$1.$ Select and narrow a topic for a speech.

Brainstorm, read, and listen to find topic ideas. Effective speech topics are appropriate for your audience, yourself, and your occasion.

$2.$ Write an audience$-$centered specific$-$purpose statement for a speech.

A specific$-$purpose statement begins, $$At the end of my speech, the audience will $...$ and describes a

single measurable action the audience should take. It should guide you during all speech preparation

activities.

$3.$ State a central idea for a speech.

A central idea summarizes the topic of your speech with direct, specific language in a complete declarative

sentence.

$4.$ Apply three ways of generating main ideas from a central idea.

Divide your central idea into main ideas by asking yourself if the central idea has logical divisions, if

there are several reasons the central idea is true, and if the central idea can be supported with a series of

steps.