Oral Communication · Oral Communication: Listening, Speaking and Reflecting

Clear and Coherent Speaking: Structure, Signposts and Speaking Notes

2.3 2.1About 70 minutes

Learning goals

I can choose a structure that fits my purpose, subject and audience, including Monroe's motivated sequence for persuasion.
I can build a talk with an introduction that previews, a body with signposts, and a conclusion that reviews.
I can adapt written-style sentences into clear spoken style.
I can prepare keyword speaking notes and time my talk.

Words to know

clarity
The quality of being easy to understand, sentence by sentence.

coherence
The quality of a whole talk hanging together, with ideas in a logical order and clear links between them.

preview
A sentence in the introduction that tells listeners the main points to come.

signpost
A phrase that tells listeners where they are in a talk: My second reason is...

internal summary
A short recap partway through a talk before moving on.

Monroe's motivated sequence
A five-step persuasive structure: attention, need, satisfaction, visualization, action.

speaking notes
Brief keyword notes or cue cards used to guide a talk without reading a script.

Remember from Grade 9

In Grade 9 you organized talks around one main message with signposts, and in the Composition unit you built essay outlines with a thesis. Grade 10's expectation 2.3 asks you to communicate in a clear, coherent manner, using a structure and style appropriate to the purpose, subject matter and audience. This lesson gives you a choice of structures, shows how spoken style differs from written style, and helps you prepare notes that keep you on track.

Why listeners need more structure than readers

A reader can flip back a page. A listener can't. If they lose the thread, it's gone. So spoken texts use more structure than written ones:

Preview the main points at the start ("I'll give you three reasons...").
Signpost each move ("First...", "My second reason...", "Finally...").
Give an internal summary in longer talks ("So far we've seen that... Now let's look at...").
Review at the end and repeat the main message.

This can feel repetitive when you write it down. Out loud, it's what keeps people with you.

Signposts are the arrows between points. Without them, listeners hear a list of facts instead of a connected talk.

Choosing a structure

Match the structure to your purpose and subject:

Chronological: events or steps in time order (a biography, a process, a trip).
Topical: a subject divided into parts (three kinds of renewable energy).
Cause and effect: why something happened and what followed.
Compare and contrast: two options, places or characters.
Problem and solution: an issue and how to fix it.
Monroe's motivated sequence: a five-step structure for persuasion developed by the communication professor Alan Monroe in the 1930s and still widely taught: attention, need, satisfaction, visualization, action.

Each step prepares the next: listeners won't care about a solution (3) until they feel the need (2), and they won't act (5) until they can picture the result (4).

Worked example

Let's plan a persuasive talk with Monroe's sequence

You have 2 minutes to speak to your city's youth advisory council. Your goal: get lights installed at the outdoor rink in your neighbourhood park, which gets dark by about 5 p.m. in December. Plan the talk.

Purpose and audience: persuade a council of youth and a few adult staff who make recommendations to city council. Fairly formal; they want reasons, evidence and a clear request.
1. Attention: "At 4:45 on a weekday in December, the Maple Park rink is full. By 5:15, it's empty, not because people want to leave, but because they can't see the puck."
2. Need: after school, students have only about an hour of daylight to skate. Without lights, the rink sits unused most evenings. (Use local evidence if you have it, such as a count of skaters you made on two days.)
3. Satisfaction: propose lights on a timer until 9 p.m., and mention that other parks in the city already have lit rinks (only if that's true for your city; check first).
4. Visualization: "Picture families skating after supper, a pickup game at 7, kids who don't have money for arena time getting outside all winter."
5. Action: "I'm asking this council to recommend rink lighting for Maple Park in next year's parks budget." Specific, and within the council's power.
Clarity check: one main message (light the rink), signposts between steps, and a request the audience can act on.

A clear Monroe-sequence plan: a vivid hook (the rink emptying at 5:15), a need backed by evidence, a specific solution, a picture of the benefit, and an action the council can actually take.

Spoken style versus written style

The same idea can be clear on the page and confusing out loud. For speaking:

Use shorter sentences, one idea each.
Put the main point first, then the details.
Use active voice ("Council approved the plan", not "The plan was approved by council").
Use concrete examples and numbers listeners can picture ("only about an hour of daylight after school").
Repeat key words instead of switching to synonyms that may confuse listeners.
Match the style to the audience: more formal for a council, more relaxed for classmates, but always clear.

Worked example

Let's revise a talk for clarity

A student explains a science lab to the class: "So basically we had the beakers and there was the salt one and the sugar one which, um, the salt one, it was the one that froze slower, well actually it didn't freeze because of the salt which lowers the freezing point which is what we were testing, and the sugar one also froze slower but less, and the control was just water." Revise it into a clear, coherent spoken explanation.

Find the main message: salt and sugar both lowered the freezing point of water, and salt lowered it more.
Put it first (preview): "Our lab tested whether dissolving salt or sugar changes the temperature at which water freezes."
Order the details logically: setup, then results for each beaker, then the conclusion.
Use signposts and short sentences: "We had three beakers. The first had plain water, our control. The second had salt water. The third had sugar water. Here's what happened. The plain water froze first. The sugar water froze later. The salt water didn't freeze at all during the test."
Review: "So, both salt and sugar lowered the freezing point, but salt lowered it more."

The revision states the purpose first, describes the setup in order, uses short sentences and signposts (the first, the second, here's what happened), and ends with a one-sentence conclusion.

Speaking notes, not a script

Reading a full script word for word usually sounds flat and breaks eye contact. Memorizing one word for word can make you freeze if you lose a line. Most effective speakers use keyword notes:

one card or line per section;
key words and phrases, not full sentences (except perhaps your first and last lines);
numbers, names and quotations written out exactly so you get them right;
delivery reminders: PAUSE, SLOW, look up.

Timing: a comfortable presentation pace is often somewhere around 120 to 150 words a minute, but people vary, so time yourself out loud. If you have 2 minutes, plan for 1 minute 45 seconds; talks almost always run longer in front of an audience.

The one-breath test

Can you say your main message in one breath? "Maple Park's rink needs lights so people can skate after 5 p.m." If you can't, your talk may not be clear yet. Every part of the talk should connect back to that sentence.

Hands-on activity

Cue cards and a timer

You need: 3 to 5 index cards (or paper cut into rectangles; ask an adult before using scissors), a pen, and a phone or clock with a timer.

Choose a topic you care about (something in your school or community) and write your one-breath main message.
Choose a structure from this lesson. Plan a 2-minute talk.
Write keyword cue cards: one for the introduction, one per main point, one for the conclusion. Write your first and last sentences out in full.
Deliver the talk to a family member while they time you.
Ask them: "What was my main message? What were my main points?" If they can't answer, add stronger previews and signposts and try again.

Just for fun

Speech coaches sometimes sum up structure like this: Tell them what you're going to tell them. Tell them. Then tell them what you told them.

In other words: preview, body, review. (Yes, we just told you what we told you.)

Your turn

What is the difference between clarity and coherence?

Why do spoken texts need more previews and signposts than written ones?

Name the five steps of Monroe's motivated sequence.

Which structure fits a talk about the history of your school from its opening to today?

Rewrite for speaking: "The decision to extend library hours, which had been requested by many students during the previous semester, was approved by the principal."

Write a preview sentence for a talk about three ways to stay warm while waiting for the bus in winter.

Why are keyword notes usually better than a full script?

More practice: warm-up

What is a signpost? Give an example.

What goes in a conclusion?

Which structure fits a talk comparing two novels?

True or false: you should switch to different synonyms for your key term to keep listeners interested.

What should you write out in full on cue cards?

More practice: on your own

Write an internal summary for a talk halfway through: you've covered the causes of a local flood and are moving to its effects.

Explain why the need step comes before the satisfaction step in Monroe's sequence.

A 3-minute talk is planned with 600 words. Is that likely to fit? Explain.

Choose a structure for each and explain: (a) how to make bannock; (b) why a local wetland should be protected; (c) the life of a Canadian athlete.

Write a clincher ending for the rink-lights talk.

Challenge

Outline a 3-minute talk to Grade 9 students about joining a school club, using Monroe's sequence. Write one sentence for each step.

Take a paragraph from one of your written essays and rewrite it for speaking. Explain three changes you made.

A speaker's structure is perfect on paper, but listeners still get lost. Suggest three possible causes related to delivery or style and a fix for each.

Check your understanding

Quiz

A preview in a talk:

Which is a signpost?

The correct order of Monroe's motivated sequence is:

Which sentence is in the clearest spoken style?

Your talk must be 2 minutes. You should plan for about:

Which structure fits a talk explaining why a local river flooded and what followed?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Expectation 2.3 asks students to communicate clearly and coherently, using a structure and style appropriate to the purpose, subject matter and audience. 2.1 (communicating for a variety of purposes with suitable language) is practised alongside it.

How to help at home:

Be the audience for a timed rehearsal. Afterward, ask your teen to tell you their main message and main points; if you can't answer, their structure needs work.
Encourage cue cards rather than a full script.
When your teen explains something (a game, a lab, a plan), ask them to give the main point first.

Common difficulties:

Rambling explanations that start with details. Practise "main point first."
Reading a written essay aloud as a speech. Spoken style needs shorter sentences and more signposts.
Running over time. Rehearse aloud with a timer; cut, don't speed up.