It is best to consider your speech flexible as you work on it, and to be willing to edit and revise. Even though that is the first thing the audience hears, it may be one of the last parts you actually compose. You may have noticed that we have not said anything about the introduction of your speech yet. Sometimes you will hear the writing process referred to as “iterative.” This word means, among other things, that a speech or document is not always written in the same order as the audience finally experiences it. You need lots of time for the preparation and then the practice. This is why preparing a speech the night before you are giving it is a really, really bad idea. As much as we would like these writing processes to be straightforward, sometimes we find that we have to revise our original approach. Sometimes those main points will not be clear to you immediately. However, as you are processing your ideas and approach, you may still be working on them. The point of your central idea statement in terms of your audience is to reveal and clarify the ideas or assertions you will be addressing in your speech, more commonly known as your main points, to fulfill your specific purpose.

And importantly, just like a formal thesis sentence, it must be a complete, grammatical sentence. Also, unlike the formal thesis of your English essays, the central idea statement in a speech can and should use personal language (I, me, we, us, you, your, etc.) and should attempt to be attention-getting and audience-focused. So, you don’t want to just repeat your specific purpose in the central idea statement, but you do want to provide complete information. This last version is really the better approach and most likely the one your instructor will prefer. “Your involvement as a volunteer in next month’s regional Special Olympics will be a rewarding experience that will benefit the community, the participants, and you personally.” However, another approach is to “capsulize” the purpose, topic, approach, and preview in one succinct statement. “You will see that it will benefit the community, the participants, and you individually.” That would be followed by a preview statement of what the speech’s arguments or reasons for participating will be, such as, “In this speech I will try to motivate you to join me next month as a volunteer at the regional Special Olympics.” For example, it is acceptable in a speech to announce the topic and purpose, although it is usually not the most artful or effective way to do it. No, in that the rules for writing a “thesis” or central idea statement in a speech are not as strict as in an essay.

That said, is the central idea statement the very same thing as the thesis sentence in an essay? Yes, in that both are letting the audience know without a doubt your topic, purpose, direction, angle and/or point of view. Another instructor may call it the “main idea statement.” All of these are basically synonymous and you should not let the terms confuse you, but you should use the term your instructor uses. Your instructor may call the central idea statement “the thesis” or “the thesis statement.” Your English composition instructor probably uses that term in your essay writing. Now, at this point we need to make a point about terminology. The statement that reveals your main points is commonly known as the central idea statement (or just the central idea). While you will not actually say your specific purpose statement during your speech, you will need to clearly state what your focus and main points are going to be (preferably after using an introductory method such as those described in Chapter 8).

Persuasive speech central idea examples