13.4 Sample Informative Speeches and Speech Outlines

Sample Informative Speech Outline

By Shannon Stanley

Topic: Lord Byron

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the life of George Gordon Byron, Lord Byron.

Central Idea: George Gordon (Lord Byron) overcame physical hardships, was a world-renowned poet, and was an advocate for the Greek’s war for freedom.

Introduction

A. Attention step: Imagine an eleven-year-old boy who has been beaten and sexually abused repeatedly by the very person who is supposed to take care of him.
B. Reveal topic/thesis: This is one of the many hurdles that George Gordon, better known as Lord Byron, overcame during his childhood. Lord Byron was also a talented poet with the ability to transform his life into the words of his poetry. Byron became a serious poet by the age of fifteen, and he was first published in 1807 at the age of nineteen. Lord Byron was a staunch believer in freedom and equality, so he gave most of his fortune, and in the end, his very life, supporting the Greek’s war for independence.
C. Establish credibility: While many of you have probably never heard of Lord Byron, his life and written work will become more familiar to you when you take Humanities 1201, as I learned when I took it last semester.
D. Preview body of speech: In this speech I will talk about Lord Byron’s early childhood, accomplishments, and life outside of poetry

Transition: Let me start with Lord Byron’s childhood.

Body
A. Main point 1: Lord Byron’s childhood

I. Subpoint 1: Birth and disability

a. Lord Byron was born on January 22, 1788, to Captain John Byron and Catherine Gordon Byron.
b. According to Paul Trueblood, the author of Lord Byron, Lord Byron’s father only married Catherine for her dowry, which he quickly went through, leaving his wife and child nearly Penniless.
c. By the age of two, Lord Byron and his mother had moved to Aberdeen in Scotland and shortly thereafter, his father died in France at the age of thirty-six.
d. Lord Byron was born with a clubbed right foot, which is a deformity that caused his foot to turn sideways instead of remaining straight, and his mother had no money to seek treatment for this painful and embarrassing condition.
e. He would become very upset and fight anyone who even spoke of his lameness
f. Despite his handicap, Lord Byron was very active and liked competing with the other boys.

II. Subpoint 2: Later childhood, sexual abuse.

a. At the age of ten, his grand-uncle died, leaving him the title as the sixth Baron Byron of Rochdale. With this title, he also inherited Newstead Abbey, a dilapidated estate that was in great need of repair.
b. Because the Abbey was in Nottinghamshire England, he and his mother moved there and stayed at the abbey until it was rented out to pay for the necessary repairs.
c. During this time, May Gray, Byron’s nurse, had already begun physically and sexually abusing him. A year passed before he finally told his guardian, John Hanson, about May’s abuse; she was fired immediately. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done.
d. In the book Lord Byron, it is stated that years later, he wrote, “My passions were developed very early—so early, that few would believe me if I were to state the period, and the facts which accompanied it.”

Transition: Although Lord Byron had many obstacles to overcome, during his childhood, he became a world-renowned poet by the age of 24.

B. Main point 2: Lord Byron’s accomplishments as a poet

I. Subpoint 1: Beginning of the career

a. Lord Byron experienced the same emotions we all do, but he was able to express those emotions in the form of his poetry and share them with the world.
b. According to Horace Gregory, the author of Poems of George Gordon, Lord Byron, the years from 1816 through 1824 is when Lord Byron was most known throughout Europe.
c. But according to Paul Trueblood, Childe Harold was published in 1812 and became one of the best-selling works of literature in the 19th century.
d. Childe Harold was written while Lord Byron was traveling through Europe after graduating from Trinity College.
e. Many authors such as Trueblood, and Garrett, the author of George Gordon, Lord Byron, express their opinion that Childe Harold is an autobiography about Byron and his travels.

II. Subpoint 2: Poem topics

a. Lord Byron often wrote about the ones he loved the most, such as the poem “She Walks in Beauty” written about his cousin Anne Wilmont, and “Stanzas for Music” written for his half-sister, Augusta Leigh.
b. He was also an avid reader of the Old Testament and would write poetry about stories from the Bible that he loved. One such story was about the last king of Babylon. This poem was called the “Vision of Belshazzar,” and is very much like the bible version in the book of Daniel.

Transition: Although Lord Byron is mostly known for his talents as a poet, he was also an advocate for the Greek’s war for independence.

C. Main point 3: Lord Byron’s life other than poetry

I. Sub point 1: Byron arrived in Greece in 1823 during a civil war.

a. Lord Byron, after his self-imposed exile from England, took the side of the Greeks in their war for freedom from Turkish rule.
b. The Greeks were too busy fighting amongst themselves to come together to form a formidable army against the Turks. According to Martin Garrett, Lord Byron donated money to refit the Greek’s fleet of ships, but did not immediately get involved in the situation. He had doubts as to if or when the Greeks would ever come together and agree long enough to make any kind of a difference in their war effort.
c. Eventually the Greeks united and began their campaign for the Greek War of Independence.
d. He began pouring more and more of his fortune into the Greek army and finally accepted a position to oversee a small group of men sailing to Missolonghi.
e. Lord Byron set sail for Missolonghi in Western Greece in 1824. He took a commanding position over a small number of the Greek army despite his lack of military training.
f. He had also made plans to attack a Turkish held fortress but became very ill before the plans were ever carried through.

II. Sub point II: Death

a. Lord Byron died on April 19, 1824, at the age of 36 due to the inexperienced doctors who continued to bleed him while he suffered from a severe fever.
b. After Lord Byron’s death, the Greek War of Independence, due to his support, received more foreign aid which led to their eventual victory in 1832.
c. Lord Byron is hailed as a national hero by the Greek nation
d. Many tributes such as statues and road-names have been devoted to Lord Byron since the time of his death.

Conclusion

A. Signal end of speech (transition): In conclusion,
B. Review main points and summarize:  Lord Byron overcame great physical hardships to become a world-renowned poet, and is seen as a hero to the Greek nation and is mourned by them still today.
C. Sense of completeness/clincher/memorable ending: I have chosen not to focus on Lord Byron’s more liberal way of life, but rather to focus on his accomplishments in life. He was a man who owed no loyalty to Greece, yet gave his life to support their cause. Most of the world will remember Lord Byron primarily through his written attributes, but Greece will always remember him as the “Trumpet Voice of Liberty.”

Sample Informative Speech by Pamela Meyer

References

Garrett, M. (2000). George Gordon, Lord Byron. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Gregory, H. (1969). Poems of George Gordon, Lord Byron. New York, NY: Thomas Y. Crowell Company.

Trueblood, P. G. (1969). Lord Byron. (S. E. Bowman, Ed.). New York, NY: Twayne Publishers.