Speech assignment-personal experiences and world events
For this 5-6 minute speech, you are to reflect on how your personal experiences, world events, experiences of friends, research, etc. have caused you to consider or reconsider the validity of the value or belief you discussed in your first speech. In other words, reflect upon how your experience with and increased knowledge of the subject have caused you to reject, seriously reconsider, or more firmly accept the validity of the value you were asked to blindly accept as a child. Your ideas on Christianity, for instance, may have been either reinforced or weakened as a result of your knowledge of other religions or your reassessment of religion in general. Your speech should reflect a progression over time from a simple, untested value judgment (x is good/bad, x is moral/immoral, x is right/wrong) to a more complex perspective that takes into account personal experiences you have had and the research you have done on the issue.
Though you will discuss your own personal experience in this speech, you will also need to consider at least three sources in order to illustrate to your audience that the belief you hold is credible and can be supported by evidence and/or expert testimony. You will find that arguments become much more effective when they include relevant facts, quotations, and other forms of support rather than just opinion or unsupported generalizations.
This is your opportunity to finally tell us how you got from the untested value judgment to your current, informed position, and to demonstrate how controversial topics are not as black and white as they may appear in our youth. Your personal experiences combined with your research on the topic will give you the chance to speak with credibility and authority on a topic that means a lot to you! Where as your first speech was a somewhat neutral account of your past, this speech should make an argument, and describe how you came to your current stance on the issue. Keep in mind the three features of any strong argument: claim, evidence, and counterargument.
Like your first speech, you will use a detailed outline when you deliver your speech. You must have an effective introduction, a body that develops the main points introduced in your introduction, and a conclusion that sums up your points and brings closure to your speech. There is no single way to organize this speech that will work for everybody. Some students prefer to organize the body of their speech into two main sections, one focusing on experiences and the other focusing on research. Others have organized their speeches chronologically—from childhood to the present, inserting the research where it fits in chronological order. And the balance of experiences to research will differ from person to person since some people have more direct experience with their topics than others. Every successful speech will include responsible research that supports the student’s claims. Bring two copies of your outline with you on the day that you are presenting. Be sure to include a Works Cited page. Each student will also be responsible for leading a five-minute discussion following his/her speech.
The most exciting speeches are ones that go beyond the predictable and push students out of their comfort zones. Don’t be afraid to take risks and introduce your classmates to perspectives they may not have previously considered.
-My speech before was on how I was taught that taking risks can lead to greater and more opportunities.
-I need help in starting and organizing this paper like what my body paragraphs should be
-Also, I need three outside sources I looked but couldn’t really find any, maybe you can help me with some.
-Also, if you can provide any helpful things that will make my speech stand out would be great (our teacher said we could make a powerpoint).
