Shaping a short talk: an opening, a middle, a close, and the right length

Give a short talk an opening, a middle and a close, write it for the ear, cut it to the slot at your own speaking rate, and choose notes, cards or a full script.

Three parts: an opening, a middle and a close Understand

A short talk has three parts, and each has one job. The opening gets the room's attention and starts the talk. The middle carries two or three points, or one story. The close brings the room back to the main point and ends. For a talk of a few minutes, that is enough structure, and a short talk with more parts spends its time on the scaffolding. Convention Start from your main point, one sentence, and the stories that show it (see Finding what to say).

The opening

Hamilton College's list of common speech mistakes advises against opening with "my topic is" or by announcing a joke, and says to start the story (Avoid These Common Speech Mistakes). Convention The same page advises against apologizing for nerves and says to pause instead of saying "um." A first sentence that starts the story or states the point gives the room a reason to listen from the first second. If you start with a sentence about the talk, they are still waiting for it to start.

If the room does not know who you are, say so briefly, in a clause: "I'm Lena, Ruth's oldest granddaughter." The Remembering A Life guide for eulogies suggests opening with who you are and your relationship to the person, and who asked you to speak (How to Write and Deliver a Eulogy). A family dinner of 14 where everyone knows you can skip it, and a work meeting with a new group should not.

The middle

The middle has either one story or two or three points. One story is simpler, and a two-minute toast usually has room for no more. Two or three points need to be joined, so the room knows how they relate. Stand Up, Speak Out defines three devices for that (Keeping Your Speech Moving). Convention

• A transition is a phrase or sentence that shows the move from one point to the next: "That was the dumplings. Now the soup."
• A signpost is a short phrase that helps listeners keep their place: "The first reason," "Second," "Finally."
• An internal summary restates what a section just covered, in a sentence: "So that is the first lesson: let people get it wrong."

For a talk of two minutes you may use none of these. For a presentation of ten minutes, you will use all three. The point of each is the same: a listener cannot flip back a page, so you tell them where they are.

The close

Stand Up, Speak Out describes a three-step conclusion: restate the main point, review the main points, and end with a concluding device (Steps of a Conclusion). Convention For a short talk, the first step is the one to keep: say the main point again, in fresh words. The textbook says repetition across the preview, the body and the review raises retention and calls repetition a defining feature of oral communication. Then end on a last line that gives the room a signal. Hamilton's advice is not to close with "That's all I have," and to leave a memorable last thought.

The last line is the sentence that tells the room it is over. At a toast it is the invitation to raise a glass. At an introduction, it is the handover: "Please welcome..." At a presentation, it may be the request you are making. Write it exactly, and put it on its own line on your notes. Nerves can make an ending drift, and a written last line is the one sentence you can say even when the rest has gone.

A talk can have its own shape. A reading, a poem or a prayer a family has chosen may follow a different form, and we do not ask it to change. The three parts are for a talk you are writing.

Writing for the ear

A talk is heard once, at the speed you set. The listener cannot reread, look up a word or slow you down. That changes how you write. Stand Up, Speak Out lists differences between oral and written language: oral language uses a smaller variety of words, words with fewer syllables, shorter sentences, more self-reference, fewer precise numbers, more repetition, more contractions and more everyday words, because listeners must understand "in the moment" (Oral versus Written Language). Convention Hamilton's short comparison says the same: spoken language uses personal pronouns, shorter thought units, repetition, contractions and familiar words, and fewer back-references such as "as mentioned above" (Spoken vs. Written Language). The University of North Carolina's Writing Center adds that listeners get one chance, so the talk should be well organized and easy to follow, with the point stated early, and crucial points and key terms repeated (Speeches, UNC Writing Center).

Put those into practice with five edits to a first draft.

1. Shorten sentences. If you run out of breath reading one, split it.
2. Use the words you would say. "Used" for "utilized." "Because" for "owing to the fact that."
3. Use contractions. "We've" and "didn't" are how people talk.
4. Say the main point twice. Once near the start, once in the close, in different words.
5. Round the numbers. "About forty" is easier to hear than "thirty-eight," and a date can be "last spring."

Then read the draft aloud, standing, at the pace you would speak. Mark every place you stumble, run out of breath or feel you are performing. Those are places to rewrite. Written text that sounds fine on a page often sounds stiff aloud, and a page of an essay read aloud tends to sound canned, as Hamilton's comparison says.

The right length: from the slot to a word budget

The slot you wrote on the ask sheet (see Saying yes) is the number you cut to. To turn minutes into words, you need a speaking rate: the number of words you say per minute. A word budget is the number of words that fills the slot at your rate. The calculation is a rate times a number of minutes, and the timing tool does it for you. Paste a draft, or type a word count; enter your slot; and it shows the time at your rate, and at 120 and 150 words a minute, the budget for your slot, and how many words to cut.

Our convention The tool starts at 130 words a minute. That is a planning figure: published advice runs from 120 to 150, and 130 sits inside that range. No source we found measures the rate of prepared live speeches, so 130 is our choice, not a measured average. Use your own measured rate when you have one. The tool's second calculator, your own rate, takes a recording of yourself speaking for about a minute and gives your rate. Baruch College's speaking-rate page describes the same method: record yourself for a minute, count the words, divide by the minutes, and repeat with several prompts (Speaking Rate, Baruch College).

The table is arithmetic, not a finding: the minutes multiplied by each rate. A different rate gives a different row, so a speaker at 150 words a minute fits 25 percent more words into the same slot than a speaker at 120.

Three more rules of thumb help.

• Aim inside the slot, not at its edge. Exploring Public Speaking, an open textbook, advises aiming for about six minutes in a five-to-seven-minute slot, and says nerves usually make you faster (Practicing Your Delivery). Convention For two minutes, a draft that runs about two minutes aloud in rehearsal, or a little less, leaves room for a pause.
• A double-spaced page is about two minutes. The University of Puget Sound's guide to ceremonial speaking says a page of standard, double-spaced printed text generally takes two minutes to deliver (Ceremonial Speaking). Convention The tool shows pages as a rough check on a script.
• Cut whole points, not syllables. Hamilton's advice is to cut any point that does not serve the focus, and one direct example often beats a long list. Baruch's page cites research that speeding up does not help, and can hurt, being understood. If the draft is 80 words over, cut a sentence or a story and read it again; do not speak faster.

Reading a script aloud tends to run faster than speaking from notes, so check a full script by reading it aloud at your normal pace, not by counting alone. We say more about the numbers in the Go deeper block below.

Notes or a script

Convention Textbooks name four ways to deliver a speech. An impromptu speech has no advance preparation (see Saying yes). An extemporaneous speech is planned and rehearsed, then delivered from brief notes in a conversational way. A manuscript speech is read word for word. A memorized speech is learned and delivered without notes. Stand Up, Speak Out calls extemporaneous the style of most public speaking and says it allows eye contact and on-the-spot clarification; it says a manuscript tends to be dull and block eye contact unless rehearsed as a performance, and that a memorized speech frees the eyes and hands but is hard to recover when you lose your place (Four Methods of Delivery).

The occasions differ in what they ask. Emily Post's guide for a groom's toast says to prepare notes and that using notes during the toast is fine (The Groom's Toast). Eulogy guides lean toward a full script: the UK funeral directors' guide recommends one, and a bereavement newsletter from a hospice advises writing it out without reading it word for word (How to Write a Eulogy, NAFD). The Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend's guidance for words of remembrance at a Catholic funeral says to put the remarks on paper and read them (Guidance for Words of Remembrance, 2010). Ask the authority That is one diocese's guidance from 2010, as an example of why to ask the officiant. Our default: notes for most toasts and introductions, a full large-print script for a eulogy or words of remembrance, and a decision you make early so you rehearse with what you will hold. Preference

Cards that work

Stand Up, Speak Out gives a system of five 4 by 6 cards, written on one side: one for the introduction, one for each of three main points, and one for the conclusion. It advises key words, not sentences; numbering the cards; writing large; and practicing with them (Using Notes Effectively). Convention A cue card is a card with a few key words that cue what you say next. Hamilton's notecard guide agrees on one side only, numbered, few words, and adds delivery cues such as "pause" in a different color, and approximate time marks, so that by card three you know you should be about halfway (Preparing and Using Notecards). Our cards sheet has a row per card for the key words, the delivery cue and the time mark.

Write the opening line and the last line in full on their cards. Those are the two places where a nervous speaker most needs the words in front of them. Write the rest as key words. Number every card, so that a dropped stack can be put back in order in seconds. If you are reading a full script, print it in large type, double-spaced, with wide margins, and mark pauses with a slash; the NAFD guide suggests at least 14-point type.

If you do not yet know which method suits you, setup lets you answer "I don't know yet," and this section is where that answer sends you. The rule is short: choose early, make the notes, and rehearse with them. Rehearsing out loud covers the rest.

See it: Lena's two-minute toast See it

• Avoid These Common Speech Mistakes: Hamilton College's short list of what not to say at the start, the middle and the end.
• Speaking Rate: Baruch College's page with sample audio and a method to measure your own rate.
• Preparing and Using Notecards: a card system with delivery cues and time marks.
• Speeches, UNC Writing Center: writing for listeners, with the point stated early and key terms repeated.

Practice: shape one talk Practice

Minimum: the five steps from Start here, on the plan sheet, and a draft that fits your slot in the timing tool. Time: about 45 minutes to draft and cut; about 20 minutes more to measure your own rate. Materials: the plan sheet, the timing tool, a way to record yourself, and index cards or paper.

1. Measure your rate. Record yourself reading or speaking for about a minute. Count the words in the rate calculator. Write the number down.
2. Write the opening line. It starts with the story or the point.
3. Write the middle. One story, or two or three points with a transition between each.
4. Write the close. It says the main point again in fresh words, then the last line.
5. Edit for the ear. Shorten sentences, use contractions and round the numbers. Read it aloud, standing.
6. Count and cut. Paste the draft into the timing tool with your rate and your slot. If it is over, cut a whole point or story and paste again.
7. Choose notes or a script. Make the cards or the large-print page. Write the opening line and the last line in full.
8. Enter the plan. Put the opening, the points, the close, the last line and the word count on the plan sheet.

Your talk Your talk

Check your work Check your work

Criteria

• Does the opening line start with the story or the point, and not with the topic or a joke announced?
• Does the middle have one story or two or three points, and do you say how they connect?
• Does the close come back to the main point, and does the last line tell the room it is over?
• Does the draft sound like speech when read aloud: short sentences, contractions and rounded numbers?
• Does the word count fit the slot at your own rate, with some room?
• Did you cut by removing whole points, not by planning to speak faster?
• Are your notes or script made, in large type, with the first and last lines written in full?

Worked example

Lena's draft passes. The opening starts the story in its second sentence. The middle is one story with a short second beat. The close restates the point in new words ("None of us can make it like she does") and the last line is the invitation to raise a glass. The sentences are short and she uses contractions in the spoken version. Her count of 261 words at 130 a minute is about two minutes, the same as her slot, so the draft has little spare room, and she may choose to cut a sentence to leave one. Her assumed rate is the fact that matters, and her timed runs settle it.

Common mistakes

• Opening with the topic. "I want to talk about my grandmother's cooking" gives the room nothing to picture.
• Three stories in two minutes. Each needs setup. Keep one.
• Writing for the page. Long sentences and "as mentioned above" are hard to hear.
• Counting words at 150 and stopping. That is a conversational figure. Measure your own rate.
• Cutting by speaking faster. Cut a point instead.
• A last line you improvise. Write it, and say it as written.
• Making notes late. Rehearse with the notes you will hold.

What is still unresolved

The word budget is an estimate, and the clock on the day may differ: Rehearsing out loud times you aloud. Whether a particular story is fair to tell is for the person it concerns: Finding what to say. What a funeral service or a host allows is for the officiant or the host to say, and the occasion chapters, such as Giving a toast, say what to ask.

Knowledge check and scenario

Checklist

• The plan sheet has an opening, a middle, a close and a last line, and the timing tool says the draft fits my slot.
• I edited the draft for the ear and read it aloud, standing.
• I cut to the slot by removing whole points, at my own rate or the 130 planning figure.
• I made my cards or my large-print script, with the first and last lines written in full.
• I drafted the same talk as cards and as a script and compared them. (Go deeper; optional)