WT3: Speeches
Writing engaging speeches for different audiences - using rhetorical devices to persuade and inspire.
📋 What Makes a Good Speech?
Key Features: A good speech is memorable, persuasive, and connects emotionally with the audience. It uses rhetorical devices to create impact and is designed to be heard, not just read.
Effective speeches:
- Hook the audience from the opening
- Use direct address to create connection
- Employ rhetorical devices for memorability
- Have a clear, logical structure
- End with a powerful, memorable conclusion
Speech Success Formula:
Strong opening + Clear structure + Rhetorical devices + Direct address + Memorable ending = Effective speech
Strong opening + Clear structure + Rhetorical devices + Direct address + Memorable ending = Effective speech
🎯 Key Speech Techniques
1. Direct Address
Speak directly to your audience using personal pronouns.
Examples
"Today, we stand together..."
"You have the power to make a difference."
"Friends, colleagues, citizens..."
2. Rhetorical Questions
Questions that make the audience think and reflect.
Examples
"What kind of world do we want to leave for our children?"
"Ask yourself: is this acceptable?"
"How long must we wait for change?"
3. Repetition and Anaphora
Repeating words or phrases for emphasis and rhythm.
Examples
"We will not give up. We will not back down. We will succeed."
"I have a dream that one day... I have a dream that..."
4. The Rule of Three
Grouping three ideas for impact and memorability.
Examples
"Government of the people, by the people, for the people."
"Education. Opportunity. Hope."
5. Emotive Language
Words that evoke strong emotional responses.
Examples
"Innocent children suffer while we stand by and watch."
"Together, we can build a brighter, fairer, stronger future."
6. Imperatives
Commands that urge action.
Examples
"Stand up for what you believe in!"
"Make your voice heard!"
"Join us today!"
📝 Speech Structure
The Classic Structure
Introduction (Opening):
- Hook: Start with a striking statement, question, or anecdote
- Establish your credibility and purpose
- Connect with your audience
Main Body:
- Present 3-4 key points
- Use one paragraph per point
- Support with evidence and examples
- Include rhetorical devices throughout
- Address counter-arguments if needed
Conclusion (Ending):
- Summarise your main message
- End with a powerful call to action
- Leave a lasting impression
🎤 Types of Speeches
Persuasive Speeches
Aim to convince the audience to agree with your viewpoint or take action.
- Use strong rhetorical devices
- Appeal to both logic and emotion
- Include clear calls to action
Debate Speeches
Argue for or against a motion in a formal debate setting.
- Address the chair: "Chair, ladies and gentlemen..."
- Present structured arguments
- Rebut opposing views
- Conclude with a summary
Motivational Speeches
Inspire and encourage your audience.
- Use uplifting, positive language
- Share personal stories or examples
- End with an inspiring call to action
Example Opening
"Good morning, everyone. Imagine standing at the edge of a cliff, looking out at an uncertain future. That's where we find ourselves today. But I'm here to tell you that together, we can build a bridge to that future - if we have the courage to take the first step."
⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid
| Mistake | Why It's Wrong | How to Fix It |
|---|---|---|
| Writing for reading, not speaking | Speeches should sound natural when spoken | Read your work aloud to check rhythm |
| Weak opening | Loses audience attention immediately | Start with a hook - question, statement, anecdote |
| No direct address | Feels disconnected from audience | Use "we", "you", "us" frequently |
| Too many complex sentences | Difficult to follow when heard | Use varied but clear sentence structures |
| Forgetting the call to action | Speech lacks purpose and impact | End with clear action you want audience to take |
📊 Mark Scheme Guidance
AO5: Content and Organisation (24 marks)
- Clear viewpoint and purpose
- Effective speech conventions (direct address, etc.)
- Well-structured with clear introduction and conclusion
- Range of rhetorical devices used appropriately
AO6: Technical Accuracy (16 marks)
- Varied sentence structures for effect
- Wide vocabulary range
- Accurate spelling and punctuation
- Appropriate tone for audience
Examiner's Tip: A speech needs to sound like a speech. Use techniques like direct address, rhetorical questions, and repetition. Your writing should feel different from an essay - it should have rhythm and be memorable when spoken aloud.
❓ Practice Questions
Q1: What is the purpose of a "hook" in a speech opening?
Q2: Name three rhetorical devices commonly used in speeches.
Q3: Write an opening paragraph for a speech about the importance of voting.
Q4: Why is direct address important in speeches?
✅ Answers
- A hook grabs the audience's attention immediately, making them want to listen. It could be a question, striking statement, or anecdote.
- Rhetorical questions, repetition, rule of three, emotive language, direct address, imperatives - any three of these.
- Your opening should include: a greeting, a hook (question or statement), direct address, and clear indication of the topic.
- Direct address creates a connection with the audience, making them feel involved and personally addressed. It transforms a speech from a lecture into a conversation.
🎯 Exam Tips
- Start with a strong hook - grab attention immediately
- Use direct address throughout: "we", "you", "us"
- Include a range of rhetorical devices
- Vary your sentence lengths for rhythm and impact
- End with a powerful, memorable conclusion
- Include a clear call to action
- Read your work aloud to check it sounds like a speech
📝 Exam Technique
Speech Writing Exam Strategy: You have 45 minutes (40 marks: 24 AO5 + 16 AO6). A speech must sound like a speech when read aloud.
- First 5 minutes: Identify your audience and occasion. Plan: your hook, 3-4 key points, the rhetorical devices for each, and your closing call to action.
- Writing time: Open with a powerful hook. Use direct address ("you", "we") throughout. Include 3-4 different rhetorical devices. End with a memorable call to action.
- Mark allocation: AO5 (24 marks) rewards your content — clear viewpoint, effective speech conventions, and powerful structure. AO6 (16 marks) rewards technical accuracy — varied sentences for rhythm, appropriate vocabulary, correct SPaG.
- What examiners look for: A piece that sounds like a speech, not an essay. Direct address, rhetorical questions, repetition, and a clear speaking voice. The examiner should be able to "hear" this being delivered.
⚠️ Common Errors
Watch Out!
Students often write a speech that reads like an essay. Wrong: "In this speech I will discuss three reasons why recycling is important. Firstly, recycling reduces waste. Secondly, it saves energy." Correct: Use speech conventions — "Look around this room. Every single one of us has the power to change the future — starting today. How? By recycling. By refusing single-use plastic. By choosing the planet over convenience."
Students often forget direct address, making the speech feel disconnected. Wrong: "People should care about the environment because it is important for future generations." Correct: Use "you", "we", "us" — "WE should care about the environment because it is OUR future at stake. What will YOU tell YOUR children?"
Students often use sentences that are too complex to follow when spoken. Wrong: Long, winding sentences with multiple subordinate clauses that would lose a live audience. Correct: Use varied but clear structures — short punchy sentences for emphasis, medium sentences for explanation, and repetition for rhythm. Read your work aloud to test whether it works as spoken language.
✍️ Model Answer
Full-Mark Response
40 marks: Write a speech for a school assembly arguing that students should have a greater say in how their school is run.
Fellow students, let me ask you something. How many of you have sat in a lesson and thought: "There has to be a better way"? How many have walked past an empty classroom and wondered why we can't use it? How many have had an idea — a genuinely good idea — and been told, "That's not how we do things here"?
Well, I'm tired of hearing that phrase. And I think you are too.
We are not children who need every decision made for us. We are young adults who spend thirty-five hours a week in this building, who know which teaching methods work and which don't, who understand the student experience better than any policy document ever could. And yet, when decisions are made about our education, about our environment, about our daily lives — we are the last to know and the first to be affected.
I'm not talking about running the school. I'm talking about having a voice in how it runs. A student council that meets once a half-term and writes minutes nobody reads is not a voice — it's a whisper in a hurricane. We need real representation: students on governing bodies, student input on curriculum changes, student voice on staffing panels. Not tokenism. Partnership.
Some will say we lack experience. They're right — we do. But we have something experience cannot provide: we have the lived reality of being a student in this school, right now, in 2026. That perspective is irreplaceable, and any decision made without it is, by definition, incomplete.
So here is what I ask of you today: speak up. Go to your student council. Propose ideas. Challenge decisions respectfully but firmly. Because this school doesn't just belong to the people who manage it — it belongs to every single one of us who walks through those gates each morning. It's time we started acting like it.
Mark scheme: AO5 (21-24/24) — Compelling speech with powerful hook (three rhetorical questions); sustained direct address; clear argument with evidence; counter-argument addressed; memorable call to action; authentic speech voice throughout. AO6 (14-16/16) — Varied sentence lengths for rhythm (short for impact, medium for explanation, complex for depth); wide vocabulary ("tokenism", "irreplaceable", "perspective"); accurate SPaG; rhetorical devices (anaphora, rhetorical questions, rule of three, imperatives) woven naturally.
📊 AO Deep Dive
Assessment Objective Analysis
AO5 — Content and Organisation (24 marks): Speech writing is unique because the content must work when spoken aloud. At grade 5 (Level 3, 9-12 marks), the writing may have the right ideas but sound like an essay rather than a speech — it lacks direct address, rhetorical devices, and the rhythm of spoken language. At grade 9 (Level 6, 21-24 marks), the speech is "convincing and compelling" — it hooks the audience immediately, uses direct address to create connection, deploys a range of rhetorical devices naturally, builds to a powerful call to action, and — crucially — sounds like a speech. The key difference is voice: a grade 9 speech has a distinct speaking voice that the reader can hear, while a grade 5 speech could be any piece of persuasive writing.
AO6 — Technical Accuracy (16 marks): For speeches, sentence variety is especially important because it creates the rhythm of the spoken word. At grade 5 (Level 3, 9-12 marks), sentences may be uniformly long or short. At grade 9 (Level 4, 13-16 marks), sentence length is varied for rhetorical effect — short sentences for impact and pauses, repetition for rhythm, and longer sentences for explanation. The vocabulary should match the audience: sophisticated enough to show range, but accessible enough to work when spoken.
📝 Exam Questions by Topic
🎬 Video Resources
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