Talking points are often used to prepare for a public speech or an interview. By crafting your own talking points, you can feel more comfortable talking in front of others or answering questions from the media or the public.
Part One of Two:
Structuring Your Talking PointsEdit
1Identify your mission or message. Consider why you are speaking to your audience and identify the purpose of your speech or interview. Is your main mission to convince a committee to support your policy or a change to an existing policy? Is your main message to tell an audience of students about your experiences in a foreign country? Are you trying to present a specific issue or problem at your child’s school to the PTA board? Are you giving an interview to a local newspaper about a local issue or to promote a product? Focusing on the main purpose of your talk will then help you create the rest of your talking points.
- You can develop your message by thinking about emotion, or what you want your audience to feel, contrast or how your message is different than the message of others, connection, or why your audience should care about what you are saying, and credibility, or why your audience should believe what you say.
- For example, maybe the main message of your talk is to argue for the creation of after school programs at your child’s school. You may then identify the mission of your speech as: “The mission of my speech is to convince the school board to provide after school programming at my child’s school.”
- If the main message of your interview is to discuss the latest product released by your company, you may write out the mission as: “The mission of my interview is to promote the 2016 release of the lightweight hover board by my company, Hover, Inc.”
2Outline two to three talking points. Once you have identified your main message, you can then create two to three main talking points to support your main message. You will then use these main points to develop supporting arguments or examples to ensure your main message is well supported. Focus on talking points that will help you prove your main message or expand further on your main message.
- Your talking points should be clear, short, and to the point. Think of your talking points as your elevator pitch, made up of keywords or short sentences.
- For example, if the main message of your talk is to argue for after school programs at your child’s school, they may be structured as follows:
- Benefits my child’s education, will supply her with educational activities in a controlled, monitored environment.
- Benefits other students at Normandy who need educational guidance and activity once school hours are over.
- Benefits the other parents of students at Normandy High School by providing education and guidance for their children.
3Provide specific examples to support your talking points. You should use examples that are personal and impactful, with the strongest examples listed first. Your examples may be personal stories of success that illustrate the importance of your talk or data that show how useful and effective the main points of your talk will be for your audience.
- Though it may be tempting to make a long list of examples, try to focus on one to two examples that best illustrate your main point or mission. Most speeches are the most effective when they are short and to the point, especially if you are arguing for a particular position or stance on an issue.
- For example, if you are arguing for after school programs at your child’s school, you may tell a short story about how your child struggles with her math assignments and is looking for tutoring that could be provided through the after school program. You may also use data from a national study on after school programs that show how well students in after school programs do in their academics and in their community as a result of these programs.
- Your talking point may look like this:
- Talking point: Benefits your child's education, gives her support in a controlled, monitored environment.
- Example 1: Story about her math a