General 2214 Informative Speaking Notes
Speaking Confidently Building Speaker Confidence
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Know how you react to stress.
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Know your strengths and weaknesses.
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Know speech principles.
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Know that it looks worse from the inside.
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Know your speech.
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Believe in your topic.
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View speech making positively.
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Visualize success.
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Project confidence.
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Test your message.
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Practice.
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Learn from experience.
The Speechmaking Process Includes:
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Understand the assignment.
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Develop your speech content.
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Organize your speech.
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Word your speech.
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Practice your speech.
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Deliver your speech.
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Evaluate your speech.
When Brainstorming, Remember…
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Anything goes!
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Only quantity not quality!
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No evaluation!
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Don’t worry “WE WON’T LIKE IT!”
Characteristics of a Good Topic
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Do I really care about this topic?
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Importance to the speaker
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Matters
to you!
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Value for listeners?
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Interest?
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Gains
and holds the audience’s interest
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Appropriateness -- Does the topic satisfy the
assignment/engagement?
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Manageable within the time available
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For audience and occasion and assignment
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Can I develop responsible knowledge on this topic?
Analyze your topic…Then Select.
Remember to consider:
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Who
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What
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Where
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When
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Why
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How
Understand your Purpose
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General Function/Purpose
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“To
Inform”
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“To
Persuade”
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“To
Entertain”
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Specific Purpose – “spells out what you want your
listeners to understand, believe, feel or do.” (it is you general function +
your topic)
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“To
inform my audience about hiking trails in Shenandoah National Park”
Add Thesis Statement and Preview
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The
thesis condenses your message into a single declarative sentence.
Combined with:
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The
preview that signals the main points that will be developed in the speech.
Researching Your Topic
Assess Your Personal Knowledge
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Article file
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Quotation file
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Speech file
Develop Your Research Plan
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What information do I need?
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Where am I likely to find it?
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How do I obtain it?
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What about time constraints?
Research the Topic Carefully
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Take Accurate Notes When Researching
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Record Complete Source Citations
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Credit Source of Ideas
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When in Doubt, Cite Source
Collect Your
Information
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Magazines and journals
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Newspapers
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Government documents
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Books
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Internet
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Careful of Billy Bob Joe’s Website
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Use data bases! The library is a great tool
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Reference works
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Television and radio
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Interviews
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Calling, writing, e-mailing for info
Evaluate the Information
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Source
of statistical information provided?
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Are
dates of information provided within the document? Is the information recent?
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When
was the document last updated?
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Is
the information liked to other sources
you can check?
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Is
a bibliography provided?
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How
does this compare with other information in the field?
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Are
differing points of view presented?
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Is
there more sizzle than substance in the document?
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Are
the spelling and grammar correct?
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Is
the writing clear or obscure?
Evaluate the Source
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Author identified?
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Is the URL or email address provided?
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Is the source an authority on the subject?
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Are the credentials of the source specified?
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Is there a professional affiliation? Occupation?
Educational Background?
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Can I verify the credentials of the source?
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Check
the home page.
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Run
a search with the author’s name or organization in quotation marks.
Use Quality Supports
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Variety
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Golden Rule:
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Fact (statistic or
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Story/Example
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Testimony
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State sources!
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Who
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Where
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When
Record Your Information
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What to record
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How to record information
Conclude Your Search
“If the last 10 percent of your
planned research time has brought excellent results, you are doubtless on a
productive new track and should extend the project. But if the last 25 percent of your
scheduled time has brought greatly diminished results, this fact is a signal to
wind up your research.”
Characteristics of Main Ideas
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Taken together, the main ideas of the speech should
be characterized by:
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Simplicity
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Discreteness
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Parallel Structure
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Balance
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Coherence
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Completeness
Identify Main Ideas
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What
does it mean
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How
to describe it?
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What
are the facts?
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What
are the reasons?
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How
often does it occur
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What
is my view?
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What
are the parts?
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What
is the reasoning?
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Which
Ones?
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How
will it happen?
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Who
is involved?
Questions to also ask:
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What
are some examples?
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Why
is it strange?
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What
are the objections?
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Compared
to what?
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What
is the effect of this?
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Any
stories to tell?
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How
often?
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What
is preventing it?
Informative Speeches Help
Listeners….well, listen!
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Use clear order
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Effective organizational pattern
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Use connectives
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Previews
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Transitions
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Internal Previews and Summaries
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Summaries
Purposes of Informative Speeches
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Impart knowledge
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Enhance understanding
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Facilitate application of information
Topic Categories for Informative Speeches
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People
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Objects
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Places
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Events
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Processes
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Concepts
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Conditions
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Issues
Speaking to Inform
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Stress informative purpose.
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Be specific.
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Be clear.
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Be accurate.
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Limit ideas and support.
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Be relevant.
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Be objective.
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Use appropriate organization.
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Use appropriate forms of support.
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Use effective delivery.
Outlining
Your Speech
An Outline. . .
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Tests the scope of
content.
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Tests the logical
relations of the speech.
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Tests the relevance of
supporting ideas.
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Checks the balance of the
speech.
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Serves as notes during
delivery.
Principles of Outlining
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Singularity
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Consistency
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Adequacy
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Uniformity
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Parallelism
Visual Brainstorming Stages of Outlining
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Working Outline
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Formal Outline
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Speaking Outline
Structure and Connectives
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Use signposts
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1st, 2nd, 3rd
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To
begin…
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Language
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Inclusive
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Avoid racist/sexist language
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Us, we, our
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Metaphors
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Green light
Conclusions
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Brakelight to
show you’re
ending.
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Summarize in
the same order
you covered the
materials.
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Tie back to us.
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with a
“memorable end.”