Required materials: your speaking outline on an 8 ½ x 11 printed page; your preparation outline (NOTE: these are two different documents); an APA-style bibliography of at least three sources.
Points: 200
Goals:
Perform audience analysis to determine how the classroom can build a bridge to a great public sphere.
Continue to develop organizational skills to channel audience energy.
Persuade using logic, emotion, and your own character.
Continue to hone extemporaneous speaking skills.
General Description:
The goal of this speech is to be like an octopus: think tentacles. You’ll start with an idea that you’re pretty sure that your audience already agrees with (the body of the octopus). This can be a public issue, or it can be a value that ties into public life. Your goal is to persuade each member of your audience to rally around that idea, and then do something to take it public (the tentacles). That is, the audience can directly take action themselves (“Never eat generic foods!” or “Buy a cat!”), or they can prod others to take action (“Write your senator!” or “Recruit a Race for the Cure team!”). You could also suggest an idea that you would like your audience to disseminate (“Now we all agree that Marvel comics are far superior to DC – tell your friends!”). At the end of your speech, the audience must have a very clear idea of what you want them to think or do. Make a statement. There is no room for back-door persuasion in a persuasive speech.
In order to do this effectively, you’ll need to bolster your own credibility. People will not do what you want them to unless they think you’re worth listening to. As such, you’ll still be citing at least three sources in this speech published within the past six months. These sources still need to be cited in-speech. Again, the speech will also have to be clearly organized so that it’s easy to follow. It will need to incorporate an introduction that grabs attention, then explicitly previews (point-by-point) the ideas to come. It should also include a conclusion that explicitly recaps (point-by-point) what has been discussed, as well as winds the speech down and gives it a sense of closure. In between, there should be 2-3 main points and these points should be cohesive, topical, and should transition effectively from one to the next.
