I gave this lecture on February 5, 2022.
The Five-Paragraph Essay
INTRODUCTION
When I was in high school, I had the advantage of some pretty good English teachers, and being an avid reader and writer, I enjoyed their classes. I know, I’m weird. We read good literature, and they required us to write essays, reports, and even term papers to prepare us for college. It was good training.
My senior year high school English teacher was especially good. He looked a little like Robert Picardo, the holographic doctor on Star Trek Voyager. The books he chose for us were interesting—at least to me—and he had a unique way of recognizing and explaining themes in what we read. But most of all, he taught us the five-paragraph essay format to organize our thoughts quickly and efficiently to persuade the reader that our conclusions were valid, if not right. We wrote a lot in that class, and his teaching has stuck.
Interestingly, about the same time, I joined Spokesman’s Club for the first time, and wouldn’t you know that the speech format that it advocates is a cousin to the five-paragraph essay format.
SPS We will take a quick look at it tonight. In my view, it is especially necessary that you follow it for the Speak With Purpose speech, the Complete Speech, and the Instruct Speech. Really, you can use the basic format for any speaking occasion, even when you are called on to give impromptu remarks, such as during Tabletopics and, of course, the Impromptu Speech.
The Five-Paragraph essay format is simple: an introduction, three proofs, and a conclusion. The standard speech format advocated in the church is the same except for the inclusion of the Specific Purpose Statement between the introduction and the first proof: introduction, SPS, three points supporting the SPS, and conclusion. Very simple. Use it enough, and you can organize your thoughts on the fly. When preparing any speech, using this standard format can cut your preparation time considerably.
So, again: introduction, SPS, three points supporting the SPS, and conclusion.
Introduction: Your main purpose is to get the audience’s attention and lead them to your SPS. In my sermons, I tend to over-emphasize the introduction, my purpose being to give something from life today that parallels the spiritual point I’m going to make in the body of my sermon. In these speeches, yours must be far shorter—no more than a minute. They can be a short story, a bit of humor, a shocking statement, a quotation, a short discourse setting up a conundrum or paradox, and so on. The main purpose of the introduction is to intrigue the audience enough to persuade them to give you the next five minutes to make your point.
SPS: The Specific Purpose Statement fits between the introduction and your first point. In these speeches, it should be clear and foreshadow your conclusion. It should convey exactly where you are taking the speech. I would advise you to revisit the SPS after you have finished writing it out so that the SPS you originally wrote mirrors your eventual conclusion. If not, rewrite the SPS.
Also, avoid saying, “My SPS is . . ..” You could say, “My purpose tonight is to . . ..” Still, not great. It is better to signal your SPS more elegantly: “By the time I’ve finished, I hope you will agree with me that . . .” or “My research has persuaded me that . . .” or “The facts will show that . . ..” In other words, fashion an imaginative SPS rather than a directly stated one, as the latter sounds clunky and lackluster.
Three Points: Ultimately, this section derives from the proverb: “By the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established” (Deuteronomy 19:15; Matthew 18:16; II Corinthians 13:1). You need to think of these three points as expert testimony that support or prove your point. In these Club speeches, signal them clearly: first, second, third; to begin, another fact, finally; past, present, future; foundation, structure, roof. Make sure they logically follow both the SPS and the other points or build on each other.
Also, your strongest point should most often be the last one. Pound your final nail home rather than finish weakly. You want to leave your audience convinced of your conclusion rather than wondering.
Conclusion: This is your opportunity to tie things together, summarize your main points, stir to action, or make your final appeal to your audience to take your speech to heart. In my sermons, I almost always finish with some sort of on-topic exhortation pointing to our goal of the Kingdom of God. You will have to see what works best for the type of speech you are giving or your topic. But most of all, you want to leave your audience with a positive feeling about what you have just said—that they agree with you or want to do something in reaction to your argument. Apologies to T.S. Elliot: Finish with a bang, not a whimper.
CONCLUSION So, learn and use the Five-Paragraph format—you can thank me later!
You can find more help on essay (or speech) writing in this guide.