In this chapter you have learned the following:

• Why is organization important?
• Audiences perceive organized presenters as more competent.
• Audiences find organized messages more memorable and give them higher marks.

• How should you organize the body of your presentation?
• You should first divide the body into two or three main points.
• These main points should be worded in a parallel manner.
• These main points should be approximately equal in importance.
• You need to determine the order in which you will present the main points.
• Some typical ways to order or pattern your speech are the time-sequence, spatial relations, problem-solution, cause-effect, and topical sequence patterns, and Monroe's Motivated Sequence.
• You need to incorporate the supporting material for your main points.
• The effective and ethical presenter also considers the connections between ideas.
• Among the connecting devices available are transitions, brief linkages in the speech.
• Signposts tell the audience briefly where the speaker is within the speech.
• Internal previews forewarn the audience of that which is to come.
• Internal reviews remind the audience of what has already been covered.

• Outlining includes three important principles.
• The principle of subordination means that the symbols and indentation of your outline should show which material is more important and which material is less important.
• The principle of division states that when points are divided, they must have at least two subpoints.
• The principle of parallelism states that main points, subpoints, and sub-subpoints should use the same grammatical and syntactical forms.

• You will probably create three types of outlines.
• The preparation outline is your initial or tentative conception of your presentation.
• A formal outline is a final outline in complete sentence form including the title, specific purpose, thesis statement, introduction of the speech, body of the speech, conclusion of the presentation, and a bibliography of sources consulted.
• The key word outline is a brief outline — often on note cards — created for you to use during the delivery of your presentation.

• You learned the functions of an introduction.
• The introduction usually announces the topic, relates that topic to the audience, gains the audience's attention, and forecasts the organization or development of the topic.
• Whether or not you have been introduced by someone else, the introduction builds your credibility on the subject being presented.

• You learned the functions of a conclusion.
• The brake light function forewarns the audience of the impending ending.
• The instant-replay function reviews the main points.
• The action ending is your clear statement of what you expect the audience to do or remember.