select a topic of interest to you An informative speech, by nature, is designed to present details on a topic without ignoring your audience interests, demographics, and speaking situation. Select a topic that you know a lot about and wish to research more, or a topic that you know little about and wish to research. Approaching this speech from either perspective is fine, since your goal is to take a topic that interests you and in turn, keep your audience interested in it.
You will give an informative speech about an object. More details can be found about this type of speech in the course textbook. Keep in mind:
A speech about an object: Objects are things that are tangible and, thus, recognized through sight, hearing, taste, or touch; so speeches about objects include those about people, places, animals, structures, Is there a particular object, such as The Great Wall of China that you could inform us about in more detail than what the majority of your audience already knows?
Research your topic using a minimum of 2 resources. The resources you use must be independent from each other to count as a distinct resource. It’s okay to use several facts/stats from one resource, but these do not count as two separate resources; it would count as one resource from which you pull multiple information.
You will include an Introduction, Body, and Conclusion in both your written material (formal outline) and when you present. Organize the main ideas of your presentation in a clear, appropriate order (chronological, spatial, topical – see your textbook for additional information).
For this presentation, you could use PowerPoint. You will not be allowed to use this medium as an opportunity to simply create bulleted lists to read from. Your textbook indicates that PowerPoint is a misused medium; too many speakers rely on it by data dumping their outlines and meaningless bulleted lists of information from which they read to their audience. SNORE! Audiences can read this information on their own and don’t need a speaker! Your job as a speaker is to “think it through.” What parts of your presentation would benefit from a chart or graph, or visual picture, or photograph that enhances your verbal message?
* you will need to turn in a complete sentence outline with a reference
