Date:

See Finn's Course Schedule for Exact Date

Points:

50 (this is the first graded speech)

Length:

60-90 seconds (absolute minimum 45, maximum 105 seconds)

Support:

Example (think “story”)

Delivery:

Behaviors from Speeches 1-4, plus for Speech # 5:

Enthusiasm (Voice, Consistent Eye Contact, Movement, and Gestures)

Position:

Open area in front

Outline:

No Notes (None)

Structure

Order for maximum effect: Make a point, tell a story (that reinforces the point).

Guidelines & Ground Rules for Short Speech # 5 (the Example):

Everyone will practice Short Speech # 5 (the use of examples) the class immediately before. The following guidelines are consistent with the Student Handbook, but provide more detail and some additional useful information.

Select your Central Idea first, then select your examples
 - choose the Central Idea of your speech
 - use examples to support your Central Idea or primary argument

Here are several ways you can approach adding examples to your speech -
1) Make a point, then give an example (or three). "One of the most important/crucial principles/ideas/concerns facing x is y. Here are 3 examples that highlight why this is so important."
2)  Start with examples. Lead steadily to your main point. (Give example 1. Give example 2. Give example 3. Explain the connection in your ending.)
3)  Think of examples as stories. (I believe this is the easiest way to develop content for speeches and presentations.)

Choosing Your Content: Examples as Stories

Let me say more about examples being stories.
 - stories are a great way to connect with an audience
 - speak about things you know well, things from your personal experience
 - you already have great stories in your head - it's easy to talk about things when the details are already memorized!

1)  Remember my example in class? To talk to you about my Mom's sense of humor, I told you the story of her April Fool's Day joke on us little kids when I was seven. I used an example of her devilish sense of humor rather than simply tell you that she was very funny.
2)  Are you someone who owns the world's greatest dog? (I did years ago.) That can be your central idea, and you don't have to memorize the examples - you know them by heart!
3)  Do you have three reasons why x is the greatest movie/band/show/artist/performer of all time? Then you have a speech where you can practice using examples to make your points.
4)  Talk about your Mom's care and concern for others, your Dad's leadership and teaching abilities, a brother's protective nature, or a sister's understanding. You'll have too many examples - you'll have to narrow it down to a couple good stories!
5)  Give a tribute to a favorite teacher, boss, or friend.

Special Occasion Speeches

Let me expand on this last point – giving a tribute. We may not have talked about this yet in class, but audiences love inspirational speeches. Most introductory speech courses mention “Special Occasion Speeches” at the end, but don’t give students an opportunity to practice them. Yet there are important occasions when you may well be asked to “say a few words.” Weddings, anniversaries, graduations, promotions, and various other forms of formal recognition all call for the appropriate positive, inspirational, or uplifting words. The atmosphere is typically celebratory, marking a milestone or transition. The perfect speech for these occasions includes: 1) a heartfelt acknowledgement of the person being recognized, 2) a bit of humor (do not poke fun at the honoree except at a roast), 3) a larger context, lesson, or shared common mission, aspiration, or commitment.

Speeches of acknowledgement are a great way to connect with your audience. We've all had a favorite teacher in high school, or someone that both taught us valuable things and showed they cared about us. Any time you share your personal experience with your audience, you are revealing something about yourself. This is more important than anything else I can tell you about the content of your speech: the secret to making a connection with an audience is to reveal something about yourself. The good news is that when you share something personal, the examples that demonstrate your main point are already burned in your memories.

Concern about Face

Let me tie this notion of revealing something about YOU to what communication scholars sometimes call 'concern about face.' In our very first class I asked you to consider the notion that we ALL worry about 'looking good' in front of others. I also said you have to let go of that concern to be self-expressed - both in front of an audience and in life generally. For some people, saving face means not repeating stories about situations where we looked foolish, or ignorant, or misread a situation. But some of life’s most powerful lessons are learned in those moments, more so than when everything is going great. We each have experienced hundreds of valuable lessons in life and people we love were there when it happened. Those are stories you can tell. And there's a happy side benefit if you can incorporate self-effacing humor - audiences will laugh with you, because you’re using yourself to make the point that people are funny.

One note of caution: some stories are too personal, or too recent, to make good speech topics at this stage (meaning in this particular class, at this particular time in your life, or at this level of speaking skills) -
 - you should probably avoid speaking about a highly emotional experience (a recent death or break-up)
 - you should probably avoid speaking about a highly private experience
 - you should probably avoid speaking about highly controversial topics (we discussed this in class earlier).

Prepare your speech
 - choose your topic and central idea first, then use examples (stories) to make your point

 - for our practice session: you should write a series of "bullet points" (not long sentences) on a SINGLE 4"x6" index card
 - you should have the note card handy during practice
 - for the actual Speech 5 you can consult your notes until the moment you step in front of the room

Practice your speech
 - good speakers practice their speeches a minimum of 10 times (it's only 60-90 seconds)

d) Deliver your speech
 - for Short Speech 5 (the examples), you stand in front of the room
 - no notes for final version of the speech
 - we always continue the behaviors from previous speeches:
   a)  making eye contact until all hands are lowered
   b)  pausing at the end to connect with the audience and accept the applause
   c)  scanning the audience and making eye contact at least 3 times during your speech
   d)  use (at least some) hand gestures intentionally as you speak, for illustration or emphasis
   e)  take at least one step every time you make a 'main point'

Then we add in NEW BEHAVIORS. For Speech # 5, simply add more of each of the components -
 - constant eye contact
 - frequent meaningful gestures
 - move fluidly in front of the room, as appropriate.