What Is an Informative Speech Thesis Statement?

An informative speech thesis statement is a thesis statement that serves as the primary idea or overarching topic of an informative speech. This type of speech is meant to educate and inform by providing data or ideas that support the thesis statement.    

According to an online article by WAC Clearinghouse, there are four major types of informative speeches. And although there are obviously other types too, these four are just some of the most common: speeches about objects, processes, events and concepts.

Tips on Writing an Informative Speech Thesis Statement

An informative speech is just one of many types of speeches. And whether it is a speech to be delivered or an essay to be written, anyone can take steps to improve the preparation and construction of their speech, regardless of the topic. The following examples are simple but useful tips to keep in mind when making your informative speech outline and thesis statement.

Make an outline. Having to write a speech can be quite daunting at first. You can have all kinds of ideas rushing in and some people can get overwhelmed with too much information. It is in these types of situations where it might be best to take a step back. Taking a step back allows you to pause and gather your thoughts. When you find yourself unable to start writing, one helpful tip is to begin with an outline. Creating an outline helps you to see and structure your thoughts better. This is especially useful for writing essays. An outline helps you organize your thoughts and arrange your information in a more concise and coherent manner. You do not have to worry about making the perfect outline, what matters is gaining more clarity in your thinking and filtering your information objectively. Make it a habit to fact check. Along with technological advancement, the Digital Age has unfortunately also brought some unintended consequences along with it. The proliferation of fake news and disinformation has gripped the world in recent years. Because of the democratization and accessibility of information, it has become too easy for people to spread false information and ideas. In a virtual and online world, the lack of accountability has further emboldened trolls and rumor mongers to perpetuate lies and conspiracy theories. Thus, it has become increasingly important for people nowadays to be more discerning and prudent when it comes to sharing and spreading information. If you are tasked to create an informative essay or speech, you must always make it a habit to check (or even doublecheck) your sources. Fact-checking is a necessary skill in today’s digitalized era. Make sure to get your information from credible sources or do a background check of the authors, publishers or owners of a website. An informative speech aims to share information and facts, so you need to be responsible enough to ensure that there is credibility in the things you say. Know your audience. Another useful tip when approaching your informative speech or essay is studying and knowing your audience. This gives you an added advantage when you know who is listening, reading and paying attention to you. Of course, you cannot know all there is to know about them; but it helps to have a general idea of their backgrounds and even expectations. You can structure your speech in such a way that allows you to deliver it with more impact. For example, your informative speech thesis statement centers on the importance of traditional values and morality. If you know your audience is predominantly married or middle-aged, then you can pick out some anecdotes or examples that are more relatable to your audience’s current stage in life. Pick a topic that is meaningful to you. When you know much about a certain topic, you are generally more confident to talk about it. This is true for preparing speeches as well. If you are aware that you have more knowledge about a subject compared to the other people in the room, this helps you have more control and confidence. This makes you more eager and enthusiastic to share what you know. Thus, choosing the right topic is of utmost importance. Because the more invested and engaged you are in the subject, the more passion will flow through you as you draft your speech or essay. You need to select a topic that is not only relevant to your audience, but personally meaningful and valuable to you.

Sample Ideas For an Informative Speech

An informative speech is one of the most basic types of speeches. Its length, duration and depth depends on the individual delivering it, but its structure can easily be replicated and learned. To deliver an impactful and engaging informative speech, it helps to select a topic that speaks to you and at the same time is relevant to your audience. Ideally, the information that you convey should be useful and applicable to them.   

Remote Learning. Two years into the global pandemic, more and more people have settled into their routines of work from home or online classes. Although most people are still struggling to make it work, it will never truly be the same as traditional and face-to-face interactions. Remote or distance learning can be a timely subject for an informative speech. And even if the world still continues to learn about the coronavirus and its implication on societies, an informative speech laced with first-hand experiences and personal lessons will carry more weight and mean much more to audiences. For instance, you can discuss the benefits of remote learning as well as the problems that it brought since the start of the pandemic. Work From Home. Another significant topic that you can talk about is the phenomenon of working from home. For those people fortunate enough to have flexible work arrangements, a work from home setup still comes with its own set of challenges. In your informative speech, you can explore this particular aspect of the pandemic and gather credible information and statistics regarding the subject. You can even conduct surveys or first-hand interviews with people who actually are in the situation. There is a lot yet to be known about the future of work from home arrangements. What might the future hold for companies with the continuous adoption of work from home or hybrid arrangements? This approach of looking forward and asking questions can be a good strategy when structuring your informative speech. Just because it is informative in nature, it does not mean you cannot ask questions and allow your audience to wonder or use their imagination. Climate Change. One of the most pressing issues, if not the most, of today’s time is climate change. Extreme weather patterns have been observed in recent years or even decades. Whether it is life-threatening typhoons and hurricanes or destructive heat waves and floods, the signs are becoming ever more clear. As governments and countries scramble to fix economic and environmental policies, people can expect more disruptive environmental conditions as climate change continues to worsen. An informative speech centered on climate change needs to be backed by hard facts, statistics and evidence. You want to make sure that your sources are based on sound science and not pseudoscience. Fact checking your supporting ideas and statements are crucial especially for a heated topic such as climate change. Balanced Diet. If you are looking for a topic that is helpful to a lot of people, you cannot go wrong with health topics. However, since health is quite a broad subject, it is important that you select a topic that is specific or targeted enough. A thesis statement focused on the importance of maintaining a balanced diet is a good example. There are hundreds of credible articles and journals on healthy diets and its overall effect on a person’s overall well-being. You take various perspectives and approaches when presenting your information to your audience. All you need is basically the right supporting ideas and minor points that will help strengthen your thesis statement. Just make sure to always keep in mind the importance of selecting only credible sources and fact-checking references.

How to Create an Informative Speech Thesis Statement

To create an informative speech thesis statement, simply follow the step-by-step guide below. If you are looking for edible and pre designed templates as a reference, you can easily download a sample template from the collection above. 

Step 1: Research

Before preparing a thesis statement, you first need to select a topic. You can choose a topic that you already have some knowledge about, or do some research about a topic you’d like to discover more about. Regardless of the subject, conducting research and gathering data is key in any informative speech. The more data you collect and the more you know, the more ideas you can explore and write about. In the construction of your speech, research will play an important role all throughout.     

Step 2: Outline

Once you have selected a topic of your choice, you can proceed to making an outline. Creating an outline is key because it can help you arrange and organize your thoughts more effectively. Sometimes, you can have several thoughts and ideas but do not know what to do with them or where to place them. With an outline, you can better manage your primary ideas, supporting ideas and transition paragraphs and arrange them in a coherent way. It can be very helpful to see your entire speech divided into simpler, easier to digest sections to avoid feeling overwhelmed by the amount of information you need to process. An outline simply makes it easier to manage your thoughts.    

Step 3: Introduction

Your thesis statement should ideally be found in the first few paragraphs of your informative speech. You can open your speech with attention getters or attention-grabbing statements or even questions. The key is to be able to hook the listener with your opening statements. Pay attention to how you craft your thesis statement and the wording or language you use. Still, even an introduction needs supporting ideas. Depending on the structure of your outline, this section of your speech can have a main idea with a couple of secondary ideas that support it.    

Step 4: Body

Your thesis statement is the overarching idea that all your other ideas should be connected to. Your body of the speech should contain the most important and most compelling ideas that will support your main idea. Refer to your outline and make sure to fact-check your references when crafting this section of your speech. An informative speech is supposed to be educational and should offer something of value to the listener. Thus, your supporting ideas are just as important as your thesis statement. How you string it all together to form one coherent speech is the challenging part.    

Step 5: Conclusion

Finally, you need to wrap up your ideas neatly with a concise yet powerful conclusion. It does not need to be too long, a brief paragraph or two will suffice. An alternative is to connect your conclusion with your ideas in the introduction. Or you can also end with a call to action that will embolden the listener or reader. The important thing is that you are able to clearly deliver your message in a memorable way.    

FAQs

How do you write a thesis statement for an informative speech?

There can be many ways to write a thesis statement for an informative speech. You can either start with a question in your introduction and insert your main idea or thesis statement in the succeeding sentences. Your statement needs to be specific but engaging enough to hook the reader or listener. Conducting research about your assigned topic will be very helpful as well.

What is a good thesis statement for an informative essay?

A good informative essay thesis statement is clear and focused. It is neither too broad nor too lengthy. It should be engaging and interesting enough for the reader to want to know more about the topic.

What are the 3 major parts of a speech?

Traditionally and in the broadest sense, most speeches are divided into three major parts: introduction, body, and conclusion.

An informative speech requires a clear and engaging thesis statement. Having a winning thesis statement would also depend on the topic you select, on how well your research is on the topic. Browse the printable templates above now to create and customize your own informative speech and thesis statement!