Discussion Board 5: Building a Framework for Spoken Messages

When you build a house, the first thing you do is plan and create the underlying structure of the house–the part of the house behind and within the walls that may not be noticed if it’s done well, but that will certainly be noticed if it’s done poorly. Speaking in public is similar in some ways to building a house. While audience notice a speaker’s delivery, they may not notice the organization of the speech unless it’s so poorly planned that the speech seems to ramble without a point. Good speaking, in contrast, follows patterns of practical reasoning that the audience can understand and accept, and good speakers tend to organize their speeches in ways that follow such patterns.

In your initial post, use the handout about organizational patternsto help you briefly outline a speech that might employ one of those patterns. (Each student should try to choose a pattern that hasn’t been covered before, until all the patterns are taken; after that, start again at the beginning.) You only need to list the main points of the potential topic. Please steer clear of overdone speech topics, such as gun control, abortion, marijuana laws, or other popular but contentious social issues. Use the vocabulary from your readings to describe the types of evidence and logical patterns; you may include outside research for additional examples or explanation. Cite every outside source you use, including your readings.

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Organizational Patterns
People tend to respond to common patterns of logical argument, based on psychology, culture, and
education. In business communication in the USA, the following patterns tend to work well (Reep 2011,
pp. 84-90; Rude & Eaton 2011, pp. 248-265).
Category Pattern Description
Topical
(importance)
Ascending Begins with least important point and ends with most important point;
emphasizes recency principle (the last point presented is retained
longer).
Descending Begins with most important point and ends with least important point;
emphasizes primacy principle (the first point presented is attended to,
but audience attention wanes quickly).
Nestorian Begins with point(s) of middling importance, followed by points of
least importance. Concludes with points of most importance.
Emphasizes both primacy and recency.
Causal
Cause to effect Begins with the background of a decision or event; proceeds to
consequences of the decision or event
Effect to cause Begins with discussion of consequences; proceeds to explain how
those consequences came about.
Temporal
Chronological Presents oldest or most distant past information first; proceeds in
sequence to newest or most distant future information last. Focus
tends to be on the past or on the sequence of steps in a procedure or
phases in a process.
Reverse
chronological
Presents with newest or most distant future information first; proceeds
in sequence to oldest or most distant past information last. Focus
tends to be on the future or present.
Task-based Organizes content by the sequence in which a user would perform a
task
Categorical
Classification Groups items to show their similarities
Partition Separates an entity into its components or features
Definition Explains the meaning of a term by identifying the group of which it is
a part and the features that make it different from other members of
that group.
Analogical
Comparison and
contrast
Shows similarities and differences between two topics; can be topical
(point-by-point comparison) or complete subject (parallel subpoints)
Familiar to new Compares a known subject with an unknown subject ( a form of
comparison/contrast) to suggest similarities in outcome
Criteria-match Compares the features of a set of items to an established set of
criteria for decision-making. The item that meets more criteria than
the rest is presumed to be the best decision.
Spatial Organizes content by its physical arrangement or position in space,
always moving in one direction (linear or circular).
Rhetorical
Deductive Shows how general principles are reflected in specific instances
General to
specific
Moves from a general point to a more specific instance, as in an
introduction.
Inductive Aggregates examples to come to a conclusion; also called argument
by observation or by example.
Specific to
general
Moves from specific descriptions to general conclusions, as in a final
section or paragraph of a document.
IMRAD Follows the scientific model: introduction, methods, results and
discussion.
Problemsolution
Problem-solution Identifies a problem and explains how to fix the problem.
Problem-causesolution
Identifies a problem, explains its causes, and then explains how the
solution fixes the cause of the problem (not just the symptoms).

Organizational Patterns
People tend to respond to common patterns of logical argument, based on psychology, culture, and
education. In business communication in the USA, the following patterns tend to work well (Reep 2011,
pp. 84-90; Rude & Eaton 2011, pp. 248-265).
Category Pattern Description
Topical
(importance)
Ascending Begins with least important point and ends with most important point;
emphasizes recency principle (the last point presented is retained
longer).
Descending Begins with most important point and ends with least important point;
emphasizes primacy principle (the first point presented is attended to,
but audience attention wanes quickly).
Nestorian Begins with point(s) of middling importance, followed by points of
least importance. Concludes with points of most importance.
Emphasizes both primacy and recency.
Causal
Cause to effect Begins with the background of a decision or event; proceeds to
consequences of the decision or event
Effect to cause Begins with discussion of consequences; proceeds to explain how
those consequences came about.
Temporal
Chronological Presents oldest or most distant past information first; proceeds in
sequence to newest or most distant future information last. Focus
tends to be on the past or on the sequence of steps in a procedure or
phases in a process.
Reverse
chronological
Presents with newest or most distant future information first; proceeds
in sequence to oldest or most distant past information last. Focus
tends to be on the future or present.
Task-based Organizes content by the sequence in which a user would perform a
task
Categorical
Classification Groups items to show their similarities
Partition Separates an entity into its components or features
Definition Explains the meaning of a term by identifying the group of which it is
a part and the features that make it different from other members of
that group.
Analogical
Comparison and
contrast
Shows similarities and differences between two topics; can be topical
(point-by-point comparison) or complete subject (parallel subpoints)
Familiar to new Compares a known subject with an unknown subject ( a form of
comparison/contrast) to suggest similarities in outcome
Criteria-match Compares the features of a set of items to an established set of
criteria for decision-making. The item that meets more criteria than
the rest is presumed to be the best decision.
Spatial Organizes content by its physical arrangement or position in space,
always moving in one direction (linear or circular).
Rhetorical
Deductive Shows how general principles are reflected in specific instances
General to
specific
Moves from a general point to a more specific instance, as in an
introduction.
Inductive Aggregates examples to come to a conclusion; also called argument
by observation or by example.
Specific to
general
Moves from specific descriptions to general conclusions, as in a final
section or paragraph of a document.
IMRAD Follows the scientific model: introduction, methods, results and
discussion.
Problemsolution
Problem-solution Identifies a problem and explains how to fix the problem.
Problem-causesolution
Identifies a problem, explains its causes, and then explains how the
solution fixes the cause of the problem (not just the symptoms).