Q Just as there is a "formula" or action plan to develop a thesis statement, so too can you follow a "plan of attack" when brainstorming and developing the main points you want to make in your speech. Ultimately, these main points are featured in the body (or discussion section) of the speech. This is also where you will want to incorporate personal perspective (stories or examples from your life) as well as that all important research. But before we get to supporting our main points, let's first take a peak at the "formula" you can use to help develop your main points: We call "the formula" the Journalist's 6 Questions. You might already be familiar with them. They are the questions most journalists or news reporters ask during an interview to help them generate a news story. (You might have used them when writing an essay.) They are-- Who? What? Why? When? Where? (and sometimes) How? For a 6 to 8-minute Persuasive Speech which focuses on urging your audience to do something or to change their minds about something, you might want to use these three particular prompts to develop your main points: What? Why? and How? You see, with "the what" you will be able to share a clear meaning or definition of the value you've chosen; "the why" will help you explain your reason your audience ought to consider developing the value; and "the how" will enable you to provide details about the way or ways your audience can go about incorporating the value into their lives. So, if we were to go back to our example thesis in a previous module: "I believe self-confidence will improve your ability to succeed in a college speech class," the formula that could be used to develop main points for this speech may look like-- 1. "What" do I mean by self-confidence? 2. "Why" do we need self-confidence? and 3. "How" can we develop self-confidence? Thus when creating the body (or discussion portion) of this sample speech, we would be guided by the following: So, when you are ready to develop and support the main points for your persuasive "values" speech, you are urged to use this formula. And here is what the thesis and main points for this sample speech would look like-- So, when you create your 3 main points based on your topic and thesis statement (which may look much like the example above), you'll begin to see the body of your speech take shape. You will have the start of an intriguing outline, but be aware that you may need to "fine-tune" and adjust these items as you move through the entire speech development process. You will however have a basis from which to work. So, your assignment now is to create your main points and post them along with your thesis to the discussion board. Remember you are just creating the main points. We are not concerned about adding in any "details" or "support" right now. (That's our next step.) Once you've uploaded your thesis and main points to the discussion board, talk with your peers about what you've accomplished thus far and comment on how well your classmates are progressing. (Respond to at least 3 of your classmates' work.) Remember: You want to keep moving forward. You may use the "Water Cooler" to "check in" with your classmates prior to uploading your work this week. It's not required that you do so.... but that is an option.