Writing a speech is a lot different from writing a story, song, or a poem. A speech's main purpose is to convey an idea you believe in and make it appeal to the general audience; or at least that's my own perspective of it. Besides that, long story short, we have an assignment in school where each student in our humanities class is required to write-up a page and a half long speech that focuses on a world problem. To keep it somewhat simple I went with bullying considering I already knew a lot about it (not from personal experience), and that it's a very relevant topic given I'm in high school where a lot of bullying takes place. In other words I felt that by writing a speech on bullying I could also use it to try to help out some students I know are struggling. Anyways, the reason I'm coming to you with this problem is, because I could really use some pointers on how I should go about writing this speech. I want it to really stand-out. Obviously I've already taken into account researching other great public speakers such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Adolf Hitler (sure he was evil, but you can't ignore the fact he was still a powerful public speaker). However, I still feel you guys on here can provide some help as well. TL;DR: Got any good tips on writing a speech?
I would disagree and say to think of a speech like a story. Stories have the ability to connect with our emotional logic, but the best generally connect with both our emotional and rational logic. Think of a great speech as being able to do both. It's not merely an enumeration of arguments, but it's also a narrative. It should convince them emotionally and rationally of your view.
Perform it to see if it reads like a speech. Aim to be engaging, like you want the most bad-ass kid in the school to pay attention to every word. Use anecdote, focus on the benefits of a bully-free environment, offer alternatives of some sort as an outlet, like caricaturizing the principal, make the cycle of abuse escapable for offender and victim.
Do what the most successful politicians do and lie your through teeth. "It's been scientifically proven that every time someone gets bullied, a kitten dies."
Tell 'em what you're going to say. Say it. Tell 'em what you've just said. What's the ONE simple sentence that gets your message across? Think of it as a sound-bite...more than twenty (probably fewer) seconds and they'll tune out. And remember the rule of three: "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." (Churchill)
