That would be followed by a preview statement of what the speech’s arguments or reasons for participating will be, such as, “In this speech I will try to motivate you to join me next month as a volunteer at the regional Special Olympics.” For example, it is acceptable in a speech to announce the topic and purpose, although it is usually not the most artful or effective way to do it. No, in that the rules for writing a “thesis” or central idea statement in a speech are not as strict as in an essay. That said, is the central idea statement the very same thing as the thesis sentence in an essay? Yes, in that both are letting the audience know without a doubt your topic, purpose, direction, angle and/or point of view. Another instructor may call it the “main idea statement.” All of these are basically synonymous and you should not let the terms confuse you, but you should use the term your instructor uses. Your instructor may call the central idea statement “the thesis” or “the thesis statement.” Your English composition instructor probably uses that term in your essay writing. Now, at this point we need to make a point about terminology. The statement that reveals your main points is commonly known as the central idea statement (or just the central idea). While you will not actually say your specific purpose statement during your speech, you will need to clearly state what your focus and main points are going to be (preferably after using an introductory method such as those described in Chapter 8).

Introductory speech central idea