BECOMING AN EFFECTIVE SPEAKER Structuring Your Speech Principles of Good Form The structure ofa speech should follow the ways people naturally arrange things in their minds. People rarely store information in individual bits. Instead, they “chunk” material for easy recall. For example, people recall telephone numbers as two or three chunks of numbers such as 801-779-1242, not 8-0-1-7-7-9-1-2-4-2. Information is organized according to a few simple principles of good form. To develop good form, you should keep you presentation simple, balance the parts of your speech, and arrange your main points so that they flow smoothly. In other words, good form depends on simplicity, balance, and order. Simplicity A simple design makes it easy for listeners to follow, understand, and remember your message. Simplicity is important because listeners usually do not have manuscripts to refer to if material is confusing. To achieve simplicity, you should limit the number of your main ideas and keep your design direct and to the point. The fewer main points in a speech, the better because each main point must be developed. It takes time to present information, examples, narratives, and testimony effectively.