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Year 4

Deciding the purpose of a speech

I can decide the purpose of a speech.

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New
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Year 4

Deciding the purpose of a speech

I can decide the purpose of a speech.

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These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The purpose of your speech is the reason why you are speaking.
  2. Speeches often try to persuade an audience to agree with its main themes.
  3. Speeches can inform an audience about something they may not already know about.
  4. Speeches can provoke an emotional response.

Keywords

  • Purpose - the reason for which something exists or is done

  • Persuade - to convince someone to think, feel or do something

  • Inform - to give someone information

  • Provoke - to stir up feelings or emotions

  • Anecdotes - short stories from a person's real life

Common misconception

Children may think that speeches do not need to have a specific purpose.

A speaker must consider their purpose for speaking before they write their speech so they know what impact they wish to have on the audience


To help you plan your year 4 english lesson on: Deciding the purpose of a speech, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Each lesson would benefit from speaking and listening games being played at the start to warm-up the class. Try the game articulate, where one person is describing something without using its name.
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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is the name for the way that something is organised?
a skeleton
a survey
Correct answer: a structure
Q2.
Which two of these are benefits of using a structure when making a speech?
Correct answer: reducing nervousness
Correct answer: appearing prepared and professional
making the speech louder
making the speech longer
Q3.
Put these parts of the PEPS structure in order.
1 - point
2 - explanation
3 - proof
4 - summary
Q4.
Which part of the PEPS structure will be where a speaker will expand on their opinion with extra details?
point
Correct answer: explanation
proof
summary
Q5.
The word 'because' is found in which part of the PEPS structure?
Correct answer: point
explanation
proof
summary
Q6.
How many reasons should a speaker give in their point when they are justifying their opinion?
zero
Correct answer: one
two
three

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is the word for the reason that something exists or is done?
point
Correct answer: purpose
proof
Q2.
Which two of these are reasons for making a speech?
Correct answer: to inform
to instruct
to collaborate
Correct answer: to persuade
Q3.
A reason for making a speech may be to provoke what from an audience?
applause
Correct answer: an emotional response
silence
Q4.
Which word means 'to convince someone to think, feel or do something'?
Correct answer: persuade
persevere
persist
Q5.
Before writing their speech, what must a speaker decide?
Correct answer: what emotional response they want from the audience
what side of the audience to look at most
what they will wear
Q6.
What is an anecdote?
a rhyme
a sentence containing a person's name
Correct answer: a short story told from real life experience