Proposal Speech [Tips + 10 Examples]

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Written By Jim Peterson

Jim Peterson has over 20 years experience on speech writing. He wrote over 300 free speech topic ideas and how-to guides for any kind of public speaking and speech writing assignments at My Speech Class.

proposal speechDelivering a confident proposal speech can be intimidating. How do you know what to include to get your audience to see the potential in your idea?

Whether your goal is to convince the love of your life to marry you, persuade an investor to finance your business, or receive grant funding for a research project, studying successful proposal speech examples can give you a proposal model to follow when creating your own speech. On this page, you’ll find a range of proposal samples as well as tips for creating a proposal your audience can’t refuse.

Tips for Creating a Good Proposal Speech

While guidelines and structure may differ depending on the proposal type, there are a few tips you can use no matter what kind of proposal you’re offering. Here are a few tips to keep in mind to deliver a good proposal speech:

Start by brainstorming: Free write all of the things that come to mind when you think of your topic, whether it’s why you want to marry the one you’re with or why a certain research topic is so important to you. This activity will help you identify what you want to include in your speech.

Cater to your audience: Speak to the needs and desires of your audience. Whether it’s the person you love or a group of people you’re prospecting to, feed into their own wants and passions.

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Form a proposal outline: You might not need to write out the entire speech for a wedding proposal, but forming a proposal outline will help you recall the points you want to make.

Speak with enthusiasm: Your honest and genuine emotions can be a big part of a persuasive speech, ultimately convincing your audience to say yes.

Practice: The more you practice and prepare for your speech, the more confident and persuasive your delivery will be.

The tips above are helpful with any type of proposal, but to best prepare for your specific proposal speech be sure to check out the examples below.

Proposal Speech Examples

Business plans, research papers, marriage proposals, and more – proposal speeches at large are used to put forward a plan for consideration. Along with the guidelines above, use the examples below as a guide to help craft your specific proposal speech.

  1. Business Proposal Speech

This sample speech is a good example of how to propose a new idea to the leaders in your company. The speaker uses persuasive speech to convince his business leaders that hosting Toastmaster meetings at their facility will be a good idea. He proves his point by asking questions and getting the audience to think about the overall goals of the company, then demonstrating how his proposal matches those goals.

“How would hosting a meeting at our facility help achieve our goals?”

2. Childhood Obesity Research Proposal Speech

This research proposal asks the government of Canada to fund a study that will reveal the best diet for Canadians to promote fat loss and prevent future obesity. The speaker emphasizes the trickle effect of adults’ efforts being passed down from generation to generation by educating the youth on benefits and importance of healthy eating. He delivers striking facts that are sure to hit his audience’s pain points.

“In 1997, the direct cost of obesity to health care in Canada was 1.8 billion dollars.”

3. Business Plan Presentation

In this business proposal speech example, a professor delivers a business plan for the fictitious company JobEx. This is a good example for forming your own outline of a business plan proposal speech. Note that the professor starts with the vision and mission for his company, shows how industry needs make his business viable, and describes his business strategy as well as the target audience he’ll serve.

“Our mission is to expand the client’s profit while giving candidates the best employment opportunities through utilization of outsourcing, latest online training and viral marketing.”

4. Event Proposal Sample

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPnA56yayJ8

In his proposal to host a bounce house, food truck, and raffle extravaganza, the speaker offers a clear thesis statement. He states his goals for the event, all of the necessary details, who will organize it, and who the target audience is. He also explains how he’ll advertise as well as his strategy for getting good prices from advertisers. Use this example to form your own checklist in your event proposal.

“The goal is to raise money and awareness about New Hope…share their message of helping grieving families in their time of need.”

5. Informative Speech Proposal Example

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0u1I45XUzI

This communication student pitches his idea for an informative speech topic, titled “What Do I Have in My Camera Bag?” He explains how the speech topic can help other photographers in a number of ways and outlines the sources of information he’ll use. This is also a good example to use for research proposals, a thesis paper or problem-solution essay.

“This topic can answer a number of questions, like ‘What kind of tech should I bring to prepare for a technical shoot?’ and ‘Is there such a thing as bringing too much technical stuff?'”

6. Long-Term Unemployment Proposal Speech

This TEDx talk is an excellent persuasive speech sample that can help you form your own proposal speech on a serious topic. Dr. Van Horn offers cost-effective solutions to end long-term unemployment in the United States.

“I don’t want to leave you with just a negative message. I also want to talk about what we can do about it.”

7. Sample Wedding Speech Proposal

You don’t have to get on the Steve Harvey show, but you can take some pointers from this excellent wedding proposal speech.

“I no longer want to be your friend anymore. I want to be your friend and much more.”

8. Surprise Marriage Proposal Speech Sample

This man has the good idea to turn a birthday speech to his girlfriend into a group song, and finally, into a marriage proposal. The birthday speech is a good ploy, because when the speech goes another way, it catches the woman completely off guard. This allows the man to say all the quality things he wants to say about her while she’s paying attention.

“You share your joy with whoever you’re around, and I just can’t get enough of it…the only other way I can express it, is if you guys help me out right now and snap with me.”

9. Marriage Proposal Speech

This gentleman has no idea how to put his proposal into words. After getting some help creating his marriage proposal, he then delivers his promise as a husband and has some cute kids help him pop the question. This video is a great example of how to overcome writer’s block when creating a proposal speech.

“Since the moment I first saw you, I knew nobody was going to hold my heart the way you do.”

10. Make It a Game: Unique Marriage Proposal

This guy does a great job of keeping his speech short and sweet, then teases his fiance-to-be with a game: Where’s the ring? When you want to add a touch of humor to your proposal speech, this is an excellent example.

“I love you so much and I’m ready to spend the rest of my life with you, but before we do I want to introduce you to a little game.”

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