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Week 6 · Module overview

Week 6 — Outlining

Public Speaking Free sample edition

Why this matters

A charge nurse who plans a shift-change briefing in full sentences and then gives it from a pocket card, and a job candidate who maps interview answers on a page and then walks in with three keywords, both use the same two-step move: build the full plan, then speak from a few cues.

In plain language

This week your speech goes onto paper twice: first as a preparation outline (the full plan, in complete sentences, that you use to build and check the speech), then as a speaking outline (a few keywords on cards that you hold while you talk). Four outlining rules (simple checks on how the levels of an outline fit together) keep the plan honest. Four connectives (the bridges and markers that carry listeners from one part to the next) keep your audience with you. You finish by fixing five common outline errors and checking a chatbot's outline by hand.

  • Already covered: ethics and nerves (Week 1), audience analysis (Week 2), purpose and central idea (Week 3), evidence and oral citations (Week 4), organizing the speech (Week 5).
  • This week: the two outlines, the four outlining rules, the four connectives, and the running speech on one page and five cards.
  • How they connect: last week's shape goes onto paper with every citation and bridge in place.
  • Where we're going next: Week 7, Language & Style.

Focus

How do you build a speech on paper, then speak it from a few keywords?

By the end of this module, you should be able to:

  • [ ] write a preparation outline that passes the four outlining rules
  • [ ] write and place a transition, a signpost, an internal preview, and an internal summary
  • [ ] convert a full-sentence outline into keyword cards with every citation cued

To-do

Plan your week

  1. Read Chapter 6 (about 45 minutes), then the lecture and slides.
  2. Do the tutorial (60–90 minutes) and the practice set (about 20 minutes).
  3. Do the Speech Workshop (about 90 minutes), the discussion, and the assignment.
  4. Take the quiz.

This week's checkpoint: write one main point of a speech you are planning in full sentences, then shrink it to a card of keywords.

You've got this

Ask your instructor if a step snags.

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