Here is a basic diagram on how to wire a 1/4″ or 1/8″ stereo plug.  If you are going to use it for speaker connections, you do not want to use shielded cable.

Being an ex-band roadie and now a church sound guy, there have been times when I have had to make adapters on the fly. Seems like there are always two things that need to be connected with different types of connections, and troubleshooting problems can be difficult if you don’t know what hooks up to what. [...]