What Is Your Specific Purpose?

Before we discuss how to determine the main points of your speech, we want to revisit your speech’s specific purpose, which we discussed in detail in Chapter 6. Recall that a speech can have one of three general purposes: to inform, to persuade, or to entertain. The general purpose refers to the broad goal for creating and delivering the speech. The specific purpose, on the other hand, starts with one of those broad goals (inform, persuade, or entertain) and then further informs the listener about the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the speech.

The specific purpose is stated as a sentence incorporating the general purpose, the specific audience for the speech, and a prepositional phrase that summarizes the topic.

Suppose you are going to give a speech about using open-source software. Here are three examples (each with a different general purpose and a different audience):

In each of these three examples, you’ll notice that the general topic is the same—open-source software—but the specific purpose is different because the speech has a different general purpose and a different audience. Before you can think strategically about organizing the body of your speech, you need to know what your specific purpose is. If you have not yet written a specific purpose for your current speech, please go ahead and write one now.

From Specific Purpose to Main Points

Once you’ve written down your specific purpose, you can now start thinking about the best way to turn that specific purpose into a series of main points. Main points are the key ideas you present to enable your speech to accomplish its specific purpose. In this section, we’re going to discuss how to determine your main points and how to organize those main points into a coherent, strategic speech.

Categorical/Topical

By far the most common pattern for organizing a speech is by categories or topics. The categories function as a way to help the speaker organize the message in a consistent fashion. The goal of a categorical/topical speech pattern is to create categories (or chunks) of information that go together to help support your original specific purpose. Let’s look at an example.

Specific Purpose: To persuade a group of high school juniors to apply to attend Generic University

Main Points

1. Life in the dorms
2. Life in the classroom
3. Life on campus

In this case, we have a speaker trying to persuade a group of high school juniors to apply to attend Generic University. To persuade this group, the speaker has divided the information into three basic categories: what it’s like to live in the dorms, what classes are like, and what life is like on campus. Almost anyone could take this basic speech and specifically tailor the speech to fit their university or college. The main points in this example could be rearranged and the organizational pattern would still be effective because there is no inherent logic to the sequence of points. Let’s look at a second example.

Specific Purpose: To inform a group of college students about the uses and misuses of Internet dating.

Main Points

1. Define and describe Internet dating.
2. Explain some strategies to enhance your Internet dating experience.
3. List some warning signs to look for in potential online dates.

In this speech, the speaker is talking about how to find others online and date them. Specifically, the speaker starts by explaining what Internet dating is; then the speaker talks about how to make Internet dating better for their audience members; and finally, the speaker ends by discussing some negative aspects of Internet dating. Again, notice that the information is chunked into three categories or topics and that the second and third could be reversed and still provide a logical structure for your speech.

Comparison/Contrast

Another method for organizing main points is the comparison/contrast speech pattern. While this pattern clearly lends itself easily to two main points, you can also create a third point by giving basic information about what is being compared and what is being contrasted. Let’s look at two examples; the first one will be a two-point example and the second a three-point example.

Specific Purpose: To inform a group of physicians about Drug X, a newer drug with similar applications to Drug Y.

Main Points

1. Show how Drug X and Drug Y are similar.
2. Show how Drug X and Drug Y differ.

Specific Purpose: To inform a group of physicians about Drug X, a newer drug with similar applications to Drug Y.

Main Points

1. Explain the basic purpose and use of both Drug X and Drug Y.
2. Show how Drug X and Drug Y are similar.
3. Show how Drug X and Drug Y differ.

If you were using the comparison/contrast pattern for persuasive purposes, in the preceding examples, you’d want to make sure that when you show how Drug X and Drug Y differ, you clearly state why Drug X is clearly the better choice for physicians to adopt. In essence, you’d want to make sure that when you compare the two drugs, you show that Drug X has all the benefits of Drug Y, but when you contrast the two drugs, you show how Drug X is superior to Drug Y in some way.

Spatial

The spatial speech pattern organizes information according to how things fit together in physical space. This pattern is best used when your main points are oriented to different locations that can exist independently. The basic reason to choose this format is to show that the main points have clear locations. We’ll look at two examples here, one involving physical geography and one involving a different spatial order.

Specific Purpose: To inform a group of history students about the states that seceded from the United States during the Civil War.

Main Points

1. Locate and describe the Confederate states just below the Mason-Dixon Line (Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee).
2. Locate and describe the Confederate states in the deep South (South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida).
3. Locate and describe the western Confederate states (Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas).

If you look at a basic map of the United States, you’ll notice that these groupings of states were created because of their geographic location to one another. In essence, the states create three spatial territories to explain.

Now let’s look at a spatial speech unrelated to geography.

Specific Purpose: To explain to a group of college biology students how the urinary system works.

Main Points

1. Locate and describe the kidneys and ureters.
2. Locate and describe the bladder.
3. Locate and describe the sphincter and urethra.

In this example, we still have three basic spatial areas. If you look at a model of the urinary system, the first step is the kidney, which then takes waste through the ureters to the bladder, which then relies on the sphincter muscle to excrete waste through the urethra. All we’ve done in this example is create a spatial speech order for discussing how waste is removed from the human body through the urinary system. It is spatial because the organization pattern is determined by the physical location of each body part in relation to the others discussed.

Chronological

The chronological speech pattern places the main idea in the time order in which items appear—whether backward or forward. Here’s a simple example.

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the books written by Winston Churchill.

Main Points

1. Examine the style and content of Winston Churchill’s writings prior to World War II.
2. Examine the style and content of Winston Churchill’s writings during World War II.
3. Examine the style and content of Winston Churchill’s writings after World War II.

In this example, we’re looking at the writings of Winston Churchill in relation to World War II (before, during, and after). By placing his writings into these three categories, we develop a system for understanding this material based on Churchill’s own life. Note that you could also use reverse chronological order and start with Churchill’s writings after World War II, progressing backward to his earliest writings.

Biographical

As you might guess, the biographical speech pattern is generally used when a speaker wants to describe a person’s life—either a speaker’s own life, the life of someone they know personally, or the life of a famous person. By the nature of this speech organizational pattern, these speeches tend to be informative or entertaining; they are usually not persuasive. Let’s look at an example.

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the early life of Marilyn Manson

Main Points

1. Describe Brian Hugh Warner’s early life and the beginning of his feud with Christianity.
2. Describe Warner’s stint as a music journalist in Florida.
3. Describe Warner’s decision to create Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids.

In this example, we see how Brian Warner, through three major periods of his life, ultimately became the musician known as Marilyn Manson.

In this example, these three stages are presented in chronological order, but the biographical pattern does not have to be chronological. For example, it could compare and contrast different periods of the subject’s life, or it could focus topically on the subject’s different accomplishments.

Causal

The causal speech pattern is used to explain cause-and-effect relationships. When you use a causal speech pattern, your speech will have two basic main points: cause-and-effect. In the first main point, typically you will talk about the causes of a phenomenon, and in the second main point you will then show how the causes lead to either a specific effect or a small set of effects. Let’s look at an example.

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the problems associated with drinking among members of Native American tribal groups.

Main Points

1. Explain the history and prevalence of drinking alcohol among Native Americans.
2. Explain the effects that abuse of alcohol has on Native Americans and how this differs from the experience of other populations.

In this case, the first main point is about the history and prevalence of drinking alcohol among Native Americans (the cause). The second point then examines the effects of Native American alcohol consumption and how it differs from other population groups.

However, a causal organizational pattern can also begin with an effect and then explore one or more causes. In the following example, the effect is the number of arrests for domestic violence.

Specific Purpose: To inform local voters about the problem of domestic violence in our city.

Main Points

1. Explain that there are significantly more arrests for domestic violence in our city than in cities of comparable size in our state.
2. List possible causes for the difference, which may be unrelated to the actual amount of domestic violence.

In this example, the possible causes for the difference might include stricter law enforcement, greater likelihood of neighbors reporting an incident, and police training that emphasizes arrests as opposed to other outcomes. Examining these possible causes may suggest that despite the arrest statistic, the actual number of domestic violence incidents in your city may not be greater than in other cities of similar size.

Problem-Cause-Solution

Another format for organizing distinct main points in a clear manner is the problem-cause-solution speech pattern. In this format you describe a problem, identify what you believe is causing the problem, and then recommend a solution to correct the problem.

Specific Purpose: To persuade a civic group to support a citywide curfew for individuals under the age of eighteen.

Main Points

1. Demonstrate that vandalism and violence among youth is having a negative effect on our community.
2. Show how vandalism and violence among youth go up after 10:00 p.m. in our community.
3. Explain how instituting a mandatory curfew at 10:00 p.m. would reduce vandalism and violence within our community.

In this speech, the speaker wants to persuade people to pass a new curfew for people under eighteen. To help persuade the civic group members, the speaker first shows that vandalism and violence are problems in the community. Once the speaker has shown the problem, the speaker then explains to the audience that the cause of this problem is youth outside after 10:00 p.m. Lastly, the speaker provides the mandatory 10:00 p.m. curfew as a solution to the vandalism and violence problem within the community. The problem-cause-solution format for speeches generally lends itself to persuasive topics because the speaker is asking an audience to believe in and adopt a specific solution.

Psychological

A further way to organize your main ideas within a speech is through a psychological speech pattern in which “a” leads to “b” and “b” leads to “c.” This speech format is designed to follow a logical argument, so this format lends itself to persuasive speeches very easily. Let’s look at an example.

Specific Purpose: To persuade a group of nurses to use humor in healing the person.

Main Points

1. How laughing affects the body
2. How the bodily effects can help healing III. Strategies for using humor in healing

In this speech, the speaker starts by discussing how humor affects the body. If a patient is exposed to humor (a), then the patient’s body actually physiologically responds in ways that help healing (b—e.g., reduces stress, decreases blood pressure, bolsters one’s immune system, etc.). Because of these benefits, nurses should engage in humor use that helps with healing (c).

Selecting an Organizational Pattern

Each of the preceding organizational patterns is potentially useful for organizing the main points of your speech. However, not all organizational patterns work for all speeches. For example, as we mentioned earlier, the biographical pattern is useful when you are telling the story of someone’s life. Some other patterns, particularly comparison/contrast, problem-cause-solution, and psychological, are well suited for persuasive speaking. Your challenge is to choose the best pattern for the particular speech you are giving.

You will want to be aware that it is also possible to combine two or more organizational patterns to meet the goals of a specific speech. For example, you might wish to discuss a problem and then compare/contrast several different possible solutions for the audience. Such a speech would thus be combining elements of the comparison/contrast and problem-cause-solution patterns. When considering which organizational pattern to use, you need to keep in mind your specific purpose as well as your audience and the actual speech material itself to decide which pattern you think will work best.

Transitions Between Main Points

A transition is a phrase or sentence that indicates that a speaker is moving from one main point to another main point in a speech. Basically, a transition is a sentence where the speaker summarizes what was said in one point and previews what is going to be discussed in the next point. Let’s look at some examples:

• Now that we’ve seen the problems caused by lack of adolescent curfew laws, let’s examine how curfew laws could benefit our community.
• Thus far we’ve examined the history and prevalence of alcohol abuse among Native Americans, but it is the impact that this abuse has on the health of Native Americans that is of the greatest concern.
• Now that we’ve thoroughly examined how these two medications are similar to one another, we can consider the many clear differences between the two medications.
• Although he was one of the most prolific writers in Great Britain prior to World War II, Winston Churchill continued to publish during the war years as well.

You’ll notice that in each of these transition examples, the beginning phrase of the sentence indicates the conclusion of a period of time (now that, thus far). Table 10.1 contains a variety of transition words that will be useful when keeping your speech moving.

Beyond transitions, there are several other techniques that you can use to clarify your speech organization for your audience. The next sections address several of these techniques, including internal previews, internal summaries, and signposts.

Internal Previews

An internal preview is a phrase or sentence that gives an audience an idea of what is to come within a section of a speech. An internal preview works similarly to the preview that a speaker gives at the end of a speech introduction, quickly outlining what they are going to talk about (i.e., the speech’s three main body points). In an internal preview, the speaker highlights what they are going to discuss within a specific main point during a speech.

Ausubel was the first person to examine the effect that internal previews had on retention of oral information.^[8] Basically, when a speaker clearly informs an audience what they are going to be talking about in a clear and organized manner, the audience listens for those main points, which leads to higher retention of the speaker’s message. Let’s look at a sample internal preview:

To help us further understand why recycling is important, we will first explain the positive benefits of recycling and then explore how recycling can help our community.

When an audience hears that you will be exploring two different ideas within this main point, they are ready to listen for those main points as you talk about them. In essence, you’re helping your audience keep up with your speech.

Rather than being given alone, internal previews often come after a speaker has transitioned to that main topic area. Using the previous internal preview, let’s see it along with the transition to that main point.

Now that we’ve explored the effect that a lack of consistent recycling has on our community, let’s explore the importance of recycling for our community (transition). To help us further understand why recycling is important, we will first explain the positive benefits of recycling and then explore how recycling can help our community (internal preview).

While internal previews are definitely helpful, you do not need to include one for every main point of your speech. In fact, we recommend that you use internal previews sparingly to highlight only main points containing relatively complex information.

Internal Summaries

Whereas an internal preview helps an audience know what you are going to talk about within a main point at the beginning, an internal summary is delivered to remind an audience of what they just heard within the speech. In general, internal summaries are best used when the information within a specific main point of a speech was complicated. To write your own internal summaries, look at the summarizing transition words in Table 10.1. Let’s look at an example.

To sum up, school bullying is a definite problem. Bullying in schools has been shown to be detrimental to the victim’s grades, the victim’s scores on standardized tests, and the victim’s future educational outlook.

In this example, the speaker was probably talking about the impact that bullying has on an individual victim educationally. Of course, an internal summary can also be a great way to lead into a transition to the next point of a speech.

In this section, we have explored how bullying in schools has been shown to be detrimental to the victim’s grades, the victim’s scores on standardized tests, and the victim’s future educational outlook (internal summary). Therefore, schools need to implement campus-wide, comprehensive anti-bullying programs (transition).

While not sounding like the more traditional transition, this internal summary helps readers summarize the content of that main point. The sentence that follows then leads to the next major part of the speech, which is going to discuss the importance of antibullying programs.

Signposts

Have you ever been on a road trip and watched the green rectangular mile signs pass you by? Fifty miles to go. Twenty-five miles to go. One mile to go. Signposts within a speech function the same way. A signpost is a guide a speaker gives their audience to help the audience keep up with the content of a speech. If you look at Table 10.1 and look at the “common sequence patterns,” you’ll see a series of possible signpost options. In essence, we use these short phrases at the beginning of a piece of information to help our audience members keep up with what we’re discussing. For example, if you were giving a speech whose main point was about the three functions of credibility, you could use internal signposts like this:

• The first function of credibility is competence.
• The second function of credibility is trustworthiness.
• The final function of credibility is caring/goodwill.

Signposts are simply meant to help your audience keep up with your speech, so the more simplistic your signposts are, the easier it is for your audience to follow.

In addition to helping audience members keep up with a speech, signposts can also be used to highlight specific information the speaker thinks is important. Where the other signposts were designed to show the way (like highway markers), signposts that call attention to specific pieces of information are more like billboards. Words and phrases that are useful for highlighting information can be found in Table 10.1 under the category “emphasis.” All these words are designed to help you call attention to what you are saying so that the audience will also recognize the importance of the information.

Smart Dust Speech Body

To begin, let's define smart dust and examine its basic components. Dr. Kris Pister, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, originally conceived the idea of smart dust in 1998, as part of a project funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA. According to Warneke, Last, Liebowitz, and Pister in their 2001 article, "Smart Dust: Communicating with a Cubic-Millimeter Computer," published in Computer, Pister's goal was to build a device that contained a built-in sensor, communication device, and a small computer that could be integrated into a cubic millimeter package. For a sense of scale, a single grain of rice has a volume of approximately five cubic millimeters. Each individual piece of dust, called a mote, would then have the ability to interact with other motes and supercomputers.

A notable observation within the field is the enduring nature of the initial vision versus the incremental pace of its realization. The early concept articulated a vision of pervasive deployments, with "millions of miniature sensors continuously sensing, smelling, seeing, and hearing." As detailed by Filipović and colleagues in their 2025 publication in the Proceedings: PaKSoM 2024, 6th Virtual International Conference Path to a Knowledge Society-Managing Risks and Innovation, this was an early aim. While the original project aimed for a cubic millimeter device by 2001, as Warneke, Last, Liebowitz, and Pister described in their 2001 article, "Smart Dust: Communicating with a Cubic-Millimeter Computer," published in Computer, current devices are more commonly described as "cubic millimeter or smaller," according to Nwazor and Horsfall in their 2022 article, "Smart Dust Tech," published in the Journal of Scientific and Engineering Research. The underlying challenge is that while miniaturization has advanced significantly, the practical hurdles related to power supply, communication range, and complex computation at such minute dimensions remain substantial.

Now that we have defined smart dust and examined its basic components, let's turn our attention to the applications of this technology. Smart dust has the potential to revolutionize numerous sectors. In the healthcare sector, implantable and ingestible sensors can continuously monitor a wide range of physiological parameters, including glucose levels, heart rate, and blood pressure. As detailed in Kassanos and Hourdakis's 2025 article, "Implantable Passive Sensors for Biomedical Applications," published in Sensors, this enables continuous, real-time health monitoring, potentially replacing more invasive procedures. A particularly advanced application involves implantable sensors for monitoring and treatment. The broader concept of the "Internet of Bio-Nano Things," or IoBNT, represents an emerging frontier, integrating biological and nanoscale systems directly into the Internet, as discussed in Filipović et al.’s 2025 publication in the Proceedings: PaKSoM 2024, 6th Virtual International Conference Path to a Knowledge Society-Managing Risks and Innovation.

For environmental monitoring and smart cities, smart dust networks are being deployed as powerful tools. They can continuously monitor air and water quality, detecting pollutants, and track other environmental parameters. As detailed in Nwazor and Horsfall's 2022 article, "Smart Dust Tech," published in the Journal of Scientific and Engineering Research, in precision agriculture, smart dust sensors can monitor crucial parameters such as soil moisture and nutrient levels, enabling farmers to optimize irrigation and fertilization. For urban infrastructure, motes can monitor the structural health of buildings and bridges, detecting early signs of damage.

The military and defense sectors also represent a significant application area for smart dust. Defense agencies are actively researching smart dust for covert surveillance and reconnaissance, deploying particles in hostile or inaccessible environments to gather tactical data. Their microscopic size makes them exceptionally difficult to detect, enhancing battlefield intelligence and improving situational awareness, according to Nwazor and Horsfall's 2022 article, "Smart Dust Tech," published in the Journal of Scientific and Engineering Research. In industrial automation and logistics, smart dust sensors are revolutionizing operations. Embedded in machinery, they monitor parameters like temperature, pressure, and vibrations, enabling predictive maintenance and preventing system failures.

Having examined the diverse applications of smart dust, let's now explore the challenges and limitations to its widespread adoption. Despite its transformative potential, smart dust technology faces several hurdles. Battery life and power management remain a fundamental constraint. The extremely small size of smart dust devices severely limits the space available for large batteries. As described in Al Ahmad's 2024 article, "Enhanced RF Energy Harvesting System Utilizing Piezoelectric Transformer," published in Sensors, while energy harvesting techniques, such as those converting ambient radio frequency signals into electrical power, show promise, their effectiveness often depends on environmental conditions.

Communication range and reliability present difficulties. Radio Frequency communication typically requires relatively large antennas and consumes substantial power. Optical communication offers energy advantages but necessitates a clear line-of-sight. Furthermore, network reliability can degrade in densely populated sensor grids, as discussed in Ketshabetswe et al.'s 2019 article, "Communication Protocols for Wireless Sensor Networks," published in Heliyon. The diminutive size of the sensors inherently limits their on-board processing power.

Most critically, the invisible and pervasive nature of smart dust creates unprecedented potential for surveillance. These devices could capture human activities without consent, raising significant privacy concerns. Like any networked technology, smart dust systems are inherently vulnerable to cyberattacks. Malicious actors could compromise networks. The microscopic size of these devices makes it challenging to detect their dysfunction or compromise. The widespread deployment of billions of sensors also raises significant environmental concerns, particularly regarding pollution if these devices are not disposed of properly. Research is focused on developing biodegradable sensor materials and environmentally benign power sources to mitigate these risks. The inherent capacity of smart dust technology for both beneficial and nefarious applications necessitates thoughtful governance frameworks that balance innovation with responsible deployment. The rapid advancement of smart dust technology has created a complex regulatory environment. Existing governance mechanisms are often ill-equipped to address the unique challenges posed by these interconnected technologies.

The increasing interconnection of computer systems and networks has blurred the boundaries between the physical, digital, and biological worlds, rendering conventional governance mechanisms largely ineffective, according to Filipović, Bjelajac, and Stošić's 2024 publication "Smart Dust Technology: Convergence of Virtual and Physical" in the Proceedings: PaKSoM 2024, 6th Virtual International Conference Path to a Knowledge Society-Managing Risks and Innovation. Given the profound implications of smart dust, there is a critical need for balanced approaches. A comprehensive governance framework is proposed, one that is anticipatory, inclusive, and resilient. This framework emphasizes the proactive engagement of all stakeholders, including ethicists, legal scholars, and technologists, to ensure that their voices and concerns shape the trajectory of technological development.

As detailed in Sloane et al.'s 2025 article "Materiality and Risk in the Age of Pervasive AI Sensors" published in Nature Machine Intelligence, protective measures must be put in place preemptively to address potential risks and inequities. This includes the implementation of strict privacy laws and robust security protocols, as Garcia-Morchon, Gurtov, and Pister described in their 2009 paper on "Security for Pervasive Medical Sensor Networks," from the UBICOMM Proceedings.

Speaking Ethically

Johanna was in the midst of preparing her speech. She’d done the research and found a number of great sources for her speech. The specific purpose of her speech was to persuade a group of wildlife experts to step up their help for saving the water channel between the islands of Maui and Lanai, an area where humpback whales migrate during the winter to give birth.

Johanna had a very strong first point and a strong third point, but she just couldn’t shake the fact that her middle point really was underdeveloped and not as strong as the other two. In fact, the middle point was originally going to be her last point, but when her research went bust she ultimately downgraded the point and sandwiched it in between the other two. Now that she looked at her second point, she realized that the sources weren’t credible and the point should probably be dropped.

In the back of Johanna’s head, she heard that small voice reminding her of the fact that most audiences don’t remember the middle of the speech, so it really won’t matter anyway.

1. Is it unethical to use a main point that you know is underdeveloped?
2. Should a speaker ever purposefully put less credible information in the middle of a speech, knowing that people are less likely to remember that information?
3. If you were Johanna, what would you do?

End of Chapter Assessment

1. Juan is finishing writing his specific purpose. He brainstorms about his specific purpose and finally settles on three topics he plans on talking about during his speech. What are these three topics called?
   1. specific topics
   2. main points
   3. generalized topics
   4. specific points
   5. main topics
2. Which speech format does the following outline represent?
   Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the life of Paris Hilton.
   Main Points
   I. Describe Paris Hilton's life before she became famous.
   II. Describe Paris Hilton's first job as a model working for Donald Trump.
   III. Describe Paris Hilton's transition from model to media personality.
   1. atopical
   2. categorical/topical
   3. biographical
   4. spatial
   5. psychological
3. Which speech format does the following outline represent?
   Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience to invest in VetoMax.
   Main Points
   I. Tell the history of VetoMax.
   II. Explain the VetoMax advantage.
   III. Describe the VetoMax pledge to investors.
   1. atopical
   2. categorical/topical
   3. biographical
   4. spatial
   5. psychological
4. Bobby is creating a speech related to the Hawaiian Islands. He plans on talking about each of the islands in order from southeast to northwest. Which speech format is probably the most effective for Bobby's speech?
   1. atopical
   2. categorical/topical
   3. biographical
   4. spatial
   5. psychological
5. What is a phrase or sentence that indicates that a speaker is moving from one main point in a speech to another main point in a speech?
   1. transition
   2. guidepost
   3. internal preview
   4. internal summary
   5. thesis statement

Answer Key

1. b
2. c
3. b
4.d
5. a