3-4minute presentation and a working outline

COMM 110 / Informative Speech Assignment

This speech will begin on October 17

Purpose of the assignment:

In this speech, you will clearly and accurately inform the audience about an influential historical figure or an important current event. You will need to accomplish three things in this speech. First, you will need to provide your audience with brief biographical or background information about your chosen figure or event. Second, you will need to inform your audience about what your chosen figure’s most influential accomplishment was/is. If you are describing a current event, you will need to explain the event itself to your audience. Finally, you need to explain how your figure has affected modern society. If you are describing a current event, you will need to discuss the implications that the event might have on the future.

Requirements:

1. Your chosen figure or event should allow for an intellectual and interesting informative discussion. I will approve your topics in advance.

2. The speech should be 3 ½ - 6 minutes in length. This is a very short speech!

3. The introduction should grab the audience’s attention, introduce your thesis, establish your credibility, give the audience a reason to listen, and preview your main points.

4. Each section of the speech should be connected with a logical transition.

5. Each main point should be clearly stated, developed, and supported by evidence.

6. The main points should progress logically. They should accomplish the information listed above in the ‘purpose of the assignment’ section.

7. For supporting material, you are to use at least three different sources. The sources you use must be credible and appropriate for a college-level presentation. You must cite the sources appropriately in your speech and in your outline.

8. The conclusion should recap your main points, restate the central idea in a clear, concise manner, and provide the audience with closure.

9. You are to turn in a preparation outline to me on the day you are giving your speech. This outline should:

Follow the correct outline format.

Include and label the introduction’s required components (attention getter, give the audience a reason to listen, establish credibility, state central idea, preview main points, etc.)

Include and label your transitions between main points.

Include the substantive explanations of the main points (the body of the presentation).

Include and label the conclusion’s required components (recap main points, restate central idea, provide the audience with closure).

Include a reference list in APA or MLA format with your required three sources.

For examples of APA and MLA style, see the OWL website listed at the end of this document.

11. Your presentation should include:

Extemporaneous delivery.

Effective verbal and nonverbal delivery.

12. You may use note cards during your speech. I would advise these mainly to function as an outline and a way to accurately include evidence from supporting materials. If reliance on your note cards distracts or otherwise diminishes the quality of your speech, bear in mind that this will impact your grade.

13. You must use at least one visual aid ( not a video clip ) that helps the audience understand an aspect of your speech in greater depth. Make sure to put excellent effort into your visual aid.

Evaluation information:

Points will be given based on how well each aspect of the assignment was carried out. An average fulfillment of requirements will earn a 75% (mid-C range) in the relevant category. If the requirements are not met, this will lead to a grade less than a 75% in that category. Conversely, a well above average fulfillment of requirements can lead to earnings in the relevant category higher than 75%, depending on the degree in which requirements were exceeded.

The total points that can be earned in this assignment are as follows:

Outline 5 points

Organization 10 points

Content 10 points

Delivery 5 points

Total 30 points

Suggestions for preparation:

Choose a historical figure or current event that you are passionate about! Being interested in the topic that you are presenting will lead to the speech itself being more engaging for the audience. Remember, the audience will not gain much from a speech that does not keep their interest.

Clarity is important. This speech is very brief. Make sure not to cram too much information into the 3 ½ - 6 minute window. You want to give the audience enough information to accurately inform them about your topic, but you will need to make judgments on what material to include.

A well-organized preparation outline is important, as it will help you structure the content of the speech and make it easier to optimize your effectiveness.

Practice, practice, practice! Have your roommate listen to you practice, look in the mirror as you practice, film yourself practicing, give your speech to your dog! Whatever you need to do in order to prepare, you should. An effective speaker will be able to accurately and interestingly transmit content and engage the audience through extemporaneous delivery. This is hard to do the first time you ever try to give the speech!

For information on APA or MLA style, consult the Purdue OWL website: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/

I will give you an example of an effective full-sentence/preparation outline before the speech is due.