TOPIC: Types of Speech According to Purpose

Informative Speech

• An informative speech is given for the purpose of providing information about a topic to
the audience. To write an informative speech, you first choose a topic either one that you
already know about or one that you are willing to research and learn about. Then, you outline
and draft your informative speech based on the topic, key points, and details and information
you want to give about your topic.

• Make sure you catch your audience's attention and that you summarize key points and
"take-aways" as you go.

• When delivering an informative speech, your objective is to enlighten and educate your
audience on a subject. This type of speech involves the use of demonstrations, descriptions,
definitions, and details to explain a topic, person, or place. One of the critical aspects of an
informative speech is to make a complex issue easy to understand while offering different
points of view for the given problem statement.

Types of Informative Speeches:

1. Definition- explains the meaning, theory, or philosophy of a specific topic that the audience
likely does not know much about. The topics may be general, such as a sport, or highly
specific, like a particular person. The main goal of this speech is to educate the audience so
that they understand the main points regarding this subject.

2. Descriptive- creates a vivid picture in a person's mind regarding an object, person, animal,
or place. An archaeologist who has discovered a new temple in South America or a
paleontologist who believes they have found a new dinosaur may use a descriptive speech to
inform an interested audience about their recent discoveries.

3. Explanatory- might give a description of the state of a given topic. As an example, consider
the types of speeches that are given at industry conferences. The goal of these speeches is for
the speaker to inform the audience on a particular part of an industry. Commonly, these will
also utilize visualizations that give the audience a visual representation of the particular data
or statistics contained in the speech. This is one way to condense highly complex information
into an easily retainable package for the audience.

4. Demonstrative- explains how to do something. If you have ever sat through a lecture where
a teacher explained how to create a bibliography, then you have heard a demonstration
speech. Like most informative speeches, a how to speech will likely use visual examples that
show the audience how to move from step to step through a particular activity. Visualizations
help the audience retain what each step looks like, increasing the likelihood that they will
retain the overall information of the speech.

Excerpt: 100 days of COVID-19 in the Philippines: How WHO supported the Philippine response

2. Persuasive Speech

• Persuasive speaking is the form of communication that people of diverse backgrounds

mostly engage in. This kind of speech can center on any arguably interesting topic under the
sun. When you deliver a persuasive speech, your main goal is to influence the thoughts,
feelings, actions, and behaviors or attitudes of your listeners (Gamble and Gamble, 2012).
Likewise, you also change their perspective and convince them that your argument is more
important, practical, attainable, or feasible.

• A persuasive speech is given for the purpose of persuading the audience to feel a certain
way, to take a certain action, or to support a specific view or cause. To write a persuasive
speech, you choose a topic about which people disagree or can have differing opinions. Your
persuasive argument will be made stronger if you can demonstrate that you are passionate
about the topic and have a strong opinion one way or the other. Then, you outline and draft
your persuasive speech by taking a position on the topic and outlining your support for your
position. It is often helpful to also discuss why the "other side" is incorrect in their beliefs
about the topic. Make sure you catch your audience's attention and that you summarize key
points and "take-aways" as you go.

• Examples:
• 1. A teenager attempting to convince her parents that she needs to be able to stay out
until 11pm instead of 10pm.

• 2. A student council president trying to convince school administrators to allow the

students to have a dance after the final football game of the season.

• 3. A lawyer giving a closing argument in court, arguing about whether the defendant is
innocent or guilty of the crime.

• Inspirational Speech is a kind of speech that convinces people they can succeed in life.
This speech includes uplifting stories that the speaker thinks the people listening to it will be
moved and inspired to do greater and better things in their life.

3. Entertainment Speech

• An entertainment speech aims to share goodwill, joy, and pleasure to the audience. The
purpose of an entertainment speech is not to educate, inform, or inspire because the primary
goal is to make the audience relax, enjoy, and even laugh. This means that you, the speaker,
are expected to be friendly and relaxed, but still courteous during the speech delivery.
Moreover, you should know your audience well in order to entertain them effectively.

• The primary purpose of the speech is to entertain, to have the audience relax, smile and
enjoy the occasion. The speech should have a central theme or a focus. The sole purpose is to
have the audience enjoy the presentation. There are many ways to entertain the audience.
You can tell jokes, tell funny stories, dramatize an anecdote tell a scary story.

• Common Forms of Entertainment Topics There are three basic types of entertaining
speeches: the after-dinner speech, the ceremonial speech, and the inspirational speech. The
after-dinner speech is a form of speaking where a speaker takes a serious speech topic (either
informative or persuasive) and injects a level of humor into the speech to make it entertaining.
A ceremonial speech is a type of entertaining speech where the specific context of the speech
is the driving force of the speech. Common types of ceremonial speeches include
introductions, toasts, and eulogies.
• The final type of entertaining speech is one where the speaker's primary goal is to
inspire her or his audience. Inspirational speeches are based in emotion with the goal to
motivate listeners to alter their lives in some significant way.