The Rough Draft Outline

1. The Rough Draft Outline

Rough draft outlines are part of the development process of speeches, crafting the flow and style of speakers' presentations into a substantive and complete product.

Creating rough draft outlines (i.e., an outline that serves as a precursor to the speech's rough draft—often helps organize and structure speakers' ideas into a cohesive and definitive topic.

Rough draft outlines are not always necessary and may even be viewed as redundant. However, they can help speech writers prepare and organize their ideas during the pre-writing stage.

term to know

Draft

A preliminary sketch; rough outline.

2. Benefits of Rough Draft Outlines

Outlines help form the skeleton of the speaker's speech. They provide a pattern from which the speaker writes his or her main statement, argument, and supporting points.

The rough draft outline is particularly valuable at the pre-writing stage and provides the writer flexibility for revisions to the structure of the speech.

Ultimately, rough outlines help organize the speech writer's initial thoughts into a comprehensive process that flows into a rough draft and eventually a final speech.

term to know

Outline

A list used to present the main points or topics of a given subject, often used as a rough draft or summary of the content of a document.

3. Starting the Rough Draft Outline

One of the most useful techniques for starting a rough draft outline is brainstorming. Similar to freewriting, brainstorming jumpstarts the creative process by letting the speechwriter's ideas flow and connect together around a specific topic. It also serves as a tool for overcoming writer's block.

Prior to starting the rough draft outline, some research should be completed. Ideally, the writer has also finalized the main topics he or she will be discussing during the speech.

term to know

Writer's Block

The inability to begin or continue work on a piece of writing; normally temporary.

4. The Components of a Rough Draft Outline

The parts that comprise a rough draft outline are similar to other types of writing outlines. They include:

An Introduction: This part of the draft outline should include an intro topic sentence, as well as notes on the argument or point of view of the speech.

A Body: The body of the speech's argument should include one or more main points. Each main point is supported by sub-points, which highlight factual evidence relating back to the main argument, or dismiss opposing arguments.

A Conclusion: The speaker should note how they will restate his or her point of view and summarize the argument.

Your rough draft outline is essentially a technique for organizing and jotting down ideas into a traditional outline format.

Because this is the rough draft outline, the outline too will ultimately change as the speechwriter conducts additional research and continues to shape his or her speech topic.