Day Five: Developing Your Speech

by

Yana Cornish

Hamilton College

Choosing Speech Topics

Select and narrow your topic:

Consider audienceConsider occasionConsider yourself

Choosing a Good Topic: What type of presentation is

it? What topics interest you? What do you know about

these topics? What topics will appeal to your

audience?

Type of presentation Informative - instructs, explains,

describes, etc. Persuasive - seeks to change audiences

opinions and/or behaviors. Entertainment - tries to amuse, interest,

divert, or “warm-up” an audience. Some skilled speakers will try to do all

three…a professor may lecture to inform his or her students, but also try to persuade students that the information is important and interesting, while trying to entertain students so they will pay better attention to the information.

What do You Know?

Everyone is good at something and knows more about a certain topic than others.

You are an expert about your work experiences, personal experiences, skills, etc.

Many of the best presentations are based on or related to personal experiences.

Audience Interests Think about ways to make your

speech appealing to your audience.

Example: If you are interested in interpretation of dreams, relate the theories to common dreams most people have experienced.

Find the links between your interests and the interests of your audience.

How to select a topic:

Brainstorming Listening and reading

about things Talking to other people Searching the web

Finding a Topic: I’ve always wanted to know more

about... If I had an unexpected week off, I

would... If I could give away a million dollars, I

would… If I could make one new law, I would… I’ve always wanted other people to

understand… My favorite topic of conversation is…

Web sites that may help: http://www.motivational-depot.com/speeches

/persuasive-speech-topics.htm

http://www3.sympatico.ca/mombour/dltm/speech.htm

http://faculty.cinstate.cc.oh.us/gesellsc/publicspeaking/topics1.html

http://www.lcc.gatech.edu/gallery/speechbook/persuade.html

http://commack.suffolk.lib.ny.us/speech.html http://www.speech-writers.com//persuasivein

formativespeeches.htm

Narrowing the Topic

Example

MusicMusic

Folk MusicFolk Music

Irish Folk MusicIrish Folk Music

The Popularity of Irish Folk Music The Popularity of Irish Folk Music in the U.S.in the U.S.

Developing your speechDetermine your purpose:– To inform– To persuade– To entertain

Formulate a specific purpose:–What you want your audience to be

able to do after your speech.– “At the end of my speech, the audience

will be able to…”–…list, explain, describe, write, support,

know, understand, etc.

Developing your speechDevelop Central Idea:– One-sentence summary of the

speechExamples: –Maintaining your car regularly can

ensure that it provides reliable transportation.

– Toxic-waste dumping is a major environmental problem in the US today.

– Censorship of textbooks threatens the rights of students.

Developing your speech

Generate main ideas:– Subdivisions of the central idea

Examples: – “Education benefits people in five

ways:…” (each is a main idea)– Historical step-by-step description of

events– Description of reasons behind your

topic

Activity Brainstorm 3 topics for each of

the purposes:– To persuade– To entertain

Write 3 questions about each of them

Survey at least 5 people Select topics best suited to the

audience in our class and yourself

Activity:

Review Draft 1 of your informative speech outline

Share it with another student, let him/her make suggestions.

Make necessary changes.