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Types of Speeches: A Guide to Different Styles and Formats

Speeches are a powerful way to communicate ideas, inspire people, and create change. There are many different types of speeches, each with its own unique characteristics and formats. In this article, we’ll explore some of the most common types of speeches and how to prepare and deliver them effectively.

1. Informative Speech

An informative speech is designed to educate the audience on a particular topic. The goal is to provide the audience with new information or insights and increase their understanding of the topic. The speech should be well-researched, organized, and delivered in a clear and engaging manner.

2. Persuasive Speech

A persuasive speech is designed to convince the audience to adopt a particular viewpoint or take action. The goal is to persuade the audience to agree with the speaker’s perspective and take action based on that belief. The speech should be well-researched, organized, and delivered in a passionate and compelling manner.

3. Entertaining Speech

An entertaining speech is designed to entertain the audience and create a memorable experience. The goal is to engage the audience and make them laugh, cry, or think deeply about a particular topic. The speech can be humorous, inspirational, or emotional and should be delivered in a lively and engaging manner.

4. Special Occasion Speech

A special occasion speech is designed for a specific event or occasion, such as a wedding, graduation, or retirement party. The goal is to celebrate the occasion and honor the people involved. The speech should be personal, heartfelt, and delivered in a sincere and respectful manner.

5. Impromptu Speech

An impromptu speech is delivered without any preparation or planning. The goal is to respond quickly and effectively to a particular situation or question. The speech should be delivered in a clear and concise manner and address the topic at hand.

In conclusion, speeches are an important way to communicate ideas, inspire people, and create change. By understanding the different types of speeches and their unique characteristics and formats, individuals can prepare and deliver successful speeches that are engaging, informative, and memorable.

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8 Types of Speeches to Captivate Any Audience

• The Speaker Lab
• May 8, 2024

Table of Contents

Words have power. In a speech, words can shift mountains, sway opinions, and light the fire for change. For anyone stepping up to the mic, knowing what kind of speech to deliver makes all the difference in winning over listeners. From informative talks to persuasive pitches, each type of speech serves a unique purpose and requires a specific approach. In this post, we’ll explore the 8 essential types of speeches you need to know to become a master communicator:

• Informative speeches
• Persuasive speeches
• Demonstration speeches
• Entertaining speeches
• Special occasion speeches
• Impromptu speeches
• Debate speeches
• Acceptance speeches

Let’s get started!

Types of Speeches to Master for Success

Every single day people across the world stand up in front of some kind of audience and speak. While the core purpose of any speech is to deliver a message to an audience, the type of message and manner in which it’s delivered helps us distinguish a given speech from others. As a result, we can categorize speeches based on four main concepts: entertaining, informing, demonstrating and persuading. Let’s take a look at each.

Informative Speech

In an informative speech , the presenter will share information about a particular person, place, object, process, concept, or issue by defining, describing, or explaining. The primary purpose of informative presentations is to share one’s knowledge of a subject with an audience. Reasons for making an informative speech vary widely.

For example, you might be asked to report to a group of managers how your latest project is coming along. Similarly, a local community group might wish to hear about your volunteer activities in New Orleans during spring break, or your classmates may want you to share your expertise on Mediterranean cooking.

Persuasive Speech

A persuasive speech proposes to change a person’s beliefs or actions on a particular issue. The presenter takes a side and gives his/her opinion with factual evidence to support their viewpoint. The topics tend to be debatable and the speech itself should have a convincing tone.

Demonstrative Speech

As the name suggests, a demonstrative speech is the type of speech you want to give to demonstrate how something works or how to do a certain thing. A demonstrative speech utilizes the use of visual aids and/or physical demonstration along with the information provided. Some might argue that demonstrative speeches are a subclass of informative speeches, but they’re different enough to be considered two distinct types. Think of it as the difference between explaining the history and tradition of gumbo as opposed to actually teaching a crowd how to make gumbo.

Entertaining Speech

The core purpose of an entertaining speech is to amuse the audience, and obviously, entertain them. They’re usually less formal in nature to help communicate emotions rather than to simply deliver facts. Some examples include speeches given by maids of honor or best men at weddings, acceptance speeches at the Oscars, or even the one given by a school’s principal before or after a talent show.

Special Occasion Speech

Beyond the four main types of public speeches we mentioned, there are a few other different types of speeches worth exploring, namely, special occasion speeches. Often shorter than other types of speeches, special occasion speeches focus on the occasion at hand, whether it’s a wedding , funeral , awards ceremony , or other special event. The goal is to connect with the audience on an emotional level and deliver a heartfelt message that resonates with the occasion. Personal stories, anecdotes, and expressions of gratitude are common elements in special occasion speeches.

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How to Deliver an Engaging Informative Speech

In an informative speech, the presenter will share information about a particular person, place, object, process, concept, or issue by defining, describing, or explaining. An informative speech’s purpose is to simplify complex theories into simpler, easier-to-digest and less ambiguous ideas. In other words, the goal of this type of speech is to convey information accurately.

Choose a Specific Topic

The first step in delivering an engaging informative speech is to choose a specific topic. Trying to cover too much ground in a single speech can be overwhelming for both the speaker and the audience. By narrowing your focus to a specific aspect of a larger topic, you can provide more in-depth information and keep your audience engaged. For example, instead of trying to explain the entire history of the internet, you could focus on the development of social media platforms.

Simplify Complex Concepts

One of the main goals of an informative speech is to simplify complex theories and concepts into more easily understandable ideas. This requires breaking down information into smaller, more digestible chunks. Use analogies, examples, and visual aids to help illustrate your points and make the information more relatable to your audience. Remember, your goal is to provide a general understanding of the topic, not to overwhelm your listeners with technical jargon or minute details.

Engage Your Audience

Keeping your audience engaged is crucial for the success of your informative speech. One way to do this is by using storytelling techniques to make the information more interesting and memorable. You can also ask rhetorical questions, encourage audience participation, and use humor when appropriate. By making your speech interactive and dynamic, you’ll be more likely to hold your audience’s attention and effectively communicate your message.

Use Visual Aids

Visual aids can be a powerful tool in an informative speech. They help to reinforce your message, clarify complex ideas, and make your presentation more engaging. Some effective visual aids include charts, graphs, images, videos, and physical objects. Just be sure not to rely too heavily on visuals at the expense of your content.

Practice and Refine

As with any type of public speaking, practice is essential for delivering a successful informative speech. Rehearse your presentation multiple times, paying attention to your pacing, tone, and body language. Consider practicing in front of a mirror, recording yourself, or presenting to a small group of friends or colleagues for feedback. Use their input to refine your speech and make improvements before the big day.

Mastering the Art of Persuasive Speaking

Speeches can be delivered to serve various purposes. A persuasive speech proposes to change a person’s beliefs or actions on a particular issue. Accordingly, the presenter takes a side and gives his/her opinion, supporting their argument with factual evidence.

Know Your Audience

The first step in crafting a persuasive speech is to know your audience. Understanding their beliefs, values, and concerns will help you tailor your message to resonate with them. In particular, consider factors such as age, gender, cultural background, and education level when analyzing your audience. This information will guide you in choosing the most effective arguments and examples to support your position.

Use Persuasive Language

The language you use in your persuasive speech can have a significant impact on how your audience receives your message. Use powerful, emotive words that evoke a strong response from your listeners.

Rhetorical devices such as repetition, metaphors, and rhetorical questions can also be effective in persuading your audience. However, be careful not to overuse techniques like pathos , as they can come across as manipulative or insincere if employed too frequently.

Provide Strong Evidence

To convince your audience to adopt your point of view, you need to provide strong evidence to support your claims. Use facts, statistics, expert opinions, and real-life examples to bolster your arguments. In addition, be sure to cite credible sources and present the information in a clear, logical manner. Finally, anticipate potential counterarguments and address them proactively to strengthen your position.

Inspire Positive Change

The goal of this type of speech is not only to change minds but also to inspire positive action. Conclude your persuasive speech with a clear call-to-action, urging your audience to take specific steps towards implementing the change you advocate for. In addition, paint a vivid picture of the benefits that will result from adopting your position, and make it easy for your listeners to understand how they can contribute to the cause.

Address Counterarguments

No matter how compelling your arguments may be, there will always be those who disagree with your position. To deliver a truly persuasive speech, you must anticipate and address potential counterarguments. That means acknowledging the validity of opposing viewpoints and then providing evidence to refute them. By demonstrating that you have considered alternative perspectives, you’ll come across as more credible and trustworthy to your audience.

Demonstrative Speeches: A Step-by-Step Guide

If you’ve ever watched a cooking show or a DIY tutorial, you’ve seen a demonstrative speech in action. This type of speech is all about teaching your audience how to do something, step by step. The key to a successful demonstrative speech is to be organized and concise. You need to break down the process into clear, easy-to-follow steps that your audience can grasp and replicate themselves.

Choose a Relevant Topic

When selecting a topic for your demonstrative speech, choose something that’s relevant and useful to your audience. It can be about anything that requires a demonstration, such as cooking a recipe, performing a science experiment, using a software program, or even tying a tie.

Consider your audience’s interests and needs. What skills or knowledge would benefit them the most? Choosing a topic that resonates with your listeners will keep them engaged and motivated to learn.

Plan Your Demonstration

Once you have your topic, it’s time to plan your demonstration from start to finish. Break down the process into logical, sequential steps. Consider the supplies or equipment you’ll need and any potential challenges or safety concerns. Creating an outline can help you stay organized and ensure you don’t miss any crucial steps. Remember, your goal is to make the process as clear and straightforward as possible for your audience.

Prepare Your Materials

Gather all the necessary materials, props, or visual aids you’ll need for your demonstration. Visual aids like props, slides, or even live demonstrations are incredibly helpful in illustrating your points. They can help your audience better understand and remember the steps you’re teaching them. During your speech, make sure everything is in working order and easily accessible.

A great demonstrative speech is not only informative but also engaging. You need to ignite a sense of enthusiasm and curiosity in your audience. Encourage them to ask questions and participate in the demonstration if possible.

In addition, use clear, concise language and maintain eye contact with your listeners. Inject some personality and humor into your delivery to keep things interesting and relatable.

Allow Time for Questions

After your demonstration, allow time for your audience to ask questions or seek clarification. This interaction can help reinforce their understanding and show that you’re invested in their learning.

At the end of your presentation, encourage your listeners to try out the skill or technique themselves. Finally, provide any additional resources or tips that can help them succeed. Remember, your ultimate goal is to empower your audience with new knowledge and abilities.

The Power of Entertaining Speeches

Sometimes, the best way to captivate an audience is simply to entertain them. An entertaining speech can range from a humorous anecdote at a conference to a moving story at a fundraiser. If you want to nail this type of speech, you need to engage your listeners and leave them with a memorable message.

As with any speech, understanding your audience is crucial for an entertaining speech. What kind of humor or stories will they appreciate? What tone and style will resonate with them? Consider factors like age, background, and the event itself. A joke that lands well at a casual gathering might not be appropriate for a formal business meeting.

Use Humor Effectively

Humor is a powerful tool in entertaining speeches, but it must be used skillfully. A well-crafted joke can break the ice, lighten the mood, and make your message more memorable. However, humor can also backfire if it’s offensive, inappropriate, or poorly delivered. Make sure your jokes are tasteful, relevant, and well-rehearsed. If you’re not confident in your comedic abilities, it’s better to err on the side of caution.

Share Personal Anecdotes

Personal stories and anecdotes can be incredibly effective in entertaining speeches. They help humanize you as a speaker as well as create a connection with your audience. As such, choose stories that are relevant to your message and that highlight your unique experiences or perspectives. Use descriptive language and engaging delivery to draw your listeners into the narrative.

An entertaining speech is all about engagement. You want your audience to be actively involved and invested in your message. In order to achieve this, use techniques like rhetorical questions, audience participation, or even props to keep your listeners engaged. Additionally, make eye contact, vary your tone and pace, and use gestures to emphasize key points.

End on a High Note

The conclusion of your entertaining speech is just as important as the beginning. You want to leave your audience with a positive, memorable impression. To accomplish this, consider ending with a call to action, a thought-provoking question, or a powerful quote. Tie your conclusion back to your main message and leave your listeners with something to ponder or act upon.

Captivating Your Audience with Special Occasion Speeches

Not all speeches are about imparting knowledge or persuading opinions. Sometimes, a speech’s primary purpose is to entertain, inspire, or commemorate a special event. This type of speech is known as a special occasion speech . Whether it’s a wedding toast, a eulogy , or an acceptance speech, special occasion speeches require a unique approach. Here are some tips for crafting a memorable and impactful special occasion speech.

Understand the Occasion

Every special occasion has its own unique tone, purpose, and expectations. A wedding toast, for example, is typically light-hearted and celebratory, while a eulogy is more somber and reflective. Before you start writing your speech, make sure you understand the nature of the occasion and the role your speech will play. This context will guide your content, tone, and delivery.

Special occasion speeches are often delivered to a specific group of people who share a connection to the event or honoree. As such, it’s crucial to tailor your speech to resonate with this particular audience. Consider their relationship to the occasion, their background, and their expectations. What stories, anecdotes, or insights will they appreciate and relate to?

Use Appropriate Humor

Humor can be a powerful tool in special occasion speeches, especially in celebratory situations like weddings or retirements. A well-placed joke or funny story can help break the ice, engage the audience, and create a warm, positive atmosphere. However, it’s important to use humor appropriately and tastefully. Avoid jokes that might be offensive, insensitive, or ill-suited to the occasion. When in doubt, err on the side of caution.

Share Personal Stories

Special occasion speeches often revolve around honoring or commemorating a person, relationship, or milestone. By sharing personal stories or anecdotes, you can help bring your speech to life and create an emotional connection with your audience. Choose stories that highlight the qualities or experiences you want to celebrate. In addition, use vivid details and descriptive language to help your audience visualize and engage with your memories.

Express Gratitude

Many special occasion speeches, such as wedding toasts or acceptance speeches, involve expressing gratitude to those who have supported or contributed to the occasion. Accordingly, take time to acknowledge and thank the people who have made the event possible or played a significant role in your life. Be specific in your praise and sincere in your appreciation.

Impromptu Speaking: Tips for Thinking on Your Feet

Imagine you’re at a meeting and your boss suddenly calls on you to share your thoughts on the project. Or maybe you’re at a networking event and someone asks you to introduce yourself to the group. These scenarios can be nerve-wracking, especially if you’re not prepared. That’s where impromptu speaking comes in.

Impromptu speeches are delivered without prior preparation or planning. You’re given a topic or question on the spot and must quickly organize your thoughts to deliver a coherent speech. It’s an essential skill that tests your ability to think on your feet and communicate effectively in spontaneous situations.

Stay Calm and Focused

When faced with an impromptu speech , the first thing to do is stay calm. Take a deep breath and focus on the task at hand. Remember, the audience wants you to succeed, so don’t let nerves get the best of you.

Use a Simple Structure

To quickly organize your thoughts, use a simple structure like the P-R-E-P method: Point, Reason, Example, Point. Start with your main point, give a reason to support it, provide an example, and then reiterate your point. This structure will help you stay on track and deliver a clear message.

Draw from Personal Experiences

When you’re put on the spot, it’s easier to draw from personal experiences than to try to come up with something completely new. Share a relevant story or anecdote that supports your point. This will help you communicate emotions and connect with your audience.

Even though you’re speaking off the cuff, don’t forget to engage your audience. Make eye contact, use gestures, and vary your tone of voice. These techniques will help you capture and maintain your audience’s attention.

Practice Regularly

Like any skill, impromptu speaking improves with practice. Seek out opportunities to speak on the spot, whether it’s at work, in social situations, or even just with friends and family. The more you do it, the more comfortable and confident you’ll become.

Debate Speeches: Crafting Compelling Arguments

Debate speeches are a common type of speech, especially in school competitions. They involve presenting arguments and evidence to support a particular viewpoint on a topic. Whether you’re a high school or college student, mastering the art of debate can be a valuable skill.

Research Your Topic

The first step in crafting a compelling debate speech is to thoroughly research your topic. Gather facts, statistics, and expert opinions to support your argument. Make sure to use reputable sources and fact-check your information.

Develop Your Argument

Once you’ve done your research, it’s time to develop your argument. Choose your strongest points and organize them in a logical manner. Use persuasive language and rhetorical devices to make your case more compelling.

Anticipate Counterarguments

In a debate, you must be prepared to defend your position against counterarguments. Anticipate what your opponent might say and have rebuttals ready. This requires critical thinking and the ability to think on your feet.

The language you use in your debate speech can make a big difference. Use strong, active verbs and vivid imagery to paint a picture in your audience’s mind. Rhetorical questions, repetition, and tricolons (a series of three parallel elements) can also be effective persuasive devices.

Deliver with Confidence

Finally, deliver your debate speech with confidence. Speak clearly, maintain eye contact, and use gestures to emphasize your points. Remember, your delivery is just as important as the content of your speech.

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Delivering Powerful Acceptance Speeches

Whether you’re accepting an award at work or being honored at a community event, an acceptance speech is your chance to express gratitude and share your story. Here are some tips for delivering a powerful acceptance speech.

First, express gratitude. Thank the organization presenting the award, as well as any individuals who have supported you along the way. Be specific in your thanks and show genuine appreciation.

Share a Personal Story

An acceptance speech is a great opportunity to share a personal story that relates to the award or honor you’re receiving. This could be a story of overcoming obstacles, learning an important lesson, or achieving a goal. Your story will help the audience connect with you on a personal level.

Inspire Your Audience

Use your acceptance speech to inspire your audience. Share the lessons you’ve learned or the wisdom you’ve gained. Additionally, encourage others to pursue their dreams and never give up. Your words have the power to motivate and uplift those listening.

Keep It Concise

While it’s important to express gratitude and share your story, it’s also important to keep your acceptance speech concise. Aim for a speech that’s no more than 3-5 minutes long. Be mindful of the time and the event schedule.

Practice and Prepare

Finally, practice and prepare for your acceptance speech. Write out your key points and practice delivering your speech out loud. This will help you feel more confident and prepared when the big moment arrives.

When it comes to rocking public speaking, getting a grip on the different types of speeches is the first step. Then you know whether to share info, sway opinions, show how it’s done, or just give your audience a good time. As a result, you can really make your speeches hit home and stick with your audience.

Remember, no matter what type of speech you’re giving, the key to success lies in understanding your purpose, knowing your audience, and adapting your message accordingly. With practice and persistence, you’ll soon be able to captivate any crowd, no matter the occasion.

So go forth, speak with confidence, and let your voice be heard. The world is waiting for your message!

• Last Updated: May 7, 2024

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Chapter 5: Presenting Your Speech Module

Four Types of Speeches

Speeches can be categorized into four broad areas depending on the amount of preparation that is undertaken and depending upon the nature of the occasion.  The four types of speeches are manuscript, memorized, extemporaneous, and impromptu.  Our aim is to acquaint you with these four different modes of delivery, to provide suggestions for when you are asked to make impromptu remarks, and then to focus most your time on the preparation, practice, and presentation of extemporaneous speeches.

Manuscript Speech

When you listen to the President deliver a State of the Union message, you listen to a well-crafted speech being read from a teleprompter. The speech has been polished by a staff of speechwriters and has been practiced many times. The President will know how to anticipate the reaction of the audience and will know when to pause for applause and when to expect laughter. This form of speaking is used when the exact words matter and when much time and energy is expended on getting everything just right. There are times when people who are not leaders of countries deliver manuscript speeches as well. They are used when people testify before Congress, when people read important statements in a public setting, or when people deliver reports at professional meetings. All call for exact words in the correct order.

While the President has access to a staff of speech writers and a teleprompter, most of us do not. If you were given this type of assignment, you would have to read your manuscript speech from printed notes. In that case, you would want to ensure that you had prepared your manuscript carefully, using large fonts so you could read it easily without burying your nose in the pages. Reading the speech does not allow you to skimp on the preparation. Practice the speech many times. This allows you to make changes, if needed, and to select the best words to communicate your exact meaning. Remember to speak clearly and naturally -strive for a conversational tone. It shouldn’t sound read -even if you are reading. Also, remember to speak slowly; there is a natural tendency to speed up when we speak in public. Delivering a speech is not a race; you do not receive bonus points for finishing early.

Unless you are specifically told by your instructor to prepare and deliver a manuscript speech, you should never write out the entire speech. Spend your time developing your outline, organizing your ideas, and determining where you can best insert your supports. Then practice using the outline while speaking.

Memorized Speech

When you were in elementary school, did you ever have to memorize a poem or a part of a speech? If you are like most students, the answer is “Yes. ” There is nothing wrong with memorization. But if you try to memorize a speech, you risk forgetting what you planned to say and coming across as completely unprepared. Memorizing your speech is even worse than reading it. All the objections that apply to the read speech also apply to the memorized speech. Spontaneity is gone. The speech can sound stilted. Often, delivery is too rapid. Concentration is on the words, not the ideas. Sometimes the speech sounds too formal, like a written essay. There is minimal feedback or other contact with the audience. And what happens if your mind goes completely blank or if an audience member interrupts? The entire presentation will likely fall apart. Memorizing a speech puts entirely too much pressure on the speaker.

That said, there are a couple of parts of the speech that you may want to have memorized -or practiced so well that you can deliver them almost as if memorized. These include:

Your introduction:  It sets the stage for the entire speech. The words should be well chosen and rehearsed. You may find that as you repeat this portion of the speech during your rehearsals you do come to memorize it word for word. If so, this is fine. After all, once you have determined the best way of saying something, why not use it? Just make sure the presentation does not sound memorized. Your conclusion:  The summary and call to action are the final words that your audience will hear. As with the introduction, if you practice this repeatedly you will develop the best way to say what you want and you will probably have perfected this portion of the speech.

Impromptu Speech

There will come a time for all of us when we are asked to “say a few words ” without much preparation.  You haven’t prepared any notes, you haven’t practiced what you’ll say, and you’re being asked to “wing it. ” While this may seem incredibly scary, impromptu presentations are the most common type of public speaking. You’re in class and suddenly the professor wants to hear how group projects are going. You, as the leader of your group, are asked to stand and briefly discuss what the group is doing and how much you’ve completed so far. That’s an impromptu speech. You didn’t know when you headed to class that day that you’d be speaking in public, but you did it. No sweat! Or maybe you’re in a meeting at work and the boss announces that he wants you to brief everyone in the meeting on the new equipment being installed that afternoon. Again, no prior planning, no notes, you just do it. That’s impromptu speaking.

Extemporaneous Speech

The focus of most college courses in public speaking is the extemporaneous speech.  This is because this is the type of speech used most in business, education, preaching, and political affairs. Few of us will ever have a professional staff of speechwriters or ever deliver a speech with the aid of a teleprompter. But when you do have a speech or presentation to deliver, you’ll want to sound prepared, authoritative, and clear.

Simply stated, an extemporaneous speech is one where you will have time for preparation and practice but will not be expected to read from a manuscript or to have the speech memorized.  The question most students ask is, “How much time should be spent in preparation and practice? ” Perhaps Mark Twain said it best. When speaking about preparing for an impromptu speech, he noted, “It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech ” (King). While celebrated as a humorist, there is much truth in his words. To appear to be speaking off the cuff, and to do it well, you must prepare thoroughly and practice to perfection. When you speak extemporaneously, it means you’ve had ample time to prepare and research and that you have rehearsed your speech (many times) using an outline or notes to remind you of the progression of ideas you wish to present. You will follow all the normal steps outlined in the earlier chapters. Choose a topic, narrow appropriately, analyze your audience, choose your supports, and create an outline. You will know your speech so well and will amaze your audience!

Fundamentals of Public Speaking Copyright © by Lumen Learning is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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An Easy Guide to All 15 Types of Speech

There are several types of speeches one can use to deliver a message, to sell an idea, to persuade, or impart knowledge to the intended audience. What are these types of speech , when to use them, and what are some insights on which types of speeches should be used based on multiple occasions, the audience, and the desired result?

The complete Types of Speech Series – Please find some insight for each type of speech by clicking the links below

15 DIFFERENT TYPES OF SPEECH

Demonstrative speech.

The idea behind demonstrative speech is basically to educate the audience that is listening to something they are not aware of. The unique thing about demonstrative speeches is that they could include various visual aids that can help further demonstrate or describe in practical terms how to effectively do something. At first glance, one can say that demonstrative speech is more informative, but the difference is in the fact that informative speeches do not exactly include actual demonstrating of how to do or perform an action.

Imagine that you will give a speech on how to write a blog post, how to sell clothes online, how to fish successfully, or even how to build a house, these can all be considered as demonstrative speeches.

If you’re wondering how to go about getting a speech like demonstrative speech started, the best way is to start by asking your self-critical questions like how or why or what is. These questions will help start the process of creating a power demonstrative speech. Also, as you must know already, a demonstrative speech cannot be considered one without the use of visual aid to help support the process of demonstration.

A great example of demonstrative speeches nowadays are the ones delivered by Apple, and other companies when they are unveiling their latest flagship smartphones, or any other product.

Entertaining speech

Informative speech.

Informative speeches are speeches mainly performed for the purpose of educating the audience on a new or relevant piece of information on a particular topic.

When giving an informative speech, the speaker is expected to present statistics and facts about the topics to back is claims and assertions. Informative speech topics can range from social and economic changes in our community to climate change and how it affects our world today.

So, the next time you hear someone dishing out facts, stats and critical information on a certain topic be sure to note that he or she is giving the audience an informative speech.

Persuasive speech

A persuasive speech is a speech given solely for the purpose of convincing the audience listening that the opinion of the speaker on a particular topic is the right or correct one. Whether you are discussing what movie to watch next or which political standpoint is best for the economy, you are making a persuasive speech.

In order to successfully convince an audience, most speakers tend to use concrete evidence and facts to back up their argument. The use of those various facts makes their own argument seem more sensible and believable, thereby persuading the audience to stand with them and support their claim. This is one of the best ways to ensure your persuasive speech is very effective, by giving solid facts you can easily get the audience to rally around you and give you their support.

Persuasive speeches, depending on the topic, can also be built around emotions and feelings of the speaker and how they resonate with the audiences; If you are trying to convince people to raise fundings to a cause, to help children, elderly,  oppressed women, and so on. The facts are a must, but ultimately in these situations appealing to the audience emotion should yield better results.

I have another post discussing in detail how to deliver persuasive speeches, what are the best techniques to persuade others , and I also shared 120 persuasive speech topics and ideas and how to go about selecting the best topic for your speech in another post , be sure to check it out .

Oratorical speech

Oratorical speeches are a type of speech that is delivered in the style used by an orator. Its name and definition are quite humorous because orator and oratorical both relate to the act of giving a speech.

There are various events and places where one can give an oratorical speech like a birthday party, retirement party, coming out party and a bunch of others. Political speeches are usually considered as oratorical speeches, especially when they are not used to settle an argument but rather to preach virtue and appeal to common basic truths.

Special occasion speech

Another good example of special occasion speeches is a tribute speech given to pay tribute to a person whether they are dead or alive. An award acceptance speech is also another form of special occasion speech, it is given solely to appreciate the audience for the award and Express how much it means to you.

These special occasion speeches are designed to be short, around ten minutes, straight to the point and somewhat mood setting in nature. Most times, special occasion speeches are upbeat and fun, you can easily just go online and find out how to get started on your own little special event.

Motivational speech

One can consider the motivational speech as a special type of speech in which the general self-improvement of the audience is the goal to be attained. A speaker generally engages in this type of speech to encourage and inspire the confidence of his audience to do better with and for themselves.

These speeches are great to motivate people, to inspire them and uplift their self-esteem. There are certain techniques used in given out motivation speech in order for them to yield the best result.

Examples of motivational speeches are seen in schools, whereby teachers try to encourage students to put in extra work and do better in order to improve their grades and overall records.

Explanatory speech

Explanatory speech is one of the types of speech which is given to critically explain a situation or thing. They are somewhat similar in nature to the demonstrative speech. However, the explanatory speech is different from the demonstrative speech in the sense that the explanatory speech gives a detailed step by step and breaks down of how to do something. It is also different in the sense that it does not make use of visual aid to assist in understanding.

The explanatory speech simply just details the step by step to get the know-how on any task or subject. A good example of an explanatory speech is the one being given by a speaker on a food talk show, explaining the step-by-step procedures to make various dishes or the witness explaining how an event took place.

Debate speech

As the normal standard in general debate, all sides are given an equal amount of time to give a speech on how why they think their opinion or view on a certain matter is the right one. Debates are not quite like persuasive speeches because rather than trying to convince the other side to join you on your side, you are simply trying to justify why you are of an opinion on a certain matter.

Forensic speech

The reason why this type of speech is called forensic is because of its strong similarities to the competitions at public forums during the time of ancient Greece.

Impromptu Speech

It can be an embarrassing or ackward experience to be in a situation where you have to speak from the top of your head with no prior preparation. To avoid that, please go through the tips that we shared in one of our other posts on how you can better deal with such stressing situations, and still manage to deliver great impromptu speeches.

Pitching Presentations / Pitch Speech

Being in the working environment and working as a Salesperson you’d probably use this type of speech more often than most people. That is not to say that other professionals, other than salespeople don’t need to master the skills required to ace this type of speech, most of us do.

Check out some details of how you should prepare and deliver a great pitching presentation / pitch speech and get the desired result in the following post.

Farewell Speech

Funeral speeches.

Funeral Speeches or Eulogy is a type of speech where the main aim is to praise, honor and remember the deceased in front of those attending the service. It can be done by someone who is related to the deceased or by a minister who is asked by the family.

Losing a loved one is one the most difficult experiences you can go through, and being able to find the right words and give a funeral speech effectively is even more challenging. Find our guide on how to outline, how to prepare and how to deliver a heartfelt eulogy in the link below.

9 Basic Elements of a Great Persuasive Speech

What makes a bad public speaker top 10 worst traits to avoid.

An audience will always give apt attention to a public speaker that keeps his message clear, simple, and easy to comprehend.  Besides, nobody likes a bad public speaker and would want to waste their precious time under the logos of a boring orator. Below are ten carefully selected traits or qualities that make a bad…

How to Become a Confident Public Speaker – 6 Tips

What is the intended result of your speech.

Whether it be to encourage our friends and colleagues at the office or to convince a client to buy our products. The advantages and benefits of knowing how to properly give a speech or even just communicate to an audience are endless, it is an art form that requires the sharpening of one’s thinking capacity and verbal/nonver bal communication skills.

Reflect back to those times where you had to stand in front of a bunch of people and talk about something. It could be as simple as an oral report of an assignment in a school or as complicated and demanding as a proposal at work. After you were able to gather all your materials and prepared yourself well, getting up to the podium and dish it all out was the next logical step.

When it comes to giving speeches it all comes down to who is saying what, to whom, using what medium with what effect. Simply put, who is the exact source of the information? What is the message or information itself? Who is the audience, while the medium of communication is actually the delivering method being used by the speaker, then it all ends in an effect.

What is the Type of Speech Delivery Method to be used?

There are Four types of speech delivery Methods:

Each type of speech delivery method has its perks and ways to follow. You can read all about them in this article !

Having the ability to speak in public effortlessly and with charisma is a trait and quality every individual in society should desire. And with the proper understanding of these various types of speeches, as well as the techniques required for each, your abilities as a public speaker are only going to grow, and you will continue to impress and amaze your audiences.

Craig Czarnecki. 3 Types of Speeches Every Person Needs to be Familiar with for Success!

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• 9 Different Types Of Speeches (Plus Tips And Examples)

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Martin Luther King’s I have a dream . Winston Churchill’s we shall fight on the beaches speech. J. F. Kennedy’s The decision to go to the moon speech. Nelson Mandela’s I am the first accused speech. Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address . Barrack Obama’s yes we can speech.

One thing all these have in common is that they were some of the most powerful speeches of their times. They brought people together and got them united towards the achievement of a single cause.

Speeches are a great way to sell an idea to people, deliver a message, impart knowledge, and persuade people to support a cause or idea. What many do not know, however, is that there are several types of speeches.

Knowing the different types of speeches can make you more effective at making speeches and move you from the 75% of the population who have a fear of public speaking , because you will have a good idea of which type of speech to use on which occasion and to which audience.

Below, let’s take a look at 9 different types of speeches.

DEMONSTRATIVE SPEECH

Have you ever been to a workshop or seminar where a speaker was showing people how to do something, such as how to exercise at home, how to use certain software, or how to use a certain product? If you have, it means that you have witnessed a demonstrative speech in action.

A demonstrative speech is a speech that is given with the aim of educating the audience about something. The key differentiating thing about demonstrative speeches, however, is that they are always accompanied by a demonstration.

The speaker doesn’t simply tell you how to do something or how something works. Instead, they demonstrate how to do it, or how the thing works, with visual aids to make it easier for the audience to understand what the speaker is talking about. The video below shows an example of a demonstrative speech.

Since the demonstrative speech seeks to impart knowledge, it can easily be confused for an informative speech, which also has similar objectives.

However, they have their differences. First, we have already seen that unlike the informative speech, the demonstrative speech has to be accompanied by visual aids to demonstrate what is being taught.

The other key difference between the two kinds of speeches is that whereas the informative speech focuses mostly on theoretical concepts, the demonstrative speech is more focused on the practical aspect of things. In other words, the demonstrative speech focuses more on the how, unlike the informative speech, which focuses mainly on the what.

You can give a demonstrative speech on just about anything that teaches people how to do something – how to earn a passive income , how to prepare for a job interview , how to maintain a car, you name it. However, for it to qualify as a demonstrative speech, you have to actually demonstrate how to do whatever it is you are talking about.

INFORMATIVE SPEECH

The informative speech, as you might have deduced, is a close ally of the demonstrative speech. The main objective of the informative speech is to convey information that the audience wasn’t aware of previously.

Remember your days back in college, when you used to doodle on your notebook while your professor droned on and on about some concept in physics that you couldn’t seem to wrap your head around? You might not have known it at the time, but your professor was actually giving an informative speech.

Similarly, if you have had a guided tour of a zoo or a game reserve, what you experienced was an informative speech.

Informative speeches can convey information about events, concepts, objects, processes, and so on.

To make the speech effective, the speaker tries to break down the topic they are talking about into simple, easy-to-digest ideas that can be understood by a layman. Informative speeches are usually accompanied by statistics, facts, and other data. Unlike demonstrative speeches, however, informative speeches are not accompanied by visual aids.

ENTERTAINING SPEECH

Have you been to an event where the MC enthralled the audience with funny story after funny story, leaving the crowd dying with laughter? If you have, what you witnessed was an example of an entertaining speech.

The main objective of the entertaining speech is to amuse the audience and provide them with pleasure and enjoyment.

To achieve this objective, entertaining speeches are accompanied by funny stories and illustrations, jokes, and other forms of humor. In most cases, entertaining speeches are quite short, lasting just a few minutes.

PERSUASIVE SPEECH

A politician giving a campaign speech with the aim of convincing the electorate to elect him or her to public office. A lawyer trying to convince the jury about the innocence of their client.

A teenager trying to convince their parents to allow them to go out with friends. Someone trying to convince a group of friends to try out a certain restaurant. An entrepreneur giving a sales pitch to convince investors to invest in his startup. All these are examples of persuasive speeches.

A persuasive speech refers to any speech given with the objective of persuading the audience that the speaker’s opinion is the right one, and by extension, convincing them that they should embrace the same opinion or provide their support to the speaker.

Obviously, persuading people to not only view your opinion as the right one, but to also embrace the same opinion and give you their support is not an easy thing to do.

Therefore, persuasive speeches employ a variety techniques to convince the audience. For instance, the speaker might use facts and statistics to make what they are saying more believable and more sensible. This means that the speaker needs to have performed a thorough research of the topic and gathered as much material as possible to back up their argument.

Alternatively, the speaker can appeal to the feelings and emotions of the audience to persuade them to adopt the speaker’s point of view and give their support.

This tactic is especially useful when trying to rally up support for a cause, such as raising funds to help the elderly, the poor, oppressed women, orphaned children, and so on.

For instance, Martin Luther King’s I have a dream speech is an example of a persuasive speech that appealed on the emotions of people to persuade them to take a stand against racism and inequality.

ORATORICAL SPEECH

This term refers to speeches that are delivered in an orator’s style. I know this might sound a little bit confusing since in the basic sense of the word, anyone giving a speech is an orator.

In most cases, oratorical speeches are given at events that call for a special celebration, such as ribbon cutting ceremonies, graduation parties, inauguration ceremonies, going-away parties, birthday parties, retirement parties, wedding receptions, and so on.

In some cases, some political speeches can also be considered to be oratorical in nature. For this to happen, however, the speaker should not be trying to persuade people to do something (such as vote for them) or to settle complex arguments. Instead, they should be general speeches that appeal to basic truths and common virtues.

Depending on the nature of the event, oratorical speeches can either be short and informal (such as in birthday parties and retirement parties), or long and formal (such as in presidential inauguration ceremonies). A good example of a great oratorical speech is J. F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech.

MOTIVATIONAL SPEECH

In my final year in high school, I was captain of the basketball team, and there’s this one game I will never forget. It was the final game of the high school basketball tournament, and if we won, we would be crowned state champions.

Problem is, we were trailing by 15 points at the break of half time. During the half time break, our coach gave us one of the most moving speeches I have ever heard.

He reminded us how much we had trained for this moment, reminded us that we were the best team he had ever coached, and told us that we had it in us to overturn the game and clinch the trophy.

We went back onto that court with so much determination and desire, and by the time the ref blew the final whistle, we were leading by 12 points and were crowned state champions. I attribute our success on the court that day to that half-time speech by our coach.

The speech he gave us is an example of a motivational speech.

A motivational speech is a type of speech that is given with the aim of encouraging or inspiring the audience and getting them to do better or improve themselves.

Motivational speeches are common in business meetings to encourage employees to improve their performance, in schools to inspire students to do their best in tests, and in sporting events to inspire athletes to give their all.

Motivational speeches are also good for lifting a person’s self-esteem or turning negative situations into positive ones. A good example of a great motivation speech is Steve Job’s Stanford commencement speech .

INTRODUCTORY SPEECH

An introductory speech refers to a kind of speech that is used to get the audience ready for the main focus on a meeting, gathering or event.

For instance, before the keynote speaker at an event gets on stage to give their speech, someone else will get on stage to introduce the keynote speaker to the audience.

Basically, the introductory speech introduces to the audience whoever or whatever they came to see or listen to. This could be a musician, a music band, an award winner, a motivational speaker, or even a staged production.

Introductory speeches are also common in social gatherings, such as graduations, promotion parties, wedding receptions, and so on. They are used to introduce the person(s) in whose honor an event or gathering has been held.

Ideally, an introductory speech should be short, and its main focus should be the person the speech is introducing. The introductory speech will usually provide a few biographical details about the person being introduced, mention this person’s qualifications or credentials, and probably share a quick anecdote about the person.

For an introductory speech to be effective, it should be positive, including a few complementary words about the person being introduced, and if possible, it should also be entertaining.

The aim is to get the audience excited about listening to the person being introduced.

ACCEPTANCE SPEECH

This is a type of speech that is made by person who is the recipient of a certain honor or award. In most cases, the acceptance speech comes immediately after an introductory speech introducing the recipient of the award.

In most cases, the acceptance speech is usually short. The aim of the acceptance speech is for the speaker to express their gratitude for the award or honor they have received, to thank the people behind the competition or event, and to appreciate those who helped them achieve whatever it is that led to them being honored.

In most cases, acceptance speeches are accompanied by a lot of emotion, which can make them quite difficult, especially for someone who is giving such a speech for the first time.

Perhaps the best thing to do when giving an acceptance speech is to follow the advice of former US President Franklin D. Roosevelt: Be sincere. Be brief. Be seated.

A toast refers to a speech that is made with the main objective of honoring another person or a group of people. Toasts typically end in a phrase like “let’s raise our glasses to…” followed by a drink.

Toasts are usually given at celebratory events and gatherings, such as retirement parties, graduations, birthday parties, wedding receptions, award dinners, and so on. Most toasts are usually informal and relatively short. Still, they can be difficult to make, and in most cases, they need some prior rehearsal.

In many cases, there are rules and guidelines to specify who is supposed to give a toast. For instance, in a wedding reception, the toast is usually made by the best man or the bride’s father.

Depending on the tone of the occasion, a toast can be humorous, inspirational, sentimental, and in some cases, solemn. In most cases, the person making the toast has to be closely associated with the reason behind the toast.

TIPS ON HOW TO GIVE BETTER AND MORE EFFECTIVE SPEECHES

Before giving a speech, you need to be well prepared in order to give a successful speech that will effectively achieve its objective. Remember, no speech is made just for the sake of it.

In addition, considering that most speeches are made in public settings, being prepared and giving a good speech can help cement your reputation as an orator. Below, let’s take a look at some tips that will help you give better and more effective speeches.

Know Your Audience

Having a good understanding of your audience is a very crucial aspect when it comes to making better and more effective speeches. A good speech is one that resonates well with the audience.

However, it is impossible for a speech to resonate with your audience if you do not have a good idea of the people who will be listening to the speech.

For instance, if you were asked to give a motivational speech to a group of entrepreneurs and to a group of students, you would not address them the same way, even if your objective would be the same for both speeches – encouraging and inspiring your audience. Knowing your audience allows you to tailor your speech to them.

Use Interesting Visual Aids For Demonstrative Speeches

We already saw that visual aids are a critical element of demonstrative speeches. It is impossible to make a demonstrative speech without visual aids.

To make your speech effective, you should make sure that your visual aids are both interesting (this allows you to capture and hold the audience’s attention) and simple (this makes it easier for your audience to understand what you are demonstrating).

There is no shortage of items that you can use as visual aids. You can use photographs, drawings, flashcards, 3-D items, or even actual products, if the situation allows that. Keep in mind that your audience might even be more attentive to your visual aids than to what you are saying, which is why you need to make sure you are using the right visual aids.

Choose An Easy Topic

When giving informative and demonstrative speeches, it is always a great idea to choose an easy topic, both for you and for the audience. An easy topic for you means that you won’t have to struggle much to make your audience understand what you are talking about. An easy topic for your audience will make it easier for you to hold the audience’s attention.

If you choose a topic that is excessively complex or technical, most of your audience might get bored along the way and lose their concentration.

Spice Up Your Entertaining Speeches

When giving an entertaining speech, try to find ways to spice up the speech to keep your audience engaged and to ensure they enjoy the speech.

You can do this by inserting jokes and funny stories into the speech every so often. Without doing this, what was supposed to be an entertaining speech can quickly become monotonous, causing your audience to start drifting away.

Have A Goal In Mind When Giving A Persuasive Speech

Before you start giving a persuasive speech, it should be very clear to you what you want to achieve from the speech. What action do you want your audience to take once you are done giving the speech?

This is what will inform how you are going to deliver your speech. For instance, instead of complaining about something and leaving it at that, you should persuade your audience that that thing is bad and then convince them to take some action against it.

In addition, it is always better to talk about the positivity of what you are trying to achieve or what you want your audience to do, rather than focusing on the negativity of what you are against.

Finally, you should give sufficient information about your stand or opinion to maximize your chances of achieving your goal.

Prepare Adequately

Regardless of the kind of speech you are going to be giving, it is very important to make sure that you are adequately prepared. Research the topic as much as you can, make sure you have the correct facts and statistics, and so on.

There is nothing worse than giving a speech about something, only for someone in the audience to dispute something you confidently said and be right about it.

It makes you look like you don’t know what you are talking about. Once you have all the facts you need, sit down, write your speech, prepare your speech cards , and go through your speech to make sure that everything looks okay.

From there, rehearse how you are going to deliver the speech a couple of times. You can do this in front of a mirror, or in front of a close friend or relative. You want to get to a point where you have your speech flowing from your fingertips.

Practice. Practice. Practice

Unless you are one of the few people who are born with a talent for oration and public speaking, becoming an eloquent orator is not something you are going to do within a single day. You need to practice and practice and practice.

This means that whenever you get a chance to give a speech, you should not let it pass you buy.

Offer to give speeches in various events, and following the events, analyze your speeches and see what you can do to improve. If possible, you can even have someone record you every time you give a speech.

You can then go through these speeches and identify various ways through which you can improve your oratory skills.

WRAPPING UP

Speeches are a great way to bring people together and deliver a message or build support for an idea or cause. For you speech to be effective, however, you have to know which kind of speech to give where.

After reading this article, I hope that you now have a good understanding of the different kinds of speeches and where they should be used. I have also shared a couple of tips which I hope you will start implementing to make your speeches better and more effective.

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• Games, topic printables & more
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• Speech delivery
• 4 modes of speech delivery

4 modes of speech delivery | an overview 

Which speech delivery technique is best.

By:  Susan Dugdale  

There are 4 modes (methods) or ways to deliver a speech: to read it from a manuscript word by word, to completely memorize it, as an impromptu, and to give it extemporaneously.

How do you know which mode will be most effective?

The answer depends on how much time you have available, the type of speech you’re giving and, your audience.

Let’s briefly outline each method and their advantages and disadvantages.

What's on this page

An overview of the 4 modes of speech delivery, the pros (advantages) and cons (disadvantages) of each, plus links to examples and further resources.

• extemporaneous

1. Manuscript

One of the most common ways to deliver a speech is to use a manuscript: a word by word document of everything you plan to say from beginning to end. This ensures, when you read it out loud, what you say is exactly what you intend, without deviation.

What is the best way to write a manuscript speech?

As with any type of speech, the best way to start is not with the words but with considering your topic, your audience, how much time you have to speak and the purpose of your speech.

Once you have those clear, then you are ready to begin planning a speech outline: an overview of all the material you want to cover. 

When the outline is completed you’ll use that to write your manuscript.

Click the link for more about the process of preparing a speech outline , with examples. (The page also has a free printable blank speech outline for you to download and use)

And for more about writing a speech, in particular writing oral language, words to be spoken aloud, please see how to write a speech . You’ll find a useful guide covering the principal characteristics of spoken speech. (It is very different from writing an essay!) 

Who regularly delivers a manuscript speech?

Newsreaders, TV personalities, politicians, business leaders and the President! Anybody whose speech is going to be closely scrutinized will use either a manuscript or its electronic equivalent, a teleprompter. These are speeches where the content is significant, perhaps life changing, where facts and figures must be 100% accurate, and where the tone of the language used is important.

What distinguishes a good delivery of a manuscript speech from a poor one, is practice. Some of the greatest public speakers in the world ‘read’ their speeches with so much skill they sound as if they are making up what they’re saying on the spot. The speech comes across as being completely spontaneous and is delivered flawlessly. 

Great public speakers who 'read' their speeches

A famous example is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir Winston Churchill. Throughout World War Two (1939-1945) his extraordinary speeches inspired the people he led to persevere in their fight to keep the Nazis out of England in spite of the odds being stacked against them.

To find out more read Winston Churchill's Way With Words - an excellent NPR article, with audio, on how he crafted his speeches. 

And another more recent example is America’s ex-President Barack Obama. 

American Rhetoric has audio and text (pdf) links to his speeches spanning 2002 - 2014. Four are included in a list of 49 of the most important speeches in 21st century America . These are:

• 2004 Democratic National Convention Keynote Address
• Commencement Address at Knox College (2005)
• A More Perfect Union (2008)
• Speech at the 'Together We Thrive: Tucson and America' Memorial (2011)

How to deliver a manuscript speech

Print your speech out single sided. Make sure each page is numbered clearly. Use an easily read font like Arial, black ink, and size the font and space the lines so that the text may be read at a glance.

Use a lectern  adjusted for your height  to put your manuscript on. As you finish reading each page turn it over face down and move it to your left. That will help stop you from getting muddled.

Aim for at least one read through aloud before you deliver it.

The more you can practice the better your delivery will be. 

How to read aloud well

Reading aloud well is a skill. Some people are very good at it, and some are ghastly, largely because they’ve had no practice. (And sadly, many who regularly read their speech scripts don’t realize how bad they are to listen to because nobody has told them. Their presentations have been endured, rather than enjoyed for years!)

If you have to regularly read your speeches here’s how to read a speech effectively: 4 good ways to improve how you read aloud . It will help a great deal!

The pros (advantages) for a manuscript speech

The major advantage of using a script is that it ensures the speaker will deliver the right message, the one that’s been prepared, without errors. This is particularly important when presenting complex subject matter.  

Another is that when there's not enough time to rehearse or prepare thoroughly, reading may be the only real option available. Without the safety of a script you may forget large chunks of information, or misremember important material. The script keeps you on track.

A third reason could be that the mere presence of the script is reassuring for nervous or anxious speakers. Even if they do not actually need it, because they’ve prepared well, the script is calming. If they suddenly blank out, they’ll be alright, as they have the script to refer to.

And a fourth is that you can easily back track, return to a point you made several pages earlier, if you need to.

The cons (disadvantages) of manuscript speeches

The main disadvantages of using a manuscript are:

• being anchored to one place . If you are using a full script you need to remain in front of the lectern, or teleprompter in order to read it. You can not move freely as you deliver your speech.
• lack of eye contact with your audience because you need to keep your eyes on your words. When there is very little or no eye contact between a speaker and their audience, the audience switches off because they feel ignored, shut out.  The ability to look at the audience while using notes or a teleprompter helps your audience to listen better, retain more of what they hear, and feel as if they’ve gained more value from your speech. Click the link for more about the importance of using eye contact [including 5 fun activities to teach students how to use eye contact well]
• Using language that doesn’t flow easily when you say it aloud . There are major differences between writing intended for oral language - something to be spoken aloud, and writing something that is intended to be read, like a newspaper article or an essay. For more please see how to write a speech . You’ll find an infographic on the characteristics of spoken language.   Whenever possible, always read your manuscript aloud before you deliver it. It’s much nicer to find typos, missing words, vital information omissions and other glitches (such as words you are not sure how to pronounce correctly), by yourself rather than in public. Another useful thing to do is to run your manuscript through a grammar checker . It may pick up errors you've overlooked.

2. Memorized speech

A memorized speech is one delivered completely from memory. That means: no notes at all. There is just you: the speaker, the speech you recall, word for word, and your audience.

Why choose to memorize a speech?

There are three likely reasons. 

• You want the illusion of a ‘natural’ conversation between yourself and your audience. The presence of a lectern with your manuscript on it, a teleprompter, or a set of cue cards in your hand makes that impossible.
• You want to be able to ‘play’ freely with your delivery: to be able to move, to gesture, as you see fit rather than be tethered to notes.
• You want to make completely sure the words you have written are faithfully delivered to the audience, without any changes at all. That can be vital in comedy.

What type of speech is enhanced through memorization?

A personal speech, for example one sharing childhood stories, a very carefully scripted humorous speech where you absolutely must get the words in the right order for them to work, or an inspirational one prepared especially to move and motivate a particular audience. All of these can be more effective delivered without notes.

There are also declamation speeches . These are in a special category of their own. They are memorized recitations of known speeches: a task set by teachers to have their pupil's fully experience the power of carefully crafted, well delivered oratorical language.    

What type of speeches are NOT suited to memorization?

• Any presentation or speech covering critical information that people will use to make important, and often life-altering, decisions. For instance, a detailed weather report cannot be inaccurate. The information outlining the state government’s strategy for combating poverty, declining employment rates, and climate change needs to be presented in a way the audience can easily follow and be factually correct. Missing bits out or getting them wrong creates confusion.
• Presentations which include large amounts of data : for example, a roundup of a company’s annual performance figures would be very difficult to accurately memorize, as well as being very difficult for an audience to listen to and retain.   
• Lengthy presentations - speeches running over 10 or more minutes in time.     

How to memorize a speech

If you decide to memorize your entire speech, the very first thing you’ll need is lots of time to practice. This is critical. Do not be tempted to minimize how much is required.

To safely commit it to memory you have to go over and over your speech until you can easily say it out loud without hesitation, deviation or repetition. This can take weeks of regular daily practice, particularly if you’ve not done it before. If you haven’t got that time available to you, opt for an extemporized delivery. (See the notes on extemporaneous speeches below.)

Review your speech outline

Having made the decision to memorize, the next thing you need to do is carefully review your speech outline. 

These are questions you’ll want to consider: 

• Are the major points in the right order? Do you have supporting examples for each of them? Are the transitions between each of the points clear? Is there a memorable conclusion? Does the opening or introduction work as a hook to pull the audience in?
• Does the speech have a clear purpose? Does it meet it? Has it been tailored for its intended audience? 

(Click the link for more about preparing a useful speech outline . You’ll find step by step guidelines, examples, and a free printable blank outline template to use.) 

Repeat your speech out loud, a lot!

Once you are satisfied with your outline, it’s time to begin the process of committing it to memory.

This starts with saying your speech out loud multiple times while using your outline. As you do you’ll be listening for bits you need to change in some way. Perhaps the words you’re using aren’t quite right for your audience. Maybe it doesn’t flow as well as you thought it did and you’ll want to swap pieces around. Or it’s too long and needs pruning. 

It’s a repetitive process: make a change. Try it out. If it’s good, keep it and move on to the next section. Repeat until you’ve worked through the entire speech.

An additional tip is for every significant change you make, make a new document, (eg. myspeech v1, myspeech v2, myspeech v3…) or at least track the changes. That way if you decide you want to revert to an earlier version you can. I’ve got at least 10 versions of some of the speeches I’ve written!

The next step is to begin working without the outline. 

The 'see, walk, and talk' method

The method I use is the same one I use as an actor to learn play lines. 

I call it ‘see, walk and talk’. It's a 3 part approach. Each is essential. 

The seeing part is visualization: seeing the words on the page. Seeing the order they come in, and anything else that distinguishes them from the rest. Is it a heading? Is it a number? Is it highlighted? 

The second part is walking. Walking helps a great deal and is an ancient  technique for  memorizing   now backed by science. *

If it’s fine, I walk outside and as I walk, I talk (the third part), repeating out loud  the section I'm trying to recall over and over until I get it right.

If the weather is bad, then I walk inside, around and around a room, or on a treadmill which works just as well.

*   Schmidt-Kassow M, Zink N, Mock J, et al. Treadmill walking during vocabulary encoding improves verbal long-term memory. Behav Brain Funct. 2014;10:24. Published 2014 Jul 12. doi:10.1186/1744-9081-10-24 ) 

'See, walk, talk' in action

Start with the body of your speech, the main points. Your goal is to remember each one, in their correct order.

There are three steps in this process.

• Look at your outline. If it helps highlight the main points, and number them. Take a mental photograph of it.
• Put the outline behind your back. Walk and say out loud as many of the main points you can in their correct order.
• When you find yourself struggling to recall, stop. Look at your outline. Take another mental photo. Put the outline behind your back, and start over again. Walk and talk. 

Repeat until you can run through the entire sequence of main points, and the transitions between them, without hesitation.

Add the subpoints to the main points

The next step is to add the fine points - the subpoints (additional material) and examples to your main points.

Go back to the first main point. Take a mental snapshot of the subpoints and examples. Note carefully the order they come in, and any specialist vocabulary or phrase you wanted to use.

Now walk and talk. Repeat the sequence until you have it as you want it. Then go back to the beginning and repeat the first main point, its supporting material and then the subsequent main points.

Your next part to memorize is the second main point's supporting material. Once you have that down, you go back to the beginning to run the first main point, its sub points, then the second point and its sub points.  Then you are ready to do the third main point in exactly the same way.

Add the conclusion and the beginning

Once you have completed memorizing the body of your speech, add the conclusion and the beginning.   

The pattern is simple. You add a piece, then go back and repeat it all through from the beginning. Each repetition etches it more deeply into your memory.

Please note : you are not working on delivery as you say it out loud. This is purely routine repetition. There is no need for pausing, emphasis, or changes in volume and pace. Think of it as a vanilla performance - plain.  At this stage the bulk of your energy needs to go into remembering, not expression. 

Sort out and memorize the delivery

Delivery is how you say your speech, not what you say.

Once you have the content (what you are saying) reliably remembered, you are free to work on your vocal delivery: how you are going to say it.

Which parts need to be said more slowly? Which parts need to be highlighted through strategic pausing? What can be spoken quickly? Are there bits that need to be treated as asides? Are there ‘voices’ to take on? Perhaps an angry voice? Or a wheedling, whining voice?

How you say your speech directly affects how your audience receives it. If you deliver it like a monotone robot - one speed, one tone, one pitch, one volume, people’s ears will switch off even if the content is interesting to them. Delivery can make all the difference between listening and not listening.

To be effective, your delivery needs to fit both the content and the audience’s needs.

As with memorizing the content, getting the delivery how you want it requires experimentation and then repetition to ensure you’ve got it safely embedded.

Working with a recorder is useful to actually hear what your voice is doing, rather what you think it’s doing. There’s often a very big difference. You’ll hear if you’re going too quickly, pausing too long, not pausing long enough, mispronouncing words, gabbling, or using the same inflection pattern over and over again.

Find out more about the vocal aspects of speech delivery . 

Use a mirror, a video and a test audience

It’s also useful to either work in front of a mirror or video yourself. That will show you where you need to modify your body language. Do you stand straight? Do you gesture appropriately? 

Rinse, and repeat until you feel happy with what you’re doing. And then practice in front of a select test audience, whom you know will give you honest useful feedback. Incorporate what you want from the suggestions you’re given and practice again. And now you should be ready to deliver your speech!

Pros of memorizing your speech

A memorized speech is generally more engaging. If delivered well it creates the illusion of having a conversation with your audience because you are speaking directly to them and you are able to make eye contact freely, as well as move how, and where you want. This creates a more intimate and personal connection.

Cons of memorizing your speech

There are three major disadvantages to memorizing a speech. The biggest is the risk of forgetting something, especially with a longer speech. This can lead to panic which leads to scrabbling around trying to pick up the threads to start again. That can rapidly become a downward spiral which compromises the whole presentation.

Secondly, using a memorized speech can constrain or limit the ideas you express because everything is prepared in advance. It leaves little room for spontaneity: content adjustments and additions made in response to a particular audience’s needs.

And thirdly, a memorized speech can be incredibly boring if the speaker has not worked on delivery. It has a canned quality, lacking immediacy and vitality. It sounds like a switch got flicked on and out it comes: blah, blah, blah … irrespective of the audience.

3. Impromptu

An impromptu speech is, as its name suggests, a speech made without prior planning, organization or rehearsal.

Although it may be based on a brief outline or written prompt, the speaker will often have little or no opportunity for detailed or extensive preparation.

While making an impromptu speech involves little immediate preparation it require significant amounts of prior practice to give one well.

An effective impromptu speech is structured, (beginning, middle, end), and meets the needs of those listening to it. To give a good one requires versatility and flexibility: the ability to adapt and respond easily and appropriately to the unexpected.

The speaker needs to understand how to quickly choose the best format, how to decide on the main points to cover, how to order them, and how to open and close the speech.

And lastly, impromptu speaking requires confidence, and trust in oneself.  

When should an impromptu speech be delivered?

There are many social or work settings where making an impromptu speech is expected, and if done well, very much appreciated.

At a family get together the person who is asked to say a few words to welcome everyone, or make the toast is giving an impromptu speech. At a meeting to discuss current work issues, a sales manager may be asked to outline areas of challenge without prior warning. The response they give is an impromptu speech.

The ability to summon up succinct, structured remarks is highly valued in all areas of life. 

How do you prepare for an impromptu speech?

The essential preparation for impromptu speaking begins out of the spotlight, long before being asked to speak.

For comprehensive step by step guidelines covering how to gain the necessary skills please see:  strategies and templates to succeed at impromptu speaking .

You’ll find tips to get you started, 7 different structural templates to use, suggestions for keeping any nervousness under control, and links to 100s of impromptu speaking topics to use for practice.

Pros of impromptu speeches

The advantages definitely outweigh any disadvantages. 

Although some people have a natural gift for being able to talk freely and spontaneously, it can be learned. It’s a skill, like riding a bike. (But better!) When you’re beginning you fall off a few times, and graze your knees. If you get back on and keep pedaling eventually you stay upright.

Get better at impromptu speaking and you’ll find it will open many doors, leading to a richer and fuller life.  

Don’t settle for silence when you can learn to speak up for yourself, and others.

If you're reluctant to attempt it and put yourself out there, please read this article:  Speaking in business may be your most important skill .

The cons of impromptu speaking

In some contexts and on some subjects it would be unwise to attempt delivering an impromptu speech.

For instance, when asked for an evaluation of business risks associated with Covid-19, or to comment on possible correlations between socio-economic status and educational achievement in the USA, speaking without consulting a broad cross-section of informed specialists would be ill-advised. 

Each situation needs careful consideration. Are you able to talk knowledgeably on the topic you’ve been given? Are you entitled to talk about it?

If you can not speak on the subject being asked of you, say so politely. You can offer to come back with a full response at a later date. Or you can hand the question on to someone who can answer it. Knowing your limits is very useful for maintaining credibility!

Another possible downside is succumbing to fear. It could be fear of finding yourself with nothing to say, of drying up under pressure, or of muddling material in some way. The only really useful antidote to nervousness/fear is practice. Lots, and lots of it. It does get better! 

4. Extemporaneous speaking

An extemporaneous speech is one where the speaker combines the use of notes or cue cards with improvisation. It’s a mix of carefully scripted and sequenced material and impromptu speaking.  

How do you deliver an extemporaneous speech?

An extemporaneous delivery is naturally flowing and conversational. The points to be made will have been carefully outlined. They will be in the correct order, along with their supporting ideas and examples but the exact wording is made up as you go along.

If you give the same speech to different audiences, the words you use may change because every audience responds differently. The result is a speech that is fresh each time it is delivered, because while you are speaking, you are in the moment, speaking off-the-cuff and from the heart. The text is neither memorized, or being read word for word.

Like the first three modes of delivery, this too needs practice, in order to become good at it. 

You’ll need to practice:

• speaking to time to avoid either going on too long or being too brief
• making effective transitions - finding the bridging words to link one main point to the next, or to link one segment of your speech to the following one. For instance the introduction to the body of the speech,  or the body of the speech to the conclusion.
• openings and conclusions.

For more information here's a very useful 'how to' article from The Dept. of Communication at the University of Pittsburgh on oral discourse and extemporaneous delivery .  

The advantages of extemporaneous speeches

An extemporaneous speech is more spontaneous and therefore natural compared to either a manuscript or memorized speech.  The speaker is free to tailor the presentation to the audience, rather than sticking to a set speech. That could include responding to any questions or objections he receives. 

Disadvantages of extemporaneous speeches

There are three main drawbacks to extemporaneous speaking.

The first is becoming stranded; tongue tied and silent because you don't know how to get from one point on your outline or cue cards to the next.  When that happens, the delivery becomes stilted, a stop-start presentation, which in turn can make the speaker feel anxious, which makes recovering the flow more difficult.

A second drawback is misreading the audience, and delivering the speech using either language, (word choices), or humor they find hard to understand or accept.

As an example, a speech littered with ‘corporate speak’ is not going to win me over. I don’t want to hear about ‘core competencies’, ‘going forwards’ , ‘ducks in a row’ or anything ‘scalable’ at all!

And a third is exceeding the time allowance you’d been given. Because you are fleshing it out from your cue cards or outline as you go along it is easy to lose track of time. The cumulative effect of an additional example or two and further comments, quickly soaks it up, leaving you scrambling to finish properly.  

If you are a first time presenter, probably the safer option is to learn how to read a manuscript speech well and gradually build the skills required to give an extemporaneous speech.

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10 Types of Speeches Every Speechwriter Should Know

“Speech is power. Speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel.” — Ralph Waldo Emmerson

Many events in human history can be traced back to that one well-written , well-presented speech. Speeches hold the power to move nations or touch hearts as long as they’re well thought out. This is why mastering the skill of speech-giving and speech writing is something we should all aim to achieve.

But the word “speech” is often too broad and general. So let’s explore the different types of speeches and explain their general concepts.

Basic Types of Speeches

While the core purpose is to deliver a message to an audience, we can still categorize speeches based on 4 main concepts: entertaining, informing, demonstrating and persuading.

The boundaries between these types aren’t always obvious though, so the descriptions are as clear as possible in order to differentiate between them.

1.   Entertaining Speech

If you’ve been to a birthday party before, that awkward toast given by friends or family of the lucky birthday person is considered to fall under the definition of an entertaining speech .

The core purpose of an entertaining speech is to amuse the audience, and obviously, entertain them. They’re usually less formal in nature to help communicate emotions rather than to simply talk about a couple of facts.

Let’s face it, we want to be entertained after a long day. Who wouldn’t enjoy watching their favorite actors giving an acceptance speech , right?

You’ll find that entertaining speeches are the most common type of speeches out there. Some examples include speeches given by maids of honor or best men at weddings, acceptance speeches at the Oscars, or even the one given by a school’s principal before or after a talent show.

2.   Informative Speech

When you want to educate your audience about a certain topic, you’ll probably opt to create an informative speech . An informative speech’s purpose is to simplify complex theories into simpler, easier-to-digest and less ambiguous ideas; in other words, conveying information accurately.

The informative speech can be thought of as a polar opposite to persuasive speeches since they don’t relate to the audience’s emotions but depend more on facts, studies, and statistics.

Although you might find a bit of overlap between informative and demonstrative speeches, the two are fairly distinct from one another. Informative speeches don’t use the help of visual aids and demonstrations, unlike demonstrative speeches, which will be described next.

Some examples of informative speeches can be speeches given by staff members in meetings, a paleontology lecture, or just about anything from a teacher (except when they’re telling us stories about their pasts).

3.   Demonstrative Speech

ِFrom its name we can imagine that a demonstrative speech is the type of speech you want to give to demonstrate how something works or how to do a certain thing. A demonstrative speech utilizes the use of visual aids and/or physical demonstration along with the information provided.

Some might argue that demonstrative speeches are a subclass of informative speeches, but they’re different enough to be considered two distinct types. It’s like differentiating between “what is” and “how to”; informative speeches deal with the theoretical concept while demonstrative speeches look at the topic with a more practical lens.

Tutors explaining how to solve mathematical equations, chefs describing how to prepare a recipe, and the speeches given by developers demonstrating their products are all examples of demonstrative speeches.

4.   Persuasive Speech

Persuasive speeches are where all the magic happens. A speech is said to be persuasive if the speaker is trying to prove why his or her point of view is right, and by extension, persuade the audience to embrace that point of view.

Persuasive speeches differ from other basic types of speeches in the sense that they can either fail or succeed to achieve their purpose. You can craft the most carefully written speech and present it in the most graceful manner, yet the audience might not be convinced.

Persuasive speeches can either be logical by using the help of facts or evidence (like a lawyer’s argument in court), or can make use of emotional triggers to spark specific feelings in the audience.

A great example of persuasive speeches is TED / TEDx Talks because a big number of these talks deal with spreading awareness about various important topics. Another good example is a business pitch between a potential client, i.e. “Why we’re the best company to provide such and such.”

Other Types of Speeches

Other types of speeches are mixes or variations of the basic types discussed previously but deal with a smaller, more specific number of situations.

5.   Motivational Speech

A motivational speech is a special kind of persuasive speech, where the speaker encourages the audience to pursue their own well-being. By injecting confidence into the audience, the speaker is able to guide them toward achieving the goals they set together.

A motivational speech is more dependent on stirring emotions instead of persuasion with logic. For example, a sports team pep talk is considered to be a motivational speech where the coach motivates his players by creating a sense of unity between one another.

One of the most well-known motivational speeches (and of all speeches at that) is I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King Jr.

6.   Impromptu Speech

Suppose you’re at work, doing your job, minding your own business. Then your co-worker calls you to inform you that he’s sick, there is a big meeting coming up, and you have to take his place and give an update about that project you’ve been working on.

What an awkward situation, right?

Well, that’s what an impromptu speech is: A speech given on the spot without any prior planning or preparation. It being impromptu is more of a property than a type on its own since you can spontaneously give speeches of any type (not that it’s a good thing though; always try to be prepared for your speeches in order for them to be successful).

Mark Twain once said, “It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.”

7.   Oratorical Speech

This might sound a bit counterintuitive at first since the word oratorical literally means “relating to the act of speech-giving” but an oratorical speech is actually a very specific type of speech.

Oratorical speeches are usually quite long and formal in nature. Their purpose could be to celebrate a certain event like a graduation, to address serious issues and how to deal with them, or to mourn losses and give comfort like a eulogy at a funeral.

8.   Debate Speech

The debate speech has the general structure of a persuasive speech in the sense that you use the same mechanics and figures to support your claim, but it’s distinct from a persuasive speech in that its main purpose is to justify your stance toward something rather than convince the audience to share your views.

Debate speeches are mostly improvised since you can’t anticipate all the arguments the other debaters (or the audience) could throw at you. Debate speeches benefit the speaker since it develops their critical thinking, public speaking, and research among other benefits .

You’ll find debate speeches to be common in public forums, legislative sessions, and court trials.

9.   Forensic Speech

According to the American Forensic Association (AFA), the definition of a forensic speech is the study and practice of public speaking and debate. It’s said to be practiced by millions of high school and college students.

It’s called forensic because it’s styled like the competitions held in public forums during the time of the ancient Greeks.

Prior to a forensic speech, students are expected to research and practice a speech about a certain topic to teach it to an audience. Schools, universities, or other organizations hold tournaments for these students to present their speeches.

10. Special Occasion Speech

If your speech doesn’t fall under any of the previous types, then it probably falls under the special occasion speech . These speeches are usually short and to the point, whether the point is to celebrate a birthday party or introduce the guest of honor to an event.

Special occasion speeches can include introductory speeches, ceremonial speeches, and tributary speeches. You may notice that all these can be categorized as entertaining speeches. You’re right, they’re a subtype of entertaining speeches because they neither aim to teach nor to persuade you.

But this type shouldn’t be viewed as the black sheep of the group; in fact, if you aim to mark a significant event, special occasion speeches are your way to go. They are best suited (no pun intended) for a wedding, a bar mitzvah, or even an office party.

If you’ve reached this far, you should now have a general understanding of what a speech is and hopefully know which type of speech is needed for each occasion. I hope you’ve enjoyed and learned something new from this article. Which type will you use for your next occasion?

Photo by  Forja2 Mx  on  Unsplash

Musings and updates from the content management team at Clippings.me.

4 Main Types of Speeches in Public Speaking (With Examples)

We live in a world where communication is king.

With social media and all the digital stuff, we’re bombarded with information constantly, and everyone is fighting for our attention.

Research shows that our attention spans have declined from 12 seconds to just 8.25 seconds in the past 15 years, even shorter than a goldfish’s attention span.

So, the point is being able to get your point across quickly and effectively is a big deal. That’s where the invaluable skill of public speaking comes in handy.

But being a great speaker goes beyond just having confidence. It’s about understanding different kinds of speeches and knowing which one works best for your audience and purpose.

In this blog, we will explore four main types of speeches (or types of public speaking), each with its own purpose and impact. By understanding these types, you can connect with your audience , cater to their needs, and deliver a message that resonates.

So, let’s dive right in:

What is Speech?

Importance of public speaking (7 benefits).

• 4 Main Types of Public Speeches (With Examples)

Other Types of Speeches

Final thoughts.

A speech is a formal or informal presentation in which a person communicates their thoughts, ideas, or information to an audience. It is a spoken expression of thoughts, often delivered in a structured and organized manner.

Speeches can be delivered to serve various purposes, such as to persuade , educate, motivate, or entertain the audience.

People usually give speeches in public places, like meetings, conferences, classrooms, or special events, aiming to connect with and influence the listeners through their words.

A public speech may involve the use of supporting materials, such as visual aids, slides , or props, to enhance understanding and engagement.

The delivery of a speech encompasses not only the words spoken but also factors like the tone of voice, body language , and timing, which can greatly impact the overall effectiveness and reception of the message.

You may want to check out our short video on how to speak without hesitation.

Public speaking is a superpower that transforms your life in more ways than you can imagine.

Here are 7 reasons why Public speaking is an invaluable skill:

• Effective Communication: Being a good public speaker helps you express yourself clearly and confidently. It allows you to share your knowledge, opinions, and ideas in a captivating manner.
• Professional Growth: Mastering public speaking gives you a competitive edge in the job market. It allows you to lead meetings , present ideas, negotiate deals, and pitch projects with confidence.

• Building Confidence: Overcoming the fear of public speaking and delivering successful presentations significantly boosts your self-confidence . With experience, you become more self-assured in various situations, both inside and outside of public speaking.
• Influence and Persuasion: A strong public speaker can inspire, motivate, and influence others. By effectively conveying your message, you can sway opinions, change attitudes, and drive positive change in your personal and professional circles.

• Leadership Development: Public speaking is a crucial skill for effective leadership. It enables you to inspire and guide others, lead meetings and presentations, and rally people around a common goal.
• Personal Development: Public speaking encourages personal growth and self-improvement. It pushes you out of your comfort zone, enhances your critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and helps you become a more well-rounded individual.
• Increased Visibility: The ability to speak confidently in public attracts attention and raises your visibility among peers, colleagues, and potential employers. This can lead to new opportunities, collaborations, and recognition for your expertise.

Public speaking is a vital tool for social change. History has shown us how influential speeches have shaped the world we live in. From Martin Luther King Jr.’s “ I Have a Dream ” speech to Malala Yousafzai’s advocacy for girls’ education, public speaking has been at the forefront of inspiring change. Your words have the power to challenge beliefs, ignite passion, and rally others around a cause. So, if you have a message you want to share or a mission you want to pursue, mastering the art of public speaking is essential.

1. Informative Speech

An informative speech is a type of public speaking that aims to educate or provide information to the audience about a specific topic. The main purpose of this speech is to present facts, concepts, or ideas in a clear and understandable manner.

Delivering an Informative Speech

In an informative speech, the speaker’s objective is to provide knowledge, increase awareness, or explain a subject in detail.

To be informative, you need to structure your content in a way that’s clear and easy to follow. The structure of an informative speech typically includes:

• an introduction where you grab the audience’s attention and introduce the topic
• the body where you present the main points and supporting evidence
• a conclusion where you summarize the key information and emphasize your message.
• a Q&A session or a brief discussion to further deepen their understanding.

Informative speech could be formal or informal speech, depending on the context. However, it is helpful to maintain a conversational tone.

Use relatable examples, anecdotes, or even a touch of humor to keep your audience engaged and interested. Think of it as having a friendly chat with a group of curious friends.

Examples of Informative Speeches:

An Example of Informative Speech

• Academic Settings : Students may deliver presentations to educate their classmates. Teachers or instructors may explain a specific subject to students in schools, colleges, and universities.
• Business and Professional Presentations: In the corporate world, professionals may present information about industry trends, new technologies, market research, or company updates to inform and educate their colleagues or clients.
• Public Events and Conferences: Informative speeches are prevalent in public events and conferences where experts and thought leaders share their knowledge and insights with a broader audience.
• Ted Talks and Similar Platforms: TED speakers design their speeches to educate, inspire, and spread ideas that have the potential to make a positive impact on society.
• Community Gatherings: Informative speeches can be delivered at community gatherings where speakers may inform the community about local issues, government policies, or initiatives aimed at improving the community’s well-being.

The beauty of informative speeches is their versatility; they can be adapted to different settings and tailored to suit the needs and interests of the audience.

2. Demonstrative Speech

In a demonstrative speech, the main goal is to show how to do something or how something works. It is like giving a step-by-step guide or providing practical instructions.

The purpose of a demonstrative speech is to educate or inform the audience about a specific process, task, or concept.

It can be about anything that requires a demonstration, such as cooking a recipe, performing a science experiment, using a software program, or even tying a tie.

The key to a successful demonstrative speech is to be organized and concise.

When preparing for a demonstrative speech, you need to break down the process or technique into clear and easy-to-follow steps.

You need to make sure that your audience can grasp the concepts and replicate the actions themselves. Visual aids like props, slides, or even live demonstrations are incredibly helpful in illustrating your points.

A great demonstrative speech not only teaches but also inspires.

You need to ignite a sense of enthusiasm and curiosity in your audience . Encourage them to try it out themselves and apply what they’ve learned in their own lives.

Examples of Demonstrative Speeches:

An Example of Demonstrative Speech

• Educational Settings: Demonstrative speeches are often used in classrooms, workshops, or training sessions to teach students or participants how to perform specific activities. For instance, a teacher might give a demonstrative speech on how to conduct a science experiment, play a musical instrument, or solve a math problem.
• Professional Training: In the workplace, a trainer might give a demonstrative speech on how to use a new software application, operate a piece of machinery, or follow safety protocols.
• DIY and Home Improvement: Demonstrative speeches are commonly seen in DIY (do-it-yourself) videos, TV shows, or workshops where experts demonstrate how to complete tasks like painting a room, fixing plumbing issues, or building furniture.
• Culinary Demonstrations: Demonstrative speeches are prevalent in the culinary world, where chefs or cooking experts showcase recipes and cooking techniques.

Overall, a demonstrative speech is a practical and hands-on type of speech that aims to educate, inform, and empower the audience by teaching them how to perform a particular task or skill.

3. Persuasive Speech

A persuasive speech is when the speaker tries to convince the audience to adopt or support a particular point of view, belief, or action. In a persuasive speech, the speaker aims to influence the audience’s opinions, attitudes, or behaviors.

You may present arguments and evidence to support your viewpoint and try to persuade the listeners to take specific actions or simply agree with you.

You have to use persuasive techniques such as logical reasoning, emotional appeals, and credibility to make your case.

Let me break it down for you.

• First, you need a clear and persuasive message. Identify your objective and what you want to achieve with your speech. Once you have a crystal-clear goal, you can shape your arguments and craft your speech accordingly.
• Secondly, you need to connect with your audience on an emotional level. You may use stories , anecdotes, and powerful examples to evoke emotions that resonate with your audience.
• Thirdly, you need to present compelling evidence, facts, and logical reasoning to support your arguments. Back up your claims with credible sources and statistics.
• Additionally, the delivery of your speech plays a crucial role in persuasion. Your body language, tone of voice , and overall presence should exude confidence and conviction.
• Lastly, end your persuasive speech with a call to action. Whether it’s signing a petition, donating to a cause, or changing a behavior, make it clear what steps you want your audience to take.

Examples of Persuasive speeches:

An Example of Persuasive Speech

• Political speeches: Politicians ****often deliver persuasive speeches to win support for their policies or convince people to vote for them.
• Sales and marketing presentations: Advertisements ****use persuasive techniques to persuade consumers to buy their products.
• Social issue speeches: Activists, advocates, or community leaders often give persuasive speeches to raise awareness about social issues and mobilize support for a cause.

Effective persuasion helps you win over clients, close deals, and secure promotions.

However, it’s important to note that persuasion should always be used ethically and with integrity. It’s not about manipulating people but rather about creating win-win situations.

4. Entertaining Speech

An entertaining speech is a type of public presentation that aims to captivate and amuse the audience while providing enjoyment and laughter. Unlike other types of speeches, entertaining speeches prioritize humor, storytelling , and engaging content to entertain and delight the listeners.

In an entertaining speech, the speaker uses various techniques such as jokes, anecdotes, funny stories, witty observations, humorous examples, and clever wordplay to engage the audience and elicit laughter.

The primary objective is to entertain and create a positive, lighthearted atmosphere.

An entertaining speech is a powerful tool for building a connection with the audience. It isn’t just about cracking jokes. It’s about using humor strategically to reinforce the main message.

When we’re entertained, our guards come down, and we become more receptive to the speaker’s message. It’s like a spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down.

An entertaining speech can be particularly effective when the topic at hand is traditionally considered dull, serious, or sensitive. By infusing humor, you can bring life to the subject matter and help the audience connect with it on a deeper level.

With entertainment, you can make complex concepts more accessible. And also break down barriers that might otherwise discourage people from paying attention.

Delivery and timing are crucial elements in entertaining speeches.

The speaker’s tone, facial expressions, gestures , and voice modulation play a significant role in enhancing the comedic effect.

Effective use of pauses , punchlines, and comedic timing can heighten the audience’s anticipation and result in laughter and amusement.

Examples of Entertaining Speech:

An Example of Entertaining Speech

• Social Events: Entertaining speeches are often seen at social gatherings such as weddings, birthday parties, or anniversary celebrations.
• Conferences or Conventions: In professional conferences or conventions, an entertaining speech can be a refreshing break from the more serious and technical presentations. A speaker may use humor to liven up the atmosphere.
• Stand-up Comedy: Stand-up comedians are prime examples of entertaining speeches. They perform in comedy clubs, theaters, or even on television shows, aiming to make the audience laugh and enjoy their performance.

The content and style of an entertaining speech should be tailored to the audience and the occasion. While humor is subjective, the skilled entertaining speaker knows how to adapt their speech to suit the preferences and sensibilities of the specific audience. By carefully selecting appropriate humor, you can transform a dull or serious setting into an enjoyable experience for the audience.

Beyond the four main types of public speeches we mentioned, there are a few other different types of speeches worth exploring.

• Special Occasion Speeches: These speeches are delivered during specific events or occasions, such as weddings, graduation ceremonies, or award ceremonies. They are meant to honor or celebrate individuals, express congratulations, or provide inspiration and encouragement.
• Motivational Speeches: Motivational speeches aim to inspire and are commonly delivered by coaches, entrepreneurs, or motivational speakers. They often focus on personal development, goal-setting, overcoming obstacles, and achieving success.
• Commemorative Speeches: These speeches are delivered on anniversaries, memorial services, or dedications. These speeches express admiration, highlight achievements, and reflect on the impact of the person or event being commemorated.
• Debate Speeches: Debate speeches involve presenting arguments and evidence to support a particular viewpoint on a topic. They require logical reasoning, persuasive language, and the ability to counter opposing arguments effectively.
• Impromptu Speeches: Impromptu speeches are delivered without prior preparation or planning. You are given a topic or a question on the spot and must quickly organize your thoughts and deliver a coherent speech. These speeches test the speaker’s ability to think on their feet and communicate effectively in spontaneous situations.
• Oratorical Speech: An oratorical speech is a formal and eloquent speech delivered with great emphasis and rhetorical flair. It aims to inspire, persuade, or inform the audience through the skilled use of language and powerful delivery techniques. Oratorical speeches are typically given on significant occasions, such as political rallies, commemorative events, or public ceremonies.

No matter what kind of speech you are giving, pauses play a key role in making it captivating.

Check out our video on how pausing can transform your speeches.

Public speaking is a powerful skill that holds tremendous value in various aspects of our lives. Whether you’re aiming to inform, demonstrate, persuade, or entertain, mastering the art of public speaking can open doors to new opportunities and personal growth.

Growth happens when you push beyond your comfort zones. Public speaking may seem daunting at first, but remember that every great speaker started somewhere. Embrace the challenge and take small steps forward.

Start with speaking in front of friends or family, join a local speaking club, or seek opportunities to present in a supportive environment . Each time you step out of your comfort zone, you grow stronger and more confident.

Seek resources like TED Talks, workshops, books , and podcasts to learn from experienced speakers and improve your skills.

Just like any skill, public speaking requires practice. The more you practice, the more comfortable and confident you will become.

Seek opportunities to speak in public, such as volunteering for presentations or joining public speaking clubs. Embrace every chance to practice and refine your skills.

If you are looking for a supportive environment to practice and hone your public speaking skills, try out BBR English.

Our 1:1 live sessions with a corporate expert are designed to help you improve your communication skills. You’ll gain the confidence and skills you need to communicate effectively in any situation.

Don’t let fear or insecurity hold you back from achieving your goals.

Book your counseling session now and take the first step towards becoming a more confident and effective communicator.

Your future self will thank you!

To get a peek into our results, check out How A Farmer’s Son Faced His Fear Of Public Speaking To Climb Up The Leadership Roles In An MNC.

Happy Speaking!

Team BBR English

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• Speech Crafting →

14 Types of Speeches for All Occasions that You Should Master

Any person can give a speech, which means it’s not hard, right? Technically, it isn’t hard, but, to give a good speech, you need to not only have a general understanding of your audience and your environment but also master the skill of speech-giving to ensure that your speech is effective in relaying your message.

To do this, you will need to learn more about the different types of speeches that exist and in what context each is used. This will help you choose the right speech type that works for you as well as the one that fits the message that you want to put across to your audience.  

Pro-Tip: Keep in mind that each speech type has a different purpose.

14 Types of Speeches You Should Master

1. entertaining speech.

Entertaining speeches are among the most common types of speeches. Their objective is to entertain or amuse people.

As compared to more traditional speeches, entertaining speeches are shorter and less formal , in addition to including funny stories, humor or interesting illustrations. These types of speeches are usually used to convey emotions and are common at weddings and birthday parties. An example of such include stand-up comedy.

From the above, one may think it’s simple to crack a few jokes and entertain people but unless you were born with a funny bone, you may need to brush up on some stories and killer jokes (the funny ones).  

2. Special occasion speeches

These types of speeches do not have a format set in stone and neither do they fall into any particular speech category. Instead, they aim to fit the context of the environment, which helps you to not only gain your audience’s attention but also communicate the message you want to convey effectively.

Just like entertaining speeches, special occasion speeches do not use any data or statistics and are usually short. This does not mean they are boring though, so you should aim to make your special occasion speech as direct and interesting as you possibly can.

Special occasion speeches can fit any special occasion; be it a birthday party, award show or wedding, hence the name. You may notice that they bear some similarities to entertaining speeches, as their objective is to convey emotions as well, instead of persuading you or teaching you something.

Special occasion speeches may include tributary, ceremonial and introductory speeches. If you have any significant event that you’d like to mark, then this type of speech should be your go to.

A good example of this type of speech would include a speech you can give as a best man . This would help you express how much the groom means to you.

3. Persuasive speech

These types of speeches are given with the sole purpose of convincing the persons listening that your opinion on a certain topic is right.

To successfully convince your audience that you know what you’re talking about, you can use facts and concrete evidence to support your argument. This is what persuades your audience to embrace your opinion while also making your presentation more believable and sensible.

You can also use these types of speeches to help convey your message by making use of emotional triggers. Depending on the context of your presentation, appealing to your audience’s emotions may bring about better results. 

A good example of a persuasive speech would be the closing argument that a lawyer gives to the jury in court. The main purpose of a closing argument is to convince the jury to support one’s client and vote in the lawyer’s favor. The closing argument, just like the persuasive speech, highlights any important facts of the case and may appeal to the jury’s emotions, in a bid to help them understand the lawyer’s opinion on the case and their client.

4. Demonstrative speech

Well, this one is pretty easy to explain. From its name, we learn that this type of speech is given when a speaker wants to give a demonstration on how to do a particular thing or educate their audience on how something works. This type of speech is effective in teaching your audience how to do something in the most effective way.

If you plan on giving a demonstration in your presentation, the use of physical demonstrations or visual aids can help your message be better understood by your audience.

These types of speeches are easily confused with informative speeches, so take note of their differences. While informative speeches are more theoretical in their delivery and offer no demonstrations, demonstrative speeches, in being true to their name, teach an audience how to do something in a more practical way, i.e. by giving demonstrations.

It should be noted that a demonstrative speech will only be demonstrative if it includes visual aids. Asking yourself questions like, “what is...?”, “why?” or “how?” may help you get started on your demonstrative speech.

A good example of this would be a Chemistry teacher demonstrating how to mix certain chemicals in the lab.

5. Forensic speech

The American Forensic Association defines a forensic speech as the practice and study of debating and public speaking. The association believes that this type of speech is practiced by many college and high school students.

Before giving this type of speech, students are expected to not only research and learn more about a certain topic but also practice a speech on the said topic before teaching it to an audience. Organizations and institutions of learning like universities will then hold tournaments that allow these students to present their speeches .

This type of speech bears many similarities to the competitions that were held in public forums in Ancient Greece.

6. Oratorical speech

Oratorical speeches are usually delivered by an orator. The objective of this type of speech can be to either give comfort, mourn a loss, address any important issue and how it can be dealt with or celebrate a particular event.

These speeches can also be used to express one’s opinion to the audience without necessarily having to persuade them to embrace their point of view.

Oratorical speeches can either be formal and long in nature, in situations like inaugurations, graduations and funerals, or informal and short in situations like when giving a toast during a retirement day.

A good example of an oratorical speech would be inauguration speeches, e.g. President Joe Biden’s inauguration speech .

7. Explanatory speech

These types of speeches are used to describe a particular thing or situation. These speeches give a break down on how to do something while providing the audience with an elaborate step-by-step process.

These speeches may be confused with demonstrative speeches as they have some similarities but are not, as they do not include visual aids.

A fitting example of an explanatory speech would be a lifestyle and beauty talk show host explaining how to properly cleanse one’s face by giving a step by step process of a proper skin care routine.

8. Informative speech

If you want to teach your audience something about a particular topic or educate them on new information, then informative speeches are the right fit for you. The objective of informative speeches is to break down any complicated theories into easy to understand words that can be communicated accurately and effectively.

These types of speeches can be used when teaching economic or social topics. They differ from persuasive speeches as they depend on statistics, educative studies and information as well as facts instead of relating to an audience’s emotions. These statistics and facts help support any claims that you make during your presentation.

A fitting example of an informative speech would be a museum guide giving an informative speech to a group of individuals in the museum, educating them on various artifacts using historical information.

9. Motivational speech

Are you planning to encourage your audience, give them confidence to better themselves or inspire them? Then you need a good motivational speech.

The objective of these speeches is to improve an audience’s self-esteem and lift their spirits. They can also be used to help motivate an audience or an individual to achieve a certain goal.

These types of speeches are, in a way, persuasive but instead of persuading an audience with logic, you as the speaker, stirs their emotions.

The best example of a motivational speech that moves people would be Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech.

10. Pitch Speech

Ever heard a character in a movie say that they were pitching a new idea to the board? Well this is what they mean. Pitching speeches are used to acquire approval or support for a solution, product or idea.

Salespeople are pretty good at these types of presentations (newsflash, it’s their job!) given that they pitch a product to a consumer and try to sell it to you by informing you, the consumer, about the product’s best qualities and how the product would benefit you.

Take for instance, a salesman trying to sell you a cleaning robot. They’d explain how it would ease your household chores, you wouldn’t have to dust, or vacuum or do your laundry, as it would do it all for you!

11. Debate speech

Debate speeches are speech types that follow a particular set of rules and are in some ways similar to persuasive speeches. The two should not be confused though, as the main objective of debate speeches is to defend your stance on a particular issue.

During a debate, each side is given an equal amount of time to defend their view or opinion. These speeches are improvised as you cannot predict all the arguments other debaters may throw at you (unless you can read minds of course). Debate speeches help you develop your public speaking and critical thinking skills while also improving your research and leadership skills.

These types of speeches are common in mock trials, parliamentary sessions and public forums.

12. Eulogy Speeches

Eulogy speeches, or funeral speeches as they are commonly known, are given to remember, honor or praise a deceased individual in front of an audience at a funeral service. The eulogy can be given by a relation of the deceased or by a minister chosen by the family.

The speaker may write down a heartfelt speech that not only honors the individual but also praises them for their achievements.

One of the most difficult experiences an individual can go through is losing a loved one. If you do find yourself in this situation, finding the right words may be challenging. You are therefore encouraged to speak from the heart .

13. Impromptu Speech

These types of speeches are delivered without any preparation or rehearsal. Impromptu speeches occur when one is called on to speak at an event or any other situation.

This may be stressful and intimidating for individuals who like planning things (like myself). However, once you get over the initial public speaking jitters and brush up on any concepts that are relevant, you’ll be good to go.

14. Farewell Speech

Farewell speeches , as the name implies, are used to say goodbye to people. These speeches have a unique tone to them, as they are encouraging as well as sad. They often trigger emotions both in the speaker and in the audience.

A good example of this would be bidding farewell to your colleagues and friends before you retire after working at company X for 21 years.

Conclusion: On the Different Types of Speeches

From the above, we can see that to give a speech , one needs to not only understand the different types of speeches that exist but also master their purposes and the different settings that they can be used in.

To determine the type of speech to give depending on the occasion, you should consider the message you would like to put across and how you would like to deliver it. After this, you can then think about the effect you would like your speech to have or its desired outcome. This could be, for example, teaching your audience how to use an air dryer or introducing a guest you would like the audience to remember.

Properly understanding the types of speeches mentioned above and possessing the ability to speak effortlessly in public will allow you to grow as a public speaker , which will in turn, make you better at relating with different audiences.

A Deep Dive into Speech Patterns

Speech patterns are distinctive ways in which we speak and express ourselves, revealing nuances that go beyond understanding the literal meaning of words. They provide meaningful context that allows us to read between the lines we speak. These patterns can exist in a variety of mannerisms, each contributing to an individual’s own voice and communication style.

Understanding the intentions behind these speech patterns allows us to express and communicate our thoughts with clarity and influence, enhancing our communication skills in professional settings, social situations, and personal relationships.

Patterns such as extended pauses and dramatic narrative delivery can add depth to word choice, creating a deeper interpersonal connection with audiences. The profound impact of these patterns lies in their subtle utilization.

In this blog, we will discuss the various types of speech patterns, explore their applications, and look at how we can integrate them into our conversations for maximum impact.

Table of Contents

Articulation and pronunciation, rate of speech, pitch and intonation, pauses and silences, rhythm and prosody, cultural variations in speech pattern, parallelism, pacing and pauses, questions and answers, declarative statements, understanding speech patterns.

Speech patterns that combine variations in characteristics such as articulation, pronunciation , and pace create a unique and expressive speaking rate and style.

Let’s look at these fundamental elements to understand the complexities involved in speech patterns.

Articulation comprises the clarity of speech sounds and affects how words are distinguished. Pronunciation involves the appropriate enunciation of words.

Individuals who use regional pronunciations or accents show distinct speech patterns that reflect the influence of their cultural background on media content and their verbal expressions.

The rate of speech develops the overall impression of a speaker’s communication style. A brisk talking pattern can imply excitement or nervousness, while a slower pace can imply thoughtfulness or emphasis.

Contextualizing the rate of speech can help uncover unspoken meanings in communication. Using concise language can help a person make the most of their limited time when meeting someone.

The melodic aspects of speech, consisting of pitch and intonation, form another layer of voice patterns. Pitch refers to the highness or lowness of the voice, and intonation comprises the rise and fall of pitch.

Variations in pitch and intonation can change the emotional and contextual subtleties of communication, underscoring how a message is received.

A well-timed pause can enhance the point of a message, allowing the listener to better absorb a crucial point without requiring outright emphasis.

Extended silences may convey uncertainty or introspection, which helps audiences understand the gravity of the topic.

The rhythmic flow of speech, called prosody, involves variations in pitch, pace, and stress, adding an element of musicality to communication.

A monotonous talking pattern lacks prosodic vocal elements and can potentially cause audience disengagement. A dynamic and rhythmic voice actor can captivate listeners and enhance the overall effectiveness of the message.

Communication styles are deeply influenced by cultural and regional variations, creating distinct speech patterns across regions. These variations, rooted in regional dialects and societal norms, shape how individuals interact with others.

Regional dialects reflect the geographical differences of a community. These dialects can consist of differences in using simple language, pronunciation, rare vocabulary, and grammatical structures.

Societal norms tend to define conventional communication styles within a given culture. Whether it be regarding formality, politeness, or directness. In some cultures, a more indirect communication style may be valued, and cultures that prefer directness tend to value straightforward communication techniques. For example, Japanese culture tends to emphasize politeness and values indirect communication, whereas American culture typically values direct communication to prioritize clarity.

Examples of Speech Patterns

Speech patterns consist of diverse styles that help facilitate effective communication. Let’s look at several speech pattern examples and explore their unique characteristics and impact on communication.

A repetition speech pattern involves intentionally repeating words or phrases for added emphasis. Speakers can highlight certain sections by repeating specific verbiage to amplify their significance and make them more memorable.

For instance, motivational speakers tend to use repetition in persuasive speeches to reinforce a positive message and inspire an audience, essentially functioning as a positive call to action.

Parallelism is a speech pattern where the structure of one character or sentence is reflected in that of another to create a rhythmic effect. This technique can help add more musicality to the voice and a sense of symmetry to the message.

A parallel structure can establish a powerful flow, making the overall message more profound and impactful.

An anaphora involves repeating a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses, creating a powerful and rhythmic flow. Using an anaphora for a large audience can help reinforce a sense of collective empowerment and unity.

Pacing and strategic pauses involve variations in a person’s speech and rate, which can convey specific emotions, emphasize points, and ultimately enhance audience engagement.

Effective pacing and well-timed pauses can allow audiences to absorb messages more effectively and broaden their reach.

This speech pattern involves asking the person a question and immediately giving the answer.

This pattern can help capture the audience’s attention and simultaneously guide and talk them through a preconceived thought sequence to emphasize certain points and develop a connection with the audience.

Declarative statements signify confidence and authority. Leaders often use these words to explain their message while conveying certainty and decisiveness.

Through informative speech, the speaker can communicate and establish conviction, instilling confidence in the audience and showing a commitment to the subsequent message. This unique speech pattern can be a powerful effective leadership communication method.

In conclusion, speech patterns serve as a strategic means to deliver messages with impact. Diverse patterns, such as repetition, parallelism, anaphora, and many more, can play a vital role in shaping the dynamic way in which we speak and express ourselves.

Understanding and using these speech patterns can help enhance clarity, emphasize main points, and develop engagement. The speaker’s ability to harness them appropriately involves using the right pattern for the right context, depending on the desired impact of communication.

Navigating subtle and complex speech patterns empowers us to connect with others more meaningfully, helping to compensate for linguistic barriers and develop mutual understanding. They serve as effective and practical techniques for enhancing communication in an increasingly globalized world.

1. What are speech patterns?

Speech patterns are the distinctive ways in which individuals can articulate themselves. They can consist of subtle elements such as rhythm, tone, and pacing, enhancing the overall expressiveness and impact of communication and emphasizing main points.

2. Can speech patterns be learned, or are they entirely natural?

While most people may inherently feel more natural with a specific and dynamic speech pattern, it can certainly be learned through effort and practice.

We can enhance our communication skills by analyzing spatial speech and intentionally adapting various speech patterns depending on the desired outcomes.

3. What are the different patterns of speech?

Different types of speech and different organizational patterns of speech include repetition, parallelism, anaphora, pacing and pauses, question-and-answer dynamics, and many others. Each unique speech organization pattern adds a unique flavor to our verbal expression and message.

4. How do speech patterns differ across cultures?

Speech and organizational patterns can vary heavily across cultures due to differences in societal norms and preferred communication styles. Cultural influences decide the formality, directness, and levels of politeness conventionally favored in a region.

5. Can speech therapy effectively address speech disorders?

Therapists specializing in speech therapy can help individuals improve aspects of their speech, such as pronunciation, and provide specific exercises and methods to improve their overall communication skills.

You should also read:

Twitch Text to Speech: Steps to Set up Twitch TTS with Ease 

How to create engaging videos using TikTok text to speech

An in-depth Guide on How to Use Text to Speech on Discord

Fashion at the DNC: After speech, Michelle Obama's outfit has internet buzzing

Former First Lady Michelle Obama spoke at the second night of the Democratic National Convention Tuesday. As with her tenure in the White House , many online were curious about what she was wearing.

Women's Wear Daily said the "futuristic flair" came from luxury fashion brand Monse's resort 2025 collection. Vogue also covered the collection, which apparently included Obama's belted, crisscross, and sleeveless jacket with matching pants.

Fashion also came up in Obama's husband's speech , when the former president made a joke about vice presidential nominee Tim Walz's apparel, saying "those flannel shirts he wears, don't come from some political consultant. They come from his closet and they have been through some stuff."

Democratic convention replay: Barack Obama backs Kamala Harris, honors Joe Biden in Chicago

Michelle Obama’s Monse reconstructed suit is perf! — Bearing her arms + a reimagining of a men’s suit. What a statement #DNC2024 pic.twitter.com/o7gGJEHSc9 — Shelby Ivey Christie (@bronze_bombSHEL) August 21, 2024

Michelle Obama wearing sleeveless suit by Monse, confirmed by stylist Meredith Koop. But who made President Obama’s suit? pic.twitter.com/b7wcl2A8nK — lorenzo ferrigno (@lorenzoferrigno) August 21, 2024

Michelle Obama means business in power suit as gives DNC speech https://t.co/IQb2NsXQEF pic.twitter.com/Pk3Jfolys6 — Independent Lifestyle (@IndyLife) August 21, 2024

Lemme just say this... Michelle Obama wearing braids during the DNC is a visual example of the evolution of hair in American politics. #DNC2024 pic.twitter.com/GxBdNnOrt6 — Beatrice Peterson (@MissBeaE on all platforms) (@MissBeaE) August 21, 2024

Michelle Obama swipes at Donald Trump, urges crowd to 'do something'

Obama took both direct and indirect swipes at Republican nominee  former President Donald Trump  throughout the speech, pointing to Trump's birtherism and failures during the COVID 19 pandemic. The speech took a considerably more direct tone for the former first lady, who once famously uttered the phrase, " when they go low, we go high ."

"Who's going to tell Trump that job he wants might be one of those 'Black jobs,'" Obama said.

The former first lady argued that Kamala Harris is one of the most qualified people to seek the office and connected the experience of Harris' mother to her own,  who died in May .

Obama sought to energize fence straddling Democrats to turn out in November in the speech, turning the phrase, "do something" into a call and response chant.

"She is the most dignified (candidate)," she said. "That is a tribute to her mother, my mother and your mother too."

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DNC Night 3

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WATCH LIVE: 2024 Democratic National Convention Night 3

By Joshua Barajas, Molly Finnegan

Live fact check: Night 3 of the Democratic National Convention

By PolitiFact staff

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By Associated Press

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Fact-checking Biden’s DNC speech

This fact check originally appeared on PolitiFact .

CHICAGO — President Joe Biden, in an often fiery speech, addressed a Democratic convention for which, until just a few weeks earlier, he had expected to be the one accepting his party’s nomination.

The audience in the United Center was appreciative, interrupting Biden with chants of “Thank you, Joe.”

WATCH: Biden gets a rousing tribute from Democrats as he passes the torch to Harris in 2024 DNC speech

With his address, Biden outlined his purpose to the party: pass the torch to a new leader. Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris, became the party’s nominee after Biden announced in July that he would cede the nomination he had already clinched, following age-related concerns visible in his June 27 debate performance against former President Donald Trump.

Biden focused his address on threats to democracy from extremism, at times raising his voice in anger. “We came together in 2020 to save democracy,” he said.

Harris made a surprise trip to the lectern earlier in the evening, speaking briefly and garnering thunderous applause. “When we fight,” Harris started to say, before the crowd completed the phrase, “we win.”

Shortly after an energetic speech from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton praised Biden. Alluding to Harris’ status as the second woman ever to head a Democratic ticket, Clinton name-checked other pioneering Democratic women, including presidential candidate Shirley Chisholm in the 1970s and vice presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro in the 1980s.

Multiple speakers during the hourslong program criticized Trump-era policies, including the Supreme Court appointments that enabled the overturning of the abortion decision Roe v. Wade, by repeating the slogan, “We’re not going back.”

Here are fact-checks of statements by a range of speakers at the convention’s first night.

Biden: “And you know, Trump will do everything to ban abortion nationwide.”

Since April, Trump has repeatedly said he believes abortion legislation should be “left up to the states.” Trump also told reporters in April that he wouldn’t sign a national ban.

As president, Trump endorsed a 20-week national abortion ban that House Republicans backed. Earlier in this election year, he floated support for 15- or 16-week federal abortion bans, news outlets reported.

Trump hasn’t said whether he supports other ways abortion could be restricted across the country, including using the Comstock Act to ban mailing abortion pills or other equipment used in abortion procedures.

READ MORE: Abortions have risen slightly since Roe was overturned, study finds

DNC video advertisement: Trump said, “There has to be some form of punishment” for women who have abortions.

Mostly False.

Trump made this comment during a March 2016 MSNBC town hall, but the ad failed to acknowledge that Trump walked back the comment the same day after facing criticism. He said it was doctors, not women, who should be punished for performing outlawed abortions.

In the years since he made that statement, we found no evidence that Trump has repeated it or that he currently supports penalties for women who get abortions.

Health care

Biden: “instead of paying $400 a month for insulin, seniors with diabetes will pay $35 a month.”.

The Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden signed in 2022, capped out-of-pocket insulin costs at $35 a month for Medicare enrollees starting in 2023.

Drug pricing experts told PolitiFact that most Medicare enrollees likely were not paying $400 a month before these changes, and research supports that. One government estimate found that people with diabetes enrolled in Medicare or private insurance paid an average of $452 a year — not a month. Uninsured users, however, paid more than twice as much on average for the drug, or about $996 annually.

Costs and other factors vary, experts said, so it is possible that some Medicare enrollees might have paid that much in a given month.

Biden: “Trump wants to cut Social Security and Medicare.”

Mostly False for Social Security and Mostly False for Medicare.

In his earlier campaigns and before he was a politician, Trump said about a half dozen times that he’s open to major overhauls of Social Security, including cuts and privatization.

More recently, in a March 2024 CNBC interview, Trump said of entitlement programs such as Social Security: “There’s a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting.” However, he quickly walked that statement back, and his CNBC comment stands at odds with essentially everything else Trump has said during the 2024 presidential campaign.

Trump’s campaign website says that not “a single penny” should be cut from Social Security.

On Medicare, Trump has said during the 2024 presidential campaign that he will not cut the health care program for seniors.

During his presidency, Trump released four successive annual budgets that proposed cutting Medicare. However, experts are divided on how much those cuts would have hurt beneficiaries had they been enacted.

Immigration

Biden: “the result of the executive action i took: border encounters have dropped over 50 percent. in fact, there are fewer border crossings today than when donald trump left office.”.

Mostly True.

Biden’s data needs context. Illegal border crossings in July were lower than in December 2020, Trump’s last full month in office.

But experts caution against attributing changes in immigration to a single policy. The executive action, which limits people’s ability to apply for asylum at the southwest border, took effect in June, so it’s unclear whether the declining trend will continue.

In July, Border Patrol encountered migrants crossing between ports of entry at the U.S.-Mexico border about 56,408 times, a 52 percent drop from the approximately 117,900 in May.

From October 2020 to January 2021 — Trump’s last few months in office — Border Patrol encountered immigrants illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border about 71,200 times, on average. In December, Trump’s last full month in office, there were 71,140 encounters.

READ MORE : Border arrests drop in June to the lowest of Biden’s presidency as asylum halt takes hold

Crime rates

Biden: “on (trump’s) watch the murder rate went up 30 percent, the biggest increase in history.”.

The number of murders in the U.S. rose by 5,795 from 2019 to 2020, when Trump was president. That’s a jump of about 35 percent, making it the largest one-year increase since such data began being systematically recorded in the early 1960s.

However, crime data analysts generally attribute most of the reason for the murder spike to a confluence of the coronavirus pandemic and the social upheaval following George Floyd’s murder, not Trump’s actions.

Biden: The average semiconductor industry salary “will be over $100,000 a year, and you don’t need a college degree.”

The average salary in the semiconductor industry is around $170,000, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association, a trade group, and Oxford Economics. This figure includes all jobs within the industry and not only those that don’t require a college degree.

The most a person makes without a four-year degree is about $70,000, according to a 2021 report from the Semiconductor Industry Association and Oxford Economics.

Biden: During his tenure there has been the “smallest racial wealth gap in 20 years.”

Biden referred to 2022 Federal Reserve data that showed a modest decrease in the wealth ratio between white and Black Americans. For every $100 the average white family had in wealth, the average Black family had $15.75.

That was the smallest gap in 20 years. However, economists use two measures to assess the racial wealth gap. By a different measure — the dollar amount difference in wealth — the gap widened between white and Black Americans to its largest disparity since 1989.

Biden: “We have 1,000 billionaires in America. You know what their average tax rate (is)? 8.2 percent.”

Today, the richest Americans pay an effective tax rate of more than 20 percent on the income the government counts under the current tax code. Biden’s 8 percent figure compares their tax payments with an amount that includes income that is not currently taxed under law. This makes it a theoretical figure, not something anyone is supposed to pay under the law.

Trump and the rule of law

Former secretary of state hillary clinton: trump “fell asleep at his own trial, and when he woke up, he made his own kind of history: the first person to run for president with 34 felony convictions.”.

It’s unclear whether Trump fell asleep during the Manhattan trial that ended with the former president found guilty on all counts. The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman reported that Trump “appeared to nod off a few times, his mouth going slack and his head drooping onto his chest.” But Trump and his team have rebutted the he-was-sleeping claims.

Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a scheme to cover up a hush money payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.

The U.S. Constitution doesn’t prevent Trump from running for president following his conviction. Convicted felons have run for president in the past.

U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md.: Trump calls for “the termination of all rules, regulations and articles, even those in the Constitution.”

In 2022, Trump said on Truth Social that election fraud could be the basis for the “termination” of rules found in the U.S. Constitution. We rated Trump’s statement Pants on Fire.

“A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution. Our great ‘Founders’ did not want, and would not condone, False & Fraudulent Elections!” Trump wrote.

There is no mechanism for the “termination” of constitutional rules because of undesired election results.

Days later Trump sought to walk back his words, posting again on Truth Social, “The Fake News is actually trying to convince the American People that I said I wanted to ‘terminate’ the Constitution,” and called it “disinformation and lies.”

Project 2025

U.s. rep. joyce beatty, d-ohio: sen. j.d. vance has “been busy writing the foreword to the book from the project 2025 guy.”.

In June, before Trump selected him as his running mate, Vance, R-Ohio, wrote on X that he was “thrilled to write the foreword” for Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts’ forthcoming book, “Dawn’s Early Light.” Marketing materials for the book also feature Vance’s name on the cover as foreword author.

The Heritage Foundation led Project 2025 and Roberts, who has promoted the work, has often been described as the project’s leader and architect. The Trump-Vance campaign has sought to distance itself from Project 2025, and Vance has said Roberts speaks neither for him nor the campaign.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.: “Want to have a child, but need IVF? Too bad. That’s shut down, too (under Trump).”

In February, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos should be considered children, prompting some clinics in the state to pause in vitro fertilization treatments. After backlash, Alabama lawmakers passed legislation to shield IVF providers from civil or criminal liability and clinics resumed treatment.

Some Republicans in Congress say they believe life begins at conception, and that fertilized eggs should be granted full rights and legal protections. But Trump hasn’t embraced that position.

On April 8, Trump released a video on his abortion position in which he said that abortion legislation should be left to the states and that he supports making it “easier” for families to have babies, not harder. “That includes supporting the availability of fertility treatments, like IVF, in every state in America,” Trump said. “I strongly support the availability of IVF for couples who are trying to have a precious baby.”

The Republican National Committee’s 2024 platform, written by appointees of the RNC and the Trump campaign, supports states establishing fetal personhood through the Constitution’s 14th Amendment. (Trump doesn’t include this on his core promises list.) If established by legislation, fetal personhood would provide legal rights to embryos and fetuses and could curtail the practice of IVF, experts say.

COVID-19 pandemic

U.s. rep. robert garcia, d-calif.: “while schools closed, and dead bodies filled morgues, donald trump downplayed the virus. he told us to inject bleach into our bodies.”.

At a 2020 White House press briefing, Trump asked William Bryan, a Department of Homeland Security undersecretary, to study whether ultraviolet light could be effective “inside the body” to treat COVID-19 or whether disinfectants could combat the virus “by injection inside.”

After Bryan said his lab did not study disinfectant injection, Trump clarified that using disinfectants “would not be through injection.” Trump later told reporters he was being “sarcastic” when referring to injections.

Garcia’s statement contains an element of truth; Trump did suggest studying these possibilities. However, Trump never instructed Americans to inject disinfectants to combat COVID-19.

PolitiFact Chief Correspondent Louis Jacobson, Senior Correspondent Amy Sherman, Staff Writers Samantha Putterman, Sara Swann, Loreben Tuquero and Maria Ramirez Uribe contributed to this story.

Our convention fact-checks rely on both new and previously reported work. We link to past work whenever possible. In some cases, a fact-check rating may be different tonight than in past versions. In those cases, either details of what the candidate said, or how the candidate said it, differed enough that we evaluated it anew. ​

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• What Is Cinema?

The Obamas Brought 2008 Vibes to the 2024 DNC

“Something wonderfully magical is in the air, isn’t it?” Michelle Obama said at the start of her speech Tuesday evening at the Democratic National Convention.

That something was a rekindling of the 2008 energy that catapulted her husband Barack to the presidency—a buzz Democrats have sought and failed to recapture in the decade since the Obamas left the White House. “Hope is making a comeback,” Michelle declared.

And over the hour that she and Barack spoke to their hometown Chicago crowd, “ Yes we can ” also made a comeback. As did “ Don’t boo, vote .” The Obamas implored Democrats to get out and vote, to believe yet again in the power of community and the DIY spirit underpinning the American experiment. It was all a throwback to a time and place long before Donald Trump descended a golden escalator and blustered and bullied his way into the White House.

However, their speeches were not all 2008-era hope and change. The Obamas took turns personally roasting Trump, with Michelle taking jabs at his penchant for whining and racist rhetoric and Barack maybe making a penis-size joke while mocking Trump’s “weird obsession” with crowd sizes.

Michelle dedicated most of her speech to touting Kamala Harris as hard-working and worthy of the top job. She is “one of the most qualified people ever to seek the office of the presidency,” the former first lady said, “and she is one of the most dignified.” But Obama brought down the house when she trained her focus on Trump, mentioning him by name only once but very precisely tearing into his many business failings, his silver-spoon upbringing, and his racist attacks on her and her family. “For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us,“ she said. “His limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black.” And then, amid rapturous applause, she delivered another blow: “I want to know, who is going to tell him that the job he currently is seeking might be one of those ‘ Black jobs ’?”

When Barack took the stage to chants of “Yes we can”—two full decades after his fateful debut at the 2004 DNC in Boston, a speech that launched him into the national spotlight—he declared himself “feeling ready to go, even if I am the only person stupid enough to speak after Michelle Obama.” The former president described Trump as a 78-year-old billionaire standing outside America’s window with a leaf blower. “We do not need four more years of bluster, and bumbling, and chaos,” he said. “We have seen that movie before and we all know that the sequel is usually worse.”

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Obama made sure to heap praise on President Joe Biden , reflecting upon their eight years in the White House together and their steady friendship. “History will remember Joe Biden as an outstanding president who defended democracy at a moment of great danger,” he said. “And I am proud to call him my president. But I am even prouder to call him my friend.”

Biden was notably absent from the United Center as Obama lauded his decision to step aside from the 2024 ticket—a move Obama reportedly had a hand in making happen . “Now, the torch has been passed,” Obama asserted before pivoting to a “new chapter,” which he identified as a President Kamala Harris.

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Gwen Walz, the Coolheaded, Ultracompetent Political Spouse

Early in her husband’s political career, she stepped in to help. Some wondered: Why isn’t she running?

Those who have long known Tim and Gwen Walz say that in politics they’re a package deal. Credit... Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times

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By Joseph Bernstein

• Aug. 14, 2024

In 2006, during his first campaign for Congress, Tim Walz was scheduled to speak at a fund-raising dinner in his hometown, Mankato, Minn. At the time, he was a political unknown in a tightly contested race against a six-term incumbent. The dinner was a chance to stump in front of his local district of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and to bolster his campaign coffers.

Listen to this article with reporter commentary

There was only one problem: Mr. Walz had laryngitis.

As guests loaded up plates with food, they were surprised to see someone else take the stage: Gwen Walz, Mr. Walz’s wife.

She was used to speaking in front of a crowd: Like her husband, Ms. Walz had been a public-school teacher for more than a decade. Those sitting in the audience were impressed by her confidence and clarity.

“There were other candidates who spoke, and she was the most articulate of the bunch,” said John Klaber, a North Mankato resident who was at the fund-raiser almost two decades ago. “We all looked around and said, ‘Why isn’t she running?’”

Most of the American public got its first good look at Gov. Tim Walz last week at a rally in Philadelphia alongside Vice President Kamala Harris, who had that day announced him as her running mate . At the end of his speech, the nation also got its first glimpse of the woman to whom he has been married for 30 years.

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Advertisement

What is ChatGPT? Here's everything you need to know about OpenAI's chatbot

• ChatGPT is getting a futuristic human update. 
• ChatGPT has attracted users at a feverish pace and spurred Big Tech to release other AI chatbots.
• Here's how ChatGPT works — and what's coming next.

OpenAI has started rolling out an advanced voice mode for its blockbuster chatbot ChatGPT.

Sam Altman's company began rolling out the chatbot's new voice mode to a small group of ChatGPT Plus users in July. OpenAI said the new voice feature "offers more natural, real-time conversations, allows you to interrupt anytime, and senses and responds to your emotions."

The feature is part of OpenAI's wider GPT-4o launch, a new version of the bot that can hold conversations with users and has vision abilities. The chatbot's vision features are expected as a later release. 

The move is a big step for the future of AI-powered virtual assistants, which tech companies have been racing to develop.

Since its release in late 2022, hundreds of millions of people have experimented with the tool, which is already changing how the internet looks and feels to users.

Users have flocked to ChatGPT to improve their personal lives and boost productivity . Some workers have used the AI chatbot to develop code , write real estate listings , and create lesson plans, while others have made teaching the best ways to use ChatGPT a career all to itself.

ChatGPT offers dozens of plug-ins to ChatGPT Plus subscribers. An Expedia plug-in can help you book a trip, while one from OpenTable will nab you a dinner reservation. OpenAI has also launched Code Interpreter, a version of ChatGPT that can code and analyze data .

While the personal tone of conversations with an AI bot like ChatGPT can evoke the experience of chatting with a human, the technology that runs on large language model tools doesn't speak with sentience and doesn't "think" the way humans do. 

That means that even though ChatGPT can explain quantum physics or write a poem on command, a full AI takeover isn't exactly imminent , according to experts.

"There's a saying that an infinite number of monkeys will eventually give you Shakespeare," said Matthew Sag, a law professor at Emory University who studies copyright implications for training and using large language models like ChatGPT.

"There's a large number of monkeys here, giving you things that are impressive — but there is intrinsically a difference between the way that humans produce language, and the way that large language models do it," he said. 

Chatbots like ChatGPT are powered by large amounts of data and computing techniques to make predictions to string words together in a meaningful way. They not only tap into a vast amount of vocabulary and information, but also understand words in context. This helps them mimic speech patterns while dispatching an encyclopedic knowledge. 

Other tech companies like Google and Meta have developed their own large language model tools, which use programs that take in human prompts and devise sophisticated responses.

Despite the AI's impressive capabilities, some have called out OpenAI's chatbot for spewing misinformation , stealing personal data for training purposes , and even encouraging students to cheat and plagiarize on their assignments. 

Some efforts to use chatbots for real-world services have proved troubling. In 2023, the mental health company Koko came under fire after its founder wrote about how the company used GPT-3 in an experiment to reply to users. 

Koko cofounder Rob Morris hastened to clarify on Twitter that users weren't speaking directly to a chatbot, but that AI was used to "help craft" responses. 

Read Insider's coverage on ChatGPT and some of the strange new ways that both people and companies are using chat bots: 

The tech world's reception to ChatGPT:

Microsoft is chill with employees using ChatGPT — just don't share 'sensitive data' with it.

Microsoft's investment into ChatGPT's creator may be the smartest $1 billion ever spent

ChatGPT and generative AI look like tech's next boom. They could be the next bubble.

The ChatGPT and generative-AI 'gold rush' has founders flocking to San Francisco's 'Cerebral Valley'

Insider's experiments: 

I asked ChatGPT to do my work and write an Insider article for me. It quickly generated an alarmingly convincing article filled with misinformation.

I asked ChatGPT and a human matchmaker to redo my Hinge and Bumble profiles. They helped show me what works.

I asked ChatGPT to reply to my Hinge matches. No one responded.

I used ChatGPT to write a resignation letter. A lawyer said it made one crucial error that could have invalidated the whole thing .

Read ChatGPT's 'insulting' and 'garbage' 'Succession' finale script

An Iowa school district asked ChatGPT if a list of books contains sex scenes, and banned them if it said yes. We put the system to the test and found a bunch of problems.

Developments in detecting ChatGPT: 

Teachers rejoice! ChatGPT creators have released a tool to help detect AI-generated writing

A Princeton student built an app which can detect if ChatGPT wrote an essay to combat AI-based plagiarism

Professors want to 'ChatGPT-proof' assignments, and are returning to paper exams and requesting editing history to curb AI cheating

Related stories

ChatGPT in society: 

BuzzFeed writers react with a mix of disappointment and excitement at news that AI-generated content is coming to the website

ChatGPT is testing a paid version — here's what that means for free users

A top UK private school is changing its approach to homework amid the rise of ChatGPT, as educators around the world adapt to AI

Princeton computer science professor says don't panic over 'bullshit generator' ChatGPT

DoNotPay's CEO says threat of 'jail for 6 months' means plan to debut AI 'robot lawyer' in courtroom is on ice

It might be possible to fight a traffic ticket with an AI 'robot lawyer' secretly feeding you lines to your AirPods, but it could go off the rails

Online mental health company uses ChatGPT to help respond to users in experiment — raising ethical concerns around healthcare and AI technology

What public figures think about ChatGPT and other AI tools:

What Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and 12 other business leaders think about AI tools like ChatGPT

Elon Musk was reportedly 'furious' at ChatGPT's popularity after he left the company behind it, OpenAI, years ago

CEO of ChatGPT maker responds to schools' plagiarism concerns: 'We adapted to calculators and changed what we tested in math class'

A theoretical physicist says AI is just a 'glorified tape recorder' and people's fears about it are overblown

'The most stunning demo I've ever seen in my life': ChatGPT impressed Bill Gates

Ashton Kutcher says your company will probably be 'out of business' if you're 'sleeping' on AI

ChatGPT's impact on jobs: 

AI systems like ChatGPT could impact 300 million full-time jobs worldwide, with administrative and legal roles some of the most at risk, Goldman Sachs report says

Jobs are now requiring experience with ChatGPT — and they'll pay as much as $800,000 a year for the skill

ChatGPT may be coming for our jobs. Here are the 10 roles that AI is most likely to replace.

AI is going to eliminate way more jobs than anyone realizes

It's not AI that is going to take your job, but someone who knows how to use AI might, economist says

4 careers where workers will have to change jobs by 2030 due to AI and shifts in how we shop, a McKinsey study says

Companies like Amazon, Netflix, and Meta are paying salaries as high as $900,000 to attract generative AI talent

How AI tools like ChatGPT are changing the workforce:

10 ways artificial intelligence is changing the workplace, from writing performance reviews to making the 4-day workweek possible

Managers who use AI will replace managers who don't, says an IBM exec

How ChatGPT is shaping industries: 

ChatGPT is coming for classrooms, hospitals, marketing departments, and everything else as the next great startup boom emerges

Marketing teams are using AI to generate content, boost SEO, and develop branding to help save time and money, study finds

AI is coming for Hollywood. 'It's amazing to see the sophistication of the images,' one of Christopher Nolan's VFX guy says.

AI is going to offer every student a personalized tutor, founder of Khan Academy says

A law firm was fined $5,000 after one of its lawyers used ChatGPT to write a court brief riddled with fake case references

How workers are using ChatGPT to boost productivity:  

CheatGPT: The hidden wave of employees using AI on the sly

I used ChatGPT to talk to my boss for a week and she didn't notice. Here are the other ways I use it daily to get work done.

I'm a high school math and science teacher who uses ChatGPT, and it's made my job much easier

Amazon employees are already using ChatGPT for software coding. They also found the AI chatbot can answer tricky AWS customer questions and write cloud training materials.

How 6 workers are using ChatGPT to make their jobs easier

I'm a freelance editor who's embraced working with AI content. Here's how I do it and what I charge.

How people are using ChatGPT to make money:

How ChatGPT and other AI tools are helping workers make more money

Here are 5 ways ChatGPT helps me make money and complete time-consuming tasks for my business

ChatGPT course instruction is the newest side hustle on the market. Meet the teachers making thousands from the lucrative gig.

People are using ChatGPT and other AI bots to work side hustles and earn thousands of dollars — check out these 8 freelancing gigs

A guy tried using ChatGPT to turn $100 into a business making 'as much money as possible.' Here are the first 4 steps the AI chatbot gave him

We used ChatGPT to build a 7-figure newsletter. Here's how it makes our jobs easier.

I use ChatGPT and it's like having a 24/7 personal assistant for $20 a month. Here are 5 ways it's helping me make more money.

A worker who uses AI for a $670 monthly side hustle says ChatGPT has 'cut her research time in half'

How companies are navigating ChatGPT: 

From Salesforce to Air India, here are the companies that are using ChatGPT

Amazon, Apple, and 12 other major companies that have restricted employees from using ChatGPT

A consultant used ChatGPT to free up time so she could focus on pitching clients. She landed $128,000 worth of new contracts in just 3 months.

Luminary, an AI-generated pop-up restaurant, just opened in Australia. Here's what's on the menu, from bioluminescent calamari to chocolate mousse.

A CEO is spending more than $2,000 a month on ChatGPT Plus accounts for all of his employees, and he says it's saving 'hours' of time

How people are using ChatGPT in their personal lives:

ChatGPT planned a family vacation to Costa Rica. A travel adviser found 3 glaring reasons why AI won't replace experts anytime soon.

A man who hated cardio asked ChatGPT to get him into running. Now, he's hooked — and he's lost 26 pounds.

A computer engineering student is using ChatGPT to overcome learning challenges linked to her dyslexia

How a coder used ChatGPT to find an apartment in Berlin in 2 weeks after struggling for months

Food blogger Nisha Vora tried ChatGPT to create a curry recipe. She says it's clear the instructions lacked a human touch — here's how.

Men are using AI to land more dates with better profiles and personalized messages, study finds

Lawsuits against OpenAI:

OpenAI could face a plagiarism lawsuit from The New York Times as tense negotiations threaten to boil over, report says

This is why comedian Sarah Silverman is suing OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT

2 authors say OpenAI 'ingested' their books to train ChatGPT. Now they're suing, and a 'wave' of similar court cases may follow.

A lawsuit claims OpenAI stole 'massive amounts of personal data,' including medical records and information about children, to train ChatGPT

A radio host is suing OpenAI for defamation, alleging that ChatGPT created a false legal document that accused him of 'defrauding and embezzling funds'

Tips on how to write better ChatGPT prompts:

7 ways to use ChatGPT at work to boost your productivity, make your job easier, and save a ton of time

I'm an AI prompt engineer. Here are 3 ways I use ChatGPT to get the best results.

12 ways to get better at using ChatGPT: Comprehensive prompt guide

Here's 9 ways to turn ChatGPT Plus into your personal data analyst with the new Code Interpreter plug-in

OpenAI's ChatGPT can write impressive code. Here are the prompts you should use for the best results, experts say.

Watch: What is ChatGPT, and should we be afraid of AI chatbots?

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