Throughout this chapter, and you will see it again and again in this textbook, your authors stress the need to let your listeners know where you are going in your speech. Here is another point of view, written by C. M. McKinney (2002) at the Advanced Public Speaking Institute:

I suppose most of my readers know by now that when I'm speaking in public I push the limits most of the time to make sure my audience stays awake. It should be no surprise to you then that I will attack another common old style snoozer technique (and I know I will get letters from educational theory folks, but that is OK) . . . that is, telling the participants what you are going to cover during your presentation. I SAY LET 'EM FIGURE IT OUT AS YOU GO. If they think they know where you are going during a public speaking engagement, then it is easy for them to "zone out" since they "think" they know what you are going to say. The way I do it is to make them wonder, "What in the heck is he going to do next?" which forces them to stay alert to find out.

Source: "Public Speaking: Make 'Em Wonder" (p. 1), by C. M. McKinney, 2002, Advanced Public Speaking Institute, Box 2630, Landover Hills, MD 20784. Retrieved October 26, 2005, from http://www.public-speaking.org/public-speaking-letemwonder-article.htm

1			Do you think McKinney has a valid point? Can you be well organized and still leave your listeners wondering what you're going to do next?
2			Are there other ways to keep listeners alert and awake besides keeping your organizational scheme a secret? What techniques could you, as a speaker use, to make certain your listeners stayed alert, and yet reveal your method of organization to them—or, at least let them know where you are going?