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Speech & Presentations

How to make speeches, research and find content for speeches.

Types of Speeches & Presentations

SpeechWhat is a presentation?
A presentation is any kind of situation where someone delivers information by speaking to one or more people. They can be broken into many subcategories, such as speeches, lectures, demonstrations, and so on.

What is a speech?
A speech is a formal talk given to an audience. Speeches tend to be clearly organized and have a fairly defined structure, such as Cicero's classic six-part arrangement (please refer to the “Rhetoric” chapter and to questions that follow in this chapter for further description of this format). They are often given on special occasions, such as awards ceremonies, recognition events, and important social rite-of-passage events such as weddings, conventions, and campaigns.

What is an informational presentation?
Informational presentations focus on giving the audience facts, figures, statistics, analyses, and other information necessary for making decisions or understanding a current situation. Informational presentations are extremely common in business and business-like settings like volunteer organizations or committees. Reports, summaries, press statements, and debriefs are all informational presentations.

What is a persuasive presentation?
Persuasive presentations are intended to convince an audience to take a specific action or point of view. Nearly every presentation has an element of persuasion in it. Sales presentations, legal speeches, and motivational talks are obvious forms of persuasive presentation. Other types of presentations might have a persuasive element embedded in them. Many educational presentations are also intended to persuade people to adopt a new idea, process, or way of thinking. Speeches are often persuasive in nature, especially when being given for political reasons. Skill in persuasive presenting is highly valued in business settings.

Read more from SPEECHES AND PRESENTATIONS in Handy Answer: The Handy Communication Answer Book

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