Planning a speech - Describing your intent

Question 1

• Stating your intent

→ There are a number of ways to state your intent or requirements. You can do it quite directly:

→ Communicating like this makes what you want very clear, but can also be considered rude, especially if you don’t know the other person well or if they are your boss. In these situations, it’s often better to use a softer, more indirect approach:

Notice, however, the downside: using this language might make people think that you lack authority or confidence.

Answer 1

…I want to HIGHLIGHT how much we help the community.
…We need to include information about our efforts to help others.

…WOULD you like me to mention the Van Patten project?
…I COULD touch on the sales figures from last quarter.

Question 2

• Softening your intent

→ One effective way to soften how you express your intent without losing authority is to use verbs like think, consider, see and imagine in the continuous form:

→ Another way is to use modals like could, would and might:

Before you write or say something important, it’s always best to consider who you are speaking to. Finding the right tone is always a balance.

Answer 2

…I was THINKING that I’d include something about the ‘Green Prize.’
…I’m CONSIDERING HIGHLIGHTING how much we help the community.

…It MIGHT be best if I provided some details about the new TV ad.
…It COULD be useful to cover the staff training program.
…It WOULD be a great idea to talk about the product launch.

Question 3

• What will you mention?

→ Use expressions like these to describe what you might include in a speech:

→ If you only want to talk about something for a short time or in little detail, use expressions like these:

→ Here is one way to describe how you will CONNECT IDEAS in a speech:

Answer 3

…I think we SHOULD include something about the great response we got from Ray Corp.
…I’ll TRY TO COVER the latest survey results toward the end.

…I’ll BRIEFLY comment on the customer complaint case.
…I’ll TOUCH ON the website after I’ve talked about the new phone app.
…I CAN MENTION the contract renewal process in passing.

…I can TRANSITION from talking about the prime-logistics.com account to our new contract with Big Company.