how to make a speech not sound like an essay

• SUGGESTED TOPICS
• The Magazine
• Newsletters
• Managing Yourself
• Managing Teams
• Work-life Balance
• The Big Idea
• Data & Visuals
• Reading Lists
• Case Selections
• HBR Learning
• Topic Feeds
• Account Settings
• Email Preferences

A Speech Is Not an Essay

• John Coleman

Put the paper down.

Reading an essay to an audience can bore them to tears. I recently attended a conference where a brilliant man was speaking on a topic about which he was one of the world’s experts. Unfortunately, what he delivered was not a speech but an essay. This renowned academic had mastered the written form but mistakenly presumed that the same style could be used at a podium in the context of an hour-long public address. He treated the audience to exceptional content that was almost impossible to follow — monotone, flat, read from a script, and delivered from behind a tall podium.

• JC John Coleman is the author of the HBR Guide to Crafting Your Purpose . Subscribe to his free newsletter, On Purpose , follow him on Twitter @johnwcoleman, or contact him at johnwilliamcoleman.com.

Partner Center

How it works

Transform your enterprise with the scalable mindsets, skills, & behavior change that drive performance.

Explore how BetterUp connects to your core business systems.

We pair AI with the latest in human-centered coaching to drive powerful, lasting learning and behavior change.

Build leaders that accelerate team performance and engagement.

Unlock performance potential at scale with AI-powered curated growth journeys.

Build resilience, well-being and agility to drive performance across your entire enterprise.

Transform your business, starting with your sales leaders.

Unlock business impact from the top with executive coaching.

Foster a culture of inclusion and belonging.

Accelerate the performance and potential of your agencies and employees.

See how innovative organizations use BetterUp to build a thriving workforce.

Discover how BetterUp measurably impacts key business outcomes for organizations like yours.

A demo is the first step to transforming your business. Meet with us to develop a plan for attaining your goals.

• What is coaching?

Learn how 1:1 coaching works, who its for, and if it's right for you.

Accelerate your personal and professional growth with the expert guidance of a BetterUp Coach.

Types of Coaching

Navigate career transitions, accelerate your professional growth, and achieve your career goals with expert coaching.

Enhance your communication skills for better personal and professional relationships, with tailored coaching that focuses on your needs.

Find balance, resilience, and well-being in all areas of your life with holistic coaching designed to empower you.

Discover your perfect match : Take our 5-minute assessment and let us pair you with one of our top Coaches tailored just for you.

Research, expert insights, and resources to develop courageous leaders within your organization.

Best practices, research, and tools to fuel individual and business growth.

View on-demand BetterUp events and learn about upcoming live discussions.

The latest insights and ideas for building a high-performing workplace.

• BetterUp Briefing

The online magazine that helps you understand tomorrow's workforce trends, today.

Innovative research featured in peer-reviewed journals, press, and more.

Founded in 2022 to deepen the understanding of the intersection of well-being, purpose, and performance

We're on a mission to help everyone live with clarity, purpose, and passion.

Join us and create impactful change.

Read the buzz about BetterUp.

Meet the leadership that's passionate about empowering your workforce.

For Business

For Individuals

How to write a speech that your audience remembers

Whether in a work meeting or at an investor panel, you might give a speech at some point. And no matter how excited you are about the opportunity, the experience can be nerve-wracking . 

But feeling butterflies doesn’t mean you can’t give a great speech. With the proper preparation and a clear outline, apprehensive public speakers and natural wordsmiths alike can write and present a compelling message. Here’s how to write a good speech you’ll be proud to deliver.

What is good speech writing?

Good speech writing is the art of crafting words and ideas into a compelling, coherent, and memorable message that resonates with the audience. Here are some key elements of great speech writing:

• It begins with clearly understanding the speech's purpose and the audience it seeks to engage. 
• A well-written speech clearly conveys its central message, ensuring that the audience understands and retains the key points. 
• It is structured thoughtfully, with a captivating opening, a well-organized body, and a conclusion that reinforces the main message. 
• Good speech writing embraces the power of engaging content, weaving in stories, examples, and relatable anecdotes to connect with the audience on both intellectual and emotional levels. 

Ultimately, it is the combination of these elements, along with the authenticity and delivery of the speaker , that transforms words on a page into a powerful and impactful spoken narrative.

What makes a good speech?

A great speech includes several key qualities, but three fundamental elements make a speech truly effective:

Clarity and purpose

Remembering the audience, cohesive structure.

While other important factors make a speech a home run, these three elements are essential for writing an effective speech.

The main elements of a good speech

The main elements of a speech typically include:

• Introduction: The introduction sets the stage for your speech and grabs the audience's attention. It should include a hook or attention-grabbing opening, introduce the topic, and provide an overview of what will be covered.
• Opening/captivating statement: This is a strong statement that immediately engages the audience and creates curiosity about the speech topics.
• Thesis statement/central idea: The thesis statement or central idea is a concise statement that summarizes the main point or argument of your speech. It serves as a roadmap for the audience to understand what your speech is about.
• Body: The body of the speech is where you elaborate on your main points or arguments. Each point is typically supported by evidence, examples, statistics, or anecdotes. The body should be organized logically and coherently, with smooth transitions between the main points.
• Supporting evidence: This includes facts, data, research findings, expert opinions, or personal stories that support and strengthen your main points. Well-chosen and credible evidence enhances the persuasive power of your speech.
• Transitions: Transitions are phrases or statements that connect different parts of your speech, guiding the audience from one idea to the next. Effective transitions signal the shifts in topics or ideas and help maintain a smooth flow throughout the speech.
• Counterarguments and rebuttals (if applicable): If your speech involves addressing opposing viewpoints or counterarguments, you should acknowledge and address them. Presenting counterarguments makes your speech more persuasive and demonstrates critical thinking.
• Conclusion: The conclusion is the final part of your speech and should bring your message to a satisfying close. Summarize your main points, restate your thesis statement, and leave the audience with a memorable closing thought or call to action.
• Closing statement: This is the final statement that leaves a lasting impression and reinforces the main message of your speech. It can be a call to action, a thought-provoking question, a powerful quote, or a memorable anecdote.
• Delivery and presentation: How you deliver your speech is also an essential element to consider. Pay attention to your tone, body language, eye contact , voice modulation, and timing. Practice and rehearse your speech, and try using the 7-38-55 rule to ensure confident and effective delivery.

While the order and emphasis of these elements may vary depending on the type of speech and audience, these elements provide a framework for organizing and delivering a successful speech.

How to structure a good speech

You know what message you want to transmit, who you’re delivering it to, and even how you want to say it. But you need to know how to start, develop, and close a speech before writing it. 

Think of a speech like an essay. It should have an introduction, conclusion, and body sections in between. This places ideas in a logical order that the audience can better understand and follow them. Learning how to make a speech with an outline gives your storytelling the scaffolding it needs to get its point across.

Here’s a general speech structure to guide your writing process:

• Explanation 1
• Explanation 2
• Explanation 3

How to write a compelling speech opener

Some research shows that engaged audiences pay attention for only 15 to 20 minutes at a time. Other estimates are even lower, citing that people stop listening intently in fewer than 10 minutes . If you make a good first impression at the beginning of your speech, you have a better chance of interesting your audience through the middle when attention spans fade. 

Implementing the INTRO model can help grab and keep your audience’s attention as soon as you start speaking. This acronym stands for interest, need, timing, roadmap, and objectives, and it represents the key points you should hit in an opening. 

Here’s what to include for each of these points: 

• Interest : Introduce yourself or your topic concisely and speak with confidence . Write a compelling opening statement using relevant data or an anecdote that the audience can relate to.
• Needs : The audience is listening to you because they have something to learn. If you’re pitching a new app idea to a panel of investors, those potential partners want to discover more about your product and what they can earn from it. Read the room and gently remind them of the purpose of your speech. 
• Timing : When appropriate, let your audience know how long you’ll speak. This lets listeners set expectations and keep tabs on their own attention span. If a weary audience member knows you’ll talk for 40 minutes, they can better manage their energy as that time goes on. 
• Routemap : Give a brief overview of the three main points you’ll cover in your speech. If an audience member’s attention starts to drop off and they miss a few sentences, they can more easily get their bearings if they know the general outline of the presentation.
• Objectives : Tell the audience what you hope to achieve, encouraging them to listen to the end for the payout. 

Writing the middle of a speech

The body of your speech is the most information-dense section. Facts, visual aids, PowerPoints — all this information meets an audience with a waning attention span. Sticking to the speech structure gives your message focus and keeps you from going off track, making everything you say as useful as possible.

Limit the middle of your speech to three points, and support them with no more than three explanations. Following this model organizes your thoughts and prevents you from offering more information than the audience can retain. 

Using this section of the speech to make your presentation interactive can add interest and engage your audience. Try including a video or demonstration to break the monotony. A quick poll or survey also keeps the audience on their toes. 

Wrapping the speech up

To you, restating your points at the end can feel repetitive and dull. You’ve practiced countless times and heard it all before. But repetition aids memory and learning , helping your audience retain what you’ve told them. Use your speech’s conclusion to summarize the main points with a few short sentences.

Try to end on a memorable note, like posing a motivational quote or a thoughtful question the audience can contemplate once they leave. In proposal or pitch-style speeches, consider landing on a call to action (CTA) that invites your audience to take the next step.

How to write a good speech

If public speaking gives you the jitters, you’re not alone. Roughly 80% of the population feels nervous before giving a speech, and another 10% percent experiences intense anxiety and sometimes even panic. 

The fear of failure can cause procrastination and can cause you to put off your speechwriting process until the last minute. Finding the right words takes time and preparation, and if you’re already feeling nervous, starting from a blank page might seem even harder.

But putting in the effort despite your stress is worth it. Presenting a speech you worked hard on fosters authenticity and connects you to the subject matter, which can help your audience understand your points better. Human connection is all about honesty and vulnerability, and if you want to connect to the people you’re speaking to, they should see that in you.

1. Identify your objectives and target audience

Before diving into the writing process, find healthy coping strategies to help you stop worrying . Then you can define your speech’s purpose, think about your target audience, and start identifying your objectives. Here are some questions to ask yourself and ground your thinking : 

• What purpose do I want my speech to achieve? 
• What would it mean to me if I achieved the speech’s purpose?
• What audience am I writing for? 
• What do I know about my audience? 
• What values do I want to transmit? 
• If the audience remembers one take-home message, what should it be? 
• What do I want my audience to feel, think, or do after I finish speaking? 
• What parts of my message could be confusing and require further explanation?

2. Know your audience

Understanding your audience is crucial for tailoring your speech effectively. Consider the demographics of your audience, their interests, and their expectations. For instance, if you're addressing a group of healthcare professionals, you'll want to use medical terminology and data that resonate with them. Conversely, if your audience is a group of young students, you'd adjust your content to be more relatable to their experiences and interests. 

3. Choose a clear message

Your message should be the central idea that you want your audience to take away from your speech. Let's say you're giving a speech on climate change. Your clear message might be something like, "Individual actions can make a significant impact on mitigating climate change." Throughout your speech, all your points and examples should support this central message, reinforcing it for your audience.

4. Structure your speech

Organizing your speech properly keeps your audience engaged and helps them follow your ideas. The introduction should grab your audience's attention and introduce the topic. For example, if you're discussing space exploration, you could start with a fascinating fact about a recent space mission. In the body, you'd present your main points logically, such as the history of space exploration, its scientific significance, and future prospects. Finally, in the conclusion, you'd summarize your key points and reiterate the importance of space exploration in advancing human knowledge.

5. Use engaging content for clarity

Engaging content includes stories, anecdotes, statistics, and examples that illustrate your main points. For instance, if you're giving a speech about the importance of reading, you might share a personal story about how a particular book changed your perspective. You could also include statistics on the benefits of reading, such as improved cognitive abilities and empathy.

6. Maintain clarity and simplicity

It's essential to communicate your ideas clearly. Avoid using overly technical jargon or complex language that might confuse your audience. For example, if you're discussing a medical breakthrough with a non-medical audience, explain complex terms in simple, understandable language.

7. Practice and rehearse

Practice is key to delivering a great speech. Rehearse multiple times to refine your delivery, timing, and tone. Consider using a mirror or recording yourself to observe your body language and gestures. For instance, if you're giving a motivational speech, practice your gestures and expressions to convey enthusiasm and confidence.

8. Consider nonverbal communication

Your body language, tone of voice, and gestures should align with your message . If you're delivering a speech on leadership, maintain strong eye contact to convey authority and connection with your audience. A steady pace and varied tone can also enhance your speech's impact.

9. Engage your audience

Engaging your audience keeps them interested and attentive. Encourage interaction by asking thought-provoking questions or sharing relatable anecdotes. If you're giving a speech on teamwork, ask the audience to recall a time when teamwork led to a successful outcome, fostering engagement and connection.

10. Prepare for Q&A

Anticipate potential questions or objections your audience might have and prepare concise, well-informed responses. If you're delivering a speech on a controversial topic, such as healthcare reform, be ready to address common concerns, like the impact on healthcare costs or access to services, during the Q&A session.

By following these steps and incorporating examples that align with your specific speech topic and purpose, you can craft and deliver a compelling and impactful speech that resonates with your audience.

Tools for writing a great speech

There are several helpful tools available for speechwriting, both technological and communication-related. Here are a few examples:

• Word processing software: Tools like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or other word processors provide a user-friendly environment for writing and editing speeches. They offer features like spell-checking, grammar correction, formatting options, and easy revision tracking.
• Presentation software: Software such as Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides is useful when creating visual aids to accompany your speech. These tools allow you to create engaging slideshows with text, images, charts, and videos to enhance your presentation.
• Speechwriting Templates: Online platforms or software offer pre-designed templates specifically for speechwriting. These templates provide guidance on structuring your speech and may include prompts for different sections like introductions, main points, and conclusions.
• Rhetorical devices and figures of speech: Rhetorical tools such as metaphors, similes, alliteration, and parallelism can add impact and persuasion to your speech. Resources like books, websites, or academic papers detailing various rhetorical devices can help you incorporate them effectively.
• Speechwriting apps: Mobile apps designed specifically for speechwriting can be helpful in organizing your thoughts, creating outlines, and composing a speech. These apps often provide features like voice recording, note-taking, and virtual prompts to keep you on track.
• Grammar and style checkers: Online tools or plugins like Grammarly or Hemingway Editor help improve the clarity and readability of your speech by checking for grammar, spelling, and style errors. They provide suggestions for sentence structure, word choice, and overall tone.
• Thesaurus and dictionary: Online or offline resources such as thesauruses and dictionaries help expand your vocabulary and find alternative words or phrases to express your ideas more effectively. They can also clarify meanings or provide context for unfamiliar terms.
• Online speechwriting communities: Joining online forums or communities focused on speechwriting can be beneficial for getting feedback, sharing ideas, and learning from experienced speechwriters. It's an opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and improve your public speaking skills through collaboration.

Remember, while these tools can assist in the speechwriting process, it's essential to use them thoughtfully and adapt them to your specific needs and style. The most important aspect of speechwriting remains the creativity, authenticity, and connection with your audience that you bring to your speech.

5 tips for writing a speech

Behind every great speech is an excellent idea and a speaker who refined it. But a successful speech is about more than the initial words on the page, and there are a few more things you can do to help it land.

Here are five more tips for writing and practicing your speech:

1. Structure first, write second

If you start the writing process before organizing your thoughts, you may have to re-order, cut, and scrap the sentences you worked hard on. Save yourself some time by using a speech structure, like the one above, to order your talking points first. This can also help you identify unclear points or moments that disrupt your flow.

2. Do your homework

Data strengthens your argument with a scientific edge. Research your topic with an eye for attention-grabbing statistics, or look for findings you can use to support each point. If you’re pitching a product or service, pull information from company metrics that demonstrate past or potential successes. 

Audience members will likely have questions, so learn all talking points inside and out. If you tell investors that your product will provide 12% returns, for example, come prepared with projections that support that statement.

3. Sound like yourself

Memorable speakers have distinct voices. Think of Martin Luther King Jr’s urgent, inspiring timbre or Oprah’s empathetic, personal tone . Establish your voice — one that aligns with your personality and values — and stick with it. If you’re a motivational speaker, keep your tone upbeat to inspire your audience . If you’re the CEO of a startup, try sounding assured but approachable. 

4. Practice

As you practice a speech, you become more confident , gain a better handle on the material, and learn the outline so well that unexpected questions are less likely to trip you up. Practice in front of a colleague or friend for honest feedback about what you could change, and speak in front of the mirror to tweak your nonverbal communication and body language .

5. Remember to breathe

When you’re stressed, you breathe more rapidly . It can be challenging to talk normally when you can’t regulate your breath. Before your presentation, try some mindful breathing exercises so that when the day comes, you already have strategies that will calm you down and remain present . This can also help you control your voice and avoid speaking too quickly.

How to ghostwrite a great speech for someone else

Ghostwriting a speech requires a unique set of skills, as you're essentially writing a piece that will be delivered by someone else. Here are some tips on how to effectively ghostwrite a speech:

• Understand the speaker's voice and style : Begin by thoroughly understanding the speaker's personality, speaking style, and preferences. This includes their tone, humor, and any personal anecdotes they may want to include.
• Interview the speaker : Have a detailed conversation with the speaker to gather information about their speech's purpose, target audience, key messages, and any specific points they want to emphasize. Ask for personal stories or examples they may want to include.
• Research thoroughly : Research the topic to ensure you have a strong foundation of knowledge. This helps you craft a well-informed and credible speech.
• Create an outline : Develop a clear outline that includes the introduction, main points, supporting evidence, and a conclusion. Share this outline with the speaker for their input and approval.
• Write in the speaker's voice : While crafting the speech, maintain the speaker's voice and style. Use language and phrasing that feel natural to them. If they have a particular way of expressing ideas, incorporate that into the speech.
• Craft a captivating opening : Begin the speech with a compelling opening that grabs the audience's attention. This could be a relevant quote, an interesting fact, a personal anecdote, or a thought-provoking question.
• Organize content logically : Ensure the speech flows logically, with each point building on the previous one. Use transitions to guide the audience from one idea to the next smoothly.
• Incorporate engaging stories and examples : Include anecdotes, stories, and real-life examples that illustrate key points and make the speech relatable and memorable.
• Edit and revise : Edit the speech carefully for clarity, grammar, and coherence. Ensure the speech is the right length and aligns with the speaker's time constraints.
• Seek feedback : Share drafts of the speech with the speaker for their feedback and revisions. They may have specific changes or additions they'd like to make.
• Practice delivery : If possible, work with the speaker on their delivery. Practice the speech together, allowing the speaker to become familiar with the content and your writing style.
• Maintain confidentiality : As a ghostwriter, it's essential to respect the confidentiality and anonymity of the work. Do not disclose that you wrote the speech unless you have the speaker's permission to do so.
• Be flexible : Be open to making changes and revisions as per the speaker's preferences. Your goal is to make them look good and effectively convey their message.
• Meet deadlines : Stick to agreed-upon deadlines for drafts and revisions. Punctuality and reliability are essential in ghostwriting.
• Provide support : Support the speaker during their preparation and rehearsal process. This can include helping with cue cards, speech notes, or any other materials they need.

Remember that successful ghostwriting is about capturing the essence of the speaker while delivering a well-structured and engaging speech. Collaboration, communication, and adaptability are key to achieving this.

Give your best speech yet

Learn how to make a speech that’ll hold an audience’s attention by structuring your thoughts and practicing frequently. Put the effort into writing and preparing your content, and aim to improve your breathing, eye contact , and body language as you practice. The more you work on your speech, the more confident you’ll become.

The energy you invest in writing an effective speech will help your audience remember and connect to every concept. Remember: some life-changing philosophies have come from good speeches, so give your words a chance to resonate with others. You might even change their thinking.

Boost your speech skills

Enhance your public speaking with personalized coaching tailored to your needs

Elizabeth Perry, ACC

Elizabeth Perry is a Coach Community Manager at BetterUp. She uses strategic engagement strategies to cultivate a learning community across a global network of Coaches through in-person and virtual experiences, technology-enabled platforms, and strategic coaching industry partnerships. With over 3 years of coaching experience and a certification in transformative leadership and life coaching from Sofia University, Elizabeth leverages transpersonal psychology expertise to help coaches and clients gain awareness of their behavioral and thought patterns, discover their purpose and passions, and elevate their potential. She is a lifelong student of psychology, personal growth, and human potential as well as an ICF-certified ACC transpersonal life and leadership Coach.

How to write an impactful cover letter for a career change

10+ interpersonal skills at work and ways to develop them, what are analytical skills examples and how to level up, 6 presentation skills and how to improve them, what is a career statement, and should you write one, 18 effective strategies to improve your communication skills, what is gig work and does it make the dream work, a guide on how to find the right mentor for your career, how to pursue jobs versus careers to achieve different goals, discover how professional coaching can boost your career growth, why is there a labor shortage 5 ways it could impact you, how to be more persuasive: 6 tips for convincing others, books to grow with in 2022, getting passed over for a promotion is tough. here's how to handle it, the 11 tips that will improve your public speaking skills, asking for a raise: tips to get what you’re worth, are you being passed over for a promotion here’s what to do, why you need an accountability partner (and how to find one), stay connected with betterup, get our newsletter, event invites, plus product insights and research..

3100 E 5th Street, Suite 350 Austin, TX 78702

• Platform Overview
• Integrations
• Powered by AI
• BetterUp Lead™
• BetterUp Manage™
• BetterUp Care®
• Sales Performance
• Diversity & Inclusion
• Case Studies
• Why BetterUp?
• About Coaching
• Find your Coach
• Career Coaching
• Communication Coaching
• Personal Coaching
• News and Press
• Leadership Team
• Become a BetterUp Coach
• BetterUp Labs
• Center for Purpose & Performance
• Leadership Training
• Business Coaching
• Contact Support
• Contact Sales
• Privacy Policy
• Acceptable Use Policy
• Trust & Security
• Cookie Preferences

Learn to read (without sounding like you’re reading)

What type of content do you primarily create?

This article originally appeared in Episodes, our newsletter. If you'd like insights on workflow and craft (like these) in your inbox every two weeks, you can subscribe here . Or listen to the audio version (read, without irony, by Ashley's Overdub Voice.)

If you speak into a mic, eventually you’re going to have to read into a mic.

Even if you’re making a seat-of-the-pants roundtable show, you probably have scripted intros for episodes and guests, an outro to plug your social media platforms, maybe a few host-read ads. And if your show is scripted — a narrative nonfiction podcast, a science-explainer video series, or an audio showcase for your unpublished avant garde fiction, for instance — you live and die by reading out loud.

It should be easy. But when we read into a microphone it somehow comes out sounding very different than when we’re just talking. At worst we sound stilted, or robotic. At best our delivery is too clean, lacking the natural inflections and flaws that mark our personalities.

So how do you make those perfectly arranged words on the page sound like the messy, chaotic, lived-in speech that we all use to talk to each other? Plenty of creators have mastered the craft; we talked to a few, and here’s what they had to say.

Write it out

Reading in a way that sounds natural starts with writing for listeners, not readers. That might mean forgetting a lot of what you’ve learned about writing.

Most of us have been taught to write formally, in structured paragraphs and long, information-packed sentences. “When you start writing for voice, you need to ditch all of that,” says writer and podcaster Sanden Totten.

He should know. As a former science reporter for Southern California Public Radio, a writer for Netflix’s Bill Nye Saves the World , and co-creator of the award-winning kid’s science podcast Brains On! , Sanden has spent his career writing scripts to sound like they’re improvised.

The audio writing rules he learned early in his career are helpful for anyone learning to write for their own speaking voice.

• Short, simple sentences. If there are two ideas in a sentence, turn it into two sentences. You’ll give yourself time to breathe when you read it aloud, and it’ll sound closer to the way most of us talk. It’s also easier on the listener, who’ll be less likely to get lost in the thickets of your run-ons.
• Simple vocabulary. You want to sound smart, and you might be tempted to use words you memorized for the SAT, but the goal here is clarity. Multisyllabic words, such as multisyllabic, catch a listener’s attention alright, but they’ll focus more on the word than on the point you’re trying to make.
• Break the rules. In fact, ignore them. “It’s important to get your grammar correct, but it’s not that important,” Sanden says. Use the turns of phrase you use in natural speech. You’d never start an essay sentence with “So,” or “I mean,” or “What I’m thinking is,” but you probably do that all the time in conversation. (Yes, Descript calls these Filler Words. But filler is like gas station pastries – sometimes you just need it.)

Once you’ve written your script, record yourself reading it, play it back, and listen closely. If there are words or phrases that sound stilted or robotic, rewrite and re-record until everything sounds natural.

Read, read, read again

Sounding natural takes practice – a lot of it. Brian Noonan is radio host at WTMJ Milwaukee and a former host at WGN Radio in Chicago. Even though he’s been talking into a mic full time for nearly 15 years, he still has moments when his reading feels unnatural. Nine times out of 10, it’s because he didn’t get a chance to read the copy beforehand.

Brian advises reading your script out loud over and over until you’re comfortable with it. And then, a real pro tip: As you read, ask yourself what each word is trying to say — what tone it’s trying to take, and what feeling it’s trying to elicit. The biggest difference between talking and reading is emotion, so pinpoint the emotion you’re trying to convey.

Once you have that, you can fine-tune your delivery. Adjust your speed and volume. Decide where you need to add emphasis. Note the words that are tripping you up, and either change them or keep repeating them until you can get through them smoothly.

Then, add cues to your script. “If I know I’m supposed to go up here or I’m supposed to go down here or [take] a longer pause, I’ll get my highlighter or my pen and I’ll mark it up,” Brian says.

Get physical

There’s one more difference between talking with your friends in a bar and reading words behind a microphone: what you do with your body. No one can see your hand gestures through their headphones, but they can certainly hear it in your voice.

To prove it, Sanden suggests trying one readthrough with your hands by your sides and another gesticulating wildly. You’ll probably sound a lot more animated and energetic the second time around. “It’s almost like you’re orchestrating yourself,” he says.

If your gear permits it, try standing up. It’s almost impossible to sit hunched over a microphone in an empty room and bring the same energy as you would from your feet. Standing not only gives your lungs more space to expand, but it also gives you focus. “If I’m standing up, I’m in the moment,” Brian says.

One final piece of advice for recording. As you read in your script, try to stay attuned to how much Reading You sounds like Real You. If you hear yourself speaking a sentence that doesn’t feel natural, just pause and say it again, the way you would to that mythical friend in the bar. If you’re working in Descript, you’ll be able to edit the first version out in a few seconds.

There are plenty of minor details to obsess over once you get the basics of reading down (What tone of voice should you take? Should you refer to the audience in the singular or the plural? Is it de-SCRIPT or DEE-script?) but there’s no need to overdo it. Just focus on writing like you talk, reading it over a few times, and moving your hands while you speak, and the rest will come with time.

Related articles

Featured articles:

For Business

How to video record yourself presenting a PowerPoint

Learn how to video record yourself presenting a PowerPoint with tips, tools, and techniques for a polished presentation.

10 excellent Loom alternatives to record your screen

Looking for the best ways to record your screen without Loom? Find out 10 Loom alternatives, their features, and pricing.

How to record a YouTube video: A guide for all devices

If you want to record a YouTube video for personal use or fair-use repurposing, here are the steps to get started.

Social media video marketing: Everything you need to know

Learn how to win over potential customers (and the algorithms) with the right social media video marketing tools, strategy, and optimizations.

How to record a podcast on Zoom: A beginner’s guide

Follow this step-by-step guide on how to record a podcast on Zoom, then learn about why it may not be your best recording option.

How to record a Microsoft Teams meeting: 5 easy ways

Learn how to record a Microsoft Teams meeting on any device and get answers to common problems.

Articles you might find interesting

From setup to stardom: How to stream on Twitch successfully

Learn how to create a Twitch account and set up streaming software step-by-step to equip yourself for a successful streaming journey.

How to Record A Lecture: 7 Tips to Enhance the Learning Experience

The pandemic has forced educators to adopt virtual teaching forms, like record lectures. Luckily, good recordings don’t require much more than software, a webcam and microphone, and a good strategy.

Product Updates

Descript Season 4: Stability, quality, and new AI features

Since our last update, we've been heads-down focused on quality improvements, bug squashing, and making Descript more stable. Learn about all the stuff we’ve released the past few months and preview some exciting features we’ve got coming. 

Rough cuts: finding your story

Here we’ll delve a little more into rough cut techniques, in hopes of helping you focus your efforts so you can get a first cut faster.

Product marketing: The bridge between the product and the market

What is product marketing, and how does it affect your overall marketing strategy? We'll run through the basics in this article.

How to add sound effects to a video

Stick with us, and we’ll have you mastering the art of how to add sound effects to any video in no time.

Join millions of creators who already have a head start.

Get free recording and editing tips, and resources delivered to your inbox.

Related articles:

Share this article

Posted on 26th January 2018

The Do’s and Don’ts of Writing in an Academic Tone

By Cite This For Me

When writing an essay, it is important to argue your points in a clear and concise way, and of course to try to sound intelligent as a speaker. Finding the right tone in your written voice is an essential part of writing, yet many students find it difficult to strike the right balance. It is easy to fall into the trap of writing in either too formal or too casual of a tone. Both extremes can make your argument sound ill-researched and weaken the strength of your essay. However, it is easy to avoid these issues, by taking care to use a direct and active tone in your writing.

Here are some Do’s and Don’ts that will help guide you to find the right voice in your writing and achieve a strong academic tone in your essays.

1. What is the point of an academic paper?

This may sound like a silly question, but many students fail to recognize the main point of essay writing—which is to put forth an argument! Understanding that your essay should make a claim, put forth a new idea or interpretation, or argue a set of points, will ultimately help you to write in a strong academic tone.

If you set out to put forth an argument, and then provide evidence to support it, rather than set out to sound as smart as possible, you will find that your writing sounds clearer. A direct tone and simple language is usually the best route!

2. Avoid writing in an overly formal tone

While this advice might sound counterintuitive, often students mistake formal for academic. You don’t need to make your papers sound like Shakespeare or the most esteemed professor wrote it! When you adopt an overly formal tone in your writing, the result is most often that you sound like you don’t know what you are talking about. Make sure that you use words whose meaning you understand, and sentence structure that makes sense—even if it appears simple.

For example, in a paper on climate change, an overly formal sentence might read:

“The staggering volume of synthetic organic compounds accumulating in large bodies of saline water has engendered a colossal moral quandary for behemoth manufacturers—should they continue the course, or innovate new methods?”

You don’t want to sound like this!

Instead, in clear and direct language, the following sentence means the same thing, but in a more readable way.

“The large volume of plastic waste that has accumulated in the Earth’s oceans has created a moral question for companies that produce large amounts of plastic materials—should they continue to produce plastic? Or phase into producing products that will degrade over time?”

As you can tell, the second sentence is in much plainer English, and sounds far more academic in tone than the first!

3. Avoid colloquialisms

Although it is important to avoid using too formal of a tone in your writing, you also want to be sure that you don’t use colloquialisms—informal words or phrases that are common in spoken English—in your writing. It is easy to avoid slang words, but students often struggle to rid less obvious colloquialisms from their writing.

Most often, these colloquialisms are words or phrases that we use in everyday language when we speak out loud or in informal text conversations. In spoken English and informal text conversations, these phrases are perfectly acceptable. But, you want to avoid them in your writing, because often they are placeholder words and phrases, that merely help to bridge together ideas that draw upon the context of the conversation.

For example, you might text a friend:

“I got tickets to that concert Friday night. You in?”

Here, the word “got” and “you in” are colloquialisms. They make sense in context, but in writing—where you must assume the reader will take what you say literally—it is not clear what you mean by this.

For example, how did you get the tickets? Did you buy them? Did someone give them to you?

While it might sound formal for a text conversation, in an academic tone this sentence would read “I bought tickets to attend that concert Friday night. I can give you a ticket if you want to attend with me.”

To avoid colloquialisms, it is usually a best practice to try to be as specific and direct about what you mean as possible.

4. Don’t use exaggeration or hyperbole

Sometimes when students intend to create emphasis or articulate the importance of a piece of evidence or point in an argument, they rely on exaggeration or hyperbole to try to convince the reader to agree with them. Don’t do this! Most often, hyperbolic phrases make your writing sound corny, and most importantly you must assume that your reader is taking everything you say literally and needs proof of every statement you make.

You might write in your paper on climate change:

“Plastic waste is now clogging the oceans, choking the life out of sea-creatures and threatening to end all ocean-life as we know it!”

This phrase is hyperbolic, and doesn’t actually point to any evidence to support the claim. A better phrased sentence might read:

“According to the Plastic Oceans Foundation, humans have dumped more than 8 million tons of plastic into ocean water each year for several years in a row. This plastic waste does not degrade, and clumps together—which creates large blocks in the ocean that hurt ocean-life.”

As you can see, in this sentence the cited facts do the work to emphasize the points, rather than hyperbole.

5. Avoid making generalizations

Another bad habit that students often have a hard time dropping is making generalizations in their essays. Usually, these generalizations come as a way to introduce material, or make an emotional appeal to the reader. It is important to avoid using generalizations in your essays because like hyperbolic phrases they sound corny, they are hard to prove, and often they don’t even really relate to your argument.

For example, in an essay that argues that the passage of the 19 th amendment failed to promote equality for all women, because racist Jim Crow laws prevented black women from also voting, you might say:

“On July 4th, 1776 the United States of America was born with the undertaking that all Americans should be created equal. Since then the U.S. has been working hard to achieve this promise and it moved one step closer after it passed the 19 th amendment, but not close enough.”

This introduction to the idea of equality reads as corny, and isn’t necessarily specific to the exact topic of the paper.

A better sentence might read:

“Although the passage of the 19 th amendment was a significant step for women’s rights in the US, at the time of its passage it did not actually achieve total voting equality for women, as black women were still largely prevented from voting.”

As you can see, this introduction is much more direct, and specific to the topic.

In order to avoid making generalizations in your paper, try to be as specific as possible, and avoid moving too far away from the topic at hand when you lead into your essay.

6. Don’t use personal pronouns or invoke the reader

In academic writing, it is important to maintain an academic distance from your essay. You want to avoid using personal pronouns because it makes your tone sound too personal, and less factual. You also want to avoid using phrases that will invoke the reader, because you cannot be sure of who your reader is.

For example, a professor of Economics might write a paper on how government spending after the 2008 Financial Crisis helped the economy to recover and publish it in a major Economics academic journal, and write:

“In the wake of the 2008 Financial collapse, our nation experienced a crisis which our government addressed first through a stimulus package.”

In this sentence, the phrases “our nation” and “our government” appeal to the reader as being the same as the writer. This is a problem because you cannot assume who your reader will be. In this example, economists from other countries might read this paper.

A better sentence would just replace “our” with “the United States,” to be more specific and more detached from the information.

Many students find it difficult to strike the right tone in their writing. However, that is no reason to fear writing your papers! As you can see from these suggestions, it is easy to cut out simple bad habits and write in an academic tone.

Academic papers also need citations! If you need to cite in MLA style , APA style , or another citation style, try BibMe.com!

Speech Writing Tips: Don’t Forget, It’s Not an Essay

September 12, 2014 / Blog presentation content, presentation tips, speech writing, speech writing tips

What makes the best public speakers so enigmatic and memorable? How are they able to capture and retain the attention of their audience for so long? Aside from practicing  good delivery , their secret is also in the way they write speeches.

We can call a presentation a success if the audience is able to connect and engage with the speaker.

To get there, they need to be able to follow the flow and logic of your arguments. While having a  PowerPoint deck  can certainly help in that front, the way you share information is just as crucial.

John Coleman  of the Harvard Business Review reveals most speakers make the mistake of reciting an essay for their audience. Instead of working on a speech that’s concise and straight to the point, they tend to overwhelm audiences with a laundry list of information.

We redesign PowerPoint presentations.

Get your free quote now..

For a successful presentation, don’t forget that a speech and an essay are two different things.

With that in mind, here are three speech writing tips to help you out:

Keep it short and simple

When writing a speech, be mindful of the difference between our ability to learn information orally and visually. As Coleman puts it,

The average adult reads  300 words per minute , but people can only follow speech closely at around 150-160 words per minute. Similarly, studies have shown auditory memory is typically inferior to visual memory, and while most of us can read for hours, our ability to focus on a speech is more constrained.

It will be easier for your audience to remember what you’re saying if you practice brevity and simplicity. Don’t complicate your speech by going into details. Stick to the points that is crucial to what you want people to takeaway. Start by outlining all your ideas and slowly trimming the list down as you begin writing your speech.

Constantly review previous points and use ‘signposts’

Remember when you would have to read an essay for class? If there were things you couldn’t understand, you can simply reread a certain passage as many times as you want. Unfortunately, that won’t be possible for the people listening to you speak. Apart from keeping it brief, your speech also needs a structure that the audience can easily identify and follow. Divide your key points into three main segments and introduce them right away as you begin your speech:

In your introduction, state your thesis and then lay out the structure of your speech ahead of time (e.g., “we’ll see this in three ways: x, y, and z”).

Coleman also suggests using what he calls “signposts.” Words like “first of all,” “next” and “finally” signal to the audience that you’re transitioning from one idea to the next.

Focus on telling a story

As we’ve discussed in the past,  storytelling  should always be an integral part of any presentation.Coleman suggests that it’s better to stick with a story, especially when you have to data to share. Instead of reciting a list of statistics, it would be better if you zeroed in on the narrative behind the numbers:

Neuroscience has shown  that the human brain was wired for narrative… Lead or end an argument with statistics. But never fall into reciting strings of numbers or citations. Your audience will better follow, remember, and internalize stories.

It will also help if you stick with language that’s highly visual. Make use of metaphors and analogies to perfectly illustrate what your data or statistics mean.

Download free PowerPoint templates now.

Get professionally designed PowerPoint slides weekly.

References:

Coleman, John. “ A Speech Is Not an Essay .” Harvard Business Review . 2014. Accessed September 12, 2014. Nelson, Brett. “ Do You Read Fast Enough To Be Successful? ” Forbes . Accessed September 12, 2014. Widrich, Leo. “ The Science of Storytelling: Why Telling a Story Is the Most Powerful Way to Activate Our Brains .” Lifehacker . Accessed December 5, 2014.

Featured Image: Marijn de Vries Hoogerwerff via  Flickr

Popular Posts

Common Challenges in Tailoring Presentations—and Solutions

Dos and Don’ts of Pre-Seed Pitch Deck Creation

How to Write a Teaser Pitch Deck that Captivates

Tips for a Persuasive How It Works Slide

What Not to Do When Presenting Funding History

Why Raising Funds Without a Pitch Deck Can Backfire

• The Virginia Room
• Tell Us How We're Doing
• Using the Catalog
• A-Z Database List
• Advanced Search
• Research Guides
• Your Account

Public Speaking

• Finding a Topic
• How to Plan and Give a Great Speech
• Speech Anxiety
• Web Resources and OERs
• RBC Writing Center This link opens in a new window

Planning Your Speech

Being confident in your speech making and your public speaking means that you should fully prepare for your speech! Here are some tips to write a great speech!

1. Determine the purpose of your speech.  Whether it is a persuasive essay, argumentative essay, or just an informative one you need to know why you are giving the speech. Generally you may be told what kind of speech to write for your assignment, but if you have a choice on what type of speech you need to give it's important to know what you want to tell your audience. 

2. Identify your audience.  This may depend on your assignment but you need to know your audience to know what type of the information you are giving to them. Are you giving a speech to people who don't have any knowledge on the subject? Experts in the field? Or are you just speaking in front of your professor and fellow classmates? Understanding your audience helps you determine the scope of the detail in your speech and how you can keep the audience captivated. 

3. Create your claim (or thesis).  Just like writing a paper, your speech needs a thesis. Your claim is the main idea for your speech, and you will spend your speech providing evidence that supports your claim. 

4. Collect your evidence.  You need to support your claim with evidence. Evidence may include: surveys, statistics, anecdotal evidence, or even your own experience. 

5. Start determining how you will organize your speech.  Just like an essay, a speech has a similar structure. Your introduction, body, supporting evidence, and conclusion. It's helpful to write down your speech in a similar way you would write an essay. 

Giving Your Speech

Glossophobia, or the fear of public speaking, is very common. Below are some speech-giving tips that can help reduce your anxiety!

1. Talk to someone if you are feeling stressed.  Talk to a counselor, your professor, or just a friend. It's always helpful to talk about your worries and get support from people around. 

2. Know what you're talking about.  You will be more comfortable reciting your speech when you have some knowledge on the subject. While you are researching and preparing your speech, get some preliminary background information so you feel more confident with the subject. This also helps if you get any surprise questions from your audience!

3. Practice.  Practice, practice, practice. In the mirror, in front of some friends, in front of your classmates. Be comfortable with the words, the structure of your speech, and knowing the order in which you will present your main ideas. 

4. Organize your materials.  Disorganization the day of your speech can worsen your anxiety! Prepare the night before by setting out all of your demonstrative items (poster, powerpoint, pictures), make sure any notecards are in order, and set aside your clothes if you are dressing up for your speech. It's also important to make sure the technology in the room you are presenting in has everything you need (check with your professor)!

5. Study other speeches.  You don't need to study the great orators of the world to learn how to improve your speeches. TED Talks, interviews from people you look up to, and even watching YouTube videos can help improve your public speaking skills. 

6. Don't rely on Powerpoints/posters.  Items like Powerpoints and posters that you use for your speech are meant to support you and not be something that you read off of the entire time. If you can do without visual aids or if they are not required for your speech, you may decide not to use any at all. Try to have as little text as possible on them--you won't be able to read off of them and your audience will not be distracted reading the slides. 

7. Focus on your message.  Don't get caught up in little details, your stories, or any jokes you may have in your speech. Focus on your claim so your message is understood by your audience. 

8. Don't apologize.  Everyone makes a mistake. Technical difficulties can happen to every one. Don't let minor issues such as forgetting a part of your speech or getting a little mixed up derail your presentation. Your audience may not even notice the small mistake. If you feel like you need to make an apology, make a small one and continue on. You've got this!

9. Look around the room.  You should always give your audience your full attention. It might be a small classroom of a few students or a massive auditorium but your audience is very important. Focus on different parts of the room that you can spend a few seconds on during the speech. If you can't decide where to look, focus on a specific person. 

10. Be yourself.  You can reduce your anxiety by just being yourself. Involved your personality in how you present information; use your pitch and create a style that's meaningful and allows the audience to relate to you. And don't forget to smile!

• << Previous: Finding a Topic
• Next: Speech Anxiety >>
• Last Updated: Aug 18, 2021 1:37 PM
• URL: https://libguides.rbc.edu/c.php?g=309563

How to Write the Perfect Essay

06 Feb, 2024 | Blog Articles , English Language Articles , Get the Edge , Humanities Articles , Writing Articles

You can keep adding to this plan, crossing bits out and linking the different bubbles when you spot connections between them. Even though you won’t have time to make a detailed plan under exam conditions, it can be helpful to draft a brief one, including a few key words, so that you don’t panic and go off topic when writing your essay.

If you don’t like the mind map format, there are plenty of others to choose from: you could make a table, a flowchart, or simply a list of bullet points.

Discover More

Thanks for signing up, step 2: have a clear structure.

Think about this while you’re planning: your essay is like an argument or a speech. It needs to have a logical structure, with all your points coming together to answer the question.

Start with the basics! It’s best to choose a few major points which will become your main paragraphs. Three main paragraphs is a good number for an exam essay, since you’ll be under time pressure. 

If you agree with the question overall, it can be helpful to organise your points in the following pattern:

• YES (agreement with the question)
• AND (another YES point)
• BUT (disagreement or complication)

If you disagree with the question overall, try:

• AND (another BUT point)

For example, you could structure the Of Mice and Men sample question, “To what extent is Curley’s wife portrayed as a victim in Of Mice and Men ?”, as follows:

• YES (descriptions of her appearance)
• AND (other people’s attitudes towards her)
• BUT (her position as the only woman on the ranch gives her power as she uses her femininity to her advantage)

If you wanted to write a longer essay, you could include additional paragraphs under the YES/AND categories, perhaps discussing the ways in which Curley’s wife reveals her vulnerability and insecurities, and shares her dreams with the other characters. Alternatively, you could also lengthen your essay by including another BUT paragraph about her cruel and manipulative streak.

Of course, this is not necessarily the only right way to answer this essay question – as long as you back up your points with evidence from the text, you can take any standpoint that makes sense.

Step 3: Back up your points with well-analysed quotations

You wouldn’t write a scientific report without including evidence to support your findings, so why should it be any different with an essay? Even though you aren’t strictly required to substantiate every single point you make with a quotation, there’s no harm in trying.

A close reading of your quotations can enrich your appreciation of the question and will be sure to impress examiners. When selecting the best quotations to use in your essay, keep an eye out for specific literary techniques. For example, you could highlight Curley’s wife’s use of a rhetorical question when she says, a”n’ what am I doin’? Standin’ here talking to a bunch of bindle stiffs.” This might look like:

The rhetorical question “an’ what am I doin’?” signifies that Curley’s wife is very insecure; she seems to be questioning her own life choices. Moreover, she does not expect anyone to respond to her question, highlighting her loneliness and isolation on the ranch.

Other literary techniques to look out for include:

• Tricolon – a group of three words or phrases placed close together for emphasis
• Tautology – using different words that mean the same thing: e.g. “frightening” and “terrifying”
• Parallelism – ABAB structure, often signifying movement from one concept to another
• Chiasmus – ABBA structure, drawing attention to a phrase
• Polysyndeton – many conjunctions in a sentence
• Asyndeton – lack of conjunctions, which can speed up the pace of a sentence
• Polyptoton – using the same word in different forms for emphasis: e.g. “done” and “doing”
• Alliteration – repetition of the same sound, including assonance (similar vowel sounds), plosive alliteration (“b”, “d” and “p” sounds) and sibilance (“s” sounds)
• Anaphora – repetition of words, often used to emphasise a particular point

Don’t worry if you can’t locate all of these literary devices in the work you’re analysing. You can also discuss more obvious techniques, like metaphor, simile and onomatopoeia. It’s not a problem if you can’t remember all the long names; it’s far more important to be able to confidently explain the effects of each technique and highlight its relevance to the question.

Step 4: Be creative and original throughout

Anyone can write an essay using the tips above, but the thing that really makes it “perfect” is your own unique take on the topic. If you’ve noticed something intriguing or unusual in your reading, point it out – if you find it interesting, chances are the examiner will too!

Creative writing and essay writing are more closely linked than you might imagine. Keep the idea that you’re writing a speech or argument in mind, and you’re guaranteed to grab your reader’s attention.

It’s important to set out your line of argument in your introduction, introducing your main points and the general direction your essay will take, but don’t forget to keep something back for the conclusion, too. Yes, you need to summarise your main points, but if you’re just repeating the things you said in your introduction, the body of the essay is rendered pointless.

Think of your conclusion as the climax of your speech, the bit everything else has been leading up to, rather than the boring plenary at the end of the interesting stuff.

To return to Of Mice and Men once more, here’s an example of the ideal difference between an introduction and a conclusion:

Introduction

In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men , Curley’s wife is portrayed as an ambiguous character. She could be viewed either as a cruel, seductive temptress or a lonely woman who is a victim of her society’s attitudes. Though she does seem to wield a form of sexual power, it is clear that Curley’s wife is largely a victim. This interpretation is supported by Steinbeck’s description of her appearance, other people’s attitudes, her dreams, and her evident loneliness and insecurity.

Overall, it is clear that Curley’s wife is a victim and is portrayed as such throughout the novel in the descriptions of her appearance, her dreams, other people’s judgemental attitudes, and her loneliness and insecurities. However, a character who was a victim and nothing else would be one-dimensional and Curley’s wife is not. Although she suffers in many ways, she is shown to assert herself through the manipulation of her femininity – a small rebellion against the victimisation she experiences.

Both refer back consistently to the question and summarise the essay’s main points. However, the conclusion adds something new which has been established in the main body of the essay and complicates the simple summary which is found in the introduction.

Hannah is an undergraduate English student at Somerville College, University of Oxford, and has a particular interest in postcolonial literature and the Gothic. She thinks literature is a crucial way of developing empathy and learning about the wider world. When she isn’t writing about 17th-century court masques, she enjoys acting, travelling and creative writing. 

Recommended articles

Demystifying the UK University Application Process for Educators

The UCAS applications process for UK universities can appear daunting for students and teachers alike. With that said, educators play an important role in students’ success with their university applications. As such, it is paramount that educators understand the UK...

How to Secure Strong References for Your UCAS Applications

References are a crucial component of your UCAS application, offering a holistic view of your potential as an applicant.  Your application will ask for references who can testify to your potential as a student and what you have to offer the university or college...

A Day in the Life of a History Student

It’s been over three years since I first sent my UCAS application off to Oxford University, meeting the early submission deadline by a slither and breathing a sigh of relief. Now, as a third-year History finalist on the cusp of exams, I can safely say that these...

Taking essays to the next level: how to write in your own voice

It’s not unusual to get an essay back from a teacher with the feedback, “write in your own voice,” scrawled across the top. But it’s easier said than done. Here you are, writing your own thoughts and your own opinions, all according to the directions of the assignment; how can it not be in your own voice? What your teacher is actually telling you is that your writing sounds too formulaic, too stilted, or too bland. Sure, you’ve learned how to write using proper grammar and you’ve learned how to formulate and format your thoughts into an essay, but now you need to take it to the next level. Don’t stick to the formula; write in your own voice. Here are a few tips for getting started.

1. Word vomit

This sounds graphic, but what I mean is that once you have a topic chosen and you’re getting started, just let it loose. Start writing whatever comes into your head, as naturally as it comes. Get your ideas out. Once you’ve got some material, rearrange, cut, and edit, but preserve some of the vivacity of that original brainstorm. When you are brainstorming, you usually have more sentence variety and more natural turns of phrase. Use those moments to let your voice shine.

2. Write as you speak—almost

If you’re stuck on this concept, ask a friend or your teacher (or yourself, if you’re good at multitasking) to type what you saw as you explain your topic in your own words. Most people are comfortable speaking aloud; they’re not encumbered by grammatical errors or thinking about elevating their vocabulary. They speak plainly and clearly. Try transcribing some of that naturalness and using it in your academic writing. The key is always to be clear, and what’s clearer than a good, simple explanation.

3. Leave out the slang, the idioms, and the cliches

As much as you want to bring some personality to your academic writing, you don’t want to make it seem too voicey . By that I mean, you don’t want your reader to start to think of your writing voice as a character. It’s still an academic essay, after all. Avoid going too far into colloquialism by leaving out any slang, idiomatic expressions, or cliches. Don’t call subjects or characters guys , don’t say that something was cool , don’t say that he was mad as all get out. These phrases, while they add some color to your sentences, undercut your good ideas and lose you the credibility you are trying to gain as a writer.

4. Read editorials and opinion pieces

If you’re grasping for inspiration, try reading editorials or opinion pieces in the newspaper. These are researched “essays” grounded in the writer’s take on a topic—just like an essay. They often employ strong visuals, humor, satire, sarcasm, personality—all while maintaining an elevated tone and making an organized, well written argument. Try and dissect the moves those writers are making and incorporate them into your repertoire.

5. Know your audience

Tone is key in any piece of writing. It’s important to strike the right notes, especially if you are trying to find your writerly voice. Your audience is often your teacher or your class. Keep that in mind. They are reading this to see if you’ve given thought to some material. They want to hear your opinion. They want to evaluate your skills. They want to be entertained. Knowing that, how might you lead them through your argument? How might you illustrate one point, then the next? Show your audience that you are a comfortable expert on this topic. Your writing self should sound like you—but a version of your that’s been edited for clarity, organization, and cleverness.

This is a very difficult skill, and it’s one that even professional writers are constantly working on. The best practice is writing—in all kinds of forms. Creative writing can help you experiment with description and figurative language in ways that you can bring into your analytical writing. Take every assignment, no matter the genre, as an opportunity to find your voice, further develop your ear, and become something that all writers aspire to be: someone who uses language with precision so that anytime anyone reads something they’ve composed they’re moved to say, yes, I never thought of it that way but that’s exactly right—I know just what they mean.

Related Content

Speech And Debate

Speech Writing

Last updated on: Feb 9, 2023

How to Write a Speech - Outline With Example

By: Cordon J.

Reviewed By: Rylee W.

Published on: Sep 8, 2020

Giving a speech for a class, event or work can be nerve-wracking. However, writing an effective speech can boost your confidence level.

A speech is an effective medium to communicate your message and speech writing is a skill that has its advantages even if you are a student or a professional.

With careful planning and paying attention to small details, you can write a speech that will inform, persuade, entertain or motivate the people you are writing for.

If this is your first speech. Take all the time you need.

Like other skills, you can learn speech writing too.

Give yourself enough time to write and practice it several times for the best possible results.

On this Page

You have a message that you want people to hear or you are preparing a speech for a particular situation such as a commemorative speech.

No matter what the case, it is important to ensure that the speech is well structured or else you will fail to deliver your effective message. And you don’t want that, do you?

You can also explore our complete guide to  write a commemorative speech . Make sure to give the article a thorough read.

How to Create a Speech Outline?

Want to write a speech your audience will remember? A speech outline is a thing you should start with.

‘How to write a speech outline?’

A speech outline is very important in helping you sound more authoritative and in control. As you write your speech outline you will have to focus on how you will introduce yourself, your topic, and the points that you will be going to cover.

A speech outline will save a lot of your time and will help you organize your thoughts. It will make sure the speech is following a proper structure and format.

Before you start writing your own speech you need to know:

• WHO you are writing the speech for
• WHAT the speech will be going to cover
• HOW long it needs to be e.g if it is a 5-minute speech (then how many words in a 5-minute speech)

These speech tips will help you get on the right track from the start. Here is an example of how you can craft a speech outline.

Preparation

• Choose your topic and the main points that your speech will cover. Know your audience and get to know what they are looking for. Pay attention to their needs
• Define the purpose of the speech and properly organize it

Introduction

• A strong statement to grab the reader’s attention
• Refine the thesis statement
• State something that establishes credibility
• Provide your main idea and include some supporting statements.
• Examples and further details (if needed)
• Summarize the main points of the speech
• Closing statement
• Call to action

Paper Due? Why Suffer? That's our Job!

How to Write an Effective Speech?

‘How to write a graduation speech?’

‘How to write a speech for school?’

‘How to write a speech about yourself?’

Get your answers in the below sections.

Just like essays, the speech also follows three sections: Introduction, the main body, and conclusion.

However, unlike essays, a speech must be written to be heard as opposed to just being read. It is important to write a speech in a way that can grab the reader’s attention and helps in painting a mental image.

It is the opening statement of a speech. It is important to know how to start a speech that can grab the attention of the audience.

‘How to write a speech introduction?’

It should include a hook-grabber statement about your topic. It should end with a strong transition from a big idea of the introduction to the main body of the essay. Some great ways to begin your speech are, to begin with, a rhetorical question, a quote, or another strong statement.

Make sure the introduction is not more than one paragraph. This will ensure you do not spend much time on the background before getting to the main idea of the topic.

The introduction is a great chance to make sure your opening is memorable as this is the point when your audience will make up their mind about you.

The Main body

The majority of the speech should be spent presenting your thesis statement and supporting ideas in an organized way.

Avoid rambling as it will immediately lose your audience’s attention. No need to share everything, instead pick some points and stick to them throughout your speech.

Organize your points in a logical manner so they support and build on each other. Add as many points as needed to support the overall message of your speech.

State each point clearly and provide all the required information, facts, statistics, and evidence, to clarify each of your points.

It is a good idea to include your personal experiences to make your speech more interesting and memorable.

Another important thing to be kept in mind is the use of transition. The purpose of adding transition words is to improve the overall flow of the information and help the reader to understand the speech structure. Words like next, then, after, before, at that moment, etc. are the most commonly used transition words to make the whole writing less choppy and more interesting.

The conclusion should restate and summarize all the main points of the speech. Because the audience will most likely remember what they have heard last. Beautifully wrap up the whole speech and give something for the audience to think about.

For an extra element, close your speech by restating the introduction statement so it feels like a complete package.

A good approach to conclude your speech is to introduce a call to action. Encourage your audience to participate in the solution to the problem that you are discussing. Give your audience some direction on how they can participate.

Practice and more practice is key to a great speech so it is important that you read your speech and listen to yourself. When writing, take care of the required length also.

Speech Topics - Engaging Topics to Choose From

You feel relief when your teacher says you are free to choose your speech topic. Feel free to write about anything you want. The problem is students still feel stuck in choosing an effective speech topic. If you are one of them, here is a list of the best speech ideas to help you get through the process.

• What role do cats play in human’s lives
• How to improve communication disorders
• World’s fastest-growing country
• Today’s world pollution rate
• How to improve interpersonal skills
• Are paper books better than e-books
• Should the death penalty be abolished
• Should prisoners be allowed to vote
• Should voting be made compulsory
• Is it better to live together before marriage

These are some of the interesting topics that you can consider. However, if you are still not sure about the topic of your speech, you can explore our article on  informative speech topics  and pick any of your choices.

Tough Essay Due? Hire Tough Writers!

Speech Example

Stressing over on how to write a good speech? Speech examples are sure to be your best friend for effective speech writing and its effortless delivery.

Here is a sample speech example to help you get through your own speech writing process. Explore this example and get the answer on how to give a good speech.

Get Professional Help for Your Speech

If you are good at public speaking but lack writing skills or you do not have enough time to follow the mentioned points and write a speech, don't worry.

You can always contact us at 5StarEssays.com.

We have a highly qualified and amazing team of expert writers who can help you if you want to buy speeches online with high-quality content.

Contact our " write my essay " service with your requirements. Our essay writer will provide you with quality material that your audience will remember for a long time.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best introduction for a speech.

The best way to open a speech’s introduction is, to begin with, a story. Tell an inspiring story to your audience and connect it with your personal narrative.

What is the first step of speech writing?

The first step of writing a speech is to choose a topic. Choosing a good topic is important to have an engaging and great speech.

What are the five steps in speech writing?

Here are the five steps involved in writing a speech.

• Choose a topic.
• Investigate your audience.
• Built an outline.
• Rehearse the speech.
• Revise and finalize.

What are the types of speech delivery?

Here are the types of speech delivery.

• Extemporaneous

What are the two P’s required for good speech delivery?

The two P’s required for proper speech delivery are Preparation and Practice.

Cordon. is a published author and writing specialist. He has worked in the publishing industry for many years, providing writing services and digital content. His own writing career began with a focus on literature and linguistics, which he continues to pursue. Cordon is an engaging and professional individual, always looking to help others achieve their goals.

Was This Blog Helpful?

Keep reading.

• Informative Speech Topics - Interesting Ideas By Experts

• Commemorative Speech: Guide to Craft an Engaging Speech

• Persuasive Speech Topics - 150+ Topics for Students

• 50+ Demonstration Speech Ideas for Your Next Great Speech

• Impromptu Speech Topics - 150+ Interesting Ideas

• Debate Topics (2024) - Top 200+ Compelling Topics

• 100+ Motivational Speech Topics for an Inspirational Speech

• Extemporaneous Speech - How to Write One Successfully?

• Graduation Speech - Write Your Best Graduation Speech

People Also Read

• essay writing tips
• narrative essay outline
• personal essay
• apa vs mla format
• press release format

Burdened With Assignments?

Advertisement

• Homework Services: Essay Topics Generator

© 2024 - All rights reserved

• Admissions Essays
• Books and Manuscripts
• Business Proofreading and Editing
• Dissertations
• Editing Tools
• Personal Statements
• Professional Writing
• Proofreading and Editing
• Thesis Proposals
• Uncategorized
• Working From Home
• Writing Fiction
• Writing Guides

8 Tips to Make Your Writing Sound More Formal

Get 400 words proofread and edited for free

Here at ProofreadingPal , we get a lot of requests to “elevate tone,” “create a scholarly tone,” and “increase the formality,” and even “help this sound smart.” Truthfully, we cannot make you sound “smart.” There is no substitute for good ideas, but we can (and do) help you elevate your tone and make you sound like a bona fide professional-thinking person. Here are some handy tricks that you can use yourself.

• Avoid colloquial, informal words

I see a surprisingly high number of formal academic/business works that include words that are better left for the water cooler or over a spirited discussion of the merits of Michael Bay movies. Some words to avoid are “totally” (use “completely” instead), “basically” (just avoid it), “impact” (mostly as a verb. You shouldn’t say “that will impact me”), “wicked” (only use this when chatting in online games), and “cool” (this word can mean just about anything. Try to choose a more precise word). In general, avoid all slang words (e.g., rad, YOLO, heaps, guv). If in doubt, see if you could imagine your professor or boss using it. If not, avoid it.

• Proper use of “such as”

In formal writing, never use “like.” It’s probably the most commonly used feature of speech today for certain populations, but avoid it in formal writing. Compare:

Animals, like bears and tigers, are interesting. Animals, such as bears and tigers, are interesting.

See how much more formal the second sounds?

Get a free sample proofread and edit for your document. Two professional proofreaders will proofread and edit your document.

• Avoid contractions

Contractions such as “can’t,” “didn’t,” and “I’m” are purely a product of verbal speech. We speak in contractions, but the convention is that, for formal, non-fiction writing, we shouldn’t write in them. When writing a formal business letter or an academic essay, forego contractions. It’s easy to use the Word FIND function to seek them out and destroy them.

• Avoid clichés

  Common Formality Mistakes

 This guide wouldn’t be complete without a look at some common practices that people use to make their writing more formal that don’t work. Here are a few practices we end up having to correct time and time again.

5. Don’t use passive voice . Passive voice is wordy, but being formal has nothing to do with wordiness.

• Don’t use thesaurus words you don’t fully understand. Big words don’t make your writing sound more formal, and this can backfire when you pick a word that doesn’t mean what you think it means. Take the sentence, “I saw a red dog walking down the street.” Easy, right? But using too much of a thesaurus might cause you to create: “I consulted a bloodshot mongrel marching down the highway,” which clearly is not what you intended.
• Don’t be wordy.

In all writing, wherever possible, brevity is the soul of wit. (Even I can’t avoid clichés, but at least that’s Shakespeare.) That means, always keep your prose as simple as possible . You may think, “The item that we are discussing could be the solution we are looking for to solve our problem,” sounds better because it’s long, but it’ll just annoy your reader. “That is the solution to our problem,” is better.

• Don’t mangle your sentences with third person.

Some professors still insist their students use third person to make their writing sound more formal, but (and always check with your professor first) style guides such as APA (and us) recommend you use first or second person to prevent passive voice and ambiguous language. Take: “The researcher applied a qualitative approach to the study” for example. Who is the researcher? You or someone else? This is ambiguous. It’s better to say, “I will take a qualitative approach to the study,” and this doesn’t sound any less formal.

Happy writing, and good luck.

Get a Free Sample

We will get your free sample back in three to six hours!

We proofread documents 24/7 Support 888-833-8385

Customer Service

Get in touch.

ProofreadingPal LLC 105 Iowa Ave., Ste. 214 Iowa City, IA 52240

Call Us 888-833-8385

Live Customer Support Hours Sun.-Thurs. 8 a.m. to midnight CT and Fri.–Sat. 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT

Submit Documents 24/7

© 2010 - 2020 ProofreadingPal LLC - All Rights Reserved.

The Vocative Comma Is Important, People!  ·  September 25, 2022

8 Tips to Make Your Writing Sound More Formal  ·  August 29, 2022

Worlde Tips and Tricks  ·  March 10, 2022

Worlde Tips and Tricks  ·  February 25, 2022

Top 4 Misspelled Words  ·  November 5, 2021

How to Capitalize Medicine  ·  October 1, 2021

How to Capitalize Medicine  ·  August 18, 2021

4 Fixes for Comment Boxes in MS Word  ·  January 17, 2021

How to Avoid Wordiness  ·  July 15, 2020

Write an Effective Blog Post  ·  June 9, 2020

Proofreading Services Rates  ·  April 19, 2020

How to Make Your Writing More Inclusive  ·  March 5, 2020

How to Make Your Writing More Inclusive  ·  February 27, 2020

Guide to Olde English  ·  December 27, 2019

Guide to Olde English  ·  December 26, 2019

Common Apostrophe Errors  ·  December 19, 2019

Guide to Olde English  ·  December 18, 2019

Capitalization in APA, Chicago, MLA, and AP  ·  August 27, 2019

Avoiding Common Capitalization Errors  ·  July 31, 2019

A Searing Reminder That Trump Is Unwell

His bizarre diatribe at the RNC shows why the pro-democracy coalition is so worried about beating him.

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.

Donald Trump’s bizarre diatribe at the Republican National Convention shows why the prodemocracy coalition is so worried about beating the GOP nominee—even if it means that Joe Biden must step down.

But first, here are three new stories from The Atlantic .

• It’s official: The Supreme Court ignores its own precedent.
• What the Microsoft outage reveals
• “Hillbilly” women will get no help from J. D. Vance.

Not Comparable

It’s been quite a year in politics, what with President Biden facing calls to drop out of the race and Trump having a meltdown in public after an assassination attempt and …

I’m sorry, did I say a year ? I meant a week .

So much has happened, and political events have become so freakish, that we can all be forgiven for losing our bearings a bit. For the past few days, I’ve felt like Homer Simpson after he accidentally turned a toaster into a time machine and came back to find that Ned Flanders was the unchallenged dictator of the world.

But in the midst of all this, two things remain clear:

• Joe Biden is showing significant signs of frailty and faces real opposition within his party to continuing his campaign.
• Donald Trump is emotionally unwell.

These are not comparable problems.

Nor did Biden and Trump have equally bad weeks. Biden is facing a revolt in his own party and is now recovering from COVID. Trump was nearly killed by a young loner .

Biden claims to still be in the race, an answer many elected Democrats have refused to accept. My colleague Russell Berman wrote yesterday afternoon that Senator Peter Welch of Vermont believes that the Biden campaign may be at an end; more telling is that Russell described Welch as the only member of the upper chamber making that argument, but from the time that Russell wrote that article to this afternoon, three more sitting Democratic U.S. senators— Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Jon Tester of Montana, and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico—called for Biden to step down.

The case for Biden leaving the race is evident to anyone who’s watched him over the past month. He seems to be no better in his public outings than he was during the debate, and has sometimes seemed worse. As I’ve said here , I don’t think that means he can’t run the country for the remainder of his term, but Trump is going to be fired up and on the road, and I doubt that Biden can match that level of engagement, which could be decisive in a race that will be won on slim margins in a handful of states. I suspect that the people voting to save democracy would vote for Biden if he were governing from a cryostatic tube, but the Democrats calling on him to wrap it up have perfectly valid fears that he could lose and take the down-ballot races with him.

Meanwhile, the Republican National Convention was a searing reminder that Trump is a vengeful autocrat with obvious mental deficits who has surrounded himself with a crew of vicious goons.

I approached Trump’s speech with genuine curiosity. I was for most of my life a working political scientist, and I have written speeches for politicians; I think I know a good one when I see one. So I watched last night to see if Trump, tamed by a brush with death, would strike a new tone or, at the very least, try to make peace with one of his most hated enemies: the teleprompter.

No chance. To be fair, some people who watched the speech thought that the first 10 minutes or so, in which Trump recounted being injured, were good, even thoughtful. I thought they were terrible; although Trump and his people have emphasized Trump’s defiance in the moment after he was hurt, his blow-by-blow account of the incident came across to me as creepy and solipsistic rather than brave.

Contrast that with Ronald Reagan, the previous president injured in an attempt on his life. Karen Tumulty of The Washington Post reminded us today that Reagan appeared before Congress a month after he was nearly killed. (His injuries were severe and life-threatening.) Reagan was on the Hill to talk about the economy, but he started by thanking the country for its prayers and good wishes, noting a cute letter he got from a child while he was in the hospital, and paying tribute to the people injured alongside him. This digression took all of four paragraphs, a matter of a few minutes. “Now, let’s talk about getting spending and inflation under control and cutting your tax rates,” he then said. Trump, however, droned on about how much the human ear can bleed, while the screens behind him showed huge pictures of blood on his face. He then went over to the equipment owned by Corey Comperatore, the volunteer firefighter killed in the attack, and kissed the helmet. Some in the crowd may have loved it, but I prefer a bit more stoicism in national leaders; I’ve always thought that Trump’s penchant for hugging and kissing flags was weird, and planting a kiss on the headgear of a dead man was even weirder.

And then things really went off the rails. If you didn’t sit through it, I can’t blame you; it was the longest presidential-nomination-acceptance speech on record. Basking in the friendliest audience he will ever find on this planet, Trump couldn’t help himself. He was supposed to be like a band at a concert doing a tight set, playing some favorites for the loyal fans, introducing a little new material, and gaining a wider audience. Instead, he blew the chance and ran overtime as he noodled, improvised, and even mangled some of his classics.

The speech wasn’t written that way, of course, but Trump can’t stick to a script. You can always tell when Trump is trying to read the teleprompter: His shoulders tense up, he cocks his head and squints, and he rushes through words he has clearly never seen before. It doesn’t help that Trump’s writers stuff his speeches with baroque constructions that are supposed to be soaring and majestic but that always end up sounding more like dollar-store Churchill imitations. Trump struggles with these complex sentences, and then he abandons them—and that is when the real Trump comes out, in all his whiny and aggrieved glory.

I do not have the space (or the endurance) to relive those moments with you, but they were the ramblings of a man who has serious psychological problems . All of it was on display last night: rage, paranoia, pettiness, desolating selfishness.

I’m always sorry to leave readers with these sorts of observations just before a weekend, but much of the media response to Biden’s troubles and Trump’s madness has been mired in equivalences that obscure what’s happening to both men, and what’s at stake for the nation. (As I was writing this, for example, a Washington Post newsletter arrived in my inbox and told me that the GOP had just wrapped up “an energized, focused convention.” That’s an interesting description of a Republican gathering that featured a sex worker, Hulk Hogan, and a spaced-out Trump.)

Yes, Biden is old, and he’s having trouble communicating. The people expressing serious concerns about him have good reason to worry about both his health and his ability to defeat Trump. He might be out of the race by next week. But Trump is mentally and emotionally unwell. He and his valet, J. D. Vance, are not going anywhere. The real tragedy is that, in a serious country, Biden might step down without incident, and a normal race would continue, because decent people would have banished Trump from the public square long ago.

• David Frum: This crew is totally beatable.
• The new Trump is always the old Trump.

Today’s News

• A software update from the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike caused a digital outage that disrupted airlines, health care, shipping, and many other services on Friday.
• A federal appeals court temporarily blocked a Biden-administration student-loan-repayment plan, leading the Department of Education to pause payments for 8 million borrowers.
• Depending on his recovery from COVID-19, Biden expects to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when the latter is in Washington next week to address a joint session of Congress.
• The Books Briefing : Emma Sarappo explores the books that keep readers awake at night .
• Atlantic Intelligence : Damon Beres asks: What happens when a bot gets too good at its job ?

Explore all of our newsletters here.

Evening Read

How I Faked My Way to Rock Stardom

By J. R. Patterson

Before John Fogerty’s life became mine, there was cold. In November 2012, I was 22 and had left the family farm in Manitoba to find work in the oil fields of Alberta. I arrived during a bust and, because work was not immediate, spent the days driving my Ford F-150 around the country surrounding Calgary, listening to AM radio and my small collection of CDs—a few Rolling Stones albums, some outlaw-country records, and the complete discography of Creedence Clearwater Revival. The Ford was what they call a SuperCab, with a rear backward-opening half door and a narrow bench for a back seat. At night, lacking the money for a hotel, I would find a quiet place to park, crawl into the back seat, and stretch out on the bench, my clothes wrapped around my boots for a pillow. I kept my guitars—an acoustic Martin and an electric Epiphone Les Paul—beside me to warm them, lest they crack in the cold. The nights weren’t kind to me either, and I often woke up shivering, the world outside covered with frost or snow. To allay myself, I’d run the engine for a while and put on Creedence.

Read the full article.

More From The Atlantic

• The Biden campaign just can’t stop meme-ing.
• The fakest populism you ever saw
• Whoops! The internet broke.

Culture Break

Watch. Twisters , in theaters, squeezes a lot of juice out of the weather-driven disaster flick.

Read. In Yasmin Zaher’s debut novel, The Coin , the promise of exclusivity is a facade .

Play our daily crossword.

Some of you may have noticed that I don’t particularly admire Trump’s running mate, Senator J. D. Vance of Ohio. (Vance has noticed it too.) I wrote about his RNC speech here . I remain appalled at Vance’s casual betrayal of the people he claims to care about, the poor and working-class whites he grew up with in Ohio.

Perhaps I feel this more keenly because I grew up in a working-class town in Massachusetts, and I think working people deserve a better spokesperson than an opportunistic plutocrat like Vance. You may find it striking to think of New England as a depressed area; people who are not from the region probably think of it as a lovely expanse of college greens and church steeples and foliage. And it is—but much of New England was once home to mills and factories that produced shoes, textiles, and even military swords. (The bronze doors of the U.S. Capitol’s House wing were cast in 1903 in my hometown of Chicopee.) By the late 1970s, many of those workplaces, abandoned as industries moved out of the Northeast and sometimes out of the United States, were rotting hulks.

If you’d like to read a memoir that shows what it was like to grow up in Massachusetts in those days, I’d suggest Townie: A Memoir , by Andre Dubus III, who is near my age and grew up in a mill town much like mine. It’s not a pretty read, but it is evocative—so much so that some passages made me wince. I can affirm that it captures the reality of growing up in a part of America, far from Vance’s hometown, that was also plagued by dysfunction and decline.

When you buy a book using a link in this newsletter, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting The Atlantic .

About the Author

More Stories

A Candidate, Not a Cult Leader

Hillbilly Excuses

Forgot Your Password?

New to The Nation ? Subscribe

Print subscriber? Activate your online access

Current Issue

After Trump’s Speech, It’s Absurd to Suggest He Can’t Be Beaten

Trump’s surreal, subdued, and unfocused address gave Democrats an opening to turn the tide of this campaign.

Donald Trump arrives to speak during the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Thursday, July 18, 2024.

M ilwaukee— There can be no doubt that Donald Trump united the GOP delegates, alternates, and hangers-on who gathered at the Republican National Convention here on Thursday night to witness his presidential nomination acceptance speech , the culmination of an evening that also featured Hulk Hogan, Kid Rock and Dana White, the CEO of the mixed martial arts promotion company Ultimate Fighting Championship. Even the bedraggled supporters of Nikki Haley—who famously dismissed the former president as “ unstable and unhinged ” and announced that “I do not need to kiss the ring” of her rival for the party’s nod—went along with the former United Nations ambassador in offering Trump a “strong,” if humiliating, endorsement.

But there was something off about the night that was supposed to signal Trump’s triumph.

Everyone else did their part. Speaker after speaker hailed Trump as “a hero,” “a tough guy,” “a champion,” “a gladiator” and an “American badass.” The Rev. Franklin Graham announced , “Last Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, President Trump had a near-death experience. No question. But God spared his life.” When Trump recalled last week’s assassination attempt, he told the crowd, “I’m not supposed to be here tonight.” They responded , “Yes, you are!” But after that compelling moment, the expectation was that Trump would launch into an epic address.

That never happened.

Instead, Trump delivered a rambling 93-minute speech (by far the longest convention acceptance speech in history) that was strangely subdued—”much more muted than usual,” observed the Associated Press—and unfocused. The former president spun off in so many directions that the technicians running his Teleprompter struggled, without much success, to keep up with the twists and turns. The coherence and natural flow Trump brought to his acceptance speeches at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland and on the grounds of the White House in 2020 were long gone.

The official line on this year’s speech was that, after the traumatic events of last Saturday, the nominee and his team had decided to tear up his anticipated remarks and prepare a new kind of Trump speech. The candidate, we were told , was going to position himself as a unifier who was prepared to bring a divided country together.

But the speech didn’t deliver. Through much of the night, Trump spoke almost in a monotone, rarely raising his voice. There were some relatively poetic appeals woven into the text, including a section that read, “As Americans, we are bound together by a single fate. We rise together or we fall apart.” But, for the most part, Trump delivered a supremely self-congratulatory acceptance address, a “greatest hits” presentation cribbed from his similarly jumbled rallies. He even included the weird references to fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter—”the late, great Hannibal Lecter. He’d love to have you for dinner”—that have caused actor Anthony Hopkins, who played Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs , to pronounce himself “ shocked and appalled ” by Trump’s admiration.

Of course, there was the usual slurry of gripes about the reelection race he didn’t win and the Democratic administration that succeeded him. And there were the even more usual lies, misstatements, and errors of fact—like the section of the speech where Trump congratulated Scott Walker on the “very nice job” he was doing as governor of Wisconsin, seemingly forgetting that Walker was ousted from that job six years ago.

Yet the crowd did not care. Trump was constantly interrupted by shouts of “Trump! Trump! Trump!” and “We love you!”

This was Donald Trump’s convention. And that was enough for him. Instead of reaching out beyond the hall to Americans who are still uncertain about his candidacy for a second term, the man who lost the 2020 popular vote by 7 million ballots was content to bask in the applause of the party faithful, welcoming and encouraging the adulation that was directed his way on the last night of a four-day love fest where speaker after speaker pledged absolute loyalty to his candidacy.

With his ego very much intact, Trump made it clear that he believed that he merited the applause. “I am the one saving democracy for the people of our country,” he announced early in the speech.

The Nation Weekly

In a narrow sense, Trump did have something to celebrate.

After a decade of having to wrestle with “Never Trump” Republicans who openly rejected him, and with the far greater community of “if it must be Trump, so be it” Republicans who grudgingly supported him, the alleged billionaire and convicted felon 34 times over finally had the leaders of the Grand Old Party precisely where he wanted them: cheering his every word with the bleary-eyed enthusiasm of the MAGA cultists he has encouraged them to become. Even when he didn’t deliver on the promise of a historic address, they acted as if he had.

This is the peculiar twist that the 2024 Republican National Convention has put on American politics.

There were few if any pretenses to traditional Republicanism, to the Grand Old Party, its history or its values. The loyalty of this convention was to a man, not a party.

That inside-the-bubble approach to politics gives Democrats, dispirited and in disarray because of the conflict over President Biden’s uncertain prospects, an opening that could prove to be politically consequential. They can speak, more loudly than ever, about the problem with a cult-of-personality politics that has very little vision for America beyond Trump’s recitation of 2016 and 2020 slogans: “Drill, baby, drill!” and “Close our borders!” and “I could stop wars with a telephone call.”

If Thursday night’s speech is any indication, the “vision thing” is going to be a problem for Trump once the convention ends and the home stretch of the campaign begins.

Gone are the days when Trump—whose personal favorability ratings stand at a dismal 42.2 percent in the Real Clear Politics survey of recent polls—could rely on the cohesive, if wrong-headed, Republican vision of former House Speaker Paul Ryan and similarly serious conservatives to fill in the blanks and secure his candidacy. Ryan, whose support was critical to narrowly winning the state of Wisconsin for Trump in 2016, wasn’t even at this year’s GOP convention—even though his hometown of Janesville is just 60 miles away from the Fiserv Forum.

Trump announced on Thursday night that he would be “a president for all of America.” But that made-for-TV appeal from a former reality-TV host doesn’t match reality. While this week’s Associated Press poll found that 70 percent of Americans—including 65 percent of Democrats—thought that President Biden should end his candidacy, a striking 57 percent of Americans—including 26 percent of Republicans and 51 percent of independents—also want Trump to exit the race.

By Withdrawing in Favor of Kamala Harris, Joe Biden Proves That Only the GOP Is a Personality Cult By Withdrawing in Favor of Kamala Harris, Joe Biden Proves That Only the GOP Is a Personality Cult

How a human rights lawyer went from hero to house arrest how a human rights lawyer went from hero to house arrest.

Feature / James North

Why Are Presidential Assassins Such Sad Sacks? Why Are Presidential Assassins Such Sad Sacks?

Zack Budryk

Exclusive: Is Kamala the One? Exclusive: Is Kamala the One?

Trump’s numbers in a race against the Democratic nominee, be it Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris, may tick up a bit in coming days. That’s predictable after a week where Americans have witnessed an assassination attempt on Trump, the selection of a vice presidential nominee, and a reasonably successful convention—as well as the apparent unraveling of Biden’s reelection bid.

But the fundamentals of the 2024 race were not changed by Trump’s address on Thursday night. The promise of a new message for his third campaign went unmet.

To win in November, Trump needs more than the support of the party loyalists who literally attached bandages to their ears in order to mimic the look of the former president, whose upper ear was injured in the assassination attempt. (“The ears are the bloodiest part,” Trump informed his audience on Thursday.)

In this deeply divided country, it will require an absolutely united Republican Party outside the convention hall, as well as the overwhelming support of independents who have traditionally leaned Republican. Yet Trump’s retread message is unlikely to wow the doubters who cast unexpectedly high numbers of votes for Haley when she was in the race, and even after she left it . And the longtime Republicans who might draw those swing voters into the fold— the Ryans and Mitt Romneys and Cindy McCains—were far from the convention hall in Milwaukee. They won’t show up for him on the campaign trail this fall. In fact, some of the most prominent of their number will very probably hit the trail for the Democratic ticket.

Former US Representative Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican rising star from Illinois, warns that Trump would “hurt anyone or anything in pursuit of power.” Kinzinger endorsed Biden weeks ago, and would almost certainly back a Harris-led ticket.

Losing Republicans like Kinzinger and Ryan, who now dismisses Trump as an “authoritarian narcissist” rather than a “conservative” and who promises to write in an alternative candidate, is a serious matter. These aren’t Never Trump adventurers who jumped off the Trump train before the 2016 election and never got back on. These are people who once campaigned for Trump and were critical to his success in the only partisan race he ever won.

The Republican Party that made Trump the president in 2016 is gone. It has been replaced over the past eight years by the Party of Trump that was on display in Milwaukee Fiserv Forum this week.

While the former president succeeded in uniting a convention, he did not unite a nation. He did not quell concerns about his extremist record on everything from abortion to cutting taxes for the rich. And his announcing, “The leader of the United Auto Workers should be fired immediately,” isn’t likely to garner much favor with workers who have come to recognize UAW President Shawn Fain as a determined. and strikingly successful champion of their interests.

Nor will Trump’s tepid and unsteady appeals to vague notions of unity be sufficient to cause Americans to forget the chaos and conflict that were associated with his presidency. Smooth words on a Thursday night in Milwaukee won’t calm those who are concerned by Trump’s recent talk of governing as a dictator , or diminish the threat posed by the Project 2025 scheme to remake the federal government in Trump’s image, and as a plaything for the plutocrats of Wall Street.

Trump did his victory lap this week. But the convention is now done, and the campaign—as confusing and uncertain and unwritten as it may remain—is on. It will not be easy for either party. Democrats are in for plenty of highs and lows. But it is absurd to suggest that Trump’s opposition lacks the openings it will need to win.

Beating Trump won’t be any easier than it was in 2020. But Democrats are better positioned than the pundits will tell you to run against the man and what has become of the Republican Party— because, while the GOP is now a cult of personality, the United States is not.

• Submit a correction
• Send a letter to the editor
• Reprints & permissions

Thank you for reading The Nation

We hope you enjoyed the story you just read, just one of the many incisive, deeply-reported articles we publish daily. Now more than ever, we need fearless journalism that shifts the needle on important issues, uncovers malfeasance and corruption, and uplifts voices and perspectives that often go unheard in mainstream media.

Throughout this critical election year and a time of media austerity and renewed campus activism and rising labor organizing, independent journalism that gets to the heart of the matter is more critical than ever before. Donate right now and help us hold the powerful accountable, shine a light on issues that would otherwise be swept under the rug, and build a more just and equitable future.

For nearly 160 years, The Nation has stood for truth, justice, and moral clarity. As a reader-supported publication, we are not beholden to the whims of advertisers or a corporate owner. But it does take financial resources to report on stories that may take weeks or months to properly investigate, thoroughly edit and fact-check articles, and get our stories into the hands of readers.

Donate today and stand with us for a better future. Thank you for being a supporter of independent journalism.

MILWAUKEE — No one doubts that Donald Trump united the Republican delegates, alternates and hangers on who gathered in Milwaukee Thursday night to witness acceptence of the nomination of the Republican Party on a program that featured Hulk Hogan, Kid Rock and the CEO of the mixed martial arts promotion company Ultimate Fighting Championship . Even the bedraggled supporters of Nikki Haley – who famously dismissed the former president as “unstable and unhinged” and announced that “I do not need to kiss the ring” of her rival for the party’s nod – joined the former United Nations Ambassador in giving   Trump their “strong,” if humiliating, endorsement.

Speaker after speaker hailed Trump as “a hero,” “a tough guy,” “a champion,” “a gladiator” and an “American Bad Ass.” The Rev. Franklin Graham announced that, “Last Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, President Trump had a near-death experience. No question. But God spared his life.” When Trump recalled the assassination attempt, he told the crowd, “I’m not supposed to be here tonight.” They responded, “Yes, you are.”

So it went with a rambling, oddly subdued speech — “much more muted than usual,” observed the Associated Press. Through much of the night, Trump spoke almost in a monotone, rarely raising his voice. The crowd didn’t care. Trump was constantly interrupted by screams of “Trump! Trump! Trump!” and “We love you!”

By any and every measure, this really was Donald Trump’s convention and he was basking in it, welcoming and encouraging the cheers, embracing the adulation on the last night of a four-day love fest where speaker after speaker pledged absolute loyalty to his candidacy.

And Trump made it clear that he thought that he deserved it all.

“I am the one saving democracy for the people of our country,” the candidate announced early in a long and congratulatory acceptance speech.

After a decade of having to wrestle with “Never Trump” Republicans who openly rejected him, and with the far greater community of “If It Must Be Trump, So Be It” Republicans, who grudgingly supported him, the alleged billionaire and multiply-convicted felon finally had the Grand Old Party where he wanted it: cheering him with the bleary-eyed enthusiasm of the MAGA cultists he has encouraged them to become. 

This is the twist that the 2024 Republican National Convention has put on American politics.

There are no longer any pretenses to traditional Republicanism, to the Grand Old Party, to history or to values. The loyalty is to a man, not a party. And that gives Democrats, dispirited and in disarray because of the conflict over President Biden’s uncertain prospects, an opening. They can speak, more loudly than ever, about the problem with a cult-of-personality politics that has very little vision for America — beyond Trump’s recitation of 2016 and 2020 bumber sticker slogans: “Drill Baby Drill!” and “Close Our Borders” and “I Could Stop Wars With a Telephone Call.” Of course, there was the usual slurry of gripes about the reelection race he didn’t win and the Democratic administration that succeeded him. And there were the even more usual errors — like the section of the speech where Trump repeatedly gave shoutouts to the governor of Wisconsin, Democrat Tony Evers, who wasn’t present. 

The vision thing going to be a problem for Trump once the convention ends and the campaign begins.

Gone are the days when Trump — whose personal favorability ratings remains dismal: 42.2 percent, in the Real Clear Politics survey of recent polls — could rely on the coherent, if wrong-headed Republican vision of former House Speaker Paul Ryan and similarly serious conservartives to fill in the blanks and secure his candidacy. Ryan, whose support was critical to narrowly winning the state of Wisconsin for the GOP in 2016, wasn’t even at this year’s GOP convention–despite the fact that his hometown of Janesville is just 60 miles away from the Fiserv Forum where Trump announced on Thursday night that he would be “a president for all of America.”

For his part, Ryan has announced that he won’t be voting for Trump in 2024. The same goes for Utah Senator Mitt Romney, Ryan’s president running mate on the party’s 2012 presidential ticket. Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence, who survived the wrath of Trump backers when he rejected their efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, now says, “ It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year.”

But that made-for-TV appeal from a former reality-TV doesn’t match reality. While this week’s Associated Press poll found that 70 percent of Americans – including 65 percent of Democrats – thought that President Biden should end his candidacy, a striking 57 of Americans – including 26 percent of Republicans and 51 percent of independents – want Trump to exit the race.

Trump’s numbers in a race against the Democratic nominee, be it Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris, make tick up a bit in coming days. That’s predictable after a week where America have witnessed an assassination attempt on Trump, the selection of a vice presidential nominee and a successful Party convention – as well as the unraveling of Biden’s bid.

But the fundamentals of the 2024 race have not changed. To win in November, Trump needs more than the support of the party loyalists who literally attached bandages to their ears in order to mimic the look of the former president, whose upper ear was injured in the assassination attempt. It will require as absolutely united Republican Party outside the convention hall, as well as the overwhelming support of independents who have traditionally leaned Republican. Yet, the Republican Party that appealed to those slightly swingy voters is no more. And the long-time Republicans who might draw them into the fold – the Ryans and Romneys and Cindy McCain’s — were far from the convention hall in Milwaukee. They won’t show up for him on the campaign trail this fall. In fact, some of the most prominent of their number will very probably hit the trail for the Democratic ticket.

Former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican rising star from Illinois, warns that Trump would “hurt anyone or anything in pursuit of power.” Kinzinger endorsed Biden weeks ago, and would almost certainly back a Harris-led ticket.

Losing Republicans like Kinzinger and Ryan, who dismisses Trump as an “authoritarian narcissist” rather than a “conservative” and promises to write-in an alternative candidate, is a serious matter. These aren’t “Never Trump” adventurers who jumped off the Trump train before the 2016 election and never got back on. These are people who once campaigned for Trump and were critical to his success in the only partisan race he ever won.

The Republican Party that made Trump the president in 2016 is gone. It has over the past eight years been replaced by the Party of Trump. And, despite the fact that the former president has united a convention in Milwaukee, this is not the party of a united American electorate. There is plenty of dissent and division, much of it a reaction to Trump’s extremist record on everything from abortion to cutting taxes for the rich. To be sure, Trump tried to position himself as a more moderate and appealing contender in his acceptance speech Thursday night. But his appeals to XXX won’t cause Americans to forget the chaos and conflict that were associated with his presidency. Smooth words on a Thursday night in Milwaukee won’t make Trump’s recent talk of governing as a dictator, or diminish the threat posed by the 2025 scheme to remake the federal government in Trump’s image and as a plaything for the plutocrats of Wall Street.

Trump did his victory lap this week. But the convention is now done, and the campaign – as confusing and uncertain and unwritten as it may remain – is on. It will not be easy for either party.

But it is absurd to suggest that Trump’s opposition lacks the openings it will need to win.

Beating Trump won’t be any easier than it was in 2020. But Democrats are better positioned that the pundits will tell you to run against the man and what has become of the Republican Party — because, while the GOP, is now a cult of personality, the United States is not.

More from The Nation

What would-be killers of the US commander in chief have in common is that they aren’t fervent ideologues; they’re outcasts.

Democrats acted as a proper political party, while Republicans remain in thrall to a dangerous authoritarian.

Joe Biden Cements His Legacy Joe Biden Cements His Legacy

Abandoning his reelection run and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris took courage and vision. Other top Dems are joining.

Kamala Harris for President Kamala Harris for President

Democrats deserve a candidate who can lift the whole ticket, not drag it down to defeat.

D.D. Guttenplan

Big Brother, 25 Big Brother, 25

Swas Ticker, Degeneration X.

OppArt / Marc Murphy and Gary Taxali

The Democrats Have a Two-Biden Problem The Democrats Have a Two-Biden Problem

And so does the president. As he decides his future, Joe Biden has to come to terms with the war within himself.

Latest from the nation

Why are presidential assassins such sad sacks, free, feminists and rebels, by withdrawing in favor of kamala harris, joe biden proves that only the gop is a personality cult, prison innovations, the peculiar legacy of e.e. cummings, editor's picks.

VIDEO: People in Denmark Are a Lot Happier Than People in the United States. Here’s Why.

Historical Amnesia About Slavery Is a Tool of White Supremacy

Speech Vs. Essay

How to Determine the Tone of an Essay

Writing a speech and writing an essay are two different experiences. While both the speech writer and the essay writer communicate information to a live audience or reading audience, the steps the writers go through to create the final version require varying methods, such as the choice of diction and dramatic effect.

Speech writing requires that a writer communicates a specific theme or topic to an audience. She uses a tone in her writing that produces an emotional effect on the audience. A presidential speech, for example, often uses a particular diction, full of patriotic, hopeful, grave or uplifting tones. While an essay also relies on tone for dramatic effect, the essay writer has less of a demand to please all members of her audience than the speech writer. For example, if you write a personal essay about a life-changing trip, you do not need for every person to admire your essay and the tone in which you compose it --- it is more written to make a point than to win over an audience. In general, a speech appeals to a specific audience in a certain place and time, while an essay communicates with a general audience.

Each essay format --- narrative, expository or personal --- follows a basic structure. It usually includes an introduction with a thesis statement, body paragraphs and a conclusion that synthesizes the information. A speech also has a particular format, with an introduction, examples and a conclusion, but the speech writer will often restate a point at the end of each section of the speech to ensure the audience is "with" him or her. Because the essayist understands that the writer can reread the last paragraph, or reread the entire essay again, he does not need to reiterate statements. Rather, an essay's structure relies on smooth transitions to the next theme.

Giving a Speech

The speech writer "performs" or delivers his speech in a way that gives his ideas, or themes, a particular meaning. For example, Martin Luther King wrote his "Dream" speech in the first-person "I" voice to produce an emotional impact on his listeners. In essay writing, a writer connects with her audience, whether live or on the page, without trying to win them over with her delivery.

Reading an Essay

An essay presenter only needs to look up from his paper every few minutes, while a person delivering a speech must deliver by memorization, only occasionally glancing at the page or screen. While an individual can read an essay either in an impassioned and enthusiastic or a sad and grave tone, the audience, in general, is more interested in hearing the quality of writing and information than the delivery, as they are for a speech.

Related Articles

How to Write an Introduction to an Analytical Essay

How to Establish Credibility in an Informative Speech

How to Write a Critical Analysis of a Speech

How to Analyze Expository Writing

How to Set Up a Rhetorical Analysis

How to Write an Essay in Conversation Style

How to Write a Speech About Someone I Admire

How to Write a Speech Essay

• Scholastic; Speechwriting With Karen Finney and Lou Giansante
• Inc.; Writing and Organizing a Winning Speech;Patricia Fripp; October 2000
• The University of Hong Kong Centre for Applied English Studies; Characteristics of Different Types of Essays
• Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences; Essay Structure; Elizabeth Abrams; 2000

Noelle Carver has been a freelance writer since 2009, with work published in "SSYK" and "The Wolf," two U.K. literary journals. Carver holds a Bachelor of Arts in literature from American University and a Master of Fine Arts in writing from The New School. She lives in New York City.

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base
• How to write an argumentative essay | Examples & tips

How to Write an Argumentative Essay | Examples & Tips

Published on July 24, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

An argumentative essay expresses an extended argument for a particular thesis statement . The author takes a clearly defined stance on their subject and builds up an evidence-based case for it.

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Upload your document to correct all your mistakes in minutes

Table of contents

When do you write an argumentative essay, approaches to argumentative essays, introducing your argument, the body: developing your argument, concluding your argument, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about argumentative essays.

You might be assigned an argumentative essay as a writing exercise in high school or in a composition class. The prompt will often ask you to argue for one of two positions, and may include terms like “argue” or “argument.” It will frequently take the form of a question.

The prompt may also be more open-ended in terms of the possible arguments you could make.

Argumentative writing at college level

At university, the vast majority of essays or papers you write will involve some form of argumentation. For example, both rhetorical analysis and literary analysis essays involve making arguments about texts.

In this context, you won’t necessarily be told to write an argumentative essay—but making an evidence-based argument is an essential goal of most academic writing, and this should be your default approach unless you’re told otherwise.

Examples of argumentative essay prompts

At a university level, all the prompts below imply an argumentative essay as the appropriate response.

Your research should lead you to develop a specific position on the topic. The essay then argues for that position and aims to convince the reader by presenting your evidence, evaluation and analysis.

• Don’t just list all the effects you can think of.
• Do develop a focused argument about the overall effect and why it matters, backed up by evidence from sources.
• Don’t just provide a selection of data on the measures’ effectiveness.
• Do build up your own argument about which kinds of measures have been most or least effective, and why.
• Don’t just analyze a random selection of doppelgänger characters.
• Do form an argument about specific texts, comparing and contrasting how they express their thematic concerns through doppelgänger characters.

Here's why students love Scribbr's proofreading services

Discover proofreading & editing

An argumentative essay should be objective in its approach; your arguments should rely on logic and evidence, not on exaggeration or appeals to emotion.

There are many possible approaches to argumentative essays, but there are two common models that can help you start outlining your arguments: The Toulmin model and the Rogerian model.

Toulmin arguments

The Toulmin model consists of four steps, which may be repeated as many times as necessary for the argument:

• Make a claim
• Provide the grounds (evidence) for the claim
• Explain the warrant (how the grounds support the claim)
• Discuss possible rebuttals to the claim, identifying the limits of the argument and showing that you have considered alternative perspectives

The Toulmin model is a common approach in academic essays. You don’t have to use these specific terms (grounds, warrants, rebuttals), but establishing a clear connection between your claims and the evidence supporting them is crucial in an argumentative essay.

Say you’re making an argument about the effectiveness of workplace anti-discrimination measures. You might:

• Claim that unconscious bias training does not have the desired results, and resources would be better spent on other approaches
• Cite data to support your claim
• Explain how the data indicates that the method is ineffective
• Anticipate objections to your claim based on other data, indicating whether these objections are valid, and if not, why not.

Rogerian arguments

The Rogerian model also consists of four steps you might repeat throughout your essay:

• Discuss what the opposing position gets right and why people might hold this position
• Highlight the problems with this position
• Present your own position , showing how it addresses these problems
• Suggest a possible compromise —what elements of your position would proponents of the opposing position benefit from adopting?

This model builds up a clear picture of both sides of an argument and seeks a compromise. It is particularly useful when people tend to disagree strongly on the issue discussed, allowing you to approach opposing arguments in good faith.

Say you want to argue that the internet has had a positive impact on education. You might:

• Acknowledge that students rely too much on websites like Wikipedia
• Argue that teachers view Wikipedia as more unreliable than it really is
• Suggest that Wikipedia’s system of citations can actually teach students about referencing
• Suggest critical engagement with Wikipedia as a possible assignment for teachers who are skeptical of its usefulness.

You don’t necessarily have to pick one of these models—you may even use elements of both in different parts of your essay—but it’s worth considering them if you struggle to structure your arguments.

Regardless of which approach you take, your essay should always be structured using an introduction , a body , and a conclusion .

Like other academic essays, an argumentative essay begins with an introduction . The introduction serves to capture the reader’s interest, provide background information, present your thesis statement , and (in longer essays) to summarize the structure of the body.

Hover over different parts of the example below to see how a typical introduction works.

The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education. The use of the internet in academic contexts is on the rise, and its role in learning is hotly debated. For many teachers who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. This concern, while understandable, is misguided. The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its critical benefits for students and educators—as a uniquely comprehensive and accessible information source; a means of exposure to and engagement with different perspectives; and a highly flexible learning environment.

The body of an argumentative essay is where you develop your arguments in detail. Here you’ll present evidence, analysis, and reasoning to convince the reader that your thesis statement is true.

In the standard five-paragraph format for short essays, the body takes up three of your five paragraphs. In longer essays, it will be more paragraphs, and might be divided into sections with headings.

Each paragraph covers its own topic, introduced with a topic sentence . Each of these topics must contribute to your overall argument; don’t include irrelevant information.

This example paragraph takes a Rogerian approach: It first acknowledges the merits of the opposing position and then highlights problems with that position.

Hover over different parts of the example to see how a body paragraph is constructed.

A common frustration for teachers is students’ use of Wikipedia as a source in their writing. Its prevalence among students is not exaggerated; a survey found that the vast majority of the students surveyed used Wikipedia (Head & Eisenberg, 2010). An article in The Guardian stresses a common objection to its use: “a reliance on Wikipedia can discourage students from engaging with genuine academic writing” (Coomer, 2013). Teachers are clearly not mistaken in viewing Wikipedia usage as ubiquitous among their students; but the claim that it discourages engagement with academic sources requires further investigation. This point is treated as self-evident by many teachers, but Wikipedia itself explicitly encourages students to look into other sources. Its articles often provide references to academic publications and include warning notes where citations are missing; the site’s own guidelines for research make clear that it should be used as a starting point, emphasizing that users should always “read the references and check whether they really do support what the article says” (“Wikipedia:Researching with Wikipedia,” 2020). Indeed, for many students, Wikipedia is their first encounter with the concepts of citation and referencing. The use of Wikipedia therefore has a positive side that merits deeper consideration than it often receives.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

An argumentative essay ends with a conclusion that summarizes and reflects on the arguments made in the body.

No new arguments or evidence appear here, but in longer essays you may discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your argument and suggest topics for future research. In all conclusions, you should stress the relevance and importance of your argument.

Hover over the following example to see the typical elements of a conclusion.

The internet has had a major positive impact on the world of education; occasional pitfalls aside, its value is evident in numerous applications. The future of teaching lies in the possibilities the internet opens up for communication, research, and interactivity. As the popularity of distance learning shows, students value the flexibility and accessibility offered by digital education, and educators should fully embrace these advantages. The internet’s dangers, real and imaginary, have been documented exhaustively by skeptics, but the internet is here to stay; it is time to focus seriously on its potential for good.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

• Ad hominem fallacy
• Post hoc fallacy
• Appeal to authority fallacy
• False cause fallacy
• Sunk cost fallacy

College essays

• Choosing Essay Topic
• Write a College Essay
• Write a Diversity Essay
• College Essay Format & Structure
• Comparing and Contrasting in an Essay

 (AI) Tools

• Grammar Checker
• Paraphrasing Tool
• Text Summarizer
• AI Detector
• Plagiarism Checker
• Citation Generator

An argumentative essay tends to be a longer essay involving independent research, and aims to make an original argument about a topic. Its thesis statement makes a contentious claim that must be supported in an objective, evidence-based way.

An expository essay also aims to be objective, but it doesn’t have to make an original argument. Rather, it aims to explain something (e.g., a process or idea) in a clear, concise way. Expository essays are often shorter assignments and rely less on research.

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

The majority of the essays written at university are some sort of argumentative essay . Unless otherwise specified, you can assume that the goal of any essay you’re asked to write is argumentative: To convince the reader of your position using evidence and reasoning.

In composition classes you might be given assignments that specifically test your ability to write an argumentative essay. Look out for prompts including instructions like “argue,” “assess,” or “discuss” to see if this is the goal.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2023, July 23). How to Write an Argumentative Essay | Examples & Tips. Scribbr. Retrieved July 22, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/academic-essay/argumentative-essay/

Is this article helpful?

Jack Caulfield

Other students also liked, how to write a thesis statement | 4 steps & examples, how to write topic sentences | 4 steps, examples & purpose, how to write an expository essay, get unlimited documents corrected.

✔ Free APA citation check included ✔ Unlimited document corrections ✔ Specialized in correcting academic texts

Elizabeth Buege

book editing and critiques

DON’T Write Like You Talk: Lesson #2 from Student Writing

This is post #2 in a series expanding the six writing & editing lessons that authors can take away from my writing students.

“This doesn’t contradict the first point as much as it appears to. While you should keep your writing natural and in your voice, you should also make sure that it stays clear and grammatically correct. I had some students who had no trouble writing in their own creative, engaging voices. However, they went a little too far and started to write what was practically stream-of-consciousness on some of their assignments. Not only was it too casual for academic work, it also ignored all conventions of keeping paragraphs on topic and avoiding run-on sentences. I’ve seen authors slip into something similar, so be careful! When you write, it’s good to use your own voice. Just make sure that you’re using your writing voice, not your speaking voice.” – Original post

Student problem #1: Run-on sentences and paragraphs

When my students had something to say on a topic they loved, they were eager to tell me all about it. The problem is, they were writing information down as if they were sharing it verbally—throwing it onto the page without clear ideas of where their sentences started and ended. The paragraphs also lacked clear structure in these cases—some lasted only a sentence or two, while others filled an entire page. While it’s good for students’ and authors’ writing to sound natural, it should also demonstrate more intentional time and thought than are found in the instantaneous flow of words from brain to mouth. Organization, whether that of an essay or a novel, should be clear and readable.

Student problem #2: Casual phrasing

Some students had the opposite problem of those who took on an overly academic tone. In these teens’ efforts to write naturally, they wrote with all of the phrases and language that they would use if talking to a friend. There’s such a thing as being too casual—I don’t want to see a paper full of “so” and “you know” and “for sure.” It’s important for writers to remember who their audience is—this kind of language might be appropriate for an email to a friend or a contemporary YA novel, but it’s probably a good idea to use a different tone for a high fantasy novel or academic work.

Author problem #1: Fragments and misplaced modifiers

When authors quickly throw their words onto the page as they think of them, certain sloppy patterns show up. A big one is weakness in sentence structure. The manuscripts are often full of fragments, or the modifying phrases and clauses aren’t clearly linked to their antecedents. Some fragments can be used for stylistic reasons, but use them sparingly and intentionally. As for misplaced modifiers, be careful not to write sentences like “The bus pulled up to the curb full of passengers”—it’s hard to tell whether the bus or the curb is full. Be careful, too, not to write sentences like “Taking a bite of food, the steak felt tough and dry between my teeth.” That sentence literally means that the steak is taking a bite—opening modifiers refer to the subject of the sentence, which in this case is the steak, not the narrator.

Author problem #2: Idioms that don’t fit characters

The way people around you talk isn’t necessarily the way your characters should talk. If you’re writing a story with characters from a different background, age, or lifestyle than yours, they probably won’t be thinking and speaking with the same language uses as you. Be aware of the expressions and idioms you use—where do they come from? Would your characters have the cultural background necessary to understand what they mean and to use them? Watch out for this in first person narratives and certain limited third person stories, too—your POV character won’t narrate or reflect using idioms and phrases that don’t fit them as a character, even outside of dialogue.

Fix #1: Make good grammar part of your thinking.

Since the biggest weaknesses of writing like you talk come from casual or sloppy sentence construction, the strongest way to cut out those problems is to make clarity a natural part of your own expression. Take time to learn more about grammar than mere lists of punctuation rules or parts of speech. Love the language! Learn how sentences are put together and why, and you’ll find that your written expression will be organized more logically. This is a worthwhile life skill for writers of any age, not just students. I’m happy to recommend some books if you don’t know where to start.

Fix #2: Write like you’d talk to your target audience.

My students slipped into casual language when they failed to consider who their work’s audience was. Authors often do the same on their early drafts, when they’re still writing for themselves. It’s fine to use whatever tone you need to get that first draft out as long as you revise voice later, but why not keep your target audience in mind from the very beginning? Who is your reader? How old are they, and what tone are they used to reading? The more you write to them in the beginning, the better your style will match what they want from you.

Fix #3: Write like your POV character, not like yourself.

Is writing like you talk detracting from the strength of your novel’s voice? Consider immersing yourself in your point of view character’s voice before writing a scene. If you’re writing in third person limited or first person, this is an especially good idea—the scene is from their head, not yours, so you need to observe what they’re observing and react to it the way they would react to it—not the way you would. It takes practice to get character voice down well, but letting the characters tell the story their way can often make for a much more engaging voice than you would have had with your own mannerisms.

Share this:

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
• Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

One Reply to “DON’T Write Like You Talk: Lesson #2 from Student Writing”

Hi, thank you for this. Is it possible if you can recommend some books for the correct use of grammar? Thank you very much.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

How to Write and Structure a Persuasive Speech

• Homework Tips
• Learning Styles & Skills
• Study Methods
• Time Management
• Private School
• College Admissions
• College Life
• Graduate School
• Business School
• Distance Learning
• M.Ed., Education Administration, University of Georgia
• B.A., History, Armstrong State University

The purpose of a persuasive speech is to convince your audience to agree with an idea or opinion that you present. First, you'll need to choose a side on a controversial topic, then you will write a speech to explain your position, and convince the audience to agree with you.

You can produce an effective persuasive speech if you structure your argument as a solution to a problem. Your first job as a speaker is to convince your audience that a particular problem is important to them, and then you must convince them that you have the solution to make things better.

Note: You don't have to address a real problem. Any need can work as the problem. For example, you could consider the lack of a pet, the need to wash one's hands, or the need to pick a particular sport to play as the "problem."

As an example, let's imagine that you have chosen "Getting Up Early" as your persuasion topic. Your goal will be to persuade classmates to get themselves out of bed an hour earlier every morning. In this instance, the problem could be summed up as "morning chaos."

A standard speech format has an introduction with a great hook statement, three main points, and a summary. Your persuasive speech will be a tailored version of this format.

Before you write the text of your speech, you should sketch an outline that includes your hook statement and three main points.

Writing the Text

The introduction of your speech must be compelling because your audience will make up their minds within a few minutes whether or not they are interested in your topic.

Before you write the full body you should come up with a greeting. Your greeting can be as simple as "Good morning everyone. My name is Frank."

After your greeting, you will offer a hook to capture attention. A hook sentence for the "morning chaos" speech could be a question:

• How many times have you been late for school?
• Does your day begin with shouts and arguments?
• Have you ever missed the bus?

Or your hook could be a statistic or surprising statement:

• More than 50 percent of high school students skip breakfast because they just don't have time to eat.
• Tardy kids drop out of school more often than punctual kids.

Once you have the attention of your audience, follow through to define the topic/problem and introduce your solution. Here's an example of what you might have so far:

Good afternoon, class. Some of you know me, but some of you may not. My name is Frank Godfrey, and I have a question for you. Does your day begin with shouts and arguments? Do you go to school in a bad mood because you've been yelled at, or because you argued with your parent? The chaos you experience in the morning can bring you down and affect your performance at school.

Add the solution:

You can improve your mood and your school performance by adding more time to your morning schedule. You can accomplish this by setting your alarm clock to go off one hour earlier.

Your next task will be to write the body, which will contain the three main points you've come up with to argue your position. Each point will be followed by supporting evidence or anecdotes, and each body paragraph will need to end with a transition statement that leads to the next segment. Here is a sample of three main statements:

• Bad moods caused by morning chaos will affect your workday performance.
• If you skip breakfast to buy time, you're making a harmful health decision.
• (Ending on a cheerful note) You'll enjoy a boost to your self-esteem when you reduce the morning chaos.

After you write three body paragraphs with strong transition statements that make your speech flow, you are ready to work on your summary.

Your summary will re-emphasize your argument and restate your points in slightly different language. This can be a little tricky. You don't want to sound repetitive but will need to repeat what you have said. Find a way to reword the same main points.

Finally, you must make sure to write a clear final sentence or passage to keep yourself from stammering at the end or fading off in an awkward moment. A few examples of graceful exits:

• We all like to sleep. It's hard to get up some mornings, but rest assured that the reward is well worth the effort.
• If you follow these guidelines and make the effort to get up a little bit earlier every day, you'll reap rewards in your home life and on your report card.

Tips for Writing Your Speech

• Don't be confrontational in your argument. You don't need to put down the other side; just convince your audience that your position is correct by using positive assertions.
• Use simple statistics. Don't overwhelm your audience with confusing numbers.
• Don't complicate your speech by going outside the standard "three points" format. While it might seem simplistic, it is a tried and true method for presenting to an audience who is listening as opposed to reading.
• 100 Persuasive Speech Topics for Students
• 100 Persuasive Essay Topics
• What Is a Rhetorical Device? Definition, List, Examples
• 50 Argumentative Essay Topics
• Examples of Great Introductory Paragraphs
• How to Write a Persuasive Essay
• LSAT Writing: What You Need to Know
• How to Start a Book Report
• 49 Opinion Writing Prompts for Students
• Directness in Speech and Writing
• Conciseness for Better Composition
• 5 Tips on How to Write a Speech Essay
• Guide to Writing a Medical School Personal Statement
• Tips for Successful Late Night Studying
• How to Write a Successful Personal Statement for Graduate School
• How to Use a Highlighter to Improve Your Grades

8 takeaways from Trump's RNC speech — the first since his attempted assassination

• Trump officially accepted the GOP's presidential nomination for the 3rd time on Thursday.
• His first speech since the assassination attempt, it was the longest acceptance speech in history.
• He discussed the incident, and even displayed the chart that he says saved his life.

On Thursday night, former President Donald Trump officially accepted the Republican Party's presidential nomination for the third time.

The speech, delivered at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, lasted roughly one hour, 32 minutes, apparently the longest in American history.

It was the former president's first public address since a gunman attempted to assassinate him at a Pennsylvania rally last Saturday. Following the incident, Trump said that he had re-written his speech and intended to focus on unity.

It was also Trump's first speech since he named Sen. JD Vance of Ohio as his running mate. And it came as the candidacy of his chief opponent, President Joe Biden, appeared to be on its last legs.

The speech was long, at times rambling, and touched on much of the same themes of his previous campaign speeches.

Here are the 8 top takeaways from Trump's Thursday night address.

1. Trump described the assassination attempt in painful detail

Still sporting the large ear bandage that he's been wearing throughout the convention, Trump began his speech by addressing Saturday's assassination attempt.

"I will tell you exactly what happened," Trump said. "And you'll never hear it from me a second time, because it's actually too painful to tell."

The audience fell dead silent as he described the attempt on his life in detail, describing the "loud whizzing sound" of the bullet grazing his ear.

"[I] felt something hit me really, really hard on my right ear, I said to myself ... it can only be a bullet, and moved my right hand to my ear, brought it down. My hand was covered with blood." — Donald Trump describes the moment he was shot pic.twitter.com/Ay2cue5EFd — The Recount (@therecount) July 19, 2024

"My hand was covered with blood," Trump said, describing what happened after he brought his hand to his ear. "Just absolutely blood all over the place."

He went further into detail, saying the crowd was unmoving because they saw the blood and believed he might be dead.

"There's an interesting statistic: The ears are the bloodiest part. If something happens with the ears, they bleed more than any other part of the body, for whatever reason," Trump said. "So we learned something."

2. He recognized Corey Comperatore, the man killed at the rally

On stage with Trump the whole time was the fire gear belonging to Corey Comperatore , the former firefighter chief who was killed by the assassin's bullet at the Pennsylvania rally.

"But Cory — unfortunately we have to use the past tense — he was incredible," Trump said. The former president added that he had called Comperatore's wife Helen earlier on Thursday.

Related stories

At one point, Trump walked away from the microphone and kissed Comperatore's fire gear, which included a propped-up firefighter jacker and a helmet.

3. He also used the assassination attempt to his advantage

At the end of the day, Trump is still Trump.

As he wound down his discussion of the Pennsylvania rally, Trump turned toward the myriad legal cases he's faced in the last several years.

"We must not criminalize dissent or demonize political disagreement, which is what's been happening in our country lately at a level that nobody has ever seen before," Trump said. "In that spirit, the Democrat Party should immediately stop weaponizing the justice system and labeling their political opponent as an enemy of democracy."

He went on to tout Judge Aileen Cannon's dismissal of the classified documents case against him, which is likely to be appealed.

"If Democrats want to unify our country, they should drop these partisan witch hunts, which I have been going through for approximately eight years," Trump said.

4. Trump said that JD Vance, his new VP pick, is 'going to be doing this for a long time'

Earlier this week, Trump selected Vance — one of the former president's staunchest loyalists in the Senate — to be his running mate.

In his first public comments after that selection, Trump said he was "thrilled to have a new friend and partner fighting by my side."

He also mentioned Vance's wife, Usha, and focused heavily on the fact that they attended Yale Law School.

"It was an honor to select him. Great, great student at Yale. His wife was a great student at Yale. They met at Yale. These are two smart people," Trump said. "So JD, you're going to be doing this for a long time. Enjoy the ride."

Vance, who turns 40 next month, is one of the youngest vice presidential nominees in American history. If Trump is elected, he'll be just a heartbeat away from the presidency, and he's well-positioned to be the GOP's standard bearer in 2028.

5. Despite his 'unity' promises, the speech wasn't that unifying

Trump promised a unity-focused speech.

Though his tone was notably more subdued than prior public appears, he made plenty of incendiary comments about his political rivals, declaring at one point that Democrats are "destroying our country." And he continued to lie about the results of the 2020 election.

"We don't have fierce people," Trump said when discussing foreign wars. "We have people that are a lot less than fierce, except when it comes to cheating on elections and a couple of other things. Then they're fierce."

He also went directly after Biden.

"If you took the 10 worst presidents in the history of the United States — think of it, the 10 worst, added them up — they will not have done the damage that Biden has done," Trump said. "Only gonna use the term once. Biden, I'm not going to use the name anymore. Just one time."

6. Trump called for the firing of UAW President Shawn Fain, underscoring the GOP's struggle to win over organized labor

Trump's speech contained numerous appeals toward union members, arguing that "unions are suffering" as the result of illegal immigration.

At one point, he took a direct swipe at Shawn Fain, the president of the United Auto Workers, who has been harshly critical of Trump and endorsed Biden for president in January.

As he called for the elimination of Biden's electrical vehicle requirements , arguing that the policy was driving manufacturing overseas, he said that the union "ought to be ashamed for allowing this to happen, and the leader of the United Auto Workers should be fired immediately."

Electric vehicle policies have been at the heart of the GOP's attempts to win over auto workers, including when the UAW went on strike last fall. While Fain and the UAW have raised concerns about electric vehicles, they have not wholly rejected Biden's policies on the issues.

"The whole problem that we have is a guy like Shawn Fain blasting Donald Trump," Vance, now Trump's VP pick, told Business Insider in September. "At the very least, just shut your mouth, and take the support from wherever you can get it."

As Trump's speech continued, the UAW fired back, calling him a "scab and a billionaire."

. @realDonaldTrump is a scab and a billionaire and that's who he represents. We know which side we're on. Not his. — UAW (@UAW) July 19, 2024

7. Trump showed the chart he displayed on the day he was shot — arguing it may have saved his life

A major reason why Trump survived the assassination attempt last Saturday is because his head was turned to the side: He was pointed toward a chart produced by the Border Patrol that depicting illegal immigration in recent years.

Displaying it again roughly an hour into his speech, Trump described it as "the chart that saved my life."

"Last time I put up that chart, I never really got to look at it," Trump said. "But without that chart, I would not be here today."

Donald Trump shows the border chart that he says saved his life from the bullet that hit him in the ear. The chart makes it clear that this crisis is Biden's Border Invasion. pic.twitter.com/dmt4oIXKlB — Media Research Center (@theMRC) July 19, 2024

8. It was the longest presidential nomination acceptance speech in recorded history

At 92 minutes, Trump's speech on Thursday night appeared to be the longest ever delivered by a major party's presidential nominee.

According to The American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Trump exceeded a record he set himself in 2016, when he delivered a nomination speech lasting nearly one hour and 15 minutes.

Trump's 2020 speech was similarly lengthy, lasting roughly one hour and 10 minutes.

By contrast, Biden's 2020 acceptance speech lasted less than 25 minutes.

Watch: Top takeaways from the first Republican presidential debate of the 2024 primary

• Main content

How To Turn an Essay Into a Speech

Haruki Murakami famously quotes that sometimes taking time is a shortcut. It is very alluring to take the easier way out instead of working up yourself trying to follow the correct way. However, the result of the two methods is as different as the east is from the west. It never hurts to follow the proper steps for the best outcome, no matter the time taken for completion. It is tempting to read an essay before an audience without any alterations.

Divide your essay into manageable sections

The smaller your sections are, the more manageable your speech will be. It is easier to work in extracts because the more significant the information, the more complicated it gets. For example, you may divide your introduction into two parts. Given that you are dealing with a live audience, your introduction must be as compelling as possible.

Avoid cliché introductions that most people rely upon. Change the narrative and be distinguishable. The transition is also a cardinal skill to master. How you transition from your essential fact or story to the introduction of your topic will prove your dexterity. Go on to introduce your topic, giving a snippet of what you want to talk about without spilling your beans.

It may seem challenging, but there is always someone willing to assist. People appreciate and never forget that helping hand, especially when times are tough. Various paper writers will always be on the lookout for anyone in need of essay writing help.

Shorten your essay

Go into your essay with a red pen and start to cut out anything extraneous. After some changes are made, step away for a while and do something else; then, go back to it and cut some more. This will allow you to see any information you may have missed that is fitting to terminate. Remove any unnecessary information that tends to prolong the speech. Look out for long sentences and try breaking them down.

Work on your transitions

I love Steve Harvey. When I hear his talks, I think about how talented he is. And no question, he sure is. The way he maneuvers from one topic to another is nothing short of admirable. Learning his art would be amazing. You can be as sleek as he is in your speeches with enough practice. If you are still having a hard time writing your speech, you should use speech writing services for the best results.

Be flexible

An address has to be as engaging as possible. Since it deals with a participating audience, adjustments have to be made to consider your audience. There are plenty of ways to engage your audience. An example is through jokes and asking questions. These are used to evaluate whether the audience is following or not. Ensure that you are flexible enough to change the tone and language of your speech concerning the type of audience present. Avoid being rigid. Find ways to spice up your address, leaving your audience with no other option but to follow as you deliver your message.

Wrap up your speech with a memorable conclusion

What you must note is that all good things take time. You can always research the best conclusions to get a clear example to mimic and guide you through. Once you scour the internet, you will find all sorts of guidance, from steps guiding you through converting your essay to a speech to online essay writers on various professional essay writing services.

If you look for solutions diligently, you will find them soon enough, and it would surprise you at how untarnished your work will turn out. Academic writing has never been a smooth joyride, but the countless barriers make the process admirable. Remember, giving up is not an option, so practice until you are perfect.

Advertisement

What We Know About the Assassination Attempt Against Trump

The former president was holding a rally when he said he was shot in his ear. Two people, including the suspected gunman, were killed and two were critically injured.

• Share full article

By Michael Levenson

• July 22, 2024

A man fired “multiple shots” toward the stage during former President Donald J. Trump’s rally in Butler, Pa., on the evening of July 13, killing one spectator and critically injuring two others, according to the Secret Service.

Mr. Trump was rushed off the stage, blood visible around his right ear, and was pronounced fine. The Secret Service said its agents had killed the shooter, whom federal law enforcement officials identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Bethel Park, Pa.

The attorney general’s office and the F.B.I. are investigating the shooting as an assassination attempt and possible domestic terrorism attack.

Here’s what we know about the shooting.

The Former President

Mr. Trump ducked quickly after the shots began and as members of the crowd began to scream. Secret Service agents then rushed Mr. Trump off the stage. As he was escorted to his motorcade, Mr. Trump, whose face and right ear were bloodied, pumped his fist in a defiant gesture to the crowd.

How the Assassination Attempt on Trump Unfolded

Footage from the scene of the shooting at a rally in pennsylvania on saturday shows the suspected gunman had a clear line of sight toward the former president, despite being outside the rally’s secure perimeter..

Former President Trump was speaking at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania when shots rang out. Multiple people at the rally were filming at the time. The F.B.I. has said the shots were fired by a 20-year-old man from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, which is about an hour’s drive from the rally. Trump was on stage speaking for just over six minutes and talking about illegal immigration when the first sound of gunfire is heard. There are two bursts of fire. First three shots and then five shots Three seconds after the first shot is fired, he is surrounded by Secret Service agents who attempt to hurry him from the stage. They’re followed by other law enforcement personnel who are more heavily armed. For a brief moment, Trump tells them to stop until he can get his shoes. Let me get my shoes. Let me get my shoes. Sir, I got you, sir. Let me get my shoes on. When he gets up, blood is visible on his right ear. He pauses again before being rushed off stage and raises his fist in the air, appearing to mouth the word fight. The former president was standing on stage at this location. Soon after the first gunfire is heard, a video captured what appears to be the suspected shooter dead on the roof of this building. The building is the closest one to the rally that wasn’t within the security perimeter and is roughly 400 feet north of where Trump is standing. The location of the body matches the likely firing position. This is because the injury to the ear of Trump, who is facing northwest, is consistent with gunfire from that location. An audio analysis of the shots by an acoustic expert at Montana State University found the gunfire reached the stage from the same approximate distance as the body’s location. A Secret Service spokesman also said the suspected shooter fired from an elevated position and was killed. A video filmed during the rally showed a law enforcement sharpshooter positioned here on a roof roughly 400 feet from that suspected gunman and aiming in the gunman’s general direction before Trump was shot. Footage recorded after the shooting shows one spectator bleeding from a head wound in the bleachers to the north of where Trump was standing. According to the Secret Service, one person at the rally was killed and two others were critically injured. The shooting is being investigated as an assassination attempt.

At the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, in his first public speech since the assassination attempt, Mr. Trump described his personal experience of the shooting .

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber?  Log in .

Want all of The Times?  Subscribe .

Get the Reddit app

A community for established YouTube creators.

[Question] I plan to make an extensive video essay, but I find my voice so awkward like everyone else.

Are there any tips to improve voice over satisfaction?

By continuing, you agree to our User Agreement and acknowledge that you understand the Privacy Policy .

Enter the 6-digit code from your authenticator app

You’ve set up two-factor authentication for this account.

Enter a 6-digit backup code

Create your username and password.

Reddit is anonymous, so your username is what you’ll go by here. Choose wisely—because once you get a name, you can’t change it.

Reset your password

Enter your email address or username and we’ll send you a link to reset your password

Check your inbox

An email with a link to reset your password was sent to the email address associated with your account

Choose a Reddit account to continue