How can you use hypothetical scenarios to enhance your speech?

1 Plan your scenario

Before you create your hypothetical scenario, you need to have a clear purpose and audience for your speech. What do you want to achieve with your scenario? How will it support your main message and argument? Who are you speaking to and what are their needs, interests, and concerns? Based on these questions, you can decide on the topic, scope, and tone of your scenario. For example, if you are giving a speech about climate change to a group of students, you might want to use a scenario that shows how their lives could be affected by rising temperatures and sea levels in the next decade.

2 Create your scenario

Once you have a plan, you can start creating your hypothetical scenario. A good scenario should have three elements: a setting, a plot, and a conclusion. The setting is the context and background of your scenario, such as the time, place, and situation. The plot is the sequence of events and actions that lead to the outcome of your scenario, such as the causes, effects, and challenges. The conclusion is the result and implication of your scenario, such as the benefits, costs, or risks. For example, you could create a scenario that starts with a setting of a coastal city in 2030, followed by a plot of a major storm that floods the streets and damages the infrastructure, and ends with a conclusion of the need for urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

3 Deliver your scenario

After you create your scenario, you need to deliver it effectively to your audience. There are three tips to help you do that: use vivid language, use visual aids, and use transitions. Vivid language is the use of descriptive words, sensory details, and emotions to make your scenario more realistic and engaging. Visual aids are the use of images, graphs, videos, or other media to support your scenario and make it more memorable and persuasive. Transitions are the use of words, phrases, or gestures to connect your scenario to the rest of your speech and guide your audience through your logic and flow. For example, you could use vivid language to describe the storm and its impact, use visual aids to show the before and after pictures of the city, and use transitions to link your scenario to your main points and call to action.

4 Evaluate your scenario

Finally, you need to evaluate your hypothetical scenario and see how it worked for your speech and audience. You can do this by asking for feedback, observing the reactions, and measuring the outcomes. Feedback is the information and opinions you get from your audience or other sources, such as surveys, comments, or reviews. Reactions are the behaviors and emotions you observe from your audience during or after your speech, such as attention, interest, or agreement. Outcomes are the results and effects you achieve with your speech and scenario, such as awareness, understanding, or action. For example, you could evaluate your scenario by asking your audience to rate its relevance, clarity, and impact, observing their engagement, curiosity, and empathy, and measuring their knowledge, attitude, and behavior change.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?