Thomas was asked to make a presentation to a Sunday-morning church school class of senior citizens so he decided to treat the event like an after-dinner speech and planned a humorous speech. What error did Thomas make in preparing for this speech?

1. Occasion: For every occasion a speech is planned, the writer of a speech has to consider if the occasion is a happy one, a sad one, a formal, informal occasion. This will help greatly when making choice of words. Because it will be stupid to put jokes when making a speech for a funeral or writing sad words when you're celebrating a friend's birthday.

2. Mood: Despite the importance of the occasion, the mood is also very important. If the occasion should be a happy one, are the intended audience happy? Are they hungry? Do they want a lengthy speech? All these and more should be taken into consideration while preparing a speech.

3. Time: The time the speech would be given is also important to take notice of. Writing a speech about a friend on his birthday would sound stupid if the writer of the speech assumes the birthday would be held in the afternoon and proceed to write about how radiant the sun is, while I'm actual fact the birthday party is scheduled at night.

So, Thomas made the error of preparing his speech in a humorous way. He was supposed to take into consideration the occasion and intended audience but he clearly did not. He began making jokes to older citizens in Sunday school. It was a grave error because the setting was a formal one and should have been treated as such.