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Can you choose the right organizational pattern for a specific speech or presentation?

How do you decide which organizational pattern to use for your presentation? It depends upon the subject you plan to discuss. Are you writing about history, or about the steps required in a process? A chronological pattern would work well. If you're describing a place or a visual idea, spatial organization is probably the best option. Writing about a specific person or event? A structure that starts with specifics and moves to generalizations may be a good approach. But if you're writing about a category or group of things, and describing just one or two examples, start with general ideas about the category and then move on to specifics.

Use the questions below to practice selecting the best organizational pattern for a presentation topic.

Alicia wants to give a presentation that includes information about her purebred show dog. She'll describe her own dog and then explain how her dog's characteristics fit his breed. Then she will tell how that breed fits into the larger category of purebred show dogs. Which organizational pattern should Alicia choose?

  1. specific to general
  2. general to specific
  3. chronological
  4. spatial

Alicia plans to start her presentation with a particular example and then explain how that example fits into larger and larger categories.

Alicia plans to start her presentation with a particular example and then explain how that example fits into larger and larger categories.

Alicia plans to start her presentation with a particular example and then explain how that example fits into larger and larger categories.

Alicia plans to start her presentation with a particular example and then explain how that example fits into larger and larger categories.

Angus recently visited Wales with his grandparents. For his geography project, Angus wants to show his classmates exactly where Wales is and how it relates to the countries around it. Which organizational pattern should Angus use?

  1. specific to general
  2. general to specific
  3. chronological
  4. spatial

Angus is writing about a group of places and how they fit together on a map.

Angus is writing about a group of places and how they fit together on a map.

Angus is writing about a group of places and how they fit together on a map.

Angus is writing about a group of places and how they fit together on a map.

Mariah wants to deliver a speech to her community's neighborhood watch organization, explaining how some of the group's practices make her and her friends feel when they are hanging out in the park, not getting into any trouble but making a lot of noise. Which organizational pattern would work best for Mariah's speech?

  1. specific to general
  2. general to specific
  3. chronological
  4. spatial

Mariah should probably start with a main idea that helps her audience understand why she has come to their meeting, and then talk about specific situations that demonstrate her point.

Mariah should probably start with a main idea that helps her audience understand why she has come to their meeting, and then talk about specific situations that demonstrate her point.

Mariah should probably start with a main idea that helps her audience understand why she has come to their meeting, and then talk about specific situations that demonstrate her point.

Mariah should probably start with a main idea that helps her audience understand why she has come to their meeting, and then talk about specific situations that demonstrate her point.

For his final computer science project, Martin has decided to demonstrate how he created a YouTube video that "went viral" and then kept track of the number of visitors his video received using his cell phone. Which is the best organizational pattern for Martin's presentation?

  1. specific to general
  2. general to specific
  3. chronological
  4. spatial

Martin needs to show a series of steps that must happen in a specific order to work properly.

Martin needs to show a series of steps that must happen in a specific order to work properly.

Martin needs to show a series of steps that must happen in a specific order to work properly.

Martin needs to show a series of steps that must happen in a specific order to work properly.

Summary

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Question

How should you select the best organizational pattern for your speech or presentation?

Choose the organizational pattern that makes the content of your speech or presentation easy to follow.