Speech

The speech (le discours) as a text type: A speech (un discours) is part of the theme Text types (2.3). It is meant to be spoken aloud to an audience — an assembly, a class, a ceremony. The speaker addresses the public directly, makes them feel something, and moves them to act. On Paper 1 you may be asked to write one, so you need its opening, its rousing tone and its set phrases. The key idea: greet the audience, hook them, persuade with signposted points, and close with a call to action and a thank-you.

un discours

a speech

l'orateur / l'oratrice

the speaker

le public / l'auditoire

the audience

s'adresser au public

to address the audience

une question rhétorique

a rhetorical question (a hook)

un appel à l'action

a call to action

une formule de remerciement

a thank-you phrase

convaincre / persuader

to convince / to persuade

How you'll recognise it: If a text greets an audience, asks them a rhetorical question, builds signposted arguments, and ends by urging them to act, it is a speech. That direct address to the public — and the rousing close — is its signature, and it is exactly what the examiner rewards in Criterion C (conceptual understanding). Its informative cousin, the exposé, has its own micro (2.3.9): use the exposé when the task says « présentez / expliquez / informez » in a neutral tone, and the discours when it asks you to convince or mobilise.

Formal-but-rousing, addressed to the public: A speech to an assembly is formal but rousing: address the audience with vous, stay dignified, yet warm and energetic. The danger is sounding flat and impersonal like a report — that loses Criterion C. Decide on vous before you write, and keep the tone lively from the greeting to the close.

Energetic, not flat: What separates a speech from a report is energy and direct address. Greeting the audience, asking them questions, and using an inclusive « nous » keeps the tone rousing — and that is exactly what Criterion C rewards. A flat, impersonal tone signals the wrong text type.

Four moves: greet → hook → argue → call to act: Every speech follows the same shape. Build it in four moves and you will never forget the greeting or the call to action — both are easy Criterion C marks.

Tricolon and repetition for rhythm: A tricolon (three short phrases) and repetition make a speech memorable: « Un livre, c'est une porte. Un livre, c'est un voyage. Un livre, c'est une rencontre. » These rhetorical devices lift both Criterion B (message) and Criterion C (conventions) — they are the heartbeat of a speech.

A model speech, feature by feature: Here is a short original speech launching a reading club at school. Read it once for the general idea — tap 🔊 to hear it, or Voir la traduction if you get stuck. Then we'll point out the features that earn the marks.

Discours — lancer un club de lecture: Mesdames et messieurs, chers camarades, bonjour à toutes et à tous.

Combien d'entre vous ont déjà ouvert un livre et oublié l'heure ? Aujourd'hui, je veux vous parler d'un projet qui peut changer notre lycée : un club de lecture.

Premièrement, un club de lecture, c'est un espace pour partager nos coups de cœur. Deuxièmement, c'est l'occasion de rencontrer des camarades qui aiment les mêmes histoires. Enfin, c'est une façon de redonner le goût de lire à toute notre école.

Un livre, c'est une porte. Un livre, c'est un voyage. Un livre, c'est une rencontre.

Alors, rejoignez-nous dès cette semaine ! Ensemble, faisons de la lecture une fête. Je vous remercie de votre attention.

Copy the frame, change the content: Reuse this frame — greet → hook → signposted arguments → call to action + thanks, in vous — for any speech task. Only the topic and the cause change; the conventions stay the same, and that is what scores Criterion C.

Phrases that build the whole speech: Learn these ready-made phrases as a deck. With them you can write any speech: greet the audience, hook them, signpost your arguments and end with a rousing call to action — all in vous.

Plug in, don't translate: These are chunks you plug straight into your speech — never translate word-for-word from English, which produces unnatural French. Reusing accurate set phrases + rhetorical devices is exactly what Criterion A (Language) and Criterion C (conventions) reward.