Thursday, July 14, 2011

Adding Your Style into the Speech

A speech is not a research paper for composition class. Your audience is living and breathing right in front of you and you only have one chance to deliver your message to them; therefore, it's important you write your speech in a way that keeps their interest as well as a way that they'll understand message clearly.

1. Pronouns- Don't write completely in 3rd person(he, she, they, it); use inclusive language--I, me, we, you. You're taking a journey along with your audience through your topic invite them on the ride. It's okay to include reference to yourself in your speech at the right moments. It makes the speech more personable and adds to your credibility.

2. Vocabulary- You want to strike the right balance between using language that the audience will understand while still using colorful and powerful word choices. Incorporating quoations, puns, similes, metaphors, alliteration helps to add to that poetic element to the speech.

3. Transition/Signal Words- Remember your audience only here's this speech once so it's important to use transtional words help guide them through your speech.

4. Persuasive Speeches- Remember it's important to infuse your opinion into the speech. A good argument has three parts

Claim- Your opinion

Evidence-- Information you use to back what you're saying

Warrant- Connecting your evidence back to your claim

Supporting Material

Variety is important with the types of sources that you use because each have their advantages and disadvantages

1. Books

2. Periodicals

3. References

4. Personal Interviews

5. Internet Sources--.org .gov. .edu

6. Television/Radio Programs


Once you have your sources, it's time to be a surgeon and dissect them for information.

Type of Supporting Material Include:

1. Facts

2. Statistics

3. Examples

4. Analogies

5. Anecdotes

6. Quotations


Having a variety of these is important to have a fix on quantitative(numbers/facts) and qualititative(stories/examples) data. Even entertainment speeches should have a variety of types of humor(understatements, puns, satire, self-deprication, over exaggeration, follow up jokes, pop culture humor, caricatures)


When citing a source within in the speech, always have the name of the publication and the date it was created. Sometimes, it's important to include the author if they have credibility with it. Some judges also prefer the name of the article.

It's important to explain the information using your own voice/vocabulary instead of copying and pasting the original source's language unless you're taking an exact quotation from someone.

Organization

Speeches are like verbebrates; they should have a strong endoskeleton for them to stand up well.

Informative Speech Structures

Chronological- 1. Origins 2. Development 3. Current Status 4 Future

Spatial- 1. Eiffel Tower 2. Louvre 3. Arc D' Triumph

Topical

1. History 2. Types 3. Uses. 4. Impact on Society

Persuasive Speech Structures

1. Problem/Cause/Solution

2. Cause/Effect/Solution

3. Thesis/Antithesis/Synthesis-- Pretty much you're showing why both extremes of an issue are bad and work toward a middle ground

4. What's Wrong with the Current Situation/Benefits of Making a Change/Solutions

5. Reason 1/Reason 2/Reason 3 why a change in attitude/behavior should be made


Entertainment Structures

You can use informative or persuasive structures for the speech.

Now, figure out how split your main points into sub-points--what specific types of turtles, what are some specific solutions for scientific illiteracy are there?


I.

A.

B.

C.

D.

II.

A.

B.

C.

D.


III.

A.

B.

C.

D.


Selecting a Topic/Purpose

When selecting a topic for a speech, you consider the following criteria.

1. Personal Relevance--Are you interested/passionate about it? Will you invest the time/energy to make the topic come alive for the audience?

2. Audience Relevance- Can I make the topic interesting/appealing to my audience?

3. Timeliness- Does the topic relate to today and what's going on in society?

4. Scope- Can I develop enough content/arguments around my topic and make it interesting? Is the topic too broad that you can't cover it well enough in the time you're given?

5. Research- Can I find enough supporting material on the topic that is current/valid?

6. Uniqueness--Is this topic new or has it been done a lot so that the audience will tune it out? How can I put a unique spin on the topic?


Some great websites for topics.

www.time.com

www.newsweek.com

www.scientificamerican.com

www.utne.com

www.salon.com

www.csmonitor.com

www.nationalgeographic.com

www.popularscience.com

www.theonion.com

www.funnyordie.com

www.psychologytoday.com


Now it's time to write your thesis. Your thesis statement is important because you a. establish the purpose of the entire speech b. give a specific focus/argument for you speech; therefore, it's important to write a strong thesis statement.

Bad One- My topic is dream therapy. We need more cancer research.

Better- Dream therapy opens new doors to patients' mental and physical health using a phenomena already present within the psyche. If we don't focus more of our money for cancer research on just treatment but also prevention, we will face serious economic and societal consequences for years to come.


Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Public Speaking/Extemp Introduction

Public Speaking Process

1. Selecting a Topic

2. Selecting your purpose/focus/thesis

3. Developing Your Main Points/Sub-points

4. Researching and Incorporating Valid/Varied/Vital Supporting Material

5. Adding your own style/analysis/opinion/voice into the speech

6. Developing Engaging Introductions/Conclusions/Transition

7. Adding Helping Visual Aids if needed

8. Making the Speech Come to Life for Audience with your delivery

9. Taking Audience Feedback and making the speech even better!!