentive. Encourage interaction by asking thought-provoking questions or sharing relatable anecdotes. If you're giving a speech on teamwork, ask the audience to recall a time when teamwork led to a successful outcome, fostering engagement and connection.

10. Prepare for Q&A

Anticipate potential questions or objections your audience might have and prepare concise, well-informed responses. If you're delivering a speech on a controversial topic, such as healthcare reform, be ready to address common concerns, like the impact on healthcare costs or access to services, during the Q&A session.

By following these steps and incorporating examples that align with your specific speech topic and purpose, you can craft and deliver a compelling and impactful speech that resonates with your audience.

Tools for writing a great speech

There are several helpful tools available for speechwriting, both technological and communication-related. Here are a few examples:

• Word processing software: Tools like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or other word processors provide a user-friendly environment for writing and editing speeches. They offer features like spell-checking, grammar correction, formatting options, and easy revision tracking.
• Presentation software: Software such as Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides is useful when creating visual aids to accompany your speech. These tools allow you to create engaging slideshows with text, images, charts, and videos to enhance your presentation.
• Speechwriting Templates: Online platforms or software offer pre-designed templates specifically for speechwriting. These templates provide guidance on structuring your speech and may include prompts for different sections like introductions, main points, and conclusions.
• Rhetorical devices and figures of speech: Rhetorical tools such as metaphors, similes, alliteration, and parallelism can add impact and persuasion to your speech. Resources like books, websites, or academic papers detailing various rhetorical devices can help you incorporate them effectively.
• Speechwriting apps: Mobile apps designed specifically for speechwriting can be helpful in organizing your thoughts, creating outlines, and composing a speech. These apps often provide features like voice recording, note-taking, and virtual prompts to keep you on track.
• Grammar and style checkers: Online tools or plugins like Grammarly or Hemingway Editor help improve the clarity and readability of your speech by checking for grammar, spelling, and style errors. They provide suggestions for sentence structure, word choice, and overall tone.
• Thesaurus and dictionary: Online or offline resources such as thesauruses and dictionaries help expand your vocabulary and find alternative words or phrases to express your ideas more effectively. They can also clarify meanings or provide context for unfamiliar terms.
• Online speechwriting communities: Joining online forums or communities focused on speechwriting can be beneficial for getting feedback, sharing ideas, and learning from experienced speechwriters. It's an opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and improve your public speaking skills through collaboration.

Remember, while these tools can assist in the speechwriting process, it's essential to use them thoughtfully and adapt them to your specific needs and style. The most important aspect of speechwriting remains the creativity, authenticity, and connection with your audience that you bring to your speech.

5 tips for writing a speech

Behind every great speech is an excellent idea and a speaker who refined it. But a successful speech is about more than the initial words on the page, and there are a few more things you can do to help it land.

Here are five more tips for writing and practicing your speech:

1. Structure first, write second

If you start the writing process before organizing your thoughts, you may have to re-order, cut, and scrap the sentences you worked hard on. Save yourself some time by using a speech structure, like the one above, to order your talking points first. This can also help you identify unclear points or moments that disrupt your flow.

2. Do your homework

Data strengthens your argument with a scientific edge. Research your topic with an eye for attention-grabbing statistics, or look for findings you can use to support each point. If you’re pitching a product or service, pull information from company metrics that demonstrate past or potential successes. 

Audience members will likely have questions, so learn all talking points inside and out. If you tell investors that your product will provide 12% returns, for example, come prepared with projections that support that statement.

3. Sound like yourself

Memorable speakers have distinct voices. Think of Martin Luther King Jr’s urgent, inspiring timbre or Oprah’s empathetic, personal tone . Establish your voice — one that aligns with your personality and values — and stick with it. If you’re a motivational speaker, keep your tone upbeat to inspire your audience . If you’re the CEO of a startup, try sounding assured but approachable. 

4. Practice

As you practice a speech, you become more confident , gain a better handle on the material, and learn the outline so well that unexpected questions are less likely to trip you up. Practice in front of a colleague or friend for honest feedback about what you could change, and speak in front of the mirror to tweak your nonverbal communication and body language .

5. Remember to breathe

When you’re stressed, you breathe more rapidly . It can be challenging to talk normally when you can’t regulate your breath. Before your presentation, try some mindful breathing exercises so that when the day comes, you already have strategies that will calm you down and remain present . This can also help you control your voice and avoid speaking too quickly.

How to ghostwrite a great speech for someone else

Ghostwriting a speech requires a unique set of skills, as you're essentially writing a piece that will be delivered by someone else. Here are some tips on how to effectively ghostwrite a speech:

• Understand the speaker's voice and style : Begin by thoroughly understanding the speaker's personality, speaking style, and preferences. This includes their tone, humor, and any personal anecdotes they may want to include.
• Interview the speaker : Have a detailed conversation with the speaker to gather information about their speech's purpose, target audience, key messages, and any specific points they want to emphasize. Ask for personal stories or examples they may want to include.
• Research thoroughly : Research the topic to ensure you have a strong foundation of knowledge. This helps you craft a well-informed and credible speech.
• Create an outline : Develop a clear outline that includes the introduction, main points, supporting evidence, and a conclusion. Share this outline with the speaker for their input and approval.
• Write in the speaker's voice : While crafting the speech, maintain the speaker's voice and style. Use language and phrasing that feel natural to them. If they have a particular way of expressing ideas, incorporate that into the speech.
• Craft a captivating opening : Begin the speech with a compelling opening that grabs the audience's attention. This could be a relevant quote, an interesting fact, a personal anecdote, or a thought-provoking question.
• Organize content logically : Ensure the speech flows logically, with each point building on the previous one. Use transitions to guide the audience from one idea to the next smoothly.
• Incorporate engaging stories and examples : Include anecdotes, stories, and real-life examples that illustrate key points and make the speech relatable and memorable.
• Edit and revise : Edit the speech carefully for clarity, grammar, and coherence. Ensure the speech is the right length and aligns with the speaker's time constraints.
• Seek feedback : Share drafts of the speech with the speaker for their feedback and revisions. They may have specific changes or additions they'd like to make.
• Practice delivery : If possible, work with the speaker on their delivery. Practice the speech together, allowing the speaker to become familiar with the content and your writing style.
• Maintain confidentiality : As a ghostwriter, it's essential to respect the confidentiality and anonymity of the work. Do not disclose that you wrote the speech unless you have the speaker's permission to do so.
• Be flexible : Be open to making changes and revisions as per the speaker's preferences. Your goal is to make them look good and effectively convey their message.
• Meet deadlines : Stick to agreed-upon deadlines for drafts and revisions. Punctuality and reliability are essential in ghostwriting.
• Provide support : Support the speaker during their preparation and rehearsal process. This can include helping with cue cards, speech notes, or any other materials they need.

Remember that successful ghostwriting is about capturing the essence of the speaker while delivering a well-structured and engaging speech. Collaboration, communication, and adaptability are key to achieving this.

Give your best speech yet

Learn how to make a speech that’ll hold an audience’s attention by structuring your thoughts and practicing frequently. Put the effort into writing and preparing your content, and aim to improve your breathing, eye contact , and body language as you practice. The more you work on your speech, the more confident you’ll become.

The energy you invest in writing an effective speech will help your audience remember and connect to every concept. Remember: some life-changing philosophies have come from good speeches, so give your words a chance to resonate with others. You might even change their thinking.

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Elizabeth Perry, ACC

Elizabeth Perry is a Coach Community Manager at BetterUp. She uses strategic engagement strategies to cultivate a learning community across a global network of Coaches through in-person and virtual experiences, technology-enabled platforms, and strategic coaching industry partnerships. With over 3 years of coaching experience and a certification in transformative leadership and life coaching from Sofia University, Elizabeth leverages transpersonal psychology expertise to help coaches and clients gain awareness of their behavioral and thought patterns, discover their purpose and passions, and elevate their potential. She is a lifelong student of psychology, personal growth, and human potential as well as an ICF-certified ACC transpersonal life and leadership Coach.

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Speechwriting 101: Writing an Effective Speech

Whether you are a communications pro or a human resources executive, the time will come when you will need to write a speech for yourself or someone else.  when that time comes, your career may depend on your success..

J. Lyman MacInnis, a corporate coach,  Toronto Star  columnist, accounting executive and author of  “ The Elements of Great Public Speaking ,”  has seen careers stalled – even damaged – by a failure to communicate messages effectively before groups of people. On the flip side, solid speechwriting skills can help launch and sustain a successful career.  What you need are forethought and methodical preparation.

Know Your Audience

Learn as much as possible about the audience and the event.  This will help you target the insights, experience or knowledge you have that this group wants or needs:

• Why has the audience been brought together?
• What do the members of the audience have in common?
• How big an audience will it be?
• What do they know, and what do they need to know?
• Do they expect discussion about a specific subject and, if so, what?
• What is the audience’s attitude and knowledge about the subject of your talk?
• What is their attitude toward you as the speaker?
• Why are they interested in your topic?

Choose Your Core Message

If the core message is on target, you can do other things wrong. But if the message is wrong, it doesn’t matter what you put around it.  To write the most effective speech, you should have significant knowledge about your topic, sincerely care about it and be eager to talk about it.  Focus on a message that is relevant to the target audience, and remember: an audience wants opinion. If you offer too little substance, your audience will label you a lightweight.  If you offer too many ideas, you make it difficult for them to know what’s important to you.

Research and Organize

Research until you drop.  This is where you pick up the information, connect the ideas and arrive at the insights that make your talk fresh.  You’ll have an easier time if you gather far more information than you need.  Arrange your research and notes into general categories and leave space between them. Then go back and rearrange. Fit related pieces together like a puzzle.

Develop Structure to Deliver Your Message

First, consider whether your goal is to inform, persuade, motivate or entertain.  Then outline your speech and fill in the details:

• Introduction – The early minutes of a talk are important to establish your credibility and likeability.  Personal anecdotes often work well to get things started.  This is also where you’ll outline your main points.
• Body – Get to the issues you’re there to address, limiting them to five points at most.  Then bolster those few points with illustrations, evidence and anecdotes.  Be passionate: your conviction can be as persuasive as the appeal of your ideas.
• Conclusion – Wrap up with feeling as well as fact. End with something upbeat that will inspire your listeners.

You want to leave the audience exhilarated, not drained. In our fast-paced age, 20-25 minutes is about as long as anyone will listen attentively to a speech. As you write and edit your speech, the general rule is to allow about 90 seconds for every double-spaced page of copy.

Spice it Up

Once you have the basic structure of your speech, it’s time to add variety and interest.  Giving an audience exactly what it expects is like passing out sleeping pills. Remember that a speech is more like conversation than formal writing.  Its phrasing is loose – but without the extremes of slang, the incomplete thoughts, the interruptions that flavor everyday speech.

• Give it rhythm. A good speech has pacing.
• Vary the sentence structure. Use short sentences. Use occasional long ones to keep the audience alert. Fragments are fine if used sparingly and for emphasis.
• Use the active voice and avoid passive sentences. Active forms of speech make your sentences more powerful.
• Repeat key words and points. Besides helping your audience remember something, repetition builds greater awareness of central points or the main theme.
• Ask rhetorical questions in a way that attracts your listeners’ attention.
• Personal experiences and anecdotes help bolster your points and help you connect with the audience.
• Use quotes. Good quotes work on several levels, forcing the audience to think. Make sure quotes are clearly attributed and said by someone your audience will probably recognize.

Be sure to use all of these devices sparingly in your speeches. If overused, the speech becomes exaggerated. Used with care, they will work well to move the speech along and help you deliver your message in an interesting, compelling way.

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The Complete Beginner’s Guide To Writing A Speech

Writers Write creates writing resources and shares writing tips. In this post, we offer you the complete beginner’s guide to writing a speech .

Last week I started my series on speech writing with  What People Expect From A Speech . Today I am going to give you a foolproof guide that will help you structure the speech.

Speech Writing Part Two: How To Write The Speech

Who will deliver the speech.

Make sure you write a speech that fits the personality, speech patterns, and competency level of the speaker. If you do not know the person, try to arrange a short interview with them. Find out who they are, what tone suits them, and what they want to communicate.

Persuade With A Classic Structure

The classic structure of a persuasive speech is to state a problem and offer a solution.

• In the first part of your speech you state: ‘This is the problem.’
• In the second part of your speech you cover: ‘This is what we can do to fix it or make things better.’
• Answer the five Ws and the one H about the topic: who, what, where, when, why, and how.
• Write your main ideas down, including your research, data and quotations.
• Make a linear timeline for the speech, linking the points together making sure that they flow in a smooth, logical progression. Do not move away from this linear format. If you do, you will digress and lose the message.
• Write your introduction, including the hook you want to use to get your audience to listen to you.
• Write your ending, briefly summarising your main ideas. If you want your audience to do something, end with a call for action.
• Remember the length of a speech, as explained in  What People Expect From A Speech  is important.
• An easy way to explain the process is as follows:
• Tell them what you’re going to tell them (Introduction) 15%
• Tell them (Body of your speech – the main ideas plus examples) 70%
• Tell them what you told them (The ending) 15%

About The Introduction

Do not waste time. People make the mistake of starting speeches by effusively thanking everybody and telling us how happy they are to be there. It is a good idea to explain quickly what your main point is going to be. That helps the audience know what to listen for. Then start with a statistic, or a question to interact with the audience.

All good speeches are only about one thing. Get straight into the story and tell the audience what you’re going to tell them.

About The Body

Nobody likes to be bored. Imagine yourself in your audience’s shoes. What would you like to hear from the speaker? Do not put too much information into your speech. If people read a newspaper or a blog, and do not understand something, they read it again. They cannot do this with a speech. Get it right the first time.

Remember you are not writing a formal essay. People will hear the speech and it should sound conversational.  

• Use shorter sentences. It is better to write two simple sentences than one long, complicated sentence.
• Use contractions. Say ‘I’m’ instead of ‘I am’, and ‘we’re’ instead of ‘we are’.
• Do not use big words when simple ones do the work for you.
• Never use jargon or acronyms.
• You do not have to follow all the rules of written English grammar strictly, for example, you can use fragments.

About The Ending

End by answering the question you asked at the beginning. Then tell everybody what you have told them – listeners need you to do this. End your speech on a positive note. This is what they will remember.

Watch out for next week’s post,  Part Three: Delivering The Speech

If you need to write speeches, you should attend this course: Can I Change Your Mind?

If you enjoyed this post, read:

• 5 Important Things You Need to Know About Writing Speeches
• 18 Things Writers Need To Know About Editing And Proofreading
• 7 Choices That Affect A Writer’s Style
• Business Writing Tips , Writing Speeches , Writing Tips from Amanda Patterson

2 thoughts on “The Complete Beginner’s Guide To Writing A Speech”

I want to thank you Writers Write for these notes, they really help. Especially for beginners like me. Hopefully I’ll be joining your classes soon.

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Rice Speechwriting

Beginners guide to what is a speech writing, what is a speech writing: a beginner’s guide, what is the purpose of speech writing.

The purpose of speech writing is to craft a compelling and effective speech that conveys a specific message or idea to an audience. It involves writing a script that is well-structured, engaging, and tailored to the speaker’s delivery style and the audience’s needs.

Have you ever been called upon to deliver a speech and didn’t know where to start? Or maybe you’re looking to improve your public speaking skills and wondering how speech writing can help. Whatever the case may be, this beginner’s guide on speech writing is just what you need. In this blog, we will cover everything from understanding the art of speech writing to key elements of an effective speech. We will also discuss techniques for engaging speech writing, the role of audience analysis in speech writing, time and length considerations, and how to practice and rehearse your speech. By the end of this article, you will have a clear understanding of how speech writing can improve your public speaking skills and make you feel confident when delivering your next big presentation.

Understanding the Art of Speech Writing

Crafting a speech involves melding spoken and written language. Tailoring the speech to the audience and occasion is crucial, as is captivating the audience and evoking emotion. Effective speeches utilize rhetorical devices, anecdotes, and a conversational tone. Structuring the speech with a compelling opener, clear points, and a strong conclusion is imperative. Additionally, employing persuasive language and maintaining simplicity are essential elements. The University of North Carolina’s writing center greatly emphasizes the importance of using these techniques.

The Importance of Speech Writing

Crafting a persuasive and impactful speech is essential for reaching your audience effectively. A well-crafted speech incorporates a central idea, main point, and a thesis statement to engage the audience. Whether it’s for a large audience or different ways of public speaking, good speech writing ensures that your message resonates with the audience. Incorporating engaging visual aids, an impactful introduction, and a strong start are key features of a compelling speech. Embracing these elements sets the stage for a successful speech delivery.

The Role of a Speech Writer

A speechwriter holds the responsibility of composing speeches for various occasions and specific points, employing a speechwriting process that includes audience analysis for both the United States and New York audiences. This written text is essential for delivering impactful and persuasive messages, often serving as a good start to a great speech. Utilizing NLP terms like ‘short sentences’ and ‘persuasion’ enhances the content’s quality and relevance.

Key Elements of Effective Speech Writing

Balancing shorter sentences with longer ones is essential for crafting an engaging speech. Including subordinate clauses and personal stories caters to the target audience and adds persuasion. The speechwriting process, including the thesis statement and a compelling introduction, ensures the content captures the audience’s attention. Effective speech writing involves research and the generation of new ideas. Toastmasters International and the Writing Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill provide valuable resources for honing English and verbal skills.

Clarity and Purpose of the Speech

Achieving clarity, authenticity, and empathy defines a good speech. Whether to persuade, inform, or entertain, the purpose of a speech is crucial. It involves crafting persuasive content with rich vocabulary and clear repetition. Successful speechwriting demands a thorough understanding of the audience and a compelling introduction. Balancing short and long sentences is essential for holding the audience’s attention. This process is a fusion of linguistics, psychology, and rhetoric, making it an art form with a powerful impact.

Identifying Target Audience

Tailoring the speechwriting process hinges on identifying the target audience. Their attention is integral to the persuasive content, requiring adaptation of the speechwriting process. A speechwriter conducts audience analysis to capture the audience’s attention, employing new york audience analysis methods. Ensuring a good introduction and adapting the writing process for the target audience are key features of a great speech. Effective speechwriters prioritize the audience’s attention to craft compelling and persuasive speeches.

Structuring Your Speech

The speechwriting process relies on a well-defined structure, crucial to both the speech’s content and the writing process. It encompasses a compelling introduction, an informative body, and a strong conclusion. This process serves as a foundation for effective speeches, guiding the speaker through a series of reasons and a persuasive speechwriting definition. Furthermore, the structure, coupled with audience analysis, is integral to delivering a great speech that resonates with the intended listeners.

The Process of Writing a Speech

Crafting a speech involves composing the opening line, developing key points, and ensuring a strong start. Effective speech writing follows a structured approach, incorporating rhetorical questions and a compelling introduction. A speechwriter’s process includes formulating a thesis statement, leveraging rhetorical questions, and establishing a good start. This process entails careful consideration of the audience, persuasive language, and engaging content. The University of North Carolina’s writing center emphasizes the significance of persuasion, clarity, and concise sentences in speechwriting.

Starting with a Compelling Opener

A speechwriting process commences with a captivating opening line and a strong introduction, incorporating the right words and rhetorical questions. The opening line serves as both an introduction and a persuasive speech, laying the foundation for a great speechwriting definition. Additionally, the structure of the speechwriting process, along with audience analysis, plays a crucial role in crafting an effective opening. Considering these elements is imperative when aiming to start a speech with a compelling opener.

Developing the Body of the Speech

Crafting the body of a speech involves conveying the main points with persuasion and precision. It’s essential to outline the speechwriting process, ensuring a clear and impactful message. The body serves as a structured series of reasons, guiding the audience through the content. Through the use of short sentences and clear language, the body of the speech engages the audience, maintaining their attention. Crafting the body involves the art of persuasion, using the power of words to deliver a compelling message.

Crafting a Strong Conclusion

Crafting a strong conclusion involves reflecting the main points of the speech and summarizing key ideas, leaving the audience with a memorable statement. It’s the final chance to leave a lasting impression and challenge the audience to take action or consider new perspectives. A good conclusion can make the speech memorable and impactful, using persuasion and English language effectively to drive the desired response from the audience. Toastmasters International emphasizes the importance of a strong conclusion in speechwriting for maximum impact.

Techniques for Engaging Speech Writing

Engage the audience’s attention using rhetorical questions. Create a connection through anecdotes and personal stories. Emphasize key points with rhetorical devices to capture the audience’s attention. Maintain interest by varying sentence structure and length. Use visual aids to complement the spoken word and enhance understanding. Incorporate NLP terms such as “short sentences,” “writing center,” and “persuasion” to create engaging and informative speech writing.

Keeping the Content Engaging

Captivating the audience’s attention requires a conversational tone, alliteration, and repetition for effect. A strong introduction sets the tone, while emotional appeals evoke responses. Resonating with the target audience ensures engagement. Utilize short sentences, incorporate persuasion, and vary sentence structure to maintain interest. Infuse the speech with NLP terms like “writing center”, “University of North Carolina”, and “Toastmasters International” to enhance its appeal. Engaging content captivates the audience and compels them to listen attentively.

Maintaining Simplicity and Clarity

To ensure clarity and impact, express ideas in short sentences. Use a series of reasons and specific points to effectively convey the main idea. Enhance the speech with the right words for clarity and comprehension. Simplify complex concepts by incorporating anecdotes and personal stories. Subordinate clauses can provide structure and clarity in the speechwriting process.

The Power of Nonverbal Communication

Nonverbal cues, such as body language and gestures, can add emphasis to your spoken words, enhancing the overall impact of your speech. By incorporating visual aids and handouts, you can further augment the audience’s understanding and retention of key points. Utilizing a conversational tone and appropriate body language is crucial for establishing a genuine connection with your audience. Visual aids and gestures not only aid comprehension but also help in creating a lasting impression, captivat**ing** the audience with compelling visual elements.

The Role of Audience Analysis in Speech Writing

Tailoring a speech to the audience’s needs is paramount. Demographics like age, gender, and cultural background must be considered. Understanding the audience’s interests and affiliation is crucial for delivering a resonating speech. Content should be tailored to specific audience points of interest, engaging and speaking to their concerns.

Understanding Audience Demographics

Understanding the varied demographics of the audience, including age and cultural diversity, is crucial. Adapting the speech content to resonate with a diverse audience involves tailoring it to the different ways audience members process and interpret information. This adaptation ensures that the speech can effectively engage with the audience, no matter their background or age. Recognizing the importance of understanding audience demographics is key for effective audience analysis. By considering these factors, the speech can be tailored to meet the needs and preferences of the audience, resulting in a more impactful delivery.

Considering the Audience Size and Affiliation

When tailoring a speech, consider the audience size and affiliation to influence the tone and content effectively. Adapt the speech content and delivery to resonate with a large audience and different occasions, addressing the specific points of the target audience’s affiliation. By delivering a speech tailored to the audience’s size and specific points of affiliation, you can ensure that your message is received and understood by all.

Time and Length Considerations in Speech Writing

Choosing the appropriate time for your speech and determining its ideal length are crucial factors influenced by the purpose and audience demographics. Tailoring the speech’s content and structure for different occasions ensures relevance and impact. Adapting the speech to specific points and the audience’s demographics is key to its effectiveness. Understanding these time and length considerations allows for effective persuasion and engagement, catering to the audience’s diverse processing styles.

Choosing the Right Time for Your Speech

Selecting the optimal start and opening line is crucial for capturing the audience’s attention right from the beginning. It’s essential to consider the timing and the audience’s focus to deliver a compelling and persuasive speech. The right choice of opening line and attention to the audience set the tone for the speech, influencing the emotional response. A good introduction and opening line not only captivate the audience but also establish the desired tone for the speech.

Determining the Ideal Length of Your Speech

When deciding the ideal length of your speech, it’s crucial to tailor it to your specific points and purpose. Consider the attention span of your audience and the nature of the event. Engage in audience analysis to understand the right words and structure for your speech. Ensure that the length is appropriate for the occasion and target audience. By assessing these factors, you can structure your speech effectively and deliver it with confidence and persuasion.

How to Practice and Rehearse Your Speech

Incorporating rhetorical questions and anecdotes can deeply engage your audience, evoking an emotional response that resonates. Utilize visual aids, alliteration, and repetition to enhance your speech and captivate the audience’s attention. Effective speechwriting techniques are essential for crafting a compelling introduction and persuasive main points. By practicing a conversational tone and prioritizing clarity, you establish authenticity and empathy with your audience. Develop a structured series of reasons and a solid thesis statement to ensure your speech truly resonates.

Techniques for Effective Speech Rehearsal

When practicing your speech, aim for clarity and emphasis by using purposeful repetition and shorter sentences. Connect with your audience by infusing personal stories and quotations to make your speech more relatable. Maximize the impact of your written speech when spoken by practicing subordinate clauses and shorter sentences. Focus on clarity and authenticity, rehearsing your content with a good introduction and a persuasive central idea. Employ rhetorical devices and a conversational tone, ensuring the right vocabulary and grammar.

How Can Speech Writing Improve Your Public Speaking Skills?

Enhancing your public speaking skills is possible through speech writing. By emphasizing key points and a clear thesis, you can capture the audience’s attention. Developing a strong start and central idea helps deliver effective speeches. Utilize speechwriting techniques and rhetorical devices to structure engaging speeches that connect with the audience. Focus on authenticity, empathy, and a conversational tone to improve your public speaking skills.

In conclusion, speech writing is an art that requires careful consideration of various elements such as clarity, audience analysis, and engagement. By understanding the importance of speech writing and the role of a speech writer, you can craft effective speeches that leave a lasting impact on your audience. Remember to start with a compelling opener, develop a strong body, and end with a memorable conclusion. Engaging techniques, simplicity, and nonverbal communication are key to keeping your audience captivated. Additionally, analyzing your audience demographics and considering time and length considerations are vital for a successful speech. Lastly, practicing and rehearsing your speech will help improve your public speaking skills and ensure a confident delivery.

Expert Tips for Choosing Good Speech Topics

Master the art of how to start a speech.

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Sentence Sense Newsletter

• Speech Topics For Kids
• How To Write A Speech

How to Write a Speech: A Guide to Enhance Your Writing Skills

Speech is a medium to convey a message to the world. It is a way of expressing your views on a topic or a way to showcase your strong opposition to a particular idea. To deliver an effective speech, you need a strong and commanding voice, but more important than that is what you say. Spending time in preparing a speech is as vital as presenting it well to your audience.

Read the article to learn what all you need to include in a speech and how to structure it.

Table of Contents

• Self-Introduction

The Opening Statement

Structuring the speech, choice of words, authenticity, writing in 1st person, tips to write a speech, frequently asked questions on speech, how to write a speech.

Writing a speech on any particular topic requires a lot of research. It also has to be structured well in order to properly get the message across to the target audience. If you have ever listened to famous orators, you would have noticed the kind of details they include when speaking about a particular topic, how they present it and how their speeches motivate and instill courage in people to work towards an individual or shared goal. Learning how to write such effective speeches can be done with a little guidance. So, here are a few points you can keep in mind when writing a speech on your own. Go through each of them carefully and follow them meticulously.

Self Introduction

When you are writing or delivering a speech, the very first thing you need to do is introduce yourself. When you are delivering a speech for a particular occasion, there might be a master of ceremony who might introduce you and invite you to share your thoughts. Whatever be the case, always remember to say one or two sentences about who you are and what you intend to do.

Introductions can change according to the nature of your target audience. It can be either formal or informal based on the audience you are addressing. Here are a few examples.

Addressing Friends/Classmates/Peers

• Hello everyone! I am ________. I am here to share my views on _________.
• Good morning friends. I, _________, am here to talk to you about _________.

Addressing Teachers/Higher Authorities

• Good morning/afternoon/evening. Before I start, I would like to thank _______ for giving me an opportunity to share my thoughts about ________ here today.
• A good day to all. I, __________, on behalf of _________, am standing here today to voice out my thoughts on _________.

It is said that the first seven seconds is all that a human brain requires to decide whether or not to focus on something. So, it is evident that a catchy opening statement is the factor that will impact your audience. Writing a speech does require a lot of research, and structuring it in an interesting, informative and coherent manner is something that should be done with utmost care.

When given a topic to speak on, the first thing you can do is brainstorm ideas and pen down all that comes to your mind. This will help you understand what aspect of the topic you want to focus on. With that in mind, you can start drafting your speech.

An opening statement can be anything that is relevant to the topic. Use words smartly to create an impression and grab the attention of your audience. A few ideas on framing opening statements are given below. Take a look.

• Asking an Engaging Question

Starting your speech by asking the audience a question can get their attention. It creates an interest and curiosity in the audience and makes them think about the question. This way, you would have already got their minds ready to listen and think.

• Fact or a Surprising Statement

Surprising the audience with an interesting fact or a statement can draw the attention of the audience. It can even be a joke; just make sure it is relevant. A good laugh would wake up their minds and they would want to listen to what you are going to say next.

• Adding a Quote

After you have found your topic to work on, look for a quote that best suits your topic. The quote can be one said by some famous personality or even from stories, movies or series. As long as it suits your topic and is appropriate to the target audience, use them confidently.  Again, finding a quote that is well-known or has scope for deep thought will be your success factor.

To structure your speech easily, it is advisable to break it into three parts or three sections – an introduction, body and conclusion.

• Introduction: Introduce the topic and your views on the topic briefly.
• Body: Give a detailed explanation of your topic. Your focus should be to inform and educate your audience on the said topic.
• Conclusion:  Voice out your thoughts/suggestions. Your intention here should be to make them think/act.

While delivering or writing a speech, it is essential to keep an eye on the language you are using. Choose the right kind of words. The person has the liberty to express their views in support or against the topic; just be sure to provide enough evidence to prove the discussed points. See to it that you use short and precise sentences. Your choice of words and what you emphasise on will decide the effect of the speech on the audience.

When writing a speech, make sure to,

• Avoid long, confusing sentences.
• Check the spelling, sentence structure and grammar.
• Not use contradictory words or statements that might cause any sort of issues.

Anything authentic will appeal to the audience, so including anecdotes, personal experiences and thoughts will help you build a good rapport with your audience. The only thing you need to take care is to not let yourself be carried away in the moment. Speak only what is necessary.

Using the 1st person point of view in a speech is believed to be more effective than a third person point of view. Just be careful not to make it too subjective and sway away from the topic.

• Understand the purpose of your speech: Before writing the speech, you must understand the topic and the purpose behind it. Reason out and evaluate if the speech has to be inspiring, entertaining or purely informative.
• Identify your audience: When writing or delivering a speech, your audience play the major role. Unless you know who your target audience is, you will not be able to draft a good and appropriate speech.
• Decide the length of the speech: Whatever be the topic, make sure you keep it short and to the point. Making a speech longer than it needs to be will only make it monotonous and boring.
• Revising and practicing the speech: After writing, it is essential to revise and recheck as there might be minor errors which you might have missed. Edit and revise until you are sure you have it right. Practise as much as required so you do not stammer in front of your audience.
• Mention your takeaways at the end of the speech: Takeaways are the points which have been majorly emphasised on and can bring a change. Be sure to always have a thought or idea that your audience can reflect upon at the end of your speech.

How to write a speech?

Writing a speech is basically about collecting, summarising and structuring your points on a given topic. Do a proper research, prepare multiple drafts, edit and revise until you are sure of the content.

Why is it important to introduce ourselves?

It is essential to introduce yourself while writing a speech, so that your audience or the readers know who the speaker is and understand where you come from. This will, in turn, help them connect with you and your thoughts.

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Last updated on Jul 24, 2023

6 Unbreakable Dialogue Punctuation Rules All Writers Must Know

Dialogue punctuation is a critical part of written speech that allows readers to understand when characters start and stop speaking. By following the proper punctuation rules — for example, that punctuation marks almost always fall within the quotation marks — a writer can ensure that their characters’ voices flow off the page with minimal distraction.

This post’ll show you how to format your dialogue to publishing standards.

6 essential dialogue punctuation rules:

1. Always put commas and periods inside the quote

2. use double quote marks for dialogue (if you’re in america), 3. start a new paragraph every time the speaker changes , 4. use dashes and ellipses to cut sentences off, 5. deploy single quote marks used for quotes within dialogue, 6. don’t use end quotes between paragraphs of speech .

The misplacement of periods and commas is the most common mistake writers make when punctuating dialogue. But it’s pretty simple, once you get the hang of it. You should always have the period inside the quote when completing a spoken sentence.

Example: “It’s time to pay the piper.”

As you’ll know, the most common way to indicate speech is to write dialogue in quotation marks and attribute it to a speaker with dialogue tags, such as he said , she said, or Margaret replied, or chirped Hiroko . This is what we call “attribution” when you're punctuating dialogue.

Insert a comma inside the quotation marks when the speaker is attributed after the dialogue.

Example: “Come closer so I can see you,” said the old man.

If the speaker is attributed before the dialogue, there is a comma outside the quotation marks.

Example: Aleela whimpered, “I don’t want to. I’m scared.”

If the utterance (to use a fancy linguistics term for dialogue 🤓) ends in a question mark or exclamation point, they would also be placed inside the quotation marks.

Exception: When it’s not direct dialogue. 

You might see editors occasionally place a period outside the quotation marks. In those cases, the period is not used for spoken dialogue but for quoting sentence fragments, or perhaps when styling the title of a short story.

Mark’s favorite short story was “The Gift of the Magi”. 

My father forced us to go camping, insisting that it would “build character”.

Now that we’ve covered the #1 rule of dialogue punctuation, let’s dig into some of the more nuanced points.

In American English, direct speech is normally represented with double quotation marks. 

Example : “Hey, Billy! I’m driving to the drug store for a soda and Charleston Chew. Wanna come?” said Chad

In British and Commonwealth English, single quotation marks are the standard.

Example: ‘I say, old bean,’ the wicketkeeper said, ‘Thomas really hit us for six. Let’s pull up stumps and retire to the pavilion for tea.’

This is one of the most fundamental rules of organizing dialogue. To make it easier for readers to follow what’s happening, start a new paragraph every time the speaker changes, even if you use dialogue tags.

“What do you think you’re doing?” asked the policeman. “Oh, nothing, officer. Just looking for my hat,” I replied.

The new paragraph doesn’t always have to start with direct quotes. Whenever the focus moves from one speaker to the other, that’s when you start a new paragraph. Here’s an alternative to the example above:

“What do you think you’re doing?” asked the policeman. I scrambled for an answer. “Oh, nothing, officer. Just looking for my hat.”

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So far, all of the examples we’ve shown you are of characters speaking in full, complete sentences. But as we all know, people don’t always get to the end of their thoughts before their either trail off or are interrupted by others. Here’s how you can show that on the page.

Em-dashes to interrupt

When a speaking character is cut off, either by another person or a sudden event, use an em-dash inside the quotation marks. These are the longest dashes and can be typed by hitting alt-shift-dash on your keyboard (or option-shift-dash for Mac users).

“Captain, we only have twenty seconds before—”     A deafening explosion ripped through the ship’s hull. It was already too late. 

“Ali, please tell me what’s going—”     “There’s no use talking!” he barked.

You can also overlap dialogue to show one character speaking over another.

Mathieu put his feet up as the lecturer continued. "Current estimates indicate that a human mission will land on Mars within the next decade—"      "Fat chance."      "—with colonization efforts following soon thereafter."

Sometime people won’t finish their sentences, and it’s not because they’ve been interrupted. If this is the case, you’ll want to… 

Trail off with ellipses 

You can indicate the speaker trailing off with ellipses (. . .) inside the quotation marks.

Velasquez patted each of her pockets. “I swear I had my keys . . .”

Ellipses can also suggest a small pause between two people speaking.

Dawei was in shock. “I can’t believe it . . .” “Yeah, me neither,” Lan Lan whispered.

💡Pro tip: The Chicago Manual of Style requires a space between each period of the ellipses. Most word processors will automatically detect the dot-dot-dot and re-style them for you — but if you want to be exact, manually enter the spaces in between the three periods.

In the course of natural speech, people will often directly quote what other people have said. If this is the case, use single quotation marks within the doubles and follow the usual rules of punctuating dialogue.

“What did Randy say to you?” Beattie asked. “He told me, ‘I got a surprise for you,’ and then he life. Strange, huh?”

But what if a character is quoting another person, who is also quoting another person? In complex cases like this (which thankfully aren’t that common), you will alternate double quotation marks with single quotes.

“I asked Gennadi if he thinks I’m getting the promotion and he said, ‘The boss pulled me aside and asked, “Is Sergei going planning to stay on next year?”’”

The punctuation at the end is a double quote mark, followed by a single quote mark, followed by another double quote. It closes off: 

• What the boss said, 
• What Gennadi said, and 
• What Sergei, the speaker, said.

Quoting quotes within quotes can get messy, so consider focusing on indirect speech. Simply relate the gist of what someone said:

“I pressed Gennadi on my promotion. He said the boss pulled him aside and asked him if I was leaving next year.”

In all the examples above, each character has said fewer than 10 or 20 words at a time. But if a character speaks more than a few sentences at a time, to deliver a speech for example, you can split their speech into multiple paragraphs. To do this:

• Start each subsequent paragraph with an opening quotation mark; and
• ONLY use a closing quotation mark on the final paragraph.

"Would you like to hear my plan?" the professor said, lighting his oak pipe with a match. "The first stage involves undermining the dean's credibility: a small student protesst here, a little harassment rumor there. It all starts to add up. "Stage two involves the board of trustees, with whom I've been ingratiating myself for the past two semesters."

Notice how the first paragraph doesn't end with an end quote? This indicates that the same person is speaking in the next paragraph. You can always break up any extended speech with action beats to avoid pages and pages of uninterrupted monologue.

Want to see a great example of action beats breaking up a monologue? Check out this example from Sherlock Holmes.

Hopefully, these guidelines have clarified a few things about punctuating dialogue. In the next parts of this guide, you’ll see these rules in action as we dive into dialogue tags and look at some more dialogue examples here .

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10 keys to writing a speech.

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“This is my time.”

That attitude will kill a speech every time.

You’ve probably sat through some lousy speeches. Despite the speakers’ renown, you eventually tuned them out over their self-indulgent tangents and pointless details. You understood something these speakers apparently didn’t: This was your time. They were just guests. And your attention was strictly voluntary.

Of course, you’ll probably deliver that speech someday. And you’ll believe your speech will be different. You’ll think, “I have so many important points to make.” And you’ll presume that your presence and ingenuity will dazzle the audience. Let me give you a reality check: Your audience will remember more about who sat with them than anything you say. Even if your best lines would’ve made Churchill envious, some listeners will still fiddle with their smart phones.

In writing a speech, you have two objectives: Making a good impression and leaving your audience with two or three takeaways. The rest is just entertainment. How can you make those crucial points? Consider these strategies:

1) Be Memorable: Sounds easy in theory. Of course, it takes discipline and imagination to pull it off. Many times, an audience may only remember a single line. For example, John F. Kennedy is best known for this declaration in his 1961 inaugural address: “And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what can do for your country.” Technically, the line itself uses contrast to grab attention. More important, it encapsulated the main point of Kennedy’s speech: We must sublimate ourselves and serve to achieve the greater good. So follow Kennedy’s example: Condense your theme into a 15-20 word epigram and build everything around it top-to-bottom.

There are other rhetorical devices that leave an impression. For example, Ronald Reagan referred to America as “a shining city on the hill” in speeches. The image evoked religious heritage, freedom, and promise. And listeners associated those sentiments with Reagan’s message. Conversely, speakers can defy their audience’s expectations to get notice. In the movie Say Anything , the valedictorian undercut the canned optimism of high school graduation speeches with two words: “Go back.” In doing so, she left her audience speechless…for a moment, at least.

Metaphors…Analogies…Surprise…Axioms. They all work. You just need to build up to them…and place them in the best spot (preferably near the end).

2) Have a Structure: Think back on a terrible speech. What caused you to lose interest? Chances are, the speaker veered off a logical path. Years ago, our CEO spoke at our national meeting. He started, promisingly enough, by outlining the roots of the 2008 financial collapse. Halfway through those bullet points, he jumped to emerging markets in Vietnam and Brazil. Then, he drifted off to 19th century economic theory. By the time he closed, our CEO had made two points: He needed ADD medication – and a professional speechwriter!

Audiences expect two things from a speaker: A path and a destination. They want to know where you’re going and why. So set the expectation near your opening on what you’ll be covering. As you write and revise, focus on structuring and simplifying. Remove anything that’s extraneous, contradictory, or confusing. Remember: If it doesn’t help you get your core message across, drop it.

3) Don’t Waste the Opening: Too often, speakers squander the time when their audience is most receptive: The opening. Sure, speakers have people to thank. Some probably need time to get comfortable on stage. In the meantime, the audience silently suffers.

When you write, come out swinging. Share a shocking fact or statistic. Tell a humorous anecdote related to your big idea. Open with a question – and have your audience raise their hands. Get your listeners engaged early. And keep the preliminaries short. You’re already losing audience members every minute you talk. Capitalize on the goodwill and momentum you’ll enjoy in your earliest moments on stage.

4) Strike the Right Tone: Who is my audience? Why are they here? And what do they want? Those are questions you must answer before you even touch the keyboard. Writing a speech involves meeting the expectations of others, whether it’s to inform, motivate, entertain, or even challenge. To do this, you must adopt the right tone.

Look at your message. Does it fit with the spirit of the event? Will it draw out the best in people? Here’s a bit of advice: If you’re speaking in a professional setting, focus on being upbeat and uplifting. There’s less risk. Poet Maya Angelou once noted, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Even if your audience forgets everything you said, consider your speech a success if they leave with a smile and a greater sense of hope and purpose. That’s a message in itself. And it’s one they’ll share.

5) Humanize Yourself: You and your message are one-and-the-same. If your audience doesn’t buy into you, they’ll resist your message too. It’s that simple. No doubt, your body language and delivery will leave the biggest impression. Still, there are ways you can use words to connect.

Crack a one liner about your butterflies; everyone can relate to being nervous about public speaking. Share a story about yourself, provided it relates to (or transitions to) your points. Throw in references to your family, to reflect you’re trustworthy. And write like you’re having a casual conversation with a friend. You’re not preaching or selling. You’re just being you. On stage, you can be you at your best .

6) Repeat Yourself: We’ve all been there. When someone is speaking, we’ll drift off to a Caribbean beach or the Autobahn. Or, we’ll find ourselves lost and flustered when we can’t grasp a concept. Once you’ve fallen behind, it’s nearly impossible to pay attention. What’s the point?

In writing a speech, repetition is the key to leaving an impression. Hammer home key words, phrases, and themes. Always be looking for places to tie back and reinforce earlier points. And repeat critical points as if they were a musical refrain.

As a teenager, my coach continuously reminded us that “nothing good happens after midnight.” He’d lecture us on the dangers of partying, fighting, peer pressure, and quitting. After a while, my teammates and I just rolled our eyes. Eventually, we encountered those temptations. When I’d consider giving in, coach would growl “Schmitty” disapprovingly in my head. Despite my resistance, coach had found a way to get me to college unscathed. He simply repeated his message over-and-over until it stuck.

Some audience members may get annoyed when you repeat yourself. But don’t worry how they feel today. Concern yourself with this question: What will they remember six months from now?

7) Use Transitions: Sometimes, audiences won’t recognize what’s important. That’s why you use transitional phrases to signal intent. For example, take a rhetorical question like “What does this mean” – and follow it with a pause. Silence gets attention – and this tactic creates anticipation (along with awakening those who’ve drifted off). Similarly, a phrase like “So here’s the lesson” also captures an audience’s interest. It alerts them that something important is about to be shared. Even if they weren’t paying attention before, they can tune in now and catch up.

8) Include Theatrics: During his workshops, Dr. Stephen Covey would fill a glass bowl nearly full with sand. From there, he’d ask a volunteer to place rocks into the bowl. In the exercise, rocks represented essentials like family, job, worship, and exercise, while the bowl signified the volunteer’s time and energy. It never failed: The volunteer couldn’t fit every rock in the bowl. The sand – which embodied day-to-day activities like transporting children, shopping, or reading – took up too much space. Something had to be cut. Usually, it was something essential.

Covey would then encourage his volunteer to consider another option: Start with placing a rock in the bowl, adding some sand, and then alternating rocks and sand until the bowl was full. Like magic, there was suddenly enough space for both, as the sand gradually filled any gaps between the rocks. The message: Maintain balance. Never lose sight of the essentials as you tend to the day-to-day (and vice versa).

Of course, Covey could’ve made his point verbally and moved on. Instead, he illustrated it with household items in a way his audience wouldn’t soon forget. If you have a smaller audience (or a video screen), consider incorporating visuals. Keep the props, storyline, and lesson simple. When you’re done, leave everything out to symbolize your point to your audience. Whatever you do, don’t play it safe. If you do, your speech will be forgotten in no time.

9) End Strong: In 2004, I attended a Direct Marketing Association (DMA) conference. I don’t recall much about our keynote speaker, except that he was tall and southern. I can’t even remember what his address was about. But I’ll never forget the story he used to close his speech.

The speaker was a friend of Jerry Richardson, owner of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers. A few years earlier, the Panthers had drafted a fiery wide receiver named Steve Smith. While Smith excelled on the field, he was a nightmare in the locker room. Eventually, Smith was arrested for assaulting a teammate during film study.

Already reeling from bad publicity from other player incidents, Richardson was pressured to cut Smith. But he chose a different path. Richardson vowed to spend more time with Smith. He decided that Smith would be better served with guidance and caring than further punishment. Eventually, Richardson’s patience paid off. Smith became the Panthers’ all-time leading receiver – and scored a touchdown in their only Super Bowl appearance. In fact, Smith still plays for the Panthers to this day.

If the speaker intended to remind me how powerful that personal attention and forgiveness could be, he succeeded in spades. Fact is, your close is what your audience will remember. So recap your biggest takeaway. Tie everything together. Share a success story. Make a call to action. Don’t hold anything back. Your ending is what audience will ultimately talk about when they head out the door.

10) Keep it Short: What is the worst sin of public speaking? It’s trying to do too much! Your audience’s attention will naturally wane after a few minutes. They have other places to be – and don’t want to be held hostage. And the longer you stay on stage, the more likely you are to stray and make mistakes. So make your points and sit down. Never forget: This is their time, not yours.

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Speech Writing

• Updated on  
• Jan 16, 2024

The power of good, inspiring, motivating, and thought-provoking speeches can never be overlooked. If we retrospect, a good speech has not only won people’s hearts but also has been a verbal tool to conquer nations. For centuries, many leaders have used this instrument to charm audiences with their powerful speeches. Apart from vocalizing your speech perfectly, the words you choose in a speech carry immense weight, and practising speech writing begins with our school life. Speech writing is an important part of the English syllabus for Class 12th, Class 11th, and Class 8th to 10th. This blog brings you the Speech Writing format, samples, examples, tips, and tricks!

This Blog Includes:

What is speech writing, speech in english language writing, how do you begin an english-language speech, introduction, how to write a speech, speech writing samples, example of a great speech, english speech topics, practice time.

Must Read: Story Writing Format for Class 9 & 10

Speech writing is the art of using proper grammar and expression to convey a thought or message to a reader. Speech writing isn’t all that distinct from other types of narrative writing. However, students should be aware of certain distinct punctuation and writing style techniques. While writing the ideal speech might be challenging, sticking to the appropriate speech writing structure will ensure that you never fall short.

“There are three things to aim at in public speaking: first, to get into your subject, then to get your subject into yourself, and lastly, to get your subject into the heart of your audience.”- Alexander Gregg

The English language includes eight parts of speech i.e. nouns , pronouns , verbs , adjectives 410 , adverbs , prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.

• Noun- A noun is a word that describes anything, such as an animal, a person, a place, or an emotion. Nouns are the building blocks for most sentences.
• Pronoun – Pronouns are words that can be used in place of nouns. They are used so that we don’t have to repeat words. This makes our writing and speaking much more natural.
• Verb – A verb is a term that implies activity or ‘doing.’ These are very vital for your children’s grammar studies, as a sentence cannot be complete without a verb.
• Adjective – An adjective is a term that describes something. An adjective is frequently used before a noun to add extra information or description.
• Prepositions- A preposition is a term that expresses the location or timing of something in relation to something else.
• Conjunction- Because every language has its own set of conjunctions, English conjunctions differ from those found in other languages. They’re typically used as a connecting word between two statements, concepts, or ideas.
• Interjections- Interjections are words that are used to describe a strong emotion or a sudden feeling.

Relevant Read: Speech on the Importance of English

The way you start your English speech can set the tone for the remainder of it. This semester, there are a variety of options for you to begin presentations in your classes. For example, try some of these engaging speech in English language starters.

• Rhetorical questions : A rhetorical question is a figure of speech that uses a question to convey a point rather than asking for a response. The answer to a rhetorical question may be clear, yet the questioner asks it to emphasize the point. Rhetorical questions may be a good method for students to start their English speeches. This method of introducing your material might be appealing to the viewers and encourage them to consider how they personally relate to your issue.
• Statistics: When making an instructive or persuasive speech in an English class, statistics can help to strengthen the speaker’s authority and understanding of the subject. To get your point over quickly and create an emotional response, try using an unexpected statistic or fact that will resonate with the audience.
• Set up an imaginary scene: Create an imaginary situation in your audience’s thoughts if you want to persuade them to agree with you with your speech. This method of starting your speech assists each member of the audience in visualizing a fantastic scenario that you wish to see come true.

Relevant Read: Reported Speech Rules With Exercises

Format of Speech Writing

Here is the format of Speech Writing:

• Introduction : Greet the audience, tell them about yourself and further introduce the topic.
• Body : Present the topic in an elaborate way, explaining its key features, pros and cons, if any and the like.
• Conclusion : Summary of your speech, wrap up the topic and leave your audience with a compelling reminder to think about!

Let’s further understand each element of the format of Speech Writing in further detail:

After the greetings, the Introduction has to be attention-getting. Quickly get people’s attention. The goal of a speech is to engage the audience and persuade them to think or act in your favour. The introduction must effectively include: 

• A brief preview of your topic. 
• Define the outlines of your speech. (For example, I’ll be talking about…First..Second…Third)
• Begin with a story, quote, fact, joke, or observation in the room. It shouldn’t be longer than 3-4 lines. (For Example: “Mahatma Gandhi said once…”, or “This topic reminds me of an incident/story…”)

This part is also important because that’s when your audience decides if the speech is worth their time. Keep your introduction factual, interesting, and convincing.

It is the most important part of any speech. You should provide a number of reasons and arguments to convince the audience to agree with you.

Handling objections is an important aspect of speech composition. There is no time for questions or concerns since a speech is a monologue. Any concerns that may occur during the speech will be addressed by a powerful speech. As a result, you’ll be able to respond to questions as they come in from the crowd. To make speech simpler you can prepare a flow chart of the details in a systematic way.

For example: If your speech is about waste management; distribute information and arrange it according to subparagraphs for your reference. It could include:

• What is Waste Management?
• Major techniques used to manage waste
• Advantages of Waste Management  
• Importance of Waste Management 

The conclusion should be something that the audience takes with them. It could be a reminder, a collective call to action, a summary of your speech, or a story. For example: “It is upon us to choose the fate of our home, the earth by choosing to begin waste management at our personal spaces.”

After concluding, add a few lines of gratitude to the audience for their time.

For example: “Thank you for being a wonderful audience and lending me your time. Hope this speech gave you something to take away.”

Practice Your Speech Writing with these English Speech topics for students !

A good speech is well-timed, informative, and thought-provoking. Here are the tips for writing a good school speech:

Speech Sandwich of Public Speaking

The introduction and conclusion must be crisp. People psychologically follow the primacy effect (tendency to remember the first part of the list/speech) and recency effect (tendency to recall the last part of the list/speech). 

Use Concrete Facts

Make sure you thoroughly research your topic. Including facts appeals to the audience and makes your speech stronger. How much waste is managed? Give names of organisations and provide numerical data in one line.

Use Rhetorical Strategies and Humour

Include one or two open-ended or thought-provoking questions.  For Example: “Would we want our future generation to face trouble due to global warming?” Also, make good use of humour and convenient jokes that engages your audience and keeps them listening.

Check Out: Message Writing

Know your Audience and Plan Accordingly

This is essential before writing your speech. To whom is it directed? The categorised audience on the basis of –

• Knowledge of the Topic (familiar or unfamiliar)

Use the information to formulate the speech accordingly, use information that they will understand, and a sentence that they can retain.

Timing Yourself is Important

An important aspect of your speech is to time yourself.  Don’t write a speech that exceeds your word limit. Here’s how can decide the right timing for your speech writing:

• A one-minute speech roughly requires around 130-150 words
• A two-minute speech requires roughly around 250-300 words

Recommended Read: Letter Writing

Speech Writing Examples

Here are some examples to help you understand how to write a good speech. Read these to prepare for your next speech:

Write a speech to be delivered in the school assembly as Rahul/ Rubaina of Delhi Public School emphasises the importance of cleanliness, implying that the level of cleanliness represents the character of its residents. (150-200 words)

“Cleanliness is next to godliness,” said the great John Wesley. Hello, respected principal, instructors, and good friends. Today, I, Rahul/Rubaina, stand in front of you all to emphasise the significance of cleanliness.

Cleanliness is the condition or attribute of being or remaining clean. Everyone must learn about cleaning, hygiene, sanitation, and the different diseases that are produced by unsanitary circumstances. It is essential for physical well-being and the maintenance of a healthy atmosphere at home and at school. A filthy atmosphere invites a large number of mosquitos to grow and spread dangerous diseases. On the other side, poor personal cleanliness causes a variety of skin disorders as well as lowered immunity.

Habits formed at a young age become ingrained in one’s personality. Even if we teach our children to wash their hands before and after meals, brush their teeth and bathe on a regular basis, we are unconcerned about keeping public places clean. On October 2, 2014, the Indian Prime Minister began the “Swachh Bharat” programme to offer sanitation amenities to every family, including toilets, solid and liquid waste disposal systems, village cleanliness, and safe and appropriate drinking water supplies. Teachers and children in schools are actively participating in the ‘Clean India Campaign’ with zeal and excitement.

Good health ensures a healthy mind, which leads to better overall productivity, higher living standards, and economic development. It will improve India’s international standing. As a result, a clean environment is a green environment with fewer illnesses. Thus, cleanliness is defined as a symbol of mental purity.

Thank you very much.

Relevant Read: Speech on Corruption

You are Sahil/Sanya, the school’s Head Girl/Head Boy. You are greatly troubled by the increasing instances of aggressive behaviour among your students. You decide to speak about it during the morning assembly. Create a speech about “School Discipline.” (150 – 200 words)

INDISCIPLINE IN SCHOOLS,

It has been reported that the frequency of fights and incidences of bullying in our school has increased dramatically in the previous several months. Good morning to everyone present. Today, I, Sahil/Sanya, your head boy/girl, am here to shed light on the serious topic of “Increased Indiscipline in Schools.”

It has come to light that instructor disobedience, bullying, confrontations with students, truancy, and insults are becoming more widespread. Furthermore, there have been reports of parents noticing a shift in their children’s attitudes. As a result, many children are suffering emotionally, psychologically, and physically. The impact of this mindset on children at a young age is devastating and irreversible.

Not to mention the harm done to the school’s property. Theft of chalk, scribbling on desks, walls and lavatory doors, destruction of CCTV cameras and so forth. We are merely depriving ourselves of the comforts granted to us by doing so.

Following numerous meetings, it was determined that the main reasons for the problem were a lack of sufficient guidance, excessive use of social media, and peer pressure. The council is working to make things better. Everyone is required to take life skills classes. Counselling, motivating, and instilling friendly ideals will be part of the curriculum. Seminars for parents and students will be held on a regular basis.

A counsellor is being made available to help you all discuss your sentiments, grudges, and personal problems. We are doing everything we can and expect you to do the same.

So, let us work together to create an environment in which we encourage, motivate, assist, and be nice to one another because we are good and civilised humans capable of a great deal of love.

Relevant Read: How to Write a Speech on Discipline?

The current increase in incidences of violent student misbehaviour is cause for alarm for everyone. Students who learn how to manage their anger can help to alleviate the situation. Write a 150-200-word speech about the topic to be delivered at the school’s morning assembly. (10)

HOW TO CONTROL ANGER

Honourable Principal, Respected Teachers, and Dear Friends, I’d like to share a few “Ways to Manage Anger” with you today.

The growing intolerance among the younger generation, which is resulting in violence against teachers, is cause for severe concern. The guru-shishya parampara is losing its lustre. Aggressive behaviour in students can be provoked by a variety of factors, including self-defence, stressful circumstance, over-stimulation, or a lack of adult supervision.

It has become imperative to address the situation. Life skills workshops will be included in the curriculum. Teachers should be trained to deal with such stubborn and confrontational behaviours. Meditation and deep breathing are very beneficial and should be practised every morning. Students should be taught to count to ten before reacting angrily. Sessions on anger control and its importance must also be held.

Remember that Anger is one letter away from danger. It becomes much more crucial to be able to control one’s rage. It’s never too late to start, as a wise man once said.

“Every minute you stay angry, you lose sixty seconds of peace of mind.”

Relevant Read: English Speech Topics for Students

Martin Luther King Jr’s ‘I Have A Dream’ is one of his most famous speeches. Its impact has lasted through generations. The speech is written by utilising the techniques above. Here are some examples:

“still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination” – emotive Language

“In a sense, we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check” – personalising the speech

“to stand up for freedom together” – a call to action.

Importantly, this is an example of how the listener comes first while drafting a speech. The language chosen appeals to a specific sort of audience and was widely utilised in 1963 when the speech was delivered.

• The Best Day of My Life
• Social Media: Bane or Boon?
• Pros and Cons of Online Learning
• Benefits of Yoga
• If I had a Superpower
• I wish I were ______
• Environment Conservation
• Women Should Rule the World!
• The Best Lesson I Have Learned
• Paperbacks vs E-books
• How to Tackle a Bad Habit?
• My Favorite Pastime/Hobby
• Understanding Feminism
• Fear of Missing Out (FOMO): Is it real or not?
• Importance of Reading
• Importance of Books in Our Life
• My Favorite Fictional Character
• Introverts vs Extroverts
• Lessons to Learn from Sports
• Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Also Read: How to Ace IELTS Writing Section?

Ans. Speech writing is the process of communicating a notion or message to a reader by employing proper punctuation and expression. Speech writing is similar to other types of narrative writing. However, students should be aware of some different punctuation and writing structure techniques.

Ans. Before beginning with the speech, choose an important topic. Create an outline; rehearse your speech, and adjust the outline based on comments from the rehearsal. This five-step strategy for speech planning serves as the foundation for both lessons and learning activities.

Ans. Writing down a speech is vital since it helps you better comprehend the issue, organises your thoughts, prevents errors in your speech, allows you to get more comfortable with it, and improves its overall quality.

Speech writing and public speaking are effective and influential. Hope this blog helped you know the various tips for writing the speech people would want to hear. If you need help in making the right career choices at any phase of your academic and professional journey, our Leverage Edu experts are here to guide you. Sign up for a free session now!

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How do you write direct speech in English? - Easy Learning Grammar

• The comma comes inside the quotation marks, unless the reporting verb is positioned inside a reported sentence that itself does not require a comma.
• Typical reporting verbs are: agree, answer, ask, inquire, explain, say, tell, and wonder.
• The words spoken are enclosed in inverted commas (single or double quotation marks).
• Single quotation marks are often used to draw attention to a word that is being mentioned for a particular purpose. 

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English lessons and resources

Direct speech writing rules in English

7th January 2019 by Andrew 14 Comments

In the above picture, Mark is talking to Jane. The words inside the blue box are the exact words that he speaks.

Here is how we express this:

This is direct speech. Direct speech is when we report the exact words that somebody says.

In this English lesson, you will learn:

• The rules for writing direct speech.
• The correct punctuation.
• Vocabulary to report direct speech.

Reporting clause before the direct speech

The reporting clause of direct speech is the short clause that indicates who is talking. It is the clause that is outside of the inverted commas. It is therefore not the words being spoken.

We can write the reporting clause either before or after the direct speech. If the reporting clause is before the direct speech, we write it as follows:

Grammar rules – If the reporting clause is before the direct speech:

We write a comma (,) before the direct speech. We write the exact words inside the inverted commas. The first letter is a capital letter. We write a full stop (.) before the closing inverted commas.

Reporting clause before a question or exclamation

If the reporting clause is before a question or exclamation:

We write a comma (,) before the direct speech. We write the exact words inside the inverted commas. The first letter is a capital letter. We write a question mark (?) before the closing inverted commas. or We write an exclamation mark (!) before the closing inverted commas.

Reporting clause after the direct speech

If the reporting clause is after the direct speech:

We write the exact words inside the inverted commas. The first letter is a capital letter. We write a comma (,) before the closing inverted commas. We write a full stop (.) at the end of the reporting clause.

Reporting clause after a question or exclamation

If the reporting clause is after a question or exclamation:

We write the exact words inside the inverted commas. The first letter is a capital letter. We write a question mark (?) before the closing inverted commas. or We write an exclamation mark (!) before the closing inverted commas. We write a full stop (.) at the end of the reporting clause.

Advanced rules for direct speech

Sometimes we break up the direct speech into 2 parts:

The second part of the direct speech starts with a small letter if it is the same sentence as the first part of the direct speech.

The second part of the direct speech starts with a capital letter if it is a new sentence.

Vocabulary of direct speech

We have several names for the above punctuation marks:

Inverted commas Speech marks Quotation marks Quotes

Other reporting verbs

Here are some other useful reporting verbs:

reply (replied) ask (asked) shout (shouted) agree (agreed) comment (commented) admit (admitted)

They are often used for writing direct speech in books, newspapers and reports. It is more common to use them in reporting clauses after the direct speech.

“I really don’t like her dress,” she commented . “I don’t love you anymore,” he admitted .

Other English lessons

Private online English lessons How to pass the IELTS with a band 8 Adverbs of frequency Indefinite article “a” and “an” The prepositions FOR and SINCE All of our lessons

Direct speech video lesson

Reader Interactions

Matěj Formánek says

3rd November 2019 at 5:54 pm

How about this sentence: I know the satnav is wrong!” exclaimed Zena. – Why the subject and predicate are swapped? It’s sentence from textbook so I’m confused.

17th June 2020 at 4:07 pm

Can we write multiple sentences in direct speech that comes before reporting clause? In case if this is allowed, what punctuation mark should be used after the last sentence?

Example: “I entered the class room. As I did not find anybody there, I left the class room and went to buy a coffee.” explained the student to the teacher for his delay to come to the class.

Should the punctuation mark after the word coffee be comma instead of full stop?

Joaquim Barretto says

14th September 2020 at 1:25 pm

No full stop, but comma after the word coffee.

19th January 2021 at 2:34 pm

HI IM DAISY

courtney says

27th January 2021 at 12:07 pm

Clare Hatcher says

12th March 2021 at 9:55 am

Hello I like the layout of this – very clear. Just wondering if it is correct to use a comma in between two separate sentences in direct speech. I think that now in published material you find this instead. ‘I’m tired,’ she said. ‘Let’s stay at home.’ Would appreciate your thoughts Thanks

27th March 2021 at 8:54 am

If I wrote something with a comma at the end to continue speech like this:

“Hello,” he waved to the new student, “what’s you’re name?”

Do I have to use a capital letter even if I’m continuing with a comma or is it lowercase?

Sylvia Edouard says

30th September 2023 at 9:17 am

Yes, you need to use a capital letter as speech from someone has to start with a capital letter. Always.

15th April 2022 at 12:12 pm

which of the following is correct?

1. Should the status go missing when the metadata states, “Sign & return document?”

2. Should the status go missing when the metadata states, “Sign & return document,”? (comma inside)

3. Should the status go missing when the metadata states, “Sign & return document.”? (full stop inside)

Jan Švanda says

7th September 2023 at 1:31 pm

I presume the quotation is there to specify the exact phrase (for the metadata entry). I also encounter this from time to time, when writing technical documentation. I believe in that case you should write the phrase as it is, proper grammar be damned; beautifully looking documentation is useless if it leads to incorrect results.

In this case, I don’t even think this is “direct speech”, the metadata entry isn’t walking around and saying things, the quotation mark is there to indicate precise phrase – similar to marking strings in programming languages. Because of this, I don’t think direct speech rules apply, or at least, they should take back seat. If the expected status includes full stop at the end, the sentence would be:

4. Should the status go missing when the metadata states “Sign & return document.”? (no comma before, since it is not a direct speech; full stop inside, as it is part of the quoted status)

From grammatical perspective the end looks a bit ugly, but again, if this should be technical documentation, that is less important than precision.

A person says

15th August 2022 at 7:16 pm

One extra thing: YOU MUST NOT USE THE WORD SAID IN A REPORTING CLAUSE. EVER. IT’S UNIMAGINATIVE.

no joke, it’s actually discouraged and even close to banned at my school

7th September 2023 at 1:49 pm

This is stupid. You shouldn’t use it in _every_ sentence, there should be variety, but outright banning it doesn’t make sense.

Case in point:

Book: ‘Pride and Prejudice’. Phrase to search: ‘,” said’ (comma, followed by quotation mark, followed by space, followed by word ‘said’). Number of occurrences: 211. Total number of ‘,”‘ (comma, followed by quotation mark) strings is 436, so “said” is used in almost 50% cases of direct speech of this type.

I don’t think it would be right for your school to ban Jane Austin, do you?

blaire says

30th March 2024 at 5:36 pm

How do you use names in direct speech?

Is it: “I really don’t like her dress,” Ashley said. or “I really don’t like her dress,” said Ashley.

I’ve seen both and I’m so confused which one is correct, please help me.

Andrew says

3rd April 2024 at 11:31 am

Hello and thanks for your comment and question.

After the direct speech, both are correct.

Before the direct speech, only the first one is correct:

Ashley said, “I really don’t like her dress.” (correct) Said Ashley, “I really don’t like her dress.” (wrong)

I hope that helps you. Andrew https://www.youtube.com/@CrownAcademyEnglish/

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How To Format Dialogue In A Novel (With Examples)?

How to format dialogue in a novel is a question every writer faces at some point in their writing journey. The truth is that even experienced writers can struggle with understanding the best way to write speech.

The rules for writing dialogue, and how to punctuate punctuation, can often seem confusing and contradictory, with dialogue tags and punctuation marks only adding to the confusion.

In this article, you’ll discover how to format written dialogue. You’ll learn simple rules for writing dialogue like a pro and you’ll come away with an understanding of formatting dialogue that will allow you to write with freedom.

Table of Contents

New Speaker, New Paragraph

Adding quotation marks, the fundamentals of punctuation, attribution (dialogue tags).

• Why use beats?

Direct Dialogue and Reported Dialogue

Dialogue in paragraphs, about attribution before dialogue, he said versus said he, frequently asked questions.

When formatting dialogue, 'new speaker, new paragraph' is a great place to start. This is a simple rule to apply and one that should not be broken under any circumstance.

The rule is that each new speaker should have their own paragraph. This means that, if John and Bill are in a conversation, each time a speaker changes to another character, you make a new paragraph.

Take a look at this example below, it will help when you come to write dialogue. We’ll be using this same example throughout the article, and you will see it evolve as each new rule is applied.

As it stands, it is just a lump of unformatted text, all in one paragraph. At this stage, don’t worry about anything other than the “new speaker, new paragraph” rule.

hi said John as he stretched out his hand hello joked Bill shaking John’s hand have you been here long John questioned no I’ve just arrived Bill said ok

This is not the most inspiring of exchanges, but it will help to demonstrate each rule as it is learned.

The “new speaker, new paragraph” rule tells us that, each time John or Bill speaks, their dialogue should be in a separate paragraph. Let’s apply the rule.

The example now reads …

This is still in a pretty raw state, but you can already see how it will help you to write dialogue.

Having started our formatting dialogue journey by separating the different speakers into new paragraphs, we now turn our attention to the spoken words and the use of quotation marks.

It is important that the reader is able to distinguish the words of the narrator (sometimes called narrative summary) from the words of the characters (dialogue). We do this through the use of quotation marks.

I am sure you get this, but let me drill this point home.

When writing dialogue, it is essential that you see the words the characters speak (“Hi,” “Hello,” etc.) as separate from those of the narrator (said John as he stretched out his hand).

In its most simple form, this is done by using quotation marks to indicate that words are being spoken.

In fact, when teaching writing, one of the first topics I address is to get authors to see their novels as made up of both characters AND a narrator. If you are able to separate these in your mind, many of the advanced writing techniques (which are outside the scope of this article) are so much easier to grasp.

Anyway, back to formatting dialogue...

Now we need to add quotation marks in our example. These are simple punctuation marks that are added at the start and end of words spoken by your characters.

Before we apply the rule to our specific example, it is worth taking a moment to discuss the two types of quotation marks you’ll see used.

These are single quotation marks (‘) and double quotation marks (“) .

Despite what you may read elsewhere, there is no “correct” quotation mark to use; both single quotation marks and double quotation marks are OK, depending on the usage.

This all said, there is a rule of thumb. Most American authors tend to use double quotation marks as their default for dialogue, while British authors tend to use single quotation marks. However, you must pick one type of quotation mark and stick with it. If you start with single quotation marks for dialogue, then use single quotation marks all throughout your book. If you start with double quotation marks, then stick with double quotation marks. I am sure you get the picture. Be consistent.

There is an occasion where you’d mix single quotation marks and double quotation marks, but there’s no need to worry about that yet, and we’ll deal with this later.

Let’s apply this to our particular example (we are going to use double quotation marks for our US authors here). I am going to sandwich each phrase spoken by the characters in between a pair of quotation marks. Remember, characters and narrator are different people.

“hi” said John as he stretched out his hand “hello” joked Bill shaking John’s hand “have you been here long” John questioned “no I’ve just arrived” Bill said “ok”

You’ll see here that we have added an opening quotation mark where the character starts speaking and then another when they stopped speaking (a closing quotation mark). If using curly quotation marks, as is the US standard, then you can easily tell the opening from the closing mark, whether a single quotation mark or a double quotation mark.

Remember, only put quotation marks around words spoken by characters. Actions and description coming from the narrator should never be placed within quotation marks.

NOTE: Here is one exception that comes to mind when formatting dialogue. Sometimes added emphasis is put on a word of narration and either italics or quotation marks are used for that. Example: She wasn’t sure when “later” would come. Alternate example: She wasn’t sure when later would come.

The most common problem we see with dialogue punctuation is when an author uses a comma or period incorrectly. This happens when an author treats the words spoken by a character and those spoken by the narrator as either (1) two different sentences when they should be one sentence, or (2) as one sentence when they should be two separate sentences.

Let me give you an example of dialogue punctuation:

“hi” said John as he stretched out his hand

HI - is spoken by the character.

This sentence has two elements, the words of the character and the words of the narrator.

SAID JOHN AS HE STRETCHED OUT HIS HAND - is the narrator.

Most authors know this instinctively and would have no problem telling these apart, if you asked them to explain the structure of the sentence. The problem begins in knowing the rules on how they should be punctuated.

So here, HI is spoken by the character and SAID JOHN AS HE STRETCHED OUT HIS HAND are the words of the narrator.

You must NOT see these as two separate sentences, but as dialogue connected to narration by a dialogue tag (“said” or “asked” usually).

These two elements are just one sentence connected by a dialogue tag:

Said/Asked Sentence = character’s words + narrator’s words.

Now we can add some punctuation marks. We have established that this is a single sentence with a dialogue tag, and we know that most sentences end with a period. Therefore, we can add this period to our example.

“hi” said John as he stretched out his hand.

The next problem is how we show the reader where the character’s words end and the narrator’s words begin. The quotation marks do a lot of the heavy lifting here, but this sentence does need further punctuation.

The most common mistake we see in this situation is that the author will put a period between the character’s words and the narrator’s words.

“hi.” said John as he stretched out his hand. [WRONG]

This is wrong. You should not do this when writing dialogue. As we have established, this is a single sentence with a dialogue tag, and the moment you add a period, it then becomes two sentences.

To drill this home, I'll say it again …

What we must NOT do is put a period between HI and SAID. This is not the end of the sentence.

However, you are correct in thinking that we need some kind of mark to separate the spoken words from the narrative. The punctuation mark we use here is a comma. This way the words for the character and the narrator remain part of the same sentence when a dialogue tag is present.

The comma is saying to the reader, “Oh, look. The character has spoken, but I still have something to add to this sentence, so keep reading.”

Our example now becomes:

“hi,” said John as he stretched out his hand. [CORRECT]

Another very, very common mistake I see is for the punctuation mark to be on the wrong side of the quotation marks.

“hi,” said John as he stretched out his hand. [CORRECT] “hi”, said John as he stretched out his hand. [WRONG]

As we have discussed, this example is just a single sentence that uses quotation marks and a comma with a dialogue tag to connect words spoken by the character and the narrator.

OK, let’s go back to our schooling and apply another very basic rule. We know that all sentences must start with a capital letter. So, let’s add that to our example.

We now get:

"Hi," said John as he stretched out his hand.

This sentence is now correctly formatted for our purposes here. This is how you should be writing dialogue.

We can apply these rules to the rest of the example (and when you come to write dialogue).

Applying our dialogue punctuation rules, this becomes:

"Hi," said John as he stretched out his hand. "Hello," joked Bill shaking John’s hand. "Have you been here long?" John questioned. [NOTE: Had this been a sentence, like the other paragraphs in this example, the comma would be appropriate. However, here we have a question, so a question mark is needed in place of the comma. All the other rules apply regardless.] "No I’ve just arrived," Bill said. "Ok."

Notice that we’ve:

• Added capital letters to the start of each sentence.
• Added a period to the end of each sentence.
• Added commas between the spoken words and the narration (or question marks, as needed). These are inside the closing quotation marks.

If you look at the last sentence, you will see that it is a single word from a character but with no additional narration. This is still a single sentence, so the same rules apply. It starts with a capital letter and a period is added at the end. The period is before the closing quotation mark.

In the last section, we looked at the fundamentals of dialogue punctuation. You learned the tools you need to correctly format basic dialogue. We will take this one step further and look at attribution (sometimes called “tagging” or “dialogue tags”).

Attribution, or dialogue tags, is basically showing the reader which of your characters is speaking, an ID. It is how the reader knows how is speaking when you are writing dialogue.

If we look at the first line of our example, we see the following:

Here the dialogue (in this case HI) is being attributed to John. In other words John is saying hi. It is that simple. This is attribution.

We can see that 'said john' is an example of the use of a dialogue tag.

So, 'Hi' is the dialogue and 'said John' is the dialogue tag.

In addition to showing the reader who is speaking, dialogue tags also tell the reader how the words are spoken. The most common (and best) form of dialogue tag is said.

Let's take this a little further.

Here's the second line in our example:

"Hello," joked Bill shaking John's hand.

The dialogue (in this case HELLO) is correctly attributed to Bill, but, rather than using SAID, we've used JOKED as a dialogue tag.

Dialogue tags (he said, she said, etc.) seems easy to understand, but there are some hidden traps. Authors often become bored of using SAID and start to use other forms of attribution. This is what we have done on the second line of our example, where we use JOKED instead of SAID.

This is actually a mistake, and many experienced authors would not consider it "best practice".

In fact, as a rule of thumb, you should avoid using any dialogue tag other than SAID or ASKED if at all possible.

So, why is it so wrong to tag dialogue in this way?

The simplest answer is that it looks amateurish. It's the kind of dialogue you see in a schoolkid's textbook or from a two-bit creative writing class. If you use this type of attribution, you will be flagging yourself as a newbie author with little confidence in your ability to SHOW the speaker's emotion. Instead, you will come across as a newbie author who needs to TELL the reader every little thing that's happening.

[Anyone notice I added a bit of show, don't tell? No? … Good, I got away with it.]

There is a more complex reason …

When you write, “Bill joked,” you are TELLING the author the way in which Bill is speaking. Telling is bad. It means that you, as an author, are giving the reader no room to manoeuvre. You are spoon-feeding the story to the reader. This pushes the reader on their back foot and leaves them no space to add their own interpretation to the story. Too much TELL and your reader will soon turn off.

The alternative is to SHOW the reader how the speaker is talking. Rather than relying on attributions such as "joked" to TELL the reader, the author must use the context and texture of the scene to SHOW the story. The words and actions that have come before the dialogue will SHOW the reader Bill's frame of mind and will allow the readers to adjust the dialogue within their mind's eye.

This way you are trusting the reader to "lean into" the story and be part of the process. If you look again at the first line in our example ("Hi," said John as he stretched out his hand.), the way in which John says hi is defined by the context of the previous paragraphs. We don't have these earlier paragraphs in this example, but, if this were a section of a novel, we would. For example, if John is meeting Bill in a noisy train station, then the hi might be spoken loudly. However, rather than writing "he said loudly," you allow the reader to make this decision. The reader is then forced to be part of the process and is sucked into your writing in a way that TELLING can never achieve.

This process is actually the secret source to great writing and is something that can take years to master. I actually wrote a free ebook on this very topic, if you wish to learn more.

So … what's the best practice when adding attribution to dialogue?

The answer is use SAID (or ASKED, as appropriate), as a dialogue tag.

Said is actually a magic word.

Readers are so used to seeing it that they start to ignore the word and "said" almost becomes a punctuation mark in its own right. This means that your dialogue starts to flow, and the reader will move quickly from speaker to speaker, adding in their own context and details as they go. When this flow starts to happen, the reader is fully captured by your writing.

OK … this is heavy stuff and difficult to apply, but, when you get it right, it will lift your writing to a new level.

Yet it is not all unicorns and rainbows; there is a side effect to this approach. You can get a lot of SAID ping-pong.

Take this example, keep a close eye on the dialogue tags:

"Hi," John said. "Hi," Peter said. "How are you doing?" John asked. "Good," Peter said. "You?" "Good. Thanks for asking," John said.

As you see, we have lots of "John said" and "Peter said" repetitions.

The reader is forced to jump from SAID to SAID. This quickly becomes overwhelming (and a bit boring) for the reader.

There's actually a very simple solution.

Just don't add an attribution each time!

When SAID is too repetitious, just don't use anything, after you have identified each speaker at the beginning of the dialogue exchange.

Readers aren't stupid. As an author you must trust in your ability to paint a picture and the reader's ability to fill in the blanks. If there are just two people speaking in a scene, the reader does not need to be told time and again who is speaking. This means you can just ignore the attribution, once you initially ID (“tag”) each of the two speakers.

Here's the example from above, written with a bit of common sense:

"Hi," John said. "Hi," Peter said. "How you doing?" "Good. You?" "Good. Thanks for asking."

This is how you should be writing dialogue.

This is not rocket science but will require you to think about dialogue slightly differently to apply this rule on a consistent basis.

In this section, we looked at the role of attribution and how you must rely on the words before and surrounding the dialogue to give context to the spoken words. In this section, we look at this in more detail and examine a method you can use to control the context of your work when you come to write dialogue.

We learned that, if we tell the reader how a character is speaking (he joked or she said loudly), then we are not giving the reader a chance to be part of the story. Instead, we are spoon-feeding the story to them and pushing them on their back foot.

If we remove this telling and create a "space" between the reader and the character, then the reader will lean into the story and add their own meaning.

Let me dwell on this a second. The concept of "space" is a term I use to describe the situation in which the author allows the reader to add their own context to the story. If we are not telling the reader how the words are spoken but are instead just showing them the situation, the "space" is the gap that the reader must fill.

Anyway, onward ...

In the last section we looked at attribution, but, in each of the examples we used, the attribution was added at the end of the dialogue.

For example:

Notice that the attribution (said John) is after the spoken words. However, though this is the most common way of presenting attribution, it is not the only solution.

It is possible (and sometimes desirable) to break up the dialogue by adding the attribution in the middle of the spoken words.

See this example:

"Hi. I'm taking the dog for a walk," said John, "then I'll buy some milk."

One thing to remember is that you must keep the punctuation consistent. One of the most common elements which trips up authors is which punctuation mark to use after the attribution. The answer to this is that it depends on the dialogue pattern.

If you are splitting a sentence, then it should be with a comma. However, if you are at the end of a sentence and before the start of another sentence, then use a period.

Another way to think about this is to ask yourself the question: is this one or two sentences? If one, then use a comma; if two, then go for the period.

Here's an example of splitting a sentence. Let's say we have this line of dialogue:

"I wanted to get a bus, but the wait was too long, so I walked home instead."

I am going to add in the attribution after the "too long". The sentence remains intact, so we use a comma. Also notice that “so” has no capital letter. Why would it be capitalized here in this sentence's construction? It is not a new sentence.

"I wanted to get a bus, but the wait was too long," said John, "so I walked home instead."

Here's an example that is two different sentences.

"I really like cats. Some people like dogs, but I think they bark too much."

I am adding the attribution after "cats". Notice here that we now use a period after "said John" and that "Some" remains spelled with an initial capital letter. Also notice that we replace the period after "cats" with a comma, as it ties in with the attribution.

"I really like cats," said John. "Some people like dogs, but I think they bark too much."

Why Use Beats?

So far we have looked at the nitty-gritty of punctuating sentences with an attribution that splits up the sentence(s), but we have not addressed the question as to why, and when, doing this is a good idea. After all, the whole point of this article is to teach you to write dialogue that works.

You would use this technique for a number of reasons. This includes controlling the pace of the story, adding description and fleshing out your characters. However, in this case, there are two reasons that are important.

The first is to just add some variety in the flow of your dialogue. If you have a long section of dialogue, then you may want to break up the sentence structure a little and do something different for the reader. This also combats any potential SAID ping-pong (as discussed in the previous section).

The second reason is to add a “beat.” This is a short section of description in the middle of the dialogue. Beats are a very powerful way to add context to your spoken words.

Beats are a very masterful tool. Below is an example of a beat in action. Remember, in this situation, the beat has a very specific job: to add new context to a scene.

“I don't see any other birthday girls, do you?” John looked around in an exaggerated motion, before leaning in and kissing his sister on the cheek. “You'd better open it quick. It's not the kind of present that likes to be kept waiting.”

Now here's the same example without the beat:

“I don't see any other birthday girls, do you? You'd better open it quick. It's not the kind of present that likes to be kept waiting.”

The beat is the section of description within dialogue. In the example above, the beat is how John looks around and kisses his sister.

A beat is nothing more complex than that, just a bit of description you add in between dialogue.

When using beats, you give a small bit of information, which you use to bring life to your character's words. Remember, we are adding context. Since you are not going to be adding in all those nasty adverbs , you must give the reader the context they need to fill in the gaps. With beats, you are giving the reader clues about your characters, so the readers can add their own meaning to your character's words.

Look at the new example below of how to format dialogue:

John stood in the car park of the pub. It was dark, and the sky promised rain. A taxi pulled into the parking lot and made a circuit, before coming to a stop in front of John. The driver rolled down his window, his dark skin and black hair visible in the dashboard lights. "You order a taxi?" His voice was tinged with an oriental accent. "No," John said, shuffling back from the car. The driver shrugged and fumbled with his radio, speaking into it in a language John didn't understand. A voice on the other end responded, too muffled for John to hear. The driver leaned over again. "You sure, mate?" "Yeah," John said. "I am sure." "Ah …" the driver said. "Do you want a lift anyway?" "Aren't you supposed to only pick up planned fares?" There was a pause. "It doesn't matter. I am waiting for my sister. She'll be here any moment." "OK," the driver said and pulled from the lot. John watched the car leave, making a mental note of the plate number.

In this example, the beats have been used to add in some context for the reader; they are also adding clues for the reader about the character's thoughts and feelings.

Here's the same example, with the beats highlighted and explained:

John stood in the car park of the pub. It was dark, and the sky promised rain. A taxi pulled into the parking lot and made a circuit, before coming to a stop in front of John. [This is description delivered via narrative summary. Strictly speaking, the "promised rain" is TELL (I should have described the clouds), but it works in this context.] The driver rolled down his window, his dark skin and black hair visible in the dashboard lights. [BEAT: This is a description prior to dialogue. The dark skin SHOWING the reader the driver is not white. I could have said “the Asian driver,” but that's TELLING.] "You order a taxi?" His voice was tinged with an oriental accent. "No," John said, shuffling back from the car. [BEAT: I've decided that John distrusts Asian people. I am not sure why he's a racist, but that doesn't matter here, since it is not essential to the plot. Therefore, his internal voice says he mistrusts Asian people, and this is reflected in his actions. I am SHOWING the reader he is racist via his actions.] The driver shrugged and fumbled with his radio, speaking into it in a language John didn't understand. A voice on the other end responded, too muffled for John to hear. The driver leaned over again. [BEAT: This is really a section of narrative summary, but, since it dissects dialogue, it is, technically, a beat.] "You sure, mate?" "Yeah," John said. "I am sure." "Ah …" the driver said. "Do you want a lift anyway?" "Aren't you supposed to only pick up planned fares?" There was a pause. [BEAT: Slows the pace. Also suggests John is considering his next action. It is up to the reader to decide what John is thinking.] "It doesn't matter. I am waiting for my sister. She'll be here any moment." "OK," the driver said and pulled from the lot. John watched the car leave, making a mental note of the plate number. [BEAT: John watches the car and makes a note. This is his backstory at work, his prejudice forcing John to think the worst of the Asian driver.]

I would also ask you to consider the fact that only "said" has been used for attributions here. There's no need for adverbs.

The final thing to say about beats is for them not to be overused. Long sections of dialogue are good. You do want to create a rhythm and allow the reader to become comfortable with your writing style. Yet a balance is needed. Too many beats and the dialogue drags; not enough and it whips by. Ultimately it is your choice.

It is common for authors to be slightly confused by the concept of direct and reported dialogue and how each should be punctuated. It is yet another tricky aspect of how to format dialogue.

Direct dialogue is the easiest to understand. These are any original words a character says. In all the examples you have seen, we have only used direct dialogue.

For example: "Hi," John said - direct dialogue.

Reported dialogue is when a character is saying something that another character has already said. Before you look at an example, we need to consider the punctuation of reported dialogue.

As we have said in a previous section, dialogue uses either single or double quotation marks, depending on whether you choose to use British grammar rules or American, respectively. What is important to remember is that, when formatting reported dialogue within direct dialogue, you use the opposite of that which you use for direct dialogue.

So … if you are using single quotation marks for direct dialogue (per British grammar rules), then use double quotes for reported dialogue. Thus, for US authors using American grammar rules, then your default is double quotation marks around direct dialogue, with single quotation marks for reported dialogue.

Here's the US example …

"I was talking to Sarah, and she was going on about her dog. ‘She is really fluffy,' she said time and again. God, I hate that ‘fluffy' dog," said John.

You'll notice here that not only is John a bit of a dick but he reported what Sarah said. SHE IS REALLY FLUFFY was spoken originally by Sarah and only reported by John. As was the second use of FLUFFY.

There will be times, when writing your novel, that you want a character to give a long uninterrupted dialogue. However, you will probably not be comfortable putting all those words into one long paragraph.

The way to deal with this situation is to split the single-speaker's dialogue into separate paragraphs. However, in order to indicate to the reader that the SAME speaker is still talking, you need to leave out the closing quotation mark at the end of the trailing paragraphs, until the final paragraph of THIS speaker's dialogue.

The example below (taken from Martin Luther King's “I Have a Dream” speech) should make it clear:

"I have a dream that—one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification—one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. "I have a dream today. "I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together."

Notice that each paragraph of dialogue starts with an opening quotation mark, but only the last paragraph has a closing quotation mark at the end.

Strictly speaking this should have been in the attribution section, but this is more of a suggestion than a rule. In recent years it has been considered bad practice to start a section of dialogue with the attribution.

See the example below:

John said, "I am happy to go to Sarah's house but don't expect me to touch her stupid dog."

In an ideal world the attribution should be at the end or perhaps after “house.”

The reason I've left this suggestion out of the attribution section is that there's no logical reason why you can't start a sentence with an attribution. Personally, I feel it is a little clumsy but hardly a crime. If you wish to format dialogue this way, so be it. This said, the trend in editing is to move away from starting dialogue with the attribution, which is now considered a sign of amateur authors.

While on the topic of trends in writing, I think something should be said about the order of the attribution.

For example, this would be considered wrong:

"Hi," said John.

The correct version would be:

"Hi," John said.

Again this is one of those suggestions rather than rules. However, I'd consider it to be a best writing practice. The thinking behind it is that you would say "he said" but not "said he."

This detailed guide about dialogue format has given you everything you need to know to format dialogue correctly. However, if you are interested in getting professional editorial feedback for your writing, we can help. Alternatively, you may wish to work one-on-one with a book coach.

If you are interested in using more advanced techniques to write better dialogue in your novel , check out this article.

Below are some frequently asked questions that will provide you more information.

What are the basic rules for formatting dialogue in a story?

The basic rules for formatting dialogue in a story include using quotation marks around the spoken words, separating the dialogue from the rest of the text with a new line or indentation, and including the appropriate punctuation within the quotation marks. Additionally, it's important to clearly indicate who is speaking through the use of character tags and proper capitalization.

How can I format dialogue effectively to make it easy to read?

To format dialogue effectively and make it easy to read, it's important to keep it concise and to the point, and to use proper punctuation. Additionally, using different formatting techniques such as character tags, action beats, and body language can help to break up long blocks of dialogue and make it easier for the reader to follow the conversation.

What are some common mistakes to avoid when formatting dialogue in a story?

Some common mistakes to avoid when formatting dialogue in a story include failing to properly punctuate the dialogue, not clearly indicating who is speaking, and using long blocks of uninterrupted dialogue that can become confusing for the reader. It's also important to avoid using too many character tags or excessive description that can slow down the pace of the conversation.

Further Reading

• What Are The 7 Rules Of Writing Dialogue?
• How Do You Write A Good Dialogue? (With Examples)

Claim your free eBook today and join over 25,000 writers who have read and benefited from this ebook.

'It is probably one of the best books on writing I've read so far.' Miz Bent

The Power of the Rule of Three in Speech Writing

Hrideep barot.

• Public Speaking , Speech Writing

A well-delivered speech, a speech that leaves an impact, always has these small nuances that make it as impactful as they are. They aren’t necessarily details you find in books or papers. It might not even stand out to the audience on a conscious level.

But these finer details are what take a speech from good to great. The rule of three is one such finer nuance that you can add to your speech to make your message a little more complete, powerful and memorable! (see what I did there?)

What is the Rule of Three and its importance?

When it comes to public speaking, the rule of three is when you use three statements to iterate a single message. It is a writing technique that focuses on a trio of events or characters as it is more humorous, satisfying, or effective.

Why is that important? Because we as humans tend to remember a message more clearly when it is presented thrice. Think about it – the most famous quotes use the rule of three:

• Blood sweat and tears
• Veni, vidi, vici (I came, I saw, I conquered)
• Government of the people, by the people, for the people

Here are some examples of the rule of three in some of the most famous speeches in history:

We can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. Abraham Lincoln (Gettysburg Address)

Never in the history of human endeavor has so much  been owed by  so many   to so few Winston Churchil (Wartime Speech)

Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Barack Obama (Inaugural Speech)

The words are not the same, but three examples or statements to drive home one message can become a powerful sentence.

Powerful openers are a great way of catching the attention of the audience. Read our article on 15 Powerful Speech Opening Lines (And How to Create Your Own) to learn more about creative openers and their implementation in your speech.

Importance of Rule of Three in Public Speaking

Saying something three times is enough to create some sort of pattern. The first time you say it, it’s just a word. The second time you say it, it creates intrigue and the third time you say it, it creates a trilogical pattern.

You can also break patterns for humour using the rule of three which we shall get to later in the article. The rule has multiple purposes. I’ve seen speakers use it to evoke different emotions in their audiences.

I remember this one speaker – what an amazing speech he gave. His title itself used this technique of three. It was called: Push, Pull, Love. The speech beautifully rounded up the speaker’s message continuously leveraging the rule of three. Needless to say, most of us remember it to this day.

Using the power of three, you can better inform your audience, make them laugh or even motivate them!

Keeping the focus on a single message and repeating them in different ways throughout your presentation, is certain to create maximum impact. It’s simply a great way to add more spice to your speech and make it all the more powerful!

“Tell them what you going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you just told them” – Dale Carnegie

How to Incorporate the Rule of Three Into Your Speeches

One of the simplest ways of using the rule of three in your speeches is by slicing your entire speech up into three parts. And by that, I don’t mean slice it up into an introduction, body and conclusion (that’s obvious!). But instead, break up your body into three further ideas.

Speeches are powerful when they have three ideas that drive home the same message.

I’ve written about this previously as well. For example, when you use three anecdotes which talk about a problem, you can use two different situations which showcase the problem and the third story can be the game-changer – where you find a problem to that solution. Lots of speakers do that and it works wonders!

Writing and delivering good content is not enough when it comes to public speaking, structuring a speech in order to deliver an effective message is also as crucial as the former. Read our article on The Ultimate Guide to Structuring a Speech to learn ways to structure your speech.

How to Say it in a Sentence or Phrase

When using the rule of three in sentences, don’t just say all three words/phrases normally. Saying something in a sort of trilogy can have a lot of impact – so you should say it correctly! I’ve seen speakers who use this technique without even knowing it, but it really makes no difference to their speech. They either say it in a very monotonous tone or say it too quickly or slowly.

When using the rule of three, make sure you say it a manner that tells a micro-story in itself. The first word is the intro, the second is the build-up and the third is the conclusion. Unfortunately, there is no one way to say it. It completely depends on your speech and the kind of emotion you are trying to evoke.

Experiment with different methods – try saying it fast, try saying it slowly but with more emotion, try rushing through the first two and slowing down for the last one.

There are multiple permutations and combinations you can try! Have fun with it and see which one works best for you!

How to Use the Rule of Three for Humour

We might define comedy as the unexpected   contrasted to the expected. This is probably why completely unexpected (almost random) jokes stand out and make us laugh the hardest! However, a clever way to incorporate humour would be to build up an expectation, make the audience feel they “get” what’s coming next…and then smash it!

The rule of three can be a powerful tool to use to make your audience roar with laughter doing just that. The reason it works is that the rule of three allows you to build up (but not finish) a pattern. When you say two things which are in relation to each other, the audience has an expectation for the third thing. They have a perceived notion in their minds. When you break that, it creates humour.

A brilliant example of this is a speaker I saw at Toastmasters . He was talking about his college days – about how he had these big dreams but eventually ended up in a dull 9-5 job.

Here is one line he used to make the audience laugh using the rule of three:

“I wanted to become a dancer, become the Michael Jackson of my city! And as you all would expect, I ended up becoming…an accountant.”

It might not sound very funny in text. The way you say it also counts. Let me try and help you visualize that:

“[1] I wanted to become a dancer {said it with a lot of swagger and a big smirk}, [2] become the Michael Jackson of my city {continued to build on that grandeur with his body language}! And as you all would expect [3] I ended up becoming {maintained the same, cocky body language} …an accountant {completely changed his body language and tone of voice to sounding very disgusted in himself}.”

Even Seth MacFarlane , the comedian who went on to create the beloved show Family Guy , used the Rule of Three brilliantly in his Harvard Commencement speech back in 2006.

While talking about his New England origins, Seth goes on to say (in a British accent) “While I treasure my formative years in the land of chowder, lobster and gonorrhea…”

As soon as he said gonorrhea the audience burst out laughing!

Watch how does that here .

Rule of Three for Persuasion

The reason the rule of three is used in so many speeches is that its ability to persuade is superbly powerful.

It’s because of the way we as humans process information. Pattern recognition is something we are amazing at – we’ve been conditioned to do so, and the reason the rule of three works for well is because three is the smallest number required to create a pattern.

It helps the message stick. It helps the message be remembered long after the speech. It helps the message manifest into action.

Take Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Here is a highly persuasive excerpt from one of history’s most iconic speeches:

“ We can never be satisfied  as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.  We can never be satisfied  as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.  We cannot be satisfied  as long as the negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one.

“ With this faith , we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.  With this faith , we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.  With this faith , we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.”

See how he uses the rule of three here? Bold statements like these and repetition made his speech as persuasive as it is.

When trying to persuade someone, also think of using the rule of three as a mindset – that is – talk about the other person three times as often as you talk about yourself. This helps highlight to the other person what’s in it for them which is key to persuasion.

In order to better understand the art of persuasion, read our extensively written article on The Secret of Writing a Persuasive Speech (On Any Topic) | Ethos, Logos, Pathos is Not Enough .

When you use the rule of three, it’s not just what you say that matters, but how you say it as well. Combine the two together and you have yourself a powerful, memorable and (sometimes) humorous statement!

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What are direct and indirect speech?

What is direct speech?

Direct speech is a sentence in which the exact words spoken are reproduced in speech marks (also known as quotation marks or inverted commas). For example:  

What is indirect speech?

Indirect speech is when the general points of what someone has said are reported, without actually writing the speech out in full. It is sometimes called reported speech. For example:  

When do children learn about direct speech?

Teachers will start to teach children how to set out direct speech in Year 3 .

The general rules of direct speech are:  

• Each new character's speech starts on a new line.
• Speech is opened with speech marks.
• Each line of speech starts with a capital.
• The line of speech ends with a comma, exclamation mark or question mark.
• A reporting clause is used at the end ( said Jane, shouted Paul, replied Mum).
• A full stop goes after the reporting clause.
• If the direct speech in the sentence is broken up by information about who is speaking, add in a comma or question mark or exclamation mark to end the first piece of speech and a full stop or another comma before the second piece (before the speech marks), for example: "It's lovely," she sighed, "but I can't afford it right now." / "I agree!" said Kate. "Let's go!"

When do children learn about indirect speech?

In Year 5, children may be taught a literacy unit that guides them in writing a newspaper article including the use of indirect (or reported) speech. In Year 6, children may be encouraged to use indirect speech when writing a biography or practising further journalistic writing.

When changing direct speech into indirect speech, changes have to be made to a sentence. For example:

• Verb tenses usually shift back a tense (into the past)
• Word order often needs to change
• Pronouns often need to change
• Words indicating place and time need to change

By Year 6 children should be setting out speech and punctuating it correctly in their stories. In fiction indirect speech can sometimes be helpful if a character in a story wants to recount a conversation they have had in the past.

For direct and indirect speech worksheets and activities to help your child put the theory into practice look through our punctuation worksheets.

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Backlash as USC cancels valedictorian’s speech over support for Palestine

Asna Tabassum says university is ‘succumbing to a campaign of hate meant to silence my voice’ after decision to scrap speech

The University of Southern California is facing intense backlash for the decision to cancel the valedictorian speech of a Muslim student at the commencement ceremony in May, a decision which the student has criticized as being silenced by anti-Palestinian hatred for her views on human rights.

In a missive to the USC community, the university’s provost, Andrew Guzman, wrote that the Los Angeles university took the unprecedented step of canceling Asna Tabassum’s planned speech because the “alarming tenor” of reactions to her selection as valedictorian – along with “the intensity of feelings” surrounding Israel’s ongoing military strikes in Gaza – had created “substantial risks relating to security”.

Guzman’s statement did not refer to Tabassum by name, or specify what about her speech, background or political views had raised concerns. Nor did it detail any particular threats.

The decision has been met with outrage from online commenters and the Council of American Islamic Relations (Cair), the US’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, which, in a statement said Tabassum described herself as “shocked … and profoundly disappointed” after being informed on Monday that she would be barred from addressing her fellow graduates at their 10 May commencement.

So at @USC cops decide what speech is allowed?! According to the @latimes , @esouthersHVE —president of LA’s Board of Police Commissioners, law and order enthusiast and staunch LAPD apologist—“was part of the decision” to cancel valedictorian Asna Tabassum’s commencement speech. pic.twitter.com/ClO9M1atT2 — Jody David Armour (@NiggaTheory) April 16, 2024

“The university is succumbing to a campaign of hate meant to silence my voice,” Tabassum said in the statement.

Cair dismissed USC’s decision as “cowardly” and called on the university to reverse course – but Guzman maintained that “there was no free-speech entitlement to speak at a commencement”.

“While this is disappointing, tradition must give way to safety,” Guzman continued. “The issue here is how best to maintain campus security and safety, period.”

Since Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel killed more than 1,100 mostly civilians as well as captured hostages, and the resulting assault on Gaza has killed in excess of 30,000 mostly civilians – mainly women and children – while pushing the territory toward famine, US campuses have been roiled with debate over growing support for Palestine as well as dueling accusations of rising Islamophobia and antisemitism.

It was amid that climate that a USC committee selected Tabassum out of about 100 students with perfect, or nearly perfect, grade-point averages who applied to be valedictorian for a spring graduation ceremony honoring more than 19,000 graduates before an anticipated 65,000 spectators, according to Guzman.

NBC News described Tabassum as a first-generation south Asian American Muslim from Chino Hills – a city east of Los Angeles – in her fourth year as a biomedical engineering student. She has also been pursuing a minor in resistance to genocide.

At the top of Tabassum’s Instagram account, a link directs users to a slideshow encouraging readers “to learn about what’s happening in Palestine and how to help”. The presentation also advocates for “one Palestinian state”, saying that “would mean Palestinian liberation and the complete abolishment of the state of Israel”.

Although Tabassum told NBC’s Los Angeles affiliate that she posted the link five years earlier and did not author the slideshow, pro-Israel and Jewish groups objected to USC’s selection of her as valedictorian based on her social media activity.

In the Monday statement, USC said that their commencement ceremonies draw a crowd of more that 65,000 people which is a challenge for the public safety department on campus to handle. The university also cited heated demonstrations that have taken place at other schools as a part of their reasoning.

“The intensity of feelings, fueled by both social media and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, has grown to include many voices outside of USC and has escalated to the point of creating substantial risks relating to security and disruption at commencement,” the statement read. “We cannot ignore the fact that similar risks have led to harassment and even violence at other campuses.”

A February protest against an event organized by Jewish students at the University of California, Berkeley, resulted in police evacuating the speaker – who was from Israel – as well as the attendees at the gathering after demonstrators broke through the doors.

USC’s public safety reasoning did not sit well with Jody David Armour, a law professor at the university who specializes in race issues and legal decision-making.

“So at USC cops decide what speech is allowed?” Armour posted on X.

Tabassum said she also was told USC possessed the ability “to take appropriate safety measures for my valedictory speech” but opted not to because a tougher security posture was “not what the university wants to present as an image”.

Instead, Tabassum said USC was “caving to fear and rewarding hatred”, which she said was being directed by “anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian voices” targeting her “because of my uncompromising belief in human rights for all”.

Among those who claimed to have taken offense to Tabassum’s selection as valedictorian was the group Trojans for Israel, which said it “strongly supports the right to free expression – including informed criticism of the Israeli government”.

“However,” a statement from the group said, “rhetoric that denies the right of the Jewish people to self-determination or calls for the destruction of the only Jewish state in the world must be denounced as antisemitic bigotry.”

The group added: “All … eligible valedictory candidates have valuable work ethic and accomplishments, but the university chose a candidate who publicly propagates antisemitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric as the most esteemed representative of the class of 2024.”

Guzman’s message to the USC community said “social media presence” was not part of the criteria that the university used to evaluate its valedictorian candidates.

The leader of Cair’s Los Angeles chapter, Hussam Ayloush, on Monday said criticism of Tabassum had been “dishonest and defamatory … [and] nothing more than thinly veiled manifestations of Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism which have been weaponized against college students across the country who speak up for human rights – and for Palestinian humanity”.

Ayloush also said: “USC cannot hide its cowardly decision behind a disingenuous concern for security.”

In her statement, Tabassum said her undergraduate minor studies in genocide resistance had shown her the danger of allowing “cries for equality and human dignity” to be deliberately conflated with “expressions of hatred”.

“Due to widespread fear, I was hoping to use my commencement speech to inspire my classmates with a message of hope,” she wrote.

Reuters contributed to this report

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