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How to write a good speech in 7 steps

By:  Susan Dugdale  

- an easily followed format for writing a great speech

Did you know writing a speech doesn't have be an anxious, nail biting experience?

Unsure? Don't be.

You may have lived with the idea you were never good with words for a long time. Or perhaps giving speeches at school brought you out in cold sweats.

However learning how to write a speech is relatively straight forward when you learn to write out loud.

And that's the journey I am offering to take you on: step by step.

To learn quickly, go slow

Take all the time you need. This speech format has 7 steps, each building on the next.

Walk, rather than run, your way through all of them. Don't be tempted to rush. Familiarize yourself with the ideas. Try them out.

I know there are well-advertised short cuts and promises of 'write a speech in 5 minutes'. However in reality they only truly work for somebody who already has the basic foundations of speech writing in place.

The foundation of good speech writing 

These steps are the backbone of sound speech preparation. Learn and follow them well at the outset and yes, given more experience and practice you could probably flick something together quickly. Like any skill, the more it's used, the easier it gets.

In the meantime...

Step 1: Begin with a speech overview or outline

Are you in a hurry? Without time to read a whole page? Grab ... The Quick How to Write a Speech Checklist And come back to get the details later.

• WHO you are writing your speech for (your target audience)
• WHY you are preparing this speech. What's the main purpose of your speech? Is it to inform or tell your audience about something? To teach them a new skill or demonstrate something? To persuade or to entertain? (See 4 types of speeches: informative, demonstrative, persuasive and special occasion or entertaining for more.) What do you want them to think, feel or do as a result of listening the speech?
• WHAT your speech is going to be about (its topic) - You'll want to have thought through your main points and have ranked them in order of importance. And have sorted the supporting research you need to make those points effectively.
• HOW much time you have for your speech eg. 3 minutes, 5 minutes... The amount of time you've been allocated dictates how much content you need. If you're unsure check this page: how many words per minute in a speech: a quick reference guide . You'll find estimates of the number of words required for 1 - 10 minute speeches by slow, medium and fast talkers.

Use an outline

The best way to make sure you deliver a perfect speech is to start by carefully completing a speech outline covering the essentials: WHO, WHY, WHAT and HOW.

Beginning to write without thinking your speech through is a bit like heading off on a journey not knowing why you're traveling or where you're going to end up. You can find yourself lost in a deep, dark, murky muddle of ideas very quickly!

Pulling together a speech overview or outline is a much safer option. It's the map you'll follow to get where you want to go.

Get a blank speech outline template to complete

Click the link to find out a whole lot more about preparing a speech outline . ☺ You'll also find a free printable blank speech outline template.  I recommend using it!

Understanding speech construction

Before you begin to write, using your completed outline as a guide, let's briefly look at what you're aiming to prepare.

• an opening or introduction
• the body where the bulk of the information is given
• and an ending (or summary).

Imagine your speech as a sandwich

If you think of a speech as a sandwich you'll get the idea.

The opening and ending are the slices of bread holding the filling (the major points or the body of your speech) together.

You can build yourself a simple sandwich with one filling (one big idea) or you could go gourmet and add up to three or, even five. The choice is yours.

But whatever you choose to serve, as a good cook, you need to consider who is going to eat it! And that's your audience.

So let's find out who they are before we do anything else. 

Step 2: Know who you are talking to

Understanding your audience.

Did you know a  good speech is never written from the speaker's point of view?  ( If you need to know more about why check out this page on  building rapport .)

Begin with the most important idea/point on your outline.

Consider HOW you can explain (show, tell) that to your audience in the most effective way for them to easily understand it.   

Writing from the audience's point of view

To help you write from an audience point of view, it's a good idea to identify either a real person or the type of person who is most likely to be listening to you.

Make sure you select someone who represents the "majority" of the people who will be in your audience. That is they are neither struggling to comprehend you at the bottom of your scale or light-years ahead at the top.

Now imagine they are sitting next to you eagerly waiting to hear what you're going to say. Give them a name, for example, Joe, to help make them real.

Ask yourself

• How do I need to tailor my information to meet Joe's needs? For example, do you tell personal stories to illustrate your main points? Absolutely! Yes. This is a very powerful technique. (Click storytelling in speeches to find out more.)
• What type or level of language is right for Joe as well as my topic? For example if I use jargon (activity, industry or profession specific vocabulary) will it be understood?

Step 3: Writing as you speak

Writing oral language.

Write down what you want to say about your first main point as if you were talking directly to Joe.

If it helps, say it all out loud before you write it down and/or record it.

Use the information below as a guide

(Click to download The Characteristics of Spoken Language  as a pdf.) 

You do not have to write absolutely everything you're going to say down * but you do need to write down, or outline, the sequence of ideas to ensure they are logical and easily followed.

Remember too, to explain or illustrate your point with examples from your research. 

( * Tip: If this is your first speech the safety net of having everything written down could be just what you need. It's easier to recover from a patch of jitters when you have a word by word manuscript than if you have either none, or a bare outline. Your call!)

Step 4: Checking tone and language

The focus of this step is re-working what you've done in Step 2 and 3.

You identified who you were talking to (Step 2) and in Step 3, wrote up your first main point.  Is it right? Have you made yourself clear?  Check it.

How well you complete this step depends on how well you understand the needs of the people who are going to listen to your speech.

Please do not assume because you know what you're talking about the person (Joe) you've chosen to represent your audience will too. Joe is not a mind-reader!

How to check what you've prepared

• Check the "tone" of your language . Is it right for the occasion, subject matter and your audience?
• Check the length of your sentences. You need short sentences. If they're too long or complicated you risk losing your listeners.

Check for jargon too. These are industry, activity or group exclusive words.

For instance take the phrase: authentic learning . This comes from teaching and refers to connecting lessons to the daily life of students. Authentic learning is learning that is relevant and meaningful for students. If you're not a teacher you may not understand the phrase.

The use of any vocabulary requiring insider knowledge needs to be thought through from the audience perspective. Jargon can close people out.

• Read what you've written out loud. If it flows naturally, in a logical manner, continue the process with your next main idea. If it doesn't, rework.

We use whole sentences and part ones, and we mix them up with asides or appeals e.g. "Did you get that? Of course you did. Right...Let's move it along. I was saying ..."

Click for more about the differences between spoken and written language .

And now repeat the process

Repeat this process for the remainder of your main ideas.

Because you've done the first one carefully, the rest should follow fairly easily.

Step 5: Use transitions

Providing links or transitions between main ideas.

Between each of your main ideas you need to provide a bridge or pathway for your audience. The clearer the pathway or bridge, the easier it is for them to make the transition from one idea to the next.

If your speech contains more than three main ideas and each is building on the last, then consider using a "catch-up" or summary as part of your transitions.

Is your speech being evaluated? Find out exactly what aspects you're being assessed on using this standard speech evaluation form

Link/transition examples

A link can be as simple as:

"We've explored one scenario for the ending of Block Buster 111, but let's consider another. This time..."

What follows this transition is the introduction of Main Idea Two.

Here's a summarizing link/transition example:

"We've ended Blockbuster 111 four ways so far. In the first, everybody died. In the second, everybody died BUT their ghosts remained to haunt the area. In the third, one villain died. His partner reformed and after a fight-out with the hero, they both strode off into the sunset, friends forever. In the fourth, the hero dies in a major battle but is reborn sometime in the future.

And now what about one more? What if nobody died? The fifth possibility..."

Go back through your main ideas checking the links. Remember Joe as you go. Try each transition or link out loud and really listen to yourself. Is it obvious? Easily followed?

Keep them if they are clear and concise.

For more about transitions (with examples) see Andrew Dlugan's excellent article, Speech Transitions: Magical words and Phrases .

Step 6: The end of your speech

The ideal ending is highly memorable . You want it to live on in the minds of your listeners long after your speech is finished. Often it combines a call to action with a summary of major points.

Example speech endings

Example 1: The desired outcome of a speech persuading people to vote for you in an upcoming election is that they get out there on voting day and do so. You can help that outcome along by calling them to register their support by signing a prepared pledge statement as they leave.

"We're agreed we want change. You can help us give it to you by signing this pledge statement as you leave. Be part of the change you want to see!

Example 2: The desired outcome is increased sales figures. The call to action is made urgent with the introduction of time specific incentives.

"You have three weeks from the time you leave this hall to make that dream family holiday in New Zealand yours. Can you do it? Will you do it? The kids will love it. Your wife will love it. Do it now!"

How to figure out the right call to action

A clue for working out what the most appropriate call to action might be, is to go back to your original purpose for giving the speech.

• Was it to motivate or inspire?
• Was it to persuade to a particular point of view?
• Was it to share specialist information?
• Was it to celebrate a person, a place, time or event?

Ask yourself what you want people to do as a result of having listened to your speech.

For more about ending speeches

Visit this page for more about how to end a speech effectively . You'll find two additional types of speech endings with examples.

Write and test

Write your ending and test it out loud. Try it out on a friend, or two. Is it good? Does it work?

Step 7: The introduction

Once you've got the filling (main ideas) the linking and the ending in place, it's time to focus on the introduction.

The introduction comes last as it's the most important part of your speech. This is the bit that either has people sitting up alert or slumped and waiting for you to end. It's the tone setter!

What makes a great speech opening?

Ideally you want an opening that makes listening to you the only thing the 'Joes' in the audience want to do.

You want them to forget they're hungry or that their chair is hard or that their bills need paying.

The way to do that is to capture their interest straight away. You do this with a "hook".

Hooks to catch your audience's attention

Hooks come in as many forms as there are speeches and audiences. Your task is work out what specific hook is needed to catch your audience.

Go back to the purpose. Why are you giving this speech?

Once you have your answer, consider your call to action. What do you want the audience to do, and, or take away, as a result of listening to you?

Next think about the imaginary or real person you wrote for when you were focusing on your main ideas.

Choosing the best hook

• Is it humor?
• Would shock tactics work?
• Is it a rhetorical question?
• Is it formality or informality?
• Is it an outline or overview of what you're going to cover, including the call to action?
• Or is it a mix of all these elements?

A hook example

Here's an example from a fictional political speech. The speaker is lobbying for votes. His audience are predominately workers whose future's are not secure.

"How's your imagination this morning? Good? (Pause for response from audience) Great, I'm glad. Because we're going to put it to work starting right now.

I want you to see your future. What does it look like? Are you happy? Is everything as you want it to be? No? Let's change that. We could do it. And we could do it today.

At the end of this speech you're going to be given the opportunity to change your world, for a better one ...

No, I'm not a magician. Or a simpleton with big ideas and precious little commonsense. I'm an ordinary man, just like you. And I have a plan to share!"

And then our speaker is off into his main points supported by examples. The end, which he has already foreshadowed in his opening, is the call to vote for him.

Prepare several hooks

Experiment with several openings until you've found the one that serves your audience, your subject matter and your purpose best.

For many more examples of speech openings go to: how to write a speech introduction . You'll find 12 of the very best ways to start a speech.

That completes the initial seven steps towards writing your speech. If you've followed them all the way through, congratulations, you now have the text of your speech!

Although you might have the words, you're still a couple of steps away from being ready to deliver them. Both of them are essential if you want the very best outcome possible. They are below. Please take them.

Step 8: Checking content and timing

This step pulls everything together.

Check once, check twice, check three times & then once more!

Go through your speech really carefully.

On the first read through check you've got your main points in their correct order with supporting material, plus an effective introduction and ending.

On the second read through check the linking passages or transitions making sure they are clear and easily followed.

On the third reading check your sentence structure, language use and tone.

Double, triple check the timing

Now go though once more.

This time read it aloud slowly and time yourself.

If it's too long for the time allowance you've been given make the necessary cuts.

Start by looking at your examples rather than the main ideas themselves. If you've used several examples to illustrate one principal idea, cut the least important out.

Also look to see if you've repeated yourself unnecessarily or, gone off track. If it's not relevant, cut it.

Repeat the process, condensing until your speech fits the required length, preferably coming in just under your time limit.

You can also find out how approximately long it will take you to say the words you have by using this very handy words to minutes converter . It's an excellent tool, one I frequently use. While it can't give you a precise time, it does provide a reasonable estimate.

Step 9: Rehearsing your speech

And NOW you are finished with writing the speech, and are ready for REHEARSAL .

Please don't be tempted to skip this step. It is not an extra thrown in for good measure. It's essential.

The "not-so-secret" secret of successful speeches combines good writing with practice, practice and then, practicing some more.

Go to how to practice public speaking and you'll find rehearsal techniques and suggestions to boost your speech delivery from ordinary to extraordinary.

The Quick How to Write a Speech Checklist

Before you begin writing you need:.

• Your speech OUTLINE with your main ideas ranked in the order you're going to present them. (If you haven't done one complete this 4 step sample speech outline . It will make the writing process much easier.)
• Your RESEARCH
• You also need to know WHO you're speaking to, the PURPOSE of the speech and HOW long you're speaking for

The basic format

• the body where you present your main ideas

Split your time allowance so that you spend approximately 70% on the body and 15% each on the introduction and ending.

How to write the speech

• Write your main ideas out incorporating your examples and research
• Link them together making sure each flows in a smooth, logical progression
• Write your ending, summarizing your main ideas briefly and end with a call for action
• Write your introduction considering the 'hook' you're going to use to get your audience listening
• An often quoted saying to explain the process is: Tell them what you're going to tell them (Introduction) Tell them (Body of your speech - the main ideas plus examples) Tell them what you told them (The ending)

TEST before presenting. Read aloud several times to check the flow of material, the suitability of language and the timing.

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14 Inspiring Speeches By Indians You Can’t Afford To Miss

We meet, watch and hear many leaders every day. Some we agree with and some we don't. But, there are those who leave a great impact on the lives of millions of people, they change the fate of the country and bring a change which once looked like a dream. Here is a list of 14 great speeches by Indians that brought the nation together.

N othing is more powerful than the power of words. Especially if the words come from someone we admire and look up to. We meet, watch, hear many leaders every day. Some we agree with and some we don’t. But, there are those who leave a great impact on the lives of millions of people around them, they change the fate of the country and they bring a change which once looked like a dream.

Yes, this is the power of words – when spoken, everyone listens.  Here is a list of 14 great speeches by Indians that brought the nation together-

1. Crisis of civilization – Rabindranath Tagore

This speech by Tagore at Santiniketan in April 1941 was his last speech. Tagore had been unwell for some time, yet his words were very moving. Read full speech here .

As I look around I see the crumbling ruins of a proud civilization strewn like a vast heap of futility. And yet I shall not commit the grievous sin of losing faith in Man. I would rather look forward to the opening of a new chapter in his history after the cataclysm is over and the atmosphere rendered clean with the spirit of service and sacrifice. Perhaps that dawn will come from this horizon, from the East where the sun rises. A day will come when unvanquished Man will retrace his path of conquest, despite all barriers, to win back his lost human heritage.

2. Address at the World Parliament of Religions – Swami Vivekananda

Vivekananda’s speech at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago, in which he introduced Hinduism to North America, became historical.

Do I wish that the Christian would become Hindu? God forbid. Do I wish that the Hindu or Buddhist would become Christian? God forbid. The seed is put in the ground, and earth and air and water are placed around it. Does the seed become the earth, or the air, or the water? No. It becomes a plant, it develops after the law of its own growth, assimilates the air, the earth, and the water, converts them into plant substance, and grows into a plant. Similar is the case with religion. The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth.

You can hear the entire speech in two parts below:

3. Tryst with Destiny – Jawaharlal Nehru

Nehru had always been one of those leaders who influenced masses with his speeches. The ‘Tryst with Destiny’ speech was delivered by Nehru on the eve of India’s Independence, towards midnight on 14 August 1947 , and it spoke about the hundred-year struggle against the British Empire in India. Read the full speech here .

Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.

4. Feeedom is my birthright – Bal Gangadhar Tilak

When Tilak came out of prison after serving a sentence of six years, he gave a speech to revive the spirit of nationalism and his powerful words became very important in the national movement. Full speech   here .

Freedom is my birthright. So long as it is awake within me, i am not old. No weapon can cut this spirit, no fire can burn it, no water can wet it, no wind can dry it.

5. Quit India speech – Mahatma Gandhi

The speech delivered by Gandhi on August 8, 1942, addressed the A.I.C.C. at Mumbai (then Bombay) on the eve of quit India movement is considered one of his best speeches. Read full speech here .

Excerpt from the speech-

Here is a mantra, a short one, that I give you. You may imprint it on your hearts and let every breath of yours give expression to it. The mantra is : ‘Do or Die’. We shall either free India or die in the attempt; we shall not live to see the perpetuation of our slavery. Every true Congressman or woman will join the struggle with an inflexible determination not to remain alive to see the country in bondage and slavery. Let that be your pledge.

Here’s rare footage from the Quit India Movement in Bombay, courtesy of Fox Movietone News,taken 5 days before Gandhi gave this speech:

6. “Give me blood and I will give you freedom” speech – Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose

Excerpt from his speech:

We should have but one desire today- the desire to die so that India may live- the desire to face a martyr’s death, so that the path to freedom may be paved with the martyr’s blood. Friends! my comrades in the War of Liberation! Today I demand of you one thing, above all. I demand of you blood. It is blood alone that can avenge the blood that the enemy has spilt. It is blood alone that can pay the price of freedom. Give me blood and I promise you freedom.

7. Longest Speech in the United Nations by Indian delegate V.K. Krishna Menon.

Menon, an Indian nationalist, diplomat and statesman delivered an unprecedented eight-hour speech defending India’s stand on Kashmir. To date, the speech delivered on 23 January 1957 is the longest ever delivered in the United Nations Security Council.

Why is that we have never heard voices in connection with the freedom of people under the suppression and tyranny of Pakistani authorities on the other side of the cease-fire line? Why is it that we have not heard here that in ten years these people have not seen a ballot paper? With what voice can either the Security Council or anyone coming before it demand a plebiscite for a people on our side who exercise franchise, who have freedom of speech, who function under a hundred local bodies?

8. Narayana Murthy’s Speech

The speech by Narayana Murthy at Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management on the role of Western values in contemporary Indian society is one of his most powerful speeches of all time. Read the full speech here .

Picture Source

Most of our behaviour comes from greed, lack of self-confidence, lack of confidence in the nation, and lack of respect for the society. To borrow Gandhi’s words: There is enough in this world for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed. Let us work towards a society where we would do unto others what we would have others do unto us. Let us all be responsible citizens who make our country a great place to live.

9. Atal Bihari Vajpayee Speech

Vajpayee is one of the India’s most loved politicians. His simplicity inspired everyone. A leader and a poet, Vajpayee always mesmerized people whenever he spoke. His speech about Indo-US relationship at the Joint Meeting of Congress, US House of Chamber was one such instance where he captured everyone’s heart. Here is an excerpt-

American people have shown that democracy and individual liberty provide the conditions in which knowledge progresses, science discovers, innovation occurs, enterprise thrives and ultimately people advance. More than a million and half from my country, America is now home. In turn their industry, enterprise and skills are contributive to the advancement of the American society. I see the outstanding success of Indian community in America and potential in Indo-US relations of what we can achieve together.

Watch the full speech here-

10. Go Kiss The World – Subroto Bagchi

The co-founder of Mind Tree, Bagchi addressed the Class of 2006 at IIM, Bangalore on defining success. Read the full speech here .

Two years back, at the age of eighty-two, Mother had a paralytic stroke and was lying in a government hospital in Bhubaneswar. I flew down from the US where I was serving my second stint, to see her. I spent two weeks with her in the hospital as she remained in a paralytic state. She was neither getting better nor moving on. Eventually I had to return to work. While leaving her behind, I kissed her face. In that paralytic state and a garbled voice, she said, “ Why are you kissing me, go kiss the world. ” Success to me is about Vision. It is the ability to rise above the immediacy of pain. It is about imagination. It is about sensitivity to small people. It is about building inclusion. It is about connectedness to a larger world existence. It is about personal tenacity. It is about giving back more to life than you take out of it. It is about creating extra-ordinary success with ordinary lives.

11. Kiran Bedi’s speech on visionary leadership

The speech by Kiran Bedi, India’s first woman IPS officer, on visionary leadership at TEDWomen was indeed inspiring and worth listening to more than once.  Watch the speech here-

When I was born 50s and 60s didn’t belong to girls in India, they belonged to boys who would join business and inherit business from parents and girls would be dolled up to get married. My family was unique, we were four of us, all girls and fortunately no boys. My father defied his own grandfather almost to the point of inheritance because he decided to educate all four of us. He sent us to one of the best schools in the city and gave us the best education.

12. Sachin Tendulkar’s Farewell speech

When the “God” of cricket bid farewell to the game, lakhs of people gathered to witness the moment. The speech left everyone emotional and gave a glimpse of his very successful career as one of the greatest batsmen of all times.

I know I have met so many guys who have fasted for me, prayed for me, done so much for me. Without that life wouldn’t have been like this for me. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, and also say that time has flown by rather quickly, but the memories you have left with me will always be with me forever and ever.

13. I have a dream – Rahul Bose

Rahul Bose  is known for his unconventional approach to things, be it his movies or the various causes he associates himself with. His speech as a key-note speaker at the annual event at BITS Pilani inspired each one of those present there. Here is the excerpt-

 I have a dream that our new generation of political leaders would look beyond their party lines and do what very few leaders in India have done- their duty.  I have a dream that one day the next time when women are thrashed anywhere in a pub India, the entire country’s women will march. Half to Mangalore, stopping the entire city for months and the other half to  the prime minister’s house, stopping the government for months.

14. My Vision For India – Abdul Kalam

Dr. Kalam delivered one of his best speeches at Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, where he outlined his visions for India. Read the full speech here .

Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why? We are the first in milk production.We are number one in Remote sensing satellites. We are the second largest producer of wheat. We are the second largest producer of rice. Look at Dr. Sudarshan; he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters. YOU say that our government is inefficient. YOU say that our laws are too old. YOU say, say and say. What do YOU do about it? “ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY.”

Wow! We sure are inspired. We hope these leaders and changemakers have given you a huge dose of motivation to go andmake the difference you want to see in this nation!

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What is Self-Esteem and Why Does It Matter?

Self-esteem is simply how much you value yourself. It’s about believing you’re worthy and capable. When you have high self-esteem, you feel confident, take on challenges, and accept yourself, flaws and all. On the other hand, low self-esteem means doubting yourself, needing constant approval from others, and often feeling not good enough.

Why does it matter? Because self-esteem affects everything—from your mental health to your relationships. People with healthy self-esteem are generally happier, handle stress better, and build stronger, more positive relationships. In short, self-esteem is the foundation for a positive, fulfilling life.

All snakes/lizards on earth (both male and female) have pairs of reproductive organs.

Snakes do not have arms/legs/backbone, so unlike humans and other animals, it is not possible for them to mate with the same male organ and the same female organ as they cannot mate face-to-face or front-to-back. The two pairs of copulatory organs are contained in the cloaca located at the bottom of the male and female body in the left and right jaws in the lower front cave but the organs of each are independent of each other. When the left organ of the female is active for mating, the right organ of the male becomes useful and when the right organ of the female is active for mating, the left organ of the male becomes useful. After all, the choice always lies with the female. Both male/female genitals are never used at the same time or alternatively.

Male snakes can use both their sexual organs at different times. In case of females, the activity is a little different. In March or April, or whenever the breeding season begins, the first female snake becomes active and secretes fluids from a unilateral vagina to lure the male snake for mating. A nearby male can chase and capture a female with the help of his tongue and Jacobson’s organ. Sometimes more than one male fights together and the winner gets the female. For copulation, both male and female have to wrap themselves around each other so that the left or right side is internally stimulated by touch or light friction, and the genitals of both – her right genital if the female’s body is on the left, and the right genital if the male’s body is on the right – get stimulated, elongate and emerge from the cave, in which case about 25 to 30 percent of the tail of both bodies is raised above the lower surface and rotated 180 degrees in the sky. The sexual organs of both characters, which were previously dormant inside in a “V” shape, become more excited as they emerge and bend to face each other, becoming suitable for mating. The male’s penis, which is hook-shaped and barbed, maintains a strong grip after entering the female organ. During this mating, no one has to make unnecessary movements, and after ejaculation, both separate and easily make their way. They do not even look at each other. After some time, when the female is ready for another mating, her right genital will be used to mate with the new or old male, and the male’s left genital will be used. In short, the choice is made by the female from the very beginning, and the female decides from the very beginning which side of the male snake’s body – left or right – the female snake will wrap around. All snakes/lizards on earth (both male and female) have pairs of reproductive organs.

Male snakes can use both their sexual organs at different times. In case of females, the activity is a little different. In March or April, or whenever the breeding season begins, the first female snake becomes active and secretes fluids from a unilateral vagina to lure the male snake for mating. A nearby male can chase and capture a female with the help of his tongue and Jacobson’s organ. Sometimes more than one male fights together and the winner gets the female. For copulation, both male and female have to wrap themselves around each other so that the left or right side is internally stimulated by touch or light friction, and the genitals of both – her right genital if the female’s body is on the left, and the right genital if the male’s body is on the right – get stimulated, elongate and emerge from the cave, in which case about 25 to 30 percent of the tail of both bodies is raised above the lower surface and rotated 180 degrees in the sky. The sexual organs of both characters, which were previously dormant inside in a “V” shape, become more excited as they emerge and bend to face each other, becoming suitable for mating. The male’s penis, which is hook-shaped and barbed, maintains a strong grip after entering the female organ. During this mating, no one has to make unnecessary movements, and after ejaculation, both separate and easily make their way. They do not even look at each other. After some time, when the female is ready for another mating, her right genital will be used to mate with the new or old male, and the male’s left genital will be used. In short, the choice is made by the female from the very beginning, and the female decides from the very beginning which side of the male snake’s body – left or right – the female snake will wrap around.

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Parts of speech in english – video.

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In this lesson, you can learn about parts of speech in English.

How many parts of speech are there in english can you name them, and explain what they do, understanding parts of speech —nouns, verbs, adjectives, and so on—can help you to understand english sentence structure and how english grammar works., in this class, you’ll learn the basic information about parts of speech, you’ll see some ways that parts of speech can be more complicated than you might expect, and you’ll have several chances to practice, quiz: parts of speech in english.

Now test your understanding of the different parts of speech by trying this quiz. There are 20 questions, which get harder as you go through it!

When you have finished, click ‘View Questions’ to see all the correct answers and read the explanations. There are links to further study resources in the explanations.

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1 . Question

For the first five questions, answer true or false.

True or false: a word can be different parts of speech depending on its function and meaning in the sentence.

Review part three of the lesson if you need help with this one.

2 . Question

True or false: a noun can be a word or a phrase.

3 . Question

True or false: if a word can be a noun, it can only be a noun.

4 . Question

True or false: when analysing parts of speech, you don’t need to think about what the sentence means.

5 . Question

True or false: articles (‘the’, ‘a’), demonstratives (‘this’, ‘that’), quantifiers (‘some’, ‘few’) and possessive adjectives (‘your’, ‘their’) are all determiners.

Remember that determiners specify the noun you’re referring to. Do all these words do this?

6 . Question

For the next five questions, choose the part of speech described.

What part of speech can be an action or a state?

• Interjections
• Conjunctions

‘Run’ is an action and ‘understand’ is a state.

7 . Question

What part of speech can describe verbs, adjectives, adverbs or whole sentences?

• Prepositions

8 . Question

What part of speech represents or replaces nouns?

9 . Question

What part of speech expresses an emotion or can be used to react to something?

10 . Question

Which part of speech doesn’t indicate something about a noun?

• Determiners

11 . Question

For the next five questions, match the words in the sentence with the parts of speech.

“He slept badly.”

Sort elements

12 . Question

Match the words in the sentence with the parts of speech.

“She has bought a second-hand car.”

• noun phrase

This time, you’re not analysing each word but the function of word groups and phrases in the sentence.

13 . Question

“Um, can you stop making so much noise, please?”

• ‘um’ and ‘please’
• 'can' and 'stop'
• 'you'
• 'making so much noise'

14 . Question

“Is this your bag or mine?”

• conjunction
• (possessive) pronoun

15 . Question

“Hey! Give his new watch back to him.”

• interjection
• preposition

16 . Question

For the last five questions, tick all the words that are correct.

Which words can be nouns?

You need to choose three answers.

17 . Question

Which words can be adverbs?

Only one word here is not an adverb.

18 . Question

Which words can be determiners?

This time there are two correct answers.

19 . Question

Which words can be more than one part of speech?

Two answers are correct; one of the others doesn’t even exist!

20 . Question

Which words are conjunctions?

• nevertheless

This is a deliberately difficult question to end with! A conjunction must be followed by a noun (or noun phrase) and then a verb, with no commas.

So, first question: how many parts of speech are there?

Well, we did a Google search, and many of the top results said ‘eight’. So there must be eight parts of speech in English.

Wrong! There are nine.

So, what are they?

1. Guide to Parts of Speech in English

Number one: nouns. Nouns can be things, animals, or people, like doctor, pencil, tree or cat.

Nouns can also be ideas or abstract things, like idea, happiness, time or money.

Number two: verbs. Verbs can be actions, like do, run, fly or win.

Verbs can also describe states, like be, love, believe or understand.

Number three: adjectives. Adjectives describe nouns. For example: red, big, metal, or beautiful.

Number four: adverbs . Adverbs can describe verbs, meaning they describe how someone does something. For example, quickly, loudly, angrily or well.

Adverbs can also describe adjectives, other adverbs, or even whole sentences. For example, very is an adverb which can describe an adjective— very slow —or another adverb— very slowly.

Unfortunately or sometimes are adverbs which can be used to add information to a whole sentence.

For example:

• Unfortunately, they missed the train and were late to their own wedding!
• Sometimes, I wish I’d made different choices in life.

So, adverbs are a little more complicated. Here’s a good way to remember it: adjectives and adverbs both describe other words. They are both used to add information to something else.

Adjectives describe nouns, and adverbs describe everything else: verbs, adjectives, adverbs and whole sentences.

Number five: pronouns.

Pronouns replace or represent nouns. For example, I, you, she or they are pronouns which represent different people.

You use pronouns to avoid repeating the same word, or to refer to something when it’s obvious what you mean.

• How was the weather there?

There is a pronoun which refers to a place. If you’ve already mentioned the place you’re talking about, you don’t need to say it again.

Another example:

• Give me two, please.

Two is a pronoun which refers to a quantity of something which has already been mentioned. The person you’re talking to already knows what you’re talking about.

Number six: prepositions.

Prepositions usually go before a noun or noun phrase. What’s their job?

Prepositions can do two basic things: first, they can add an idea of time, place, or movement to a noun. For example:

• on Wednesday
• in the corner
• towards the door

Secondly, prepositions can connect other words to a noun, or a pronoun.

For example, think about the verb depend on. The preposition on connects the verb depend to the object of the verb. For example:

• It depends on the cost.

Usually, the noun or noun phrase goes after the preposition.

However, sometimes the preposition can link to a noun (or pronoun) earlier in the sentence. For example:

• What does it depend on?

Here, on links to the pronoun what.

Number seven: conjunctions.

Conjunctions connect two things. A conjunction can connect two words:

• I like cake and ice-cream.

A conjunction can connect two phrases:

• Do you want to go now or wait till this afternoon?

You can also use a conjunction to connect two clauses:

• Although I’ve been trying to learn for years, I’m still really bad at drawing.

Number eight: determiners

Determiners go before a noun. They include words like a, the, this or that, which help to specify which noun you’re talking about.

Words like my, your, his, her, etc. are also determiners. They specify which noun you’re talking about by saying who something belongs to.

Determiners can also tell you how many of something there are. Look at three examples:

• ten bananas
• some people
• both of my brothers

The words ten, some and both are determiners.

Number nine: interjections

Interjections are different, because they aren’t normally part of a sentence.

Interjections are words or phrases which show how you feel. For example:

So, now you know about the nine parts of speech in English.

2. Practice with Parts of Speech in English

Let’s practice! Look at three sentences. Each sentence has five words.

• They told me about it.
• Look in the big cupboard.
• Put it there, but carefully.

Can you identify which part of speech each word is? Pause the video and think about your answers.

How did you do? Could you identify the parts of speech correctly?

Let’s look at one more.

• I’m staying in this evening.

What part of speech are these words? Think about it.

So, I is a pronoun, am is a verb, and staying is also a verb.

What about in? Did you say it’s a preposition?

It’s not a preposition; it’s an adverb.

How does this work? We had the word in in one of the sentences you saw before, and it was a preposition.

So, what’s going on?

3. The Same Word Can be More than One Part of Speech

Some words can only be one thing.

For example, the words independence or hair can only be nouns.

Believe and destroy can only be verbs.

However, many words can be more than one part of speech.

There are two things happening here.

First, a word can be two different things, which have the same written form and the same pronunciation.

Think about the word win. Is it a noun or a verb?

It can be both.

• I’m sure they’ll win the game this weekend.
• We’ll be hoping for a win in the big game this weekend.

Many words are like this. Another example: red can be an adjective or a noun.

• What do you think about this red for the kitchen?
• I like that red top she was wearing.

This is very common: very often, a word with one written form can be two (or more) different parts of speech.

We told you there are two things happening here; what’s the other?

Sometimes, a word can be different parts of speech depending on its function in the sentence.

Look at two sentences:

• I have a few photos of my grandparents.
• Sure, you can have a few.

Here’s a question: what part of speech is few in these sentences?

In the first sentence, few is a determiner; in the second, it’s a pronoun.

Can you explain why this is?

Think about what few does in these two sentences.

In the first sentence, few adds a quantity to the noun photos. It tells us how many photos you have. This makes it a determiner.

In the second sentence, few replaces a noun. You don’t know which noun it replaces, but in context, you would understand what the person meant.

Maybe it was ‘a few biscuits’, or ‘a few pieces of paper.’

We don’t know! But, you do know that few replaces a noun, which makes it a pronoun.

Another example is the sentence we saw before:

Prepositions go with nouns, and connect nouns to other words in the sentence. In here doesn’t go with a noun, so it can’t be a preposition.

Learn more with this Oxford Online English lesson on adverbs – to, in, at .

In here means ‘at home’, and it adds information to the verb stay. What kind of words add information to verbs?

Adverbs! So, in is an adverb.

Wait a minute, did we ever finish explaining what parts of speech are in this sentence?

You’re right! We didn’t. Let’s do it now. You need to say what parts of speech the words this evening are.

Can you do it?

Maybe you said that this is a determiner, and evening is a noun. That’s technically correct, but it’s not the best answer.

The best answer is that this evening is an adverb.

How do you explain that?

4. Compound Parts of Speech in English

Until now, you’ve seen single words, and how single words can be nouns, verbs, etc.

However, when you’re thinking about parts of speech, you can’t just think about single words. Phrases can also be nouns, verbs, adjectives, and so on.

Let’s do an example:

• Add a small spoonful of brown sugar, then turn the heat down and stir the mixture gently.

Think about the first part of this sentence: add a small spoonful of brown sugar.

What parts of speech do we have here?

Of course, you can go through it word by word. You can say, add is a verb, a is a determiner, small is an adjective and so on.

But, is that the most useful way of looking at it?

It makes more sense to see this as a verb— add —and a noun— a small spoonful of brown sugar.

The noun is made up of several parts of speech: determiners, adjectives, prepositions and nouns, but together they have one meaning. These words refer to one thing.

You can analyse a sentence in several different layers. So, you can see a small spoonful of brown sugar as six individual words, or one noun phrase.

You could also see it as three parts: a determiner— a small spoonful —a preposition— of —and a noun— brown sugar.

Confused? We understand! You want to know the answer. You want to know which way is ‘correct’.

There isn’t one ‘correct’ way to see this. There are different perspectives.

A better question is: which perspective makes more sense?

In this sentence, a small spoonful of brown sugar refers to one thing in the world. So it makes sense to think of it as one part of speech in the sentence.

What about the second part of the sentence? How would you analyse the parts of speech?

As you saw before, there isn’t one right answer, but here’s a suggestion.

The sentence contains a conjunction— then —and then two verb phrases linked with the conjunction and.

This makes sense because the sentence is telling you to do two things: turn the heat down and stir the mixture gently.

So, it makes sense to see turn the heat down as one part of speech, because it’s telling you do to one thing.

Let’s put these ideas together.

First, when you think about parts of speech, you can’t just memorise information. You have to look at each sentence individually, and think about what each word is doing.

Secondly, always think about what the sentence means in the real world. Sentences aren’t abstract things; they refer to real people, real things and real actions.

There is always more than one way to analyse the parts of speech in a sentence: choose the way that makes sense based on what the sentence is telling you about real life!

Let’s do a more challenging practice exercise so you can see these ideas in action.

5. More Challenging Practice with English Parts of Speech

Look at three sentences:

• Amazing! It’s way better than I ever thought it would be.
• She was an amazing clinician , who came up with many innovative ways to treat patients.
• I don’t believe it!

How would you analyse the parts of speech in these sentences? Think about the ideas we talked about in the last section. Does it make sense to break the sentences into individual words, or is it better to group words into phrases?

Pause the video and think about your ideas.

You can pause the video again to look at these in more detail.

Notice how the same word can be different parts of speech in different sentences. For example, amazing is an interjection in one sentence, and an adjective in another.

Notice also the different layers of analysis. For example, look at the phrase many innovative ways. You can see this as one noun phrase, or as a determiner plus a noun phrase, or as three individual parts: a determiner, an adjective and a noun.

Which is correct? They all are! Choose the perspective which makes more sense to you.

Thanks for watching!

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Parts of Speech in English

Parts of speech are categories of words that perform similar grammatical roles in phrase and sentence structures. You might wonder what the different parts of speech are and how to identify them. This reference explains parts of speech, including nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, determiners, conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections, with examples.

You’ll also learn about open and closed word classes, how to determine a part of speech in a sentence, and their roles in simple and complex sentence constructions. This guide includes a useful picture, a video, and a quiz on parts of speech to help solidify your understanding.

Parts of Speech

What Are Parts Of Speech?

Parts of speech are word categories defined by their roles in sentence structures. These categories are organized by the functions and meanings they convey. In English, there are around ten common parts of speech:  nouns ,  verbs ,  adjectives ,  adverbs ,  pronouns ,  prepositions ,  conjunctions ,  interjections ,  determiners , and  articles .

Open and Closed Word Classes

Closed word classes  are parts of speech that do not have newer words introduced over time. These include pronouns, conjunctions, determiners, and prepositions.

Open word classes  are parts of speech that can have newer words introduced over time. These include nouns, verbs, adjectives, interjections, and adverbs.

Different Parts of Speech (with Examples)

The noun (n.).

A  noun  gives a name to something. There are different types of nouns like proper, collective, possessive, and common nouns.

Jeffrey, Korea, pen, New Year, dog, cat, elephant, garden, school, work, music, town, Manila, teacher, farmer, Bob, Sean, Michael, police officer, France, coffee, football, danger, happiness…

Example sentences:

• The  teacher  told the  children  to stop chattering in class.
• John  is good at  French  but weak at  History .

Common Noun :  Names a general item.

• Here is a  cup .
• Do you want a  cake ?

Proper Noun:  Names a specific item.

• The capital of  England  is  London .
• Sarah  is beautiful.

Collective Noun:  Refers to a group.

• The  swarm  of bees was headed straight towards our picnic.
• At church on Sunday, the  choir  sings loudly.

Possessive Noun:  Shows ownership.

• This is my  dog’s  ball.
• That is  Sarah’s  friend.

The Verb (v.)

A  verb  describes an action. There are three main types: action, linking, and modal verbs.

Walk, is, seem, realize, run, see, swim, stand, go, have, get, promise, invite, listen, sing, sit, laugh, walk…

• Don’t  try  to  run  before you can  walk .
• Did you  kiss  anybody?
• Leave  me alone!

Action Verb :  Describes an action.

• The man  walked  down the street.
• I  laughed  at his joke.
• She  ran  to catch the bus before it left.
• The chef  chopped  the vegetables into small pieces for the salad.

Linking Verb:  Connects the subject to a noun, adjective, or pronoun.

• Sarah  feels  cold.
• I  am  very tired.
• The flowers in the garden  are  blooming beautifully in the spring.
• The soup  smells  delicious and makes my mouth water.

Modal Verb:  Helps the main verb and shows the speaker’s thoughts.

• I  might  walk to the park this afternoon.
• He  can  eat the last slice of cake.
• You  must  listen to me!

The Pronoun (pron.)

A  pronoun  replaces a noun. There are various types of pronouns like reflexive, indefinite, possessive, and relative pronouns.

I, me, we, you, he, she, yours, himself, its, my, that, this, those, us, who, whom

• Richard isn’t at work this week;  he ‘s gone on holiday.
• Don’t tell  her  the truth.
• She tried it  herself .
• You can’t blame  him  for  everything .
• The woman  who  called yesterday wants to buy the house.

Reflexive Pronoun:  Refers to self.

• I am going to keep this last cupcake for  myself .
• Peter always puts  himself  first.

Indefinite Pronoun:  Refers to a non-specific person or item.

• Can you take  all ?
• I need to speak to  someone  about this rash on my arm.

Possessive Pronoun:  Shows ownership.

• This bag is not  yours , it’s  mine .
• Her book is so new, while  his  looks vintage.

Relative Pronoun:  Introduces an adjective clause.

• This is the woman  who  will be working with you.
• Is this the book  that  everyone is raving about?

The Adjective (adj.)

An  adjective  describes a noun or pronoun.

Beautiful, seven, cute, second, tall, blue, angry, brave, careful, healthy, little, old, generous, red, smart, two, small, tall, some, good, big, useful, interesting…

• This is a  blue  car.
• The  small  squirrel ran up the tree.
• During the thunderstorm, we saw some  heavy  rain.
• My mother has  short  hair.
• The documentary on TV last night was very  interesting .
• My son has an  impressive  collection of toy soldiers.
• The weather is  hot  and  sunny  today.
• My vacation was  exciting .
• The leaves on that tree are  green  and  large .

The Adverb (adv.)

An  adverb  modifies an adjective, verb, or another adverb. Many adverbs end in -ly, but not all do.

Neatly, tomorrow, very, badly, fully, carefully, hardly, nearly, hungrily, never, quickly, silently, well, really, almost…

• This is an  extremely  attractive photograph.
• I have a  very  large pet dog.
• My car drives  quickly .
• When I am running late for work, I eat my breakfast  rapidly .
• The boy is crying  loudly .
• She  carefully  preserved all his letters.

Determiners and Articles

Determiners and articles help clarify the nouns they introduce.  Articles  can be definite ( the ) or indefinite ( a ,  an ).

The, a, an, this, that, these, those, many, few, each, every, some, any, no, which, what

• The  cat is sleeping on  a  mat.
• Can  an  apple be green?
• This  book is very interesting.
• Each  student must bring their own lunch.

The Conjunction (conj.)

A  conjunction  connects words, phrases, or clauses. Some common conjunctions are  and ,  but ,  or ,  so ,  because , and  although .

And, but, or, so, because, although, if, until, while, since, when, after, before, as

• I want to buy a sandwich  and  a drink.
• She was tired  but  happy.
• You can go to the party  or  stay home.
• They were late  because  of the traffic.
• Although  it was raining, we went for a walk.

The Preposition (prep.)

A  preposition  shows the relationship of a noun (or pronoun) to another word. Common prepositions include  at ,  on ,  in ,  by ,  with , and  about .

At, on, in, by, with, about, above, below, between, during, for, from, over, under, through

• The cat is  on  the roof.
• She sat  by  the window.
• We will meet  at  the park  in  the afternoon.
• The book is  about  a boy  with  a magical power.

The Interjection (interj.)

An  interjection  is a word or phrase that expresses strong emotion or sudden exclamation. Common interjections include  wow ,  ouch ,  oh , and  hey .

Wow, ouch, oh, hey, ah, ugh, ew, hmm, yay, yikes, whoa, oops, aha, hurray, ew, oh no

• Wow ! That’s amazing!
• Ouch ! That hurt.
• Oh ! I didn’t see you there.
• Hey ! Wait for me.
• Yay ! We won the game.

In this section, you’ve learned about different parts of speech with examples and sample sentences. Each part of speech plays a unique role in creating meaningful sentences.

How To Determine A Part Of Speech In A Sentence

To determine a part of speech in a sentence, look at the word being used, its context, and what meaning it brings to the sentence structure. Here are some questions you can ask about a particular word:

• Is it a person, place, idea, name, or thing?  It is a  noun .
• Is the word used in place of a noun?  It is a  pronoun .
• Does the word convey an action, occurrence, or state of being?  It is a  verb .
• Does the word modify a noun?  It is an  adjective .
• Does the word modify a verb, adjective, or itself?  It is an  adverb .
• Is the word placed in front of a noun to form a modifying phrase?  It is a  preposition .
• Does the word link a phrase or clause?  It is a  conjunction .
• Is the word a quick expression of emotion?  It is an  interjection .
• Is the word placed before a noun to clarify it?  It is a  determiner  or an  article .

By asking these questions, you can identify the correct part of speech for any word in a sentence.

Parts of Speech and Sentence Construction

Simple/basic sentences.

In its simplest form, a sentence can have one  independent clause .

For example, the sentence “I walk to the store” contains one clause.

• “I” is the subject of the clause, while “walk” is the verb.
• The ending phrase, “walk to the store” would be the verb phrase, or  predicate , of the sentence.

This entire sentence “I walk to the store” is an independent clause, expresses one subject doing one action — and is known as a  simple sentence .

Knowing this, apply the fact that nouns and pronouns will often be the subjects or objects of simple sentences, while verbs will convey actions. So once again:

• I  (subject, pronoun)
• walk  (verb)
• to  (preposition)
• the  (article)
• store  (object, noun)

Complex Sentences

Complex sentences contain an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. These sentences use conjunctions such as  because, since, which,  or  who  to connect clauses. Consider the structure and an example below:

• Independent Clause:  She reads a book
• Dependent Clause:  because she wants to learn

By combining these clauses, one forms a complex sentence:  She reads a book because she wants to learn.

Other examples of complex sentences:

• Although the weather was cold, they decided to go for a hike.
• She completed her assignment before she went out with her friends.
• When you finish your homework, we can go to the movies.
• Because my coffee was too cold, I heated it in the microwave.
• If you save your money, you can buy a new bicycle.

Parts of Speech Video

Learn all parts of speech in English with a useful video lesson.

Parts Of Speech Quiz

Here are some Parts Of Speech exercises for you to practice:

A. In the sentence “I ran to the tallest tree”, what part of speech is the word “tallest”?

• A preposition
• An adjective

B. In the 2000s, the word  staycation  described the act of staying home for a vacation. Since “staycation” is a noun and a new word, what class of words does it belong to?

• The Open word class
• The Closed word class
• The Infinitive word class

C. In the sentence “I’ll have a few tacos”, what part of speech is the phrase “a few”?

• Interjections
• Determiners

Answers: A) 3, B) 1, C) 3

• Latest Posts

• Active vs. Passive Voice Exercises – Active vs. Passive Voice Worksheet - December 25, 2023
• Phrase Exercises – Phrase Worksheet - December 23, 2023
• Sentence Exercises – Sentence Worksheet - December 23, 2023

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Full Transcript of Kamala Harris’s Democratic Convention Speech

The vice president’s remarks lasted roughly 35 minutes on the final night of the convention in Chicago.

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By The New York Times

• Aug. 23, 2024

This is a transcript of Vice President Kamala Harris’s speech on Thursday night in which she formally accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination for the presidency.

OK, let’s get to business. Let’s get to business. All right.

So, let me start by thanking my most incredible husband, Doug. For being an incredible partner to me, an incredible father to Cole and Ella, and happy anniversary, Dougie. I love you so very much.

To our president, Joe Biden. When I think about the path that we have traveled together, Joe, I am filled with gratitude. Your record is extraordinary, as history will show, and your character is inspiring. And Doug and I love you and Jill, and are forever thankful to you both.

And to Coach Tim Walz. You are going to be an incredible vice president. And to the delegates and everyone who has put your faith in our campaign, your support is humbling.

So, America, the path that led me here in recent weeks was, no doubt, unexpected. But I’m no stranger to unlikely journeys. So, my mother, our mother, Shyamala Harris, had one of her own. And I miss her every day, and especially right now. And I know she’s looking down smiling. I know that.

So, my mother was 19 when she crossed the world alone, traveling from India to California with an unshakable dream to be the scientist who would cure breast cancer.

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• Paris 2024 tickets

Paris 2024 Paralympic Games

Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Games

LA28 Paralympic Games

Paralympic Games

28 august - 8 september, paris 2024: the ipc president's opening ceremony speech.

President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron; Paralympic Athletes; Mayor Anne Hidalgo;  President of the Paris 2024 Organising Committee Tony Estanguet; Peuple de France; Sport fans all over the world, 

Welcome to the most transformational sport event on Earth! The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. 

We are here in the world’s most beautiful city at one of the most critical times in our recent history. 

At a time of growing global conflict, increasing hate, and rising exclusion, let sport be the social glue that brings us together. 

Here at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, we will celebrate what makes us different, show there is strength in difference, beauty in difference, and that difference serves as a powerful force for good. 

Pour le peuple de France, je veux que ces Jeux soient les vôtres.  

Eleven days of sensational sport to enjoy together, as families, with friends, with loved ones. 

A once in a lifetime opportunity to champion your country’s rich diversity, applaud awe-inspiring athletes, and celebrate the very best of Paris, France, and humanity. 

As we prepare for Games Wide Open, let us open our minds wide. 

For what you will witness from Paralympic athletes are abilities and skills that surprise you, levels of resilience and determination that energise you, and camaraderie that will inspire you. 

Paralympic athletes are not here to participate. 

They’re not playing games. 

They are here to compete, win, and smash world records. 

Paralympians are also here to achieve something far greater than personal glory. 

They want equality and inclusion for themselves and for the world’s 1.3 billion persons with disabilities. 

Through their performances Paralympic athletes will challenge stigma, alter attitudes, and redefine the limits of what you think is possible. 

The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will show what persons with disabilities can achieve at the highest level when the barriers to succeed are removed. 

The fact these opportunities largely exist only in sport in the year 2024 is shocking. It is proof we can and must do more to advance disability inclusion - whether on the field of play, in the classroom, concert hall or in the boardroom. 

That is why 225 years on from when Place de la Concorde was central to the French Revolution, I hope Paris 2024 starts a Paralympic revolution, the inclusion revolution. 

Tonight, the values that define French society carry stronger meaning than ever. 

The right to live freely and without oppression. 

Every person with a disability deserves the opportunity to thrive and live life free from barriers, free from discrimination and free from marginalisation. 

Fraternite! 

We are one, but we are not the same. We are all from the same family, humanity. 

Liberte, égalité, fraternite! 

A rallying cry that needs to be heard not just here in France, but around the world. 

Paralympians, these are the moments you live for; this is your stage to shine. 

Representing 168 delegations, the biggest number ever, you arrive here with remarkable stories of perseverance. At these Games, I look forward to witnessing incredible sport and reading stories about your outstanding abilities and performances. 

As you compete in the most iconic sport venues ever seen, show to the world that Paralympic athletes should be acknowledged, celebrated, and rewarded, but above all respected. 

Through the power of sport, let us show world leaders that unity is possible, that we can come together as rivals in peace, play by the rules, and positively impact society. 

Marchons! Marchons ! 

Vive La France! Vive la Révolution de l’inclusion! 

Merci beaucoup! Thank you very much! Muito obrigado! 

It is now my honour to invite the President of the French Republic, Mr. Emmanuel Macron to declare open the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. 

Related Topics

Related stories.

More than two million Paralympics tickets sold

Parsons: “We want these Games to change lives”

The wait is over! Paralympic Games open on 28 August

Ottobock launches initiative: “The Unofficial Discipline”

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21 Most Effective Ways to Improve Your English Speaking Skills

English is the world’s lingua franca , a common language that people with different native languages use to communicate with one another.

In fact, 96 countries use English to varying degrees.

That means the more fluent you are in English, the more interesting, exciting and  insightful (thoughtful) conversations you’ll have.

And, for the most part, you can boost your English speaking skills without having a classroom partner or taking stressful lessons.

In this article, we’ll take you through 21 of the best ways to improve your English speaking skills. We’re sure you’ll find at least one tip here that you haven’t tried before!

1. Learn new words and phrases every day

2. improve your pronunciation using authentic english audio and videos, 3. improvise conversations, 4. use tongue twisters, 5. learn the natural flow of english, 6. shadow english speech, 7. think in english, 8. retell a story in english, 9. use english pronunciation apps, 10. participate in public speaking events, 11. go to language cafes, 12. use formal or informal english appropriately, 13. be clear and to the point, 14. ask questions, 15. use filler phrases, 16. don’t be afraid to repeat yourself, 17. watch your body language, 18. improve your speaking by writing, 19. make friends online, 20. brush up on your cultural references and political knowledge, 21. visit an english-speaking country, and one more thing....

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Before you learn things like improving your English pronunciation and accent , you’ll want to have a good grasp of the words and phrases used in daily conversations .

After all, it’s easier to figure out which aspects of your pronunciation can be improved if you know which words you need to practice saying aloud.

Also, you can commit to learning more words every day as you practice your speaking skills. This allows you to kill two birds with one stone (achieve two goals by doing one thing).

• Thousands of learner friendly videos (especially beginners)
• Handpicked, organized, and annotated by FluentU's experts
• Integrated into courses for beginners

• Set a goal for the number of new words you want to learn daily. For example, you can learn three new words or 10 every day. Even if you only have time to learn one new word per day, that will still be 365 new words a year (assuming you commit to your goal every day). You can take note of your target number using your phone, or share it with a learning partner who can help you check your progress.
• Subscribe to an online dictionary’s “Word of the Day” section. Not sure which words you want to learn right now? You can look up English dictionaries online with the “Word of the Day” feature. Just sign up for their free subscription via email, and you can get these words delivered to your inbox every day.
• Pick up new words all around you. Go to an English-speaking area, and listen discreetly (in a way you won’t be noticed) to native conversations. Write down any words or phrases you don’t understand, and look them up later using your dictionary. Do the same with the English songs you hear on the radio. By learning new words in context, you’ll be able to remember them more easily and grow your vocabulary more quickly.
• Learn words in phrases. For example, you refer to drinks as a glass of wine , a pint of beer , a cup of tea , a pot of coffee , etc. Again, learning words in context works much better for recall.
• Learn related words. For example, the moon has four phases every month: crescent , gibbous ,  waxing and waning . It’s more efficient to learn all four words at the same time.

Even if you know a lot of words, you won’t be understood if you don’t pronounce them correctly. That’s wasting the time spent remembering words, right?

So, you need to hear or watch English words and phrases as they’re pronounced by native speakers. Some places where you can do this are:

• Online dictionaries. You’ll notice that these dictionaries often have little speaker symbols next to the new words (like this ). Some of them, like the Cambridge Dictionary , even have different audio for U.S. and U.K. pronunciations. Just click the speaker symbol, listen carefully and imitate the way the audio pronounces the word.
• YouTube. Sometimes, when you search for the pronunciation of a certain word online, the results will show YouTube videos . They often repeat the word slowly several times, which makes it easier for you to follow along.
• Podcasts. Podcasts like English Pronunciation Pod and American English Pronunciation can teach you the many aspects of American English pronunciation.

If you’re having trouble pronouncing whole words, you may want to work on pronouncing individual letters first.

For example, when pronouncing English vowels , prepare your mouth for speaking by making the sounds of the vowels A , E , I , O and U .

Make a shape with your mouth as you make these sounds.  Exaggerate the sounds and shapes—that is, make them very large and very obvious.

• Interactive subtitles: click any word to see detailed examples and explanations
• Slow down or loop the tricky parts
• Show or hide subtitles
• Review words with our powerful learning engine

By practicing these basic sounds, it’ll be easier to hear the difference between, for example, a  cat and a  cut . (A cat can give you a cut, but a cut can never give you a cat! That’s just silly.)

For consonants, pronunciation practice is a bit trickier, and will require an entire post on its own. Luckily, we have a handy guide that covers how to pronounce consonants in English !

Improvisation (or just improv ) means making things up in the moment.

Here are a few improvisation ideas you can do on your own:

• Choose an ordinary object (like a pen) and make up a story about it. Talk about how important it is to you, how it helped you find your long-lost sister or how it saved your life. Be as creative as you want!
• Choose a letter of the alphabet and speak as long as you can while starting every sentence with this letter. Or start with the letter A and go through the alphabet as you speak. It’s much harder than it sounds!
• Speak for two minutes.  Set a timer to run for two minutes. Choose a random topic from places like Conversation Starters or prompts (ideas) at Writing Exercises . Then, speak about that topic for the full two minutes without giving yourself time to think about it. The first minute might be hard, but by the second minute, you’ll start to speak more confidently and comfortably. Try this as many times as it takes to get comfortable within the first minute.

Practicing improv is a good way to get more comfortable speaking with others, since it teaches you to speak without preparation.

Tongue twisters are phrases and sentences that are difficult to say quickly. They’re designed to help you see how fast you can say them before your tongue gets confused.

But saying them slowly works, too! It’s an excellent way to work on your pronunciation and how clearly you speak. You can choose one of these English tongue twisters , making sure to correctly and clearly say every word.

• Learn words in the context of sentences
• Swipe left or right to see more examples from other videos
• Go beyond just a superficial understanding

Once you’re comfortable saying the words slowly, try to say them faster, gradually increasing your speed with each new repetition. Even if you get some words wrong (and believe me, even native English speakers struggle with tongue twisters sometimes), you’ll at least have a good laugh about it!

Being able to say individual words correctly is great, but the secret to speaking English fluently lies in the flow of your sentences.

Whenever you read a piece of poetry, listen to a melodic song or watch a hilarious sitcom, pay attention to:

• Linking. Notice how native speakers link words together. This refers to joining two sounds, making a sound disappear or changing a sound to make it flow better.
• I + am =  I’m
• he + will =  he’ll
• they + have =  they’ve
• do + not =  don’t
• Stress.  There are stressed syllables in a word and stressed words in a sentence .
• Rhythm.  The rhythm is the overall result of stress, contractions and linking. It’s the ups and downs, or the musical features of English. You can also think of it as the speed and “sound” of your speaking.

Finding your perfect speaking rhythm can go a long way toward boosting your fluency. A good speaking pace is comfortable (both for you and the listener), keeps you focused and gives you enough time to think through what you want to say.

Here’s how you can improve the flow of your spoken English:

• Find a short paragraph, or even just a sentence at your reading level. You can find lots of short reading passages for different levels here . You can also open your favorite English book to a random page and choose a paragraph or two.
• Get a recorder or video camera. If your phone doesn’t already have a recorder installed, you can download this for iOS or this for Android.
• Say the paragraph or sentence slowly, then again faster, and again.
• Once you reach a speed that doesn’t feel comfortable or is too fast, slow down.
• Repeat this a number of times, making sure to record what you say every time.

Listen to the recordings. How do they sound? You should’ve felt a difference when you were speaking, too. Speaking slowly helps you work on pronunciation and enunciation (how clearly you say things). Speaking fast helps you work on your fluency, since you’re not worrying about every single word you say.

Shadowing English basically involves listening to how a native speaker says something and copying it.

• FluentU builds you up, so you can build sentences on your own
• Start with multiple-choice questions and advance through sentence building to producing your own output
• Go from understanding to speaking in a natural progression.

Here are some ideas on how to shadow English:

• Pick your favorite video with subtitles. Make sure it’s something you enjoy watching. This is important for the next step.
• Listen to it many times. Listen to the video once. Then, read the subtitles to get a good grasp of the general content and flow.
• Imitate the narrator sentence by sentence. Play. Listen. Pause. Speak. Record (optional). Copy the speech pattern as best as you can. 

With enough shadowing, you’ll naturally get closer to sounding like a native speaker. Just make sure to pick videos with the same English accent! 

You can find plenty of English videos with quality subtitles on the language learning platform FluentU .

FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.

You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.

P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)

Try FluentU for FREE!

When you’re learning English, and you’re having a conversation with a native speaker, your natural tendency is to take what they say, translate it into your native language in your head, mentally create a response in your native language then translate that response back into English.

As you can imagine, this takes a lot of time. It also makes conversations feel slow or even frustrating (something that causes stress) for the person you’re talking to.

On the other hand, if you practice thinking in English , it takes less time to come up with responses and engage in conversations. You don’t have to take that extra step of translating to and from your native language.

• Images, examples, video examples, and tips
• Covering all the tricky edge cases, eg.: phrases, idioms, collocations, and separable verbs
• No reliance on volunteers or open source dictionaries
• 100,000+ hours spent by FluentU's team to create and maintain

A good way to start thinking in English is to keep a diary for writing down your daily thoughts in English. It doesn’t have to be perfect—you just want to practice getting your thoughts out in English as often as you can.

For example, you can start with a familiar story from your culture. Your translation needs to  convey (communicate) not only the meaning of the words you use, but as much cultural nuance (small differences in meaning) as you can pack into it. You can also choose a short story or fairy tale that mostly uses words you can understand.

Then, you can record your retelling or ask a native English speaker to listen to you and give you their thoughts.

Sometimes, you have words in your language that don’t easily translate into English, and that’s okay! You can try to explain it in another way, like how an untranslatable word would feel to a native English speaker, for example.

If you’ve ever wondered whether there’s an app to help you perfect your English pronunciation, the answer is “Yes.” There’s a lot of them , in fact.

For example, ELSA Speak (available on iOS and Android ) uses speech recognition technology to help you correct the way you say words in English. The lessons are arranged according to topic (e.g., travel, business, etc.). If you’re taking proficiency exams like the IELTS, this app can come in handy, too!

Big universities, theaters and cultural societies often organize events like open debates , spoken word readings and improvised storytelling gatherings. These are places where you can come and mingle with like-minded people and practice speaking English.

Many cities host TED Talks where you can register, participate and share your  innovative (something that’s new or original) ideas. Check the events page of your local university to see if there are any of these opportunities available. It might be a nerve-racking experience, but it would be great for your English!

But what if you don’t feel confident speaking in English? Don’t worry, all language learners deal with this at some point! One of the best ways to overcome the lack of confidence is to get out there and practice.

The best way to do this is to try speaking in English with strangers. The following video has tips on avoiding mistakes when starting a conversation in English.

If public speaking terrifies you, you can opt for language cafes instead. These are cafes that create a friendly and relaxing atmosphere for people who want to practice and exchange languages.

You can usually find language cafes through local universities or the Meetup groups in your local area. If nothing else, they’re a great place to find friends you can share your personal interests with.

Depending on the context, you may have to use either formal or informal English . But how do you know which one to use?

Often, it’s a good idea to listen to how your conversation partner is talking, notice your situation and environment and try to match the type of English being used.

For example, if you’re in the office or at school talking to a boss or professor, it’s safe to use formal English. If you’re talking over coffee with a friend in a cozy cafe, you’re free to throw around all the slang you know.

If you’re only learning “regular” English, don’t worry. Most of the time, standard English works perfectly well as a communication tool, no matter who you’re speaking to. Context is key!

Imagine hearing both of these sentences out of the blue (suddenly). The first thing you’ll probably think of is, “What on earth is this person talking about? What do ‘elucidate’ and ‘dihydrogen monoxide’ mean?”

Even if you know what those words mean, you’ll probably still think that they could’ve just said  “Can you please explain to me what this means?” or “Drink lots of water every day!”

You may be tempted to throw around impressive-sounding words in everyday conversations. But, unless there’s no other way to express what you really mean, you’ll want to use the simplest words possible. Not only will you be better understood, but you’re also less likely to come across as pretentious (someone who acts like they’re better than they really are).

But how do you know which words are the “simplest” for English speakers? Again, that’s where regularly listening to authentic conversations comes in. The more you listen to regular conversations by native speakers, the more you’ll pick up patterns regarding the words they use to make themselves understood.

Communication works both ways. To make sure your listener is engaged (interested in what you have to say) and understands you, ask questions. 

The questions can be about anything you want to know more of. If it’s your first time meeting someone, “What’s your name?” is always a good conversation starter. You can also use other ways to introduce yourself in English .

Ask questions whenever the other person stops and there’s something you want to know more about. For example, if you see your friend with a good-looking car, you can say something like “Wow, that’s a nice car! What make and model is it?” The “compliment + question” formula works like a charm!

Whenever you don’t understand what the other person says, just say it back to the speaker in your own words. This will give them a chance to correct whatever you didn’t understand, or confirm that you heard right.

You can use these phrases before the information:

• I want to make sure I got that right, …
• So let me get this straight, …
• If I’m understanding you correctly, …
• Just to make sure I’ve got it right, you mean…
• Are you saying that… ?
• When you said… Did you mean… ?
• I am not quite sure I am following. Did you say…

If you’re worried that this makes you look “slow” or rude (has no manners), don’t fret! Most people will be perfectly understanding of the fact that English isn’t your first language. They’d rather repeat themselves than have any misunderstandings.

Filler phrases are phrases that act like placeholders in a sentence. They fill in silences so that your speech isn’t interrupted, and give you a little time to think of what to say.

Some examples of filler phrases are:

• To be honest…

You’ll hear these words a lot when you’re talking to native English speakers. To have a better grasp of what they mean and how to use them, you’ll want to—you’ve guessed it—practice them regularly.

But, as with any good thing, don’t overuse them! Too many filler phrases are just as bad as too many pauses. As a general rule of thumb, try not to use more than one filler phrase for every couple of sentences you speak. 

Because you’re still practicing English, you may not always be sure if people really understand what you mean.

In that case, just ask! Most of the time, you can make sure someone understands what you said by asking them to repeat what you said.

For example, the next time you give instructions, directions or information in English, follow it up with one of these phrases:

• I want to make sure you got that. Would you mind repeating it?
• I’m not sure if I said that right. Can you please repeat it?
• Can you please run that by me, so I know you got it?
• I’d like to be sure I’m expressing myself clearly. Could you please tell me what I’ve just said, so I know we’re on the same page?

There’s an English saying that goes like this: “Actions speak louder than words.”

The way you sit, the way you hold your hands and even where you look—all of these can add to or change the meaning of the words you say. The most important thing is to relax.

Not all body language and gestures mean the same thing in different cultures, however. Here are some things to keep in mind when you’re speaking in English:

• Avoid certain hand gestures. Showing just the middle finger with the rest of the fingers folded down is considered an offensive gesture. In the U.K., making a V sign with your index and middle finger is also considered rude. (In the U.S., it’s just a sign that means “peace.”)
• Do use your hands when you’re speaking, though. Your hands can show so many emotions. Slamming a  fist (where your fingers are curled into your hands like a boxer’s) into an open hand shows determination. Slamming an open palm or a fist into a table can show anger. Keeping your hands closed and folded on your chest makes you seem cold and uninterested.
• Fingers can speak, too. For example, you can make an “okay” sign by keeping your last three fingers open, and making an “O” with your index finger and thumb.
• Crossed legs can mean different things. If you cross your legs toward the person you’re speaking to, this shows you’re listening to them. If you cross your legs away, it can show you’re not interested or are distracted.

Take note of the situation and mood of the speaker when they make certain gestures. Watching others’ body language in person can help you better understand what they mean.

You can also do this exercise:

• Sit or stand in front of a mirror and speak.
• Pretend you’re having a conversation with your reflection. What are your hands doing? What does your posture say?
• Move around, try different things and see how they change the meaning of the words you’re speaking.

This may seem like a strange tip in a post on how to improve your English speaking skills. After all, what does writing have to do with speaking?

Plenty, in fact. When you know the most natural way to express something in English on paper, that can also translate to how you express yourself in spoken conversations.

Practice writing in English . Take time to collect your thoughts. Try writing a blog in English to hone your writing skills.

Take a look at the steps below and start blogging!

• Choose a platform.   WordPress is a good option for blogging. You can set up an account, then choose a theme and a domain (e.g., imlearningenglish.wordpress.com). Other content management systems like Wix , Ghost and Squarespace are also useful. If you only want to write and aren’t too comfortable with overly technical setups, check out Medium .
• Choose a topic. You can write about whatever you like, of course. But since you want to practice more and more, you should choose a topic that you’re  passionate (interested in or knowledgeable) about.
• Set a schedule and stick to it. Decide how often you’ll be writing—daily, twice a week or once every other week. Be realistic, but committed.
• Write away!  Staring at a blank page can be intimidating (scary). To get started, set a timer for one to two minutes. Think of your topic for that day, then start writing without stopping until the timer goes off. Don’t worry about vocabulary, sentence structure or spelling for now. The point is to express yourself without having to think too much about what you want to say—which is how most conversations go!

Do you feel shy about meeting people in person?

Luckily, you don’t have to leave home to find people to talk to. You can always go to language exchange sites like:

• italki. italki works like a tutoring site where you can find native English speakers to teach you their language. (Read our italki review here .)
• Polyglot Club . A  polyglot is someone who can speak multiple languages. As you can guess from the name, the website consists of a community of people dedicated to learning languages.
• HelloTalk. On HelloTalk, you can connect with English speakers via voice, text or video chat. (Read our HelloTalk review here .)
• Tandem. Similar to HelloTalk, Tandem allows you to contact English speakers from halfway around the world. It has more of a social media feel, though. (Read our Tandem review here .)

Native English speakers love to throw around cultural references in conversation. Cultural references are usually ideas, sayings or jokes related to popular media. For example, the meme (pronounced “meem”) “Brace yourselves, winter is coming” is a reference to a quote by the character Ned Stark from the TV series “Game of Thrones.”

There are so many possible cultural references that it’s hard to keep all of them straight, even if you’re a big pop culture fan! However, you can “get” (understand) most of them by watching lots of English TV shows and movies .

Aside from pop culture, you’ll also want to read about the politics, values and norms of the English-speaking country you’re interested in. That way, you can avoid saying something insensitive or politically incorrect. You can read all about these in newspapers and magazines , where you can also pick up idioms , phrases and other expressions you’ll use over and over again.

If you can afford a plane ticket and accommodations, you can always travel to an English-speaking country. Traveling gives you a chance to see and feel the culture—the food, the drinks, the shops, etc. You can practice chatting with native speakers, testing out your accent and seeing how well people understand you. 

So, off you go! Choose your preferred method to improve your English speaking skills above. Expand your vocabulary, correct your pronunciation and boost your English speaking with the tips that feel right for you. Don’t forget to practice as much as possible!

If you like learning English through movies and online media, you should also check out FluentU. FluentU lets you learn English from popular talk shows, catchy music videos and funny commercials , as you can see here:

If you want to watch it, the FluentU app has probably got it.

The FluentU app and website makes it really easy to watch English videos. There are captions that are interactive. That means you can tap on any word to see an image, definition, and useful examples.

FluentU lets you learn engaging content with world famous celebrities.

For example, when you tap on the word "searching," you see this:

FluentU lets you tap to look up any word.

Learn all the vocabulary in any video with quizzes. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning.

FluentU helps you learn fast with useful questions and multiple examples. Learn more.

The best part? FluentU remembers the vocabulary that you’re learning. It gives you extra practice with difficult words—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned. You have a truly personalized experience.

Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)

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