Workshop/Peer Review; Introductory Speech Prep

EQ: After our workshop, we are going to brainstorm topics for a speech, create a thesis for our speech, and begin writing our speech in the lab.

Watch this video about Picking a Public Speech Topic.

This morning, please return to your sharing/workshop groups and finish your peer reviews.

When you have finished, please brainstorm some topics for a speech. Refer to the chapter handout on Preparing a Speech.

• From your list, choose 3 of the best topics. For each of these three topics, list possible sources of information you could explore.
• Consider which topics would require you to do the most research? The least? 
• Estimate how many minutes you would need to adequately and creatively speak to an audience about the topics you chose. Our speech will be short this time (about 1-4 minutes).
• Narrow your topic(s) until you have a specific THESIS. 
• Write a thesis for each of your 3 chosen speech topics. 
• Pair up with a partner and share your thesis topics with him/her. Offer feedback to your partner.
• Choose your best topic and thesis. 
• Determine your purpose. What are you trying to accomplish with this speech? Are you giving information, persuading us to think differently, or entertaining us?
• Persuasive speeches motivate people to change a behavior or ideology
• Informative speeches provide accurate and supported information to an audience
• Entertainment speeches seek to entertain an audience to make them feel, laugh, or cry
• Create an outline and plan what your topic sentences will cover in each paragraph.
• In your introduction, your THESIS is your first point.
• In your body, each topic sentence (the first sentence in the paragraph) should clearly state what your paragraph will cover. The rest of the paragraph are the details of that topic sentence.
• In your conclusion, consider the purpose of this speech: are you informing us, entertaining us, or persuading us? Explain WHY and HOW your thesis is important to us, as an audience.
• NOTE: See the handout sample of how to create an outline. You may also check here.
• Begin writing a short speech (about 1 full page to 2 pages in length--double spaced). 

REMEMBER: to include a HOOK! Your speech should have a beginning (introduction), middle (body), and end (conclusion).

HOMEWORK: None. If you did not reach your writing quota for the day (about 1-2 pages), please complete your work at home and bring it to our next class to work with.