🎤 Speech Writing — the format

Persuade or move a live audience who cannot re-read you, so structure must be audible.

Writing for: People in a room. The task names them — a school assembly, a council, a parents' evening.

Which are you writing?

Length: Usually 250–400 words.

Audience: People in a room

The format, in order

1
Address the audience
Greet them as the task defines them.
Good morning, fellow students and members of staff.
2
Hook
A question, a statistic, a short story. Establish why they should listen now.
3
Position
State plainly what you are asking them to think or do.
4
Body
Two or three points, each signposted aloud so a listener can follow without re-reading.
5
Counter and answer
Acknowledge the obvious objection and deal with it.
6
Close
Return to the hook, then a direct call to action. End on a short sentence.

What the marks are for

Content

✓Audience addressed and sustained throughout
✓A clear, single ask
✓Points developed and signposted
✓An objection acknowledged

Language

✓Direct address and inclusive pronouns — 'we', 'you', 'us'
✓Rhetorical devices: triads, repetition, rhetorical questions
✓Sentence length varied for spoken rhythm
✓Spoken register that still reads as controlled writing

What loses marks

✗Writing an essay with 'Good morning' bolted on the front
✗Never addressing the audience again after the greeting
✗No signposting, so a listener cannot follow the structure
✗Rhetorical questions stacked until they stop working
✗Ending without asking the audience to do anything

Phrases that work

Let me ask you something.
I want to talk to you today about…
Now, some of you will be thinking…
But here is what troubles me.
So I am asking each of you to…
Thank you.

Before you hand it in

0 / 8

Opens by addressing the audience named in the task
Hook in the first three sentences
The ask is stated explicitly
Each point is signposted aloud
Inclusive pronouns used
One objection acknowledged and answered
Ends with a call to action and a thank you
Reads naturally when spoken aloud

Command words cheat sheet

Study notes on the Learning Portal

Where this is examined

· Cambridge IGCSE First Language English (0500) — directed writing
· Edexcel International GCSE English Language (4EA1) — transactional writing
· Cambridge IGCSE ESL (0510)
· Cambridge O Level English Language (1123)

Word counts, paper numbers and mark allocations are set by the syllabus for your session and change between series. Always check your current syllabus and your teacher's guidance before relying on a length or a mark split given here.

Other writing formats

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