We may have one or two more speeches to hear on Thursday, but, for the most part, our informational speeches are complete. I want you to reflect on your informative speech in a one or two page paper due March 13--the Tuesday after Spring Break. Here are some questions that I'd like you to answer:
What did you learn from your first speech that you applied to your informative speech?
What did you like about your informative speech?
What would you like to do better?
What steps can you take to improve your next speech?
What about the informative speech assignment did you find helpful? What about the assignment should be changed?
Any other comments?
As for Thursday's class (March 1) we can now move on to the Persuasive speech--my personal favorite. As we discussed in class, the goal of your speech is to present an idea for a project, adventure, or experience to the class and try to convince a few of them to join you on your mission. You, as the audience, will vote on what you would like to do. I will form new tribes after the speeches are over.
For our next class, I want you to read Chapter 14. I also want you to watch this TedTalk. Be prepared to write about what you read and watched when you get to class.
We braved the radio station ghost in our technology and successfully completed some presentations on Tuesday. If you haven't presented yet, make sure you attend class and be ready to present. If you haven't presented, unexcused absences count against your speech grade.
Some unfinished business:
I turned back grades for the first speech last week. If you didn't get a graded speech rubric then you may have opted to watch the video of your first speech and write a reflection about it using the grading rubric as a guide. Please do that ASAP. I really want you to watch your speech and reflect on it before you present. (A detailed reflection will probably be two pages long.)
Something to look forward to:
Everyone will write a reflection on the speeches we are doing now. I'll post questions on this blog after we are done with the speeches.
Today we learned ways to bring our senses into a story and how visuals can stimulate emotional responses with your audience. We discussed ways of using notes and an ancient technique for memorizing speeches. We also saw Garrison Keillor accept an award for his storytelling by sharing the reason why he became interested in stories. And we discussed how the placement of elements, the shape of the font, and the location and size of the words can change the emotional response we have to a message.
Wow. What a busy day.
Now that you've turned in your outline, I want you to use Thursday to practice your speech. Remember, there is no class on Thursday. Use the day to practice. If you have questions email me. I'll be helping and presenting at the SWCA conference here at the Noel Studio on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, so I'll do my best to schedule a time if you need to meet with me.
In keeping with our theme of great story tellers, listen to advice from Ira Glass of "This American Life." He gives some great advice to those of us who feel like what we do, what we create, isn't living up to our standards. This, I think, is something we all face when we give an oral presentation, write a paper, or design a flyer.
After our class today, you should have a good, working draft of what your outline will look like as well as some idea of how you will keep and hold your audience's attention during your speech. I really enjoyed talking with you and seeing you all interact with your tribes.
As you design your outline, be sure to consider the format used on pages 208-209 in your textbook. I'll be grading your outlines based on this format.
For Tuesday's class read chapter 9 and apply what you learn to your outline, which is due that day. Your outline needs to be finished and printed before class.
Since I can't find a good speech on outlines, I've included a fun video to watch that, I think, demonstrates good teamwork.
I hope you all were able to use class time to collect your research. I didn't see any of you at the QEP symposium today, so I'm guessing you all are moving along just fine. Based on the emails I've been receiving today, you seem to have a good grasp of how you are going to organize your informative speeches.
If you are struggling at this point, please email me, post questions on our Facebook page, or talk with your new tribe. Tribes should work together because the tribe with the highest point average will get bonus points.You, as audience, will be allocating points as people present.
For Thursday, I'd like you to read chapter 13. I also want you to watch this short video (here's a link); as you watch this video, focus on the section of the book that discusses maintaining your audience's attention.
On Thursday we formed new tribes and began collecting research ideas for our next speech. If you can, get on our Facebook group and thank Trenia Napier, our research consultant, for showing us the online digital archives at EKU. She's a member of our group.
You may also use the Facebook group to ask Trenia, me, or other classmates, questions about your research, the assignment, or your topic. We all need to support each other.
After our last class session you should all have five or so sources to help you generate ideas for your speech. Many of you are using interviews and personal experiences to gather information. As you collect info, be sure to take pictures and video footage. You may want to use this in your speech.
For Tuesday's class time, I want you to conduct the research you'll need to create a compelling story to share with us. Remember, there is no class on Tuesday, but I will expect you to check the blog. I'll be presenting at the QEP showcase in the Library if you'd like to stop by and play my Zombie card game.
Before class time ends on Tuesday, I want you to email me a freewrite on how you intend to organize your speech. Read Chapter 7 and incorporate what you learned into your freewrite. You can email this freewrite to me from now until Tuesday.
