Why Are You Giving A Speech?


Why are you giving a speech


Do you know what your purpose in life is? Is it to write the best pop song ever made? Is it to become a renowned soccer player in the world? Or is it to help other people achieve their wildest dream (whatever that maybe)?


Do you know why you go to work every day? Is it just for the money? Or you can’t stand staying at home all day? Or is it to reach your fullest potential?

Do you even know why you are reading my blog? Is it because you want to improve your public speaking skills? Is it because you love reading online blogs? Or is it because you are just being nice? No matter what are your reasons, I thank you for reading my blog :)) I really appreciate it.

Alright back to our topic. Everything has its purpose. We all have reasons behind why we do the things we do. Without it, we will be lost. We will be confused. We will have no directions.

Yes. The same applies to public speaking. (Yes, my favourite phrase. I know.)

Speaking without a purpose is like ‘driving your car along the highway but not knowing where you want to go. You might discover something interesting along the way or maybe you wouldn’t. One thing for sure, it will only be a waste of time, fuel and energy. Most probably you will end up losing your way or back to where you started’.

In this case, your audience will be too.

Therefore, before you decide to go on the stage or stand in front of people to speak, you must first ask yourself these questions.

Why do I want to speak? What is the purpose of my speech? What are my reasons? What are my aims? What are the objectives of my speech? Why oh why am I giving a speech?

To make it easier for you to answer these questions, let me share with you 4 types of speech purposes that I usually come across. Some speakers or writers listed more than four types. (You can do more research on this if you want too). But here are my lists. Read all about it and decide which one of these is your purpose.

  • to inform
  • to persuade
  • to entertain
  • to inspire


To Inform

Are you giving a speech to inform your audience of any information or facts? Informative speech is a speech where the speaker wishes to share, educate and explain any information, details, data or report. What are the examples of informative speech?

Are you a doctor who wants to share information about brain cancer to the public?

Are you a police officer who wants to give information to the school children regarding the road safety?

Are you an executive in a company who wants to present a monthly report to your managers?

If you are giving a speech to inform others then you have to make sure every piece of information is properly present, clearly explain and relevant.

To Persuade

Are you giving a speech to persuade your audience to follow your steps or believe in what you are saying? Are you trying to change their minds or influence them in any way? Persuasive speech is a speech where the speaker wishes to make the audience agree with the speaker.

Are you an insurance agent who is trying to persuade a group of people to take an insurance coverage?

Are you an inventor who wants your audience to try your new invention?

Are you an environmentalist who wants people’s support to save the wildlife in danger?

If you are giving a speech to persuade others, you need to be convincing enough to change your audience’s perspectives and their beliefs. They must not only get the information but also to take an action due to your words.

To Entertain

I have to ask you the same question again. Do you know why you are giving a speech? Are you giving a speech to entertain your audience? Are you trying to give your audience a good time?

An entertaining speech should be a speech that provides amusement, enjoyment and happiness to the audience. When we talk about entertaining speech, we can imagine a lot of humour and stories going on during the speech.

Are you a famous celebrity who wants to give a speech during a special award presentation ceremony?

Are you a keynote speaker who wants to deliver an entertaining speech to a large group of delegation from around the world?

Are you giving a speech on your best friend’s wedding day?

If you are giving a speech to entertain, you must be ready to be funny, creative, honest and amazing. You need to know how to make your audience smile, listen, laugh with you and touches their hearts at the same time.

Between you and me, entertaining speech is the hardest type of speech. You may need to possess a mixture of awesomeness to be able to do it.

To Inspire

Last but not least. Are you giving a speech to inspire your audience? I must say inspiring speech is my favourite. I love listening to any inspiring speech and I enjoy delivering an inspiring speech. An inspiring speech is a speech that motivates, encourages and excites the audience. I called it ‘The feel good speech’.

Perhaps you are a public speaker who wishes to inspire people in following their dreams.

Or are you a teacher who wants to inspire your students to believe in themselves?

Or are you a Club president who wants to inspire your group members to work together and continue in contributing to the society?

If you are giving a speech to inspire others, you have to be positive, sincere and speak from your heart. Your speech must be able to move the audience in order to make a difference.

An important note here…

You can have more than one purpose in giving a speech. For instance, you can inspire your audience and entertain them at the same time. You can also come up with a persuasive speech which is motivating too.

Once you can identify the purpose of your speech or why you are giving a speech, it will definitely be easier for you to emphasis on your real message and get them across to your listeners.

By knowing why you are doing it in the first place, it will help you to write a better quality speech. This will make it possible to reach your audience and your target.

Please remember. Do not write or deliver a speech without a purpose. Whether you are driving a car or giving a speech, it is always important to know where you are heading.

So now, do you know why you are giving a speech?





 Written by: Intan Salwana Anis
@2017 Public Speaking Is Cool. All Rights Reserved.



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