how to write a speech o level zimsec

Question 1 Directed Writing: How to Write a Speech ( CIE IGCSE English Language )

Revision note.

Question 1 Directed Writing: How to Write a Speech

One of the three formats that you may be asked to write in for Question 1 is a speech. This may be to your class or students in your school or college, or something more formal intended for broadcast. The opinions and ideas you put forward in your speech should be based on what you have read in the reading passages given, and your writing marks will come from your ability to vary your writing to suit the purpose, audience and form of the task, as well as how you structure your response.

The following guide will detail how to structure your response in the style of a speech. It is divided into:

Key features of a speech

• Persuasive techniques

The language and tone of your speech will be determined by the task and subject, but the following are the basic features of a speech which you could include in your response:

You might wish to structure your speech in the following way:

• Directly address the reader or audience:
• Introduce the topic and your point of view
• Use personal and inclusive pronouns to involve your audience, e.g., “you” or “we” 
• Engage your audience using a rhetorical question
• Your next paragraph should develop your argument:
• You will need to infer information, ideas and opinions from the reading texts to do this
• Provide an anecdote to offer an example which proves your argument:
• This builds rapport with your reader by engaging with them on a personal level
• Again, this should be based on what you have read 
• Engage the reader on a personal level using a counter-argument:
• Again, this should be based on and developed from the ideas in the reading texts
• Offer more research or studies:
• This can be in the form of statistics, a witness statement, poll, or quote from an expert, based on the reading texts
• End your speech with an emotive plea:
• Use emotive language to engage your reader
• Ending your response on a single sentence, perhaps using a triplet, is an effective conclusion

Rhetorical questions are commonly used as a persuasive device, but avoid over-using any one technique, as this will make your writing sound much less sophisticated. Always consider the reason why you are using a technique and what the effect is that you want to achieve. Do not just use techniques for the sake of using them.

Persuasive writing

A speech is often more persuasive than other forms of writing. You are trying to persuade your audience that your point of view is valid, and sometimes encourage them to join you.

Here are some tips for how to make your speech persuasive:

• Write in the first person (write from your own perspective)
• Use personal and inclusive pronouns:
• Using words such as “we” and “us” builds rapport between you and your audience and makes them feel involved
• Present your opinions as facts; as a truth that should not be challenged
• Be passionate but not aggressive:
• Use emotive language and imperatives to call your audience to action
• Decide on your position and stick to it
• Make sure you do not sound like an advertisement

As an example, let’s consider the following introduction to a speech about GCSEs:

For more guidance, please see our speech model answer.

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Author: Deb Orrock

Deb is a graduate of Lancaster University and The University of Wolverhampton. After some time travelling and a successful career in the travel industry, she re-trained in education, specialising in literacy. She has over 16 years’ experience of working in education, teaching English Literature, English Language, Functional Skills English, ESOL and on Access to HE courses. She has also held curriculum and quality manager roles, and worked with organisations on embedding literacy and numeracy into vocational curriculums. She now manages a post-16 English curriculum as well as writing educational content and resources.

5 Ways To Prepare Yourself For O Level and A Level Exams

Zimsec exams are some of the life defining and crucial exams Zimbabwean students have to take to guarantee a place in Zimbabwe’s and international higher learning institutions. Here are essential tips on how the O Level and A Level students can prepare themselves optimally for the mental, physical and emotional rigours ahead:

Know Yourself

“Before you plan, before you draw up your study schedule, it’s important to take the time to do some self-reflection. You need to think about things like how much sleep you need, the activities that are important to supporting your well-being and whatever else you need to operate at your best academically. Think about, and then also make a list of your strengths and your weaknesses. This is very important because you want to make study plans and devise a schedule that optimizes your strengths and mitigates your weaknesses. For instance, it doesn’t help to decide to follow a recommended study schedule that involves four-hour blocks of dedicated study time if you are prone to get restless after an hour. It might work well for your friend, but if you do that, you are likely to study effectively for just one hour, and then waste three hours of every four-hour block you have scheduled with your struggles to keep focused and still. You need to know yourself well, so that you are empowered to customize a study schedule that works optimally for you. If you know that you are distracted after an hour, you can devise a schedule that gives you regular short breaks that enable you to return to your desk and effectively pick up when you left off.”

Identify your peak times

“We all have particular times of day when we are most effective, and this differs from person to person. For instance, some people are raring to go in the mornings while others struggle to get themselves started. Some fade in the evenings and others find that they are highly productive at night when life around them is quieter and still. Once you know your peak times, schedule your most challenging studies exactly then, while topics and subjects that are much easier for you can be scheduled during your off-peak hours.”

Don’t just think about it, create your study timetable, share it and commit to it

“Give real form to your study timetable. Map it out in a graphic form. Make sure it includes your study breaks and covers all the work you need to do. Stick it up prominently in your study space so that you can see where you are at any moment, at a glance. Think of it as your trusty guide over the next weeks – there to help ensure you don’t get any last-minute surprises or setbacks that feel like disasters. Sharing it with your peers and family members can also help to keep you on a committed track. Monitor your progress on a daily basis. Some shifts and adjustments may be necessary in practice, but you need to make sure at all times that you have got all your topics and subjects covered according to the priorities.”

Plan for balance

“Yes, the most important thing you need to do over the upcoming weeks is study and it does take precedence over a lot of other things in your life at this time. However, you still need some balance in your life, and you can plan for this. It is important to look after your mental and emotional well-being as this affects your intellectual performance. Even though you need to be very focused on your studies, you will still need time to relax, time for physical activity and time for socializing. While you will probably have to cut back on those times, you shouldn’t eliminate them completely. While you may not be able to spend three hours playing soccer four times a week, you can find the ways to schedule four ten minute runs around your neighbourhood that will help you to keep active, relieve stress and re-energise you. While you won’t be able to ‘binge-watch’ the latest TV series, you can still make the time to watch a favourite programme every now and then. And while, late-night parties are probably not the best idea while you are studying for matric, you can still schedule shorter, lower-key occasions in the company of friends that give perspective and provide support.”

Commit to your well-being

“Studying for, and writing your O Level and A Level Exams exams will probably rate as one of the most stressful experiences of your life. There’s no better time than to care deeply and well about yourself. The upside is that in being tested this way, you have the opportunity to discover new and deeper aspects of your strength and resilience. You can think of the experience as being on a ‘Hero’s Journey’ where you want to be facing challenges with all your wits about you so that you can achieve the best results possible. For that to happen, you need to ensure your physical and emotional health. It’s important to eat healthily, get enough sleep, be physically active and feel connected to the people who support your success in life.”

Parents play an important role in supporting their O Level and A Level students and ensuring that they go into the exams in the best frame of mind possible. Naidoo has some tips to help parents best support their O Level and A Level students:

• When facing a stressed and anxious students, replace a ‘been there, done that, now you can too’ approach with ‘I understand’ and encouragement;
• Acknowledge your child’s efforts. Noticing and affirming their choices such as turning down a party to study or going for a quick run before getting back to the books can lift the spirits and instil confidence;
• Keep your expectations about this particular child’s O Level and A Level process and outcomes realistic and make adjustments if they are not. Each child is different, and your child currently going through O Level and A Level won’t be going through it like older siblings might have;
• See where you can help by temporarily relieving your child of time-consuming family responsibilities. For instance, it is likely to be appreciated if they are not expected to say, babysit younger siblings as they might usually do;
• Model a healthy balance by inviting them out for walk or suggesting watching a favourite TV programme when they’ve been locked in studies for hours;

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Writing Formal Letters

Writing formal letters- updated 2024.

Nixon’s Resignation Letter is an example of a formal letter. Image by Wikipedia .

ZIMSEC Notes: Writing Formal Letters

One of the possible questions that candidates will be asked to tackle as part of their Ordinary Level English examination is to write a formal letter; called Business Letters in the syllabus. Questions on formal letters are found in Section B of English Paper 1 and are worth 20 marks.

Students are given a scenario or background information that they can use to write the formal letter. It is important to first read the information and understand what it entails. For example if a questions says, “You are an officer with the ministry of Environment and Tourism”, you will have to imagine yourself as one and try and get into the likely mindset of such an officer. Bearing your title in mind will also affect the way you will write such a letter for example you cannot use your school’s address when writing such a letter because in all certainty a person who bears the title of “Office in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism” must have graduated from school.

So bear in mind who you are supposed to be according to the question when composing the letter. Are you a disgruntled customer who was on the receiving end of bad service at a local hotel and are writing to complain about this to the hotel’s manager? Are you a High School graduate who is part of a class that graduated 20 years ago writing a letter to the school detailing your last visit to the school.

The second thing that you need to be aware of when writing a formal letter is the intent of the letter. What is the question really asking you to do? For example if you are an Environmental Officer and being asked to detail your visit on the environmental degradation in an area your recently visited stick to the detailing bit. Do not for example try to suggest possible way to combat this degradation unless the examination question asks you to. Do not complain when you are asked to compliment the service you received at a hotel unless perhaps it is offered as some form of afterthought.  Do what the questions is asking you to do, no more and no less.

Usually the questions will ask you to expand on given points and to add some of your own. You are supposed to use all the points given but expand by adding “flesh” to the skeletal points based on your own experiences and intentions. You are also free to add points of your own to complement these points. Each point should constitute a paragraph, a goal which can be achieved by making it the topic sentence in the paragraph.

The syllabus provides the possibility that some or all the points will be presented to the candidate in the form of a graph, picture or graph. Although this rarely happens, do not bank on the chance that you will not have to face such a question where the information is given in such form. Take time therefore to familiarize yourself with basic charts and diagrams particularly: Bar Graphs, statistical data and pie charts.

You should remember this is a formal letter so make use of formal registers and tone. For example be careful to address people using the proper salutations, titles and work titles. For example Mr. for men, Mrs for married women, Miss for women yet to be married, Ms when you are unsure and for divorcees, Dr. for Doctors and sir/madam when addressing them. You must avoid the use of colloquialisms, cliches and the use of an over familiar tone for example addressing the reception or calling them “my friend”.

Do not make assumptions for example do not use sweeping generalizations such as: “As you well know…” , “It is obvious…” etc.

You do not necessary have to present the given points in their given order. Adopt them and present them in a way that is more natural to your letter and make more logical sense to you.

Shakespeare said ;”Brevity is the soul of wit”, considering how hard pressed for time people in the business world are, it is always important to be as brief as possible without sacrificing clarity and meaning while not writing long winded letters that are likely to test the patience of readers. Be succinct.

Also you should always include your standing in the letter after your signature. That is who you are with regards to the subject matter of the letter. For example are you a customer, are you an executive at a rival firm, a lawyer, an Officer in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism. In the first paragraph you must also include an appropriate introduction stating for example why you are writing to the letter and if applicable references to other previous correspondences or attached documents.

Finally you should know that both addresses go to the left hand side of the page. While your address used to go to the right hand side of the page this practice has since fallen out of use. This might have been brought about by the extensive use of typed letters which make use of letterheads which tend to be either centered or left-aligned. Also you should not that in actual business correspondence, the addresses are often now omitted due to the rise in use of emails. ZIMSEC still requires you to include the addresses however, so take care to do so.

The address you use depends in no small part to the question. If the question somehow changes who you are as has already been touched on above, you should take care to create an appropriate address for yourself instead of using your school address. The title of the recipient may also have to be made up; be sure to create a title that is both believable and appropriate in the circumstances. The same applies for the address of the recipient: it does not have to be accurate; just believable and appropriate.

Typical format of a formal letter(Business Letter)

Below is the format of a typical business letter:

The Ministry of Tourism and Environment

35 Samora Machel Avenue

The Operations Manager/Mr Moyo

The District Administrator Chihota Communal Area

P.O. Box 87

Ref: [ A condensed version of the purpose of the letter. This can either be in capital letters or just underlined to set it apart from the rest of the letter.] [Blank Line.] [Introduction. State why you have written the letter and include any references to relevant material or previous correspondence. Often enough the introduction is all that is needed in real life business letters for example the letter pictured above was written by Richard Nixon, when he resigned from the position of President of the United States and its perhaps the most famous business letter.] [Blank Line] [The body of the letter. Made up of multiple paragraphs and each demarcated by blank lines on both ends.] [Blank Line] [An expression of what you hope to achieve or what you hope will be a satisfactory resolution for you concerning the matter in the letter.] For example:

I hope to receive a favorable reply from you soon.

( Project Coordinator.)

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