Thien Christian Nguyen

Prep #6
Preparing to Participate: Chapter 9

Importance of Outlining
1. Why is outlining important?
The process of outlining allows you to organize your ideas logically, giving you a better of the
relationships among your ideas.
o For example, on topic of Syrian refuges, the process of outlining help me decide which
aspects of the issue should be mentioned first. Is it logical to talk about the current
situation of Syrian refugees or the political reasons that forced them to leave the country?
The process also allows you to use your critical thinking skills to refine your ideas, identity where
you need additional support, and determine if the body of the speech is balance
o For example, writing outline will help me know that I should find more credible sources
to describe the process of assisting the refugees to settle down in the new countries. More
importantly, if I spent the majority of my speech body to inform the audience about the
reasons behind this socially important immigration, the outline would definitely be a
great way for me to check the balance between several main points.
The process is another reason behind better performance in class.
o For example, I always w my readings for every class in outlining notes format in order to
have better understanding of what will be covered in class. These notes will extremely
beneficial and time-saving when it comes to building study guide for exams.
2. Think of a time when you have heard someone present a lecture or a speech. Could you identify the
parts of the speech? Was the outline structure clear? If not, how could outlining help the speaker?
I am going to use my professors lecture in my Business class as the example for this question.
The lecture covers the topic of the court system in the U.S.
The lecture includes the introduction (serves as an transition from the previous chapter), the body
and the conclusion part (serves as a forecast of what is going to be covered in the next chapter)
o The body part is divided to several submain points, including the overview on court
personnel (judges, jurors and lawyers), the organization of the court system (state courts,
federal courts and the Supreme Court), the introduction to judicial review and two
different schools of thought regarding the use of judicial review (judicial restraint and
judicial activism).
Since his lecture is based on the outline of the topic, the structure is extremely clear and easy for
students to follow. Even though the professor offers lots of real-life experience and additional
information, he only does that accordingly to what part of the lecture the class is covering at the
moment. In other words, his oral lecture is also well-organized and structured similarly to the
structure in the textbook.
Because of the clear organization of his lecture, we usually get through a chapter in less than 45
minutes with full understanding of what the textbook offers and real-life cases. Since this is a
night class, the clear outline is extremely useful.
Developing a Preparation Outline
3. What is a preparation outline? List the seven guidelines for developing a preparation outline.
The outline you develop as you prepare for your speech is called a presentation outline
Seven guidelines include:
o (1) Label the introduction, body and conclusion as separate elements:
This will allow you to see if they are serving their intended functions.
Fast check to help you identify whether you have included all of the elements
required by your instructor
Offer a better look at your speech that the three parts are smoothly related.
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(2) Use a consistent pattern of symbols.

Consistent pattern will help you identify the different parts more easily and help
you distinguish between the main points from sub points, from argument to
supporting evidence.
Two ways of organizing:
Subordination which is the ranking of ideas to the most to the least
important.
Coordination arrangement of points into successive levels, with the
points on the same level having the same importance and grammatical
structure.
o (3) Include transitions:
Transitions are critical to effective speech making
Including transitions in the outline help you determine if you have overused a
word or phrase (my personal overused phrase is moreover) or whether you
should add an internal summary and/or review to clarify a point.
o (4) Integrate supporting material.
It is important to balance the types of support used for each claim (statistics,
testimony, personal examples and so on)
o (5) Provide a list of References.
It is also important to you cite your sources orally in your speech.
Citing sources accurately boosts your credibility and increase the likelihood that
your audience will take your claims seriously.
The outline will help your cite your sources more accurately and help you
actually orally cite more easily.
o (6) Use Complete Sentence
Fully stating your ideas will help you and your instructor evaluate the overall
merits if the speech.
Introduction to supporting material written in full sentences will increase your
credibility and determine the extent to which you are fully citing them.
4. Why is it important to use a consistent pattern of labeling and symbols? Why do you think it is
important to write the preparation outline in complete sentences?
It is important to use consistent pattern of labeling and symbols because they serve as the signals
to different elements of the speech; it also helps you distinguish several levels of points and
supporting materials.
o Psychologically, organized and uniformed outline will help you feel more prepared and
more confident in what you have to offer to audience.
It is also to write the preparation outline in complete sentence because it will be easier for you
and your instructors evaluate the overall quality and credibility of your speech. Moreover, in my
opinion, writing your points in full sentence will help you decide whether your transitions are
appropriately use and whether your speech sounds like natural conversation rather than rigid
textbook style.
Developing a Speaking Outline
5. What is a speaking outline? List the four suggestions in the text for developing a speaking outline
A speaking outline is a brief outline that helps you remember key points as you are speaking. The
speaking also frequently contains delivery notes that remind you when to adjust your rate, tone,
movement, and so on.
Four suggestion include:
o

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You should use the same framework used in the preparation outline so that you can track
exactly where you are in the speech at any given moment.
o It is important that your outline is legible because speaking form messy can be difficult.
o Your speaking outline should be as brief as possible because it will help you establish eye
contact with your audience. However, the key words should be fully included so that it
can help prompt you for full thoughts when you are looking down at your notes.
o You can include delivery notes in the speaking outline since it will provide cues that will
help you control the overall pace of your speech. These cues may be included through the
practice of the speech, where you realize that alternating the delivery might enhance the
effectiveness of the presentation.
6. What is the difference between a speaking outline and preparation outline? Why is it necessary to do
both? What happens if you put too much information on your speaking outline?
o

FORMAT

FUNCTIONS

PREPARATION OUTLINE
Very detailed, includes the title,
introduction, main points, sub points,
conclusions, transitions, supporting
materials and list of reference.
The main points and sub points are
written in full sentences.
Firms up your thesis statement
Establishes and organize your main
points, and
Develops your supporting material.
Should be revisited and revised
throughout speech preparation.

SPEAKING OUTLINE
Brief outline with only keywords to
state main points and sub points.
Can include delivery notes to
provides speaking cues (eye contact,
gesture, tone)
Covers the main points and aids the
speaker's memory
Serves guide for the speaker on how
to time and pace the delivery of the
speech.

It is necessary to do both because two outlines serve to different functions, which eventually
improve your performance and the quality of your speech.
o Preparation outline helps you develop your speech, improves its quality and enhances
your credibility as a speak
For example, the preparation outline will help me organize what aspects of the
Syrian diaspora to be included and what supporting material to be integrated into
the speech.
o Speaking outline aids your memory with the speech, improves the way you deliver your
speech.
For example, the speaking outline will help me identify when to change my tone
of voice to emphasize important points or when to make eye contact with the
audience/
Speaking outline is supposed to be brief; therefore, too much information on speaking note will:
o Distract the speaker from actually speaking and engaging with audience.
o Make the speaker feel that it is necessary to read from his/her note rather than conveying
those points to audience.
o Speakers tend to remember what is on their speaking notes; therefore, if there was too
much information, they would try to remember it word by word. This is the bad thing

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since nervousness during speech can make you become forgetful.

Media Interaction: Chapter 9
Purdue Owl Writing
1. What are the principles of outlining found on this site?
(1) Parallelism: Each heading and subheading should have the same grammatical structure. For
example
o I. OVERVIEW ON THE POLITAL FORCE BEHIND SYRIAN DIASPORA
o II. ANALYSIS ON THE CURRENT SITUATION OF SYRIAN REFUGEES
(2) Coordination: All the information contained in heading 1 should be equally important as the
information in the next heading. The same principles applies to subheadings (they should equally
important, but less significant than the headings)
(3) Subordination: The information in the headings should be more general, while the information
in the subheadings should be more specific. For example
o II. ANALYSIS ON THE CURRENT SITUATION OF SYRIAN REFUGEES
A. Economic situation
B. Social situation
C. Health situation, especially children
(4) Division: Each heading should be divided into 2 or more parts.
2. How is this approach to outlining different than the sample provided in your textbook?
The second and third principle are mentioned in the textbook
The first and the last one are not mentioned; however, I dont think they are different approach
from what provided in the textbook since both of them are very useful in helping you develop the
very detailed outline.
3. Do the various formats change the content of the speech? If so, how?
I dont think format change the content of the speech because no matter how different between
each of these formats, your speech must include certain numbers of element and it also follows
the requirements from your instructors. However, it is ones responsibility to find the format that
works best for their writing and speaking style.
Style Wizard.
1. What do these various styles have in common?
Some similarities between two styles
o All information used in the paper must be in the reference page or works cited
o Both use parenthetical citations within the body of the paper
o Citations are listed alphabetically
o Quotes are integrated smoothly and there are transitions to help writer achieve this.
2. How are they different?
Some differences between two styles:
o In APA: Works cited is last name, first initial (Nguyen, C); in MLA, works cited is cited
last name, first name (Nguyen, Christian)
o In APA: When information is cited and the authors name is not listed, place the

authors last name and the publishing year. for example (Nguyen, 2015); in MLA,
the citation is last name followed by the page number, for example (Nguyen 12)
o In APA: Quotes 40 words or more are intended one tab; In MLA, quotes 4 lines or
longer are indented 2 tabs over
3. Why is it important to follow one of these styles?
It is very important to follow one of these styles because:
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(1) either of these styles is requirement for any documents written by an individual in
scholarly environment to show respect to the authors of the works you are using.
o (2) It is also important to follow the style that your instructor requires for your class in
order to create uniformity and help you build credibility to the audience, which is your
class.
o

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