Building a Speech
Overall Objectives:
• Students will develop an outline for their speech, using the outline format that is appropriate for their type of speech (Monroe’s Motivated Sequence, Regular outline, etc).
o For their speech or paper, students will write an outline consisting of up to four points deep.
o Student will classify examples from persuasive speeches into the correct step of Monroe’s Motivated Sequence. Student will use Monroe’s Motivated Sequence to write their own persuasive call to action speech.
• The students will write effective attention getting methods and incorporate them into the introductions of their speeches.
• The students will list at least four attention getting methods from those discussed in class.
• Students will develop a main purpose/thesis statement for their speeches.
• Students will write a forecasting statement for their speech.
• Students will select three main points to support their specific purpose statements.
• In small groups, students will take turns judging what would be the best central idea and main points for a topic given by the teacher. Students will also identify the organizational patterns (i.e. chronological, topical, spatial, cause-and-effect, problem-and-solution) as well practice previewing a central idea and main points.
• The students will be able to identify the various conclusion methods.
• Students will write their own rough draft conclusion for their speeches.
Standards Met: 1.8, 1.9, 1.10, 2.11, 2.13, 2.15, 3.14, 3.15, 4.9, 5.4, 5.8, 10.11, 10.12, 10.13, 10.14, and 10.15
Unit Placement: This unit would actually be part of a larger unit that would include topic selection, research methods, (this unit), source citations, delivery, and actual speaking. This unit is designed to be easily modified for any type of speech that you want your students to perform (informative, entertainment, persuasive, etc). This unit is designed for a beginning level speech class, but could be adapted to meet the skill level of any group of students.
Day One: Organizational Structures
Objective: Students will develop an outline for their speech, using the outline format that is appropriate for their type of speech (Monroe’s Motivated Sequence, Regular outline, etc).
Materials: You will need the appropriate materials for whichever organizational pattern activity you are teaching. Two are included here.
Steps:
1. Decide which organizational pattern you will be teaching. This will vary based on what type of speech you want your students to write. Since this is probably the first serious speech you are working on, you may want to use the basic outlining format. However, you could also use this unit for persuasive speaking, and you could teach Monroe’s Motivated Sequence, which is included here as well.
2. Complete either the “Outlining” or “Monroe’s Motivated Sequence” activity with the students. Lecture notes are included within the activities.
3. Instruct the students to map out a rough outline of their speech for homework. They will need to bring these outlines to class with them on Day 2.
Outlining
(Based on the activity by Melissa Hruby)
Objective:
For their speech or paper, students will write an outline consisting of up to four points deep.
Materials:
Students need to bring a topic idea for their speeches.
Teacher will assist lesson plan with the help of the website Developing an Outline – The OWL at Purdue
Steps:
1. First, the teacher will explain why an outline is an important step one should take when writing a paper or speech.
It is the backbone or skeleton of the speech. It lays out everything that will be said within the speech without the details; that just need to be popped in with some transitions and the speech is complete. Outlines will help to save the student time and energy.
2. The teacher will then pull up the hyperlink to the Owl website and walk the students through the page given on outlines.
3. Ask the students if there are any questions.
4. If the students seem confused, or seem to not fully pick up on how to develop an outline, there is a link within the Owl website that provides a Sample Outline. Click on that link, and walk the students through the Sample Outline.
Result:
Ask students to create an outline for their selected topic they brought to class for the remainder of the class time. Let them know the outline is expected to be four points deep, which was explained when we looked at the Owl website. They must be able to turn these outlines in at the end of the period; they will be graded and checked.
Topic: Monroe’s Motivated Sequence
Objective: Student will classify examples from persuasive speeches into the correct step of Monroe’s Motivated Sequence. Student will use Monroe’s Motivated Sequence to write their own persuasive call to action speech.
Materials: PowerPoint Presentation on Monroe’s Motivated Sequence, Cards with examples from each step from various speeches, MMS Worksheet, Gym if it is available
Steps:
1. This activity will come at the beginning of a unit on persuasive speaking. You will need to introduce and explain Monroe’s Motivated Sequence pattern of organization for persuasive speeches. Monroe’s is a method of organizing persuasive speeches that seek immediate action. The five steps of the motivated sequence are attention, need, satisfaction, visualization, and action.
2. Ask the students for ideas about topics that might call for immediate action. Choose one of these topics and use it as the illustration for explaining the sequence as you go through the PowerPoint presentation.
3. Use the PowerPoint presentation to explain the steps of the Sequence: attention, need, satisfaction, visualization, and action.
• The Attention Step: The first thing to do is gain the attention of the audience. To gain favorable attention, you might use one or more of the following methods, which are similar to the attention getting methods you use in informative speeches.
• Relating to the audience
• Showing the importance of the topic
• Making a startling statement
• Arousing curiosity or suspense
• Using a quotation that is relevant to your topic
• Telling a humorous anecdote
• Telling a dramatic story
• Posing a question (maybe a rhetorical question)
• Using visual aids for illustration
• The Need Step: After you have gotten your audience’s attention, you need to convince them that something needs to be changed. In this step, you show the problems with the current situation. You will also need to demonstrate how the need directly affects your audience (their health, happiness, security or interests). Before you move to the next step the audience should be concerned about the problem and ready to hear about your proposed solution. In the need step, you should include the following steps:
➢ Statement: Offer a clear statement of the need. State the central idea or claim and phrase it in more than one way to make the point clear.
➢ Illustration: Present at least one specific instance or illustration to give the listeners an idea of the problem’s importance or significance.
➢ Ramification: Clarify your statement of need and justify the concern that you are expressing. Add more examples, statistics, testimony from experts, and other forms of support to drive your analysis forward.
➢ Pointing: Impress the issue’s seriousness, scope, and significance to your listeners. Tie it to their health, happiness or other interests.
The need should be stated clearly and illustrated with strong, credible supporting materials, such as the following:
• Detailed examples with illustrate the need
• Statistical data, but don’t overwhelm us with statistics!
• Testimonials or other forms of support to show the extent of the need
• The Satisfaction Step: After you have established a sense of need, you satisfy this need by providing a solution to the problem. This is the step where you present your plan or solution and show your audience how and why it will work. The satisfaction step should include the following parts:
➢ Statement: Briefly state the attitude, belief, or action you wish the audience to adopt
➢ Explanation: Make your statement understood by the audience. Charts and diagrams are often useful to explain the plan clearly.
➢ Theoretical demonstration: Show how this belief or action logically solves the problem established in the need step.
➢ Workability: Present examples showing that his solution has worked in the past or that this belief has been supported by experience. Use facts, figures, and testimony from experts to support your claims about the workability of the idea.
➢ Meeting objections: Address any possible objections that may be raised.
This step should make the audience wonder how this will work for them and what it will do for them. You might use the following methods:
• Briefly state the action or change you wish your audience to make
• Concisely and completely explain your plan
• Demonstrate how this plan will solve the problem
• Give examples showing that this plan has worked effectively and is a practical solution
• Use facts, figures, and the testimony of experts to support your claim.
• The Visualization Step: Now that the audience knows what your plan is, you will help to intensify their desire for it by helping them to visualize your plan. You want to help your audience look into the future and see the potential benefits of your plan. In this step, use vivid imagery to show how your audience will benefit if your plan is implemented. You may use one of the following methods, but whichever one you choose, you must be sure that the visualization step is realistic and that what you describe is attainable.
• The Positive Method: Describe the situation as it will be if your plan is implemented and carried out.
• The Negative Method: Describe the negative situation that will occur if your plan is not carried out. From the need step, select the most unpleasant aspects of the current situation and discuss how they will continue and worsen if your idea is rejected.
• The Contrast Method: Combine the positive and negative approaches. Use the negative method first to show the bad effects if the audience does not follow your plan, then use the positive method to show the benefits of doing as you recommend.
• The Action Step: The purpose of the action step is to translate the desire created in the visualization step into overt action. This is the step where you will make a call to action. Tell your audience what you want them to do TODAY, and then tell them how they can do it. Don’t make the action step too long or involved. Make it easy for them to take immediate action in one of the following ways:
• A challenge or appeal
• An illustration
• A quotation
• A statement of your personal intentions
• A summary is usually expected by your audience
4. After having completed the PowerPoint, tell the students that you are going to play a game. If the gym of your school is available, you might consider going there to play this game; otherwise use your room.
5. Establish five places in your room or the gym. Label them as the attention, need, satisfaction, visualization, action areas.
6. Draw a card and have the students move to the area of the room that they think the step fits into.
7. Continue the game until the students seem to understand how things fit into the steps.
8. Assign students to think of a topic that calls for immediate action. They will be working with this to write a call to action persuasive speech.
Results: Students will understand how to use Monroe’s Motivated Sequence to develop a call to action speech. They will begin working on writing a persuasive speech using this model. If you want to assign homework, or if you have time in the period, you can hand out this sample outline and have students fill it in. A good example to build off of can be found here: http://www.roch.edu/people/lhalverson/motivated.htm.Another good resource for information on Monroe’s Motivated Sequence: http://faculty.ncu.edu.jm/salazar/Monooes.pdf
Day Two: Attention Getting Methods
Objective: The students will write effective attention getting methods and incorporate them into the introductions of their speeches. The students will also list at least four attention getting methods from those discussed in class.
Materials: Speech topic, outlines from Day 1.
Steps:
1. Call the class to attention. Use one of the attention getting methods to introduce the topic. You might tell a short story about a speaker that didn’t get your attention, or you might ask a question or pose a challenge. It is up to you! Tell them that today you will be talking about the introduction of their speeches. Explain that there are many important things that go in the introduction, but today you are going to talk about attention getters.
2. Ask the students what you did to get their attention. Answers will vary based on what option you chose. Ask the students if this method was effective and if they wanted to pay attention.
3. Discuss the different types of attention getters. Following are some of the most common, but these can be developed and there are variations of each:
• Tell a story or anecdote: You might explain what led you to your topic. What interests you is likely to interest your audience too. Personal stories work well, as do stories or events from the news that you can draw comparisons with your topic.
• Begin with a startling statement: An abrupt statement that is contrary to what is happening around you will get attention because it is so distinct. Even though it can easily be overused, shock value can be an effective tool.
• Pose a question: When a question is asked, it is hard not to automatically think about an answer to the issue the question has raised. You can ask a dialectical question where you expect a response, like what happens in class, but most speeches before an audience often use rhetorical questions, which don’t require an audible answer.
• Pose a challenge: Even though an audience may not like it if you have different views on a topic than they do, posing a challenge can help to earn their attention and respect if you have sufficient support to back up your argument.
• Explore an analogy or draw comparisons to something else: Sometimes this indirect approach is very effective. An analogy serves to immediately gain your audience’s attention while gradually leading them to the point of your talk.
• Introduce a quotation: This is another attention getter that can be effective if it is not overused. Quotations are useful if they are relevant and can give credibility to your position, especially if they are from a well known figure. Try to avoid using dictionary definitions, they are overused and detract from your speech.
• Interject some humor: If you have something to say that is relevant to your topic and genuinely funny, then say it. However, if it is offensive or contrived, don’t do it! Humor is easy to overdo, and it isn’t fun to listen to someone who thinks they are funny when they really aren’t. A good rule of thumb is to remember to laugh at yourself, and then you won’t be offending someone else!
4. Let the students brainstorm ideas of what methods of attention getters they might use in their speeches. List their speech topics on the board and discuss what attention getting methods might be appropriate for each topic. For instance, if you are talking about a very serious subject, joking about it may not be appropriate.
5. Suggest different speech topics and let student volunteers come up with a short attention getter to share with the class. These might include things like “student uniforms” with a startling statement, “younger siblings” with an analogy, or “capital punishment” with a quotation or definition. Use this for a couple of minutes to give the students practice.
6. Give the students a few minutes to write two different attention getting introductions for their own topics and speeches.
7. Have each student share their attention getters with a partner, then work together to choose the best one.
8. Ask each student to share his or her attention getting method with another partner.
9. Instruct each student to take out a piece of paper and write his or her name on it. Tell the students to list as many attention getting methods as they can. They will need to list at least four in order to earn full points.
10. Collect the quizzes and tell the students that their homework assignment is to write an attention getter of each type for their speech.
Results: At the end of this assignment, students should know the different methods of attention getters and should be able to incorporate them into their speeches. They will write an attention getter of each type for their speech and then select the best one for use.
Homework: Write an attention getter of each type for your speech. Bring them to class on Day 3 with the one that you feel is the best circled.
Day Three: Specific Purpose/Thesis Statements
Objective: Students will develop a main purpose/thesis statement for their speeches.
Materials: Students will need the outline they developed on Day 1, as well as their attention getters from Day 2. You will need one note card for each student in the classroom and highlighted sections of three famous speeches for the teacher to read aloud to the class.
Steps:
1. Review attention getting methods with the students. Ask the students to hand in their attention getters that they completed for homework.
2. Explain that another important part of the introduction is the specific purpose or thesis statement. This is the part of the introduction that tells what your speech is going to be about.
3. Complete the “What’s the Point” activity.
4. Instruct the students to write the specific purpose statement of their speech on the top of their outline. Tell them that for homework, they will need to brainstorm ideas about main points for their speeches.
What’s the Point?
(Adapted from the activity by Heather Shotkoski)
Determining the Purpose behind Your Speech
Topic: Specific Purpose Statements
Objective: During this 50 minute lesson, the students will develop specific purpose statements for famous speeches, as well as for topics that are either a persuasive, informative, or entertainment speech. The students will write their purpose statements on note cards and share their ideas with their groups. Students will develop a specific purpose statement for their current speech.
Materials: One note card for each student in the classroom and highlighted sections of three famous speeches for the teacher to read aloud to the class.
Steps:
1. Begin by preparing three snippets of famous/familiar speeches to read to students. There should be at least one persuasive speech, one informative speech, and one entertaining speech among your snippets. Some examples of each included: “I Have a Dream,” by Martin Luther King, Jr. (persuasive), a clean and school appropriate piece of comedy (entertaining), and a presidential State of the Union address (informative). Have these ready before the start of class.
2. Read the first selection (no particular order is necessary) aloud to the students. Then, ask them to think about the speech. What was the reason that this person gave this speech? What sort of affect did they want to have? After about a minute, ask students for a few responses and write them on the board in a single column, leaving space at the top for a category name to be written in later, as well as space for two more columns. Try to spend around five minutes on each speech.
3. Do the same thing with the other two speeches.
4. After finishing with each of the three speeches, talk to the students briefly about and entertainment speeches. They should already have an understanding of each type of speech, so this will be a recap. Ask the students which column on the board is persuasive, which is informative, and which is entertaining. As they answer, write the correct answer in the extra space left above each column.
5. Then, discuss purpose statements. Tell them that there are general and specific purpose statements for every type of speech, as their answers on the board illustrate. Focus more on specific statements, as this is what they have already begun to work on by giving the answers on the board. A specific purpose statement tells what the speech is about, why the speaker has chosen to talk about it, and what affect they expect to have on their audience.
6. Next, divide students into groups of three by numbering them off. If the class number is not even to divide by three, have some groups of four. When the students are in their groups, give each student one note card and number them off again, 1-3, within their group. Each group will now have a 1, 2, and 3. If there happens to be four people, randomly pick a number between 1-3 for the fourth member.
7. Ask the 1s in each group to write a purpose statement on their note card for a persuasive speech about going to the polls and voting. Make sure they do not focus on a single party, but simply just voting in general.
8. Ask the 2s in each group to write a purpose statement on their note card for an informative speech about pollution.
9. Ask the 3s in each group to write a purpose statement on their note card for an entertainment speech about a funny situation that is clean and appropriate for high school students. For example, it could be something funny that a younger sibling did.
10. When finished, each student will share their statement with their group and receive feedback. Does this statement establish a specific purpose? Does it explain why the speech will be given?
11. Next, have students regroup. All of the 1s will form a new group, as will the 2s and 3s. If the class is big, have two or more groups for each number. It is ideal to keep groups smaller so that each student has the opportunity to participate.
12. Have students read their statements to their groups again and give feedback. This time, they will all have purpose statements for the same type of speech, so they will be able to see how and why other people view the speech as important to give.
13. When the groups have had a few minutes to talk amongst themselves, give students an assignment to come up with their own idea for a persuasive, informative, or entertainment speech and to develop a specific purpose statement for the speech for the next class period.
Results: After completing this lesson, students should have a good understanding of what a specific purpose statement is. Understanding why they want to give a speech will help them in the development of their speeches. Students will write a specific purpose statement for their speech and work to develop main points.
Day Four: Developing Main Points and Forecasting Statements
Objective: Students will write a forecasting statement for their speech. They will select three main points to support their specific purpose statements.
Materials: Students will need their outlines, their specific purpose statements, and ideas for main points for their speeches. You will also need a list of possible speech topics (i.e. Adult Illiteracy, being an organ donor, The Electoral College, Funding of health-care research, great blues guitarists, high adventure theme parks, history of the motion picture).
Steps:
1. Briefly revisit the specific purpose statements. Have students share their specific purpose statements with their partners.
2. As a class, discuss main points of a speech. What should these points do? (reinforce the idea that is presented in the specific purpose statement)
3. Explain that the final function of the introduction is to preview what you are going to talk about in the body of your speech. This preview is called a forecasting statement. Today, the students will be working to develop forecasting statements for their speeches.
4. Complete the “You Be the Judge Activity.”
5. After completing the activity, give students a few minutes to work with their partners to develop main points for their specific purpose statements.
6. For homework, tell students that they need to come up with three ideas for main points for their speech. Explain that these points may change as they do their research for their speech, but that having a rough idea will help them in the long run.
7. The students will need to fill in these main points on their outlines and bring them to class on day five.
8. They will also need to write a forecasting statement for their speech.
You be the Judge
(Adapted from the activity by Jessica Gilbertson)
TOPIC: Preview or Forecast Central Ideas
OBJECTIVE: In small groups, students will take turns judging what would be the best central idea and main points for a topic given by the teacher. Students will also identify the organizational patterns (i.e. chronological, topical, spatial, cause-and-effect, problem-and-solution) as well practice previewing a central idea and main points.
Materials: A list of possible speech topics (i.e. Adult Illiteracy, being an organ donor, The Electoral College, Funding of health-care research, great blues guitarists, high adventure theme parks, history of the motion picture).
Steps:
1. Divide the classroom into small groups and give each group a number.
2. Group #1 will be judging the remaining groups and deciding which group has come up with the best or most logical central idea and main points.
3. Read a topic to the class (i.e. Adult Illiteracy).
4. The competing groups should be allowed 3-5 minutes to decide what organizational pattern they believe works best for the given topic and then list a central idea and two to four main points. When finished brainstorming, one student will present what they’ve come up with.
5. Group #1 should take no more than 2 minutes to determine which team they choose to win the round.
6. Rotate groups.
7. Example Topic: Adult Illiteracy. Central Idea: Adult Illiteracy affects everyone. Main Points: Adult Illiteracy is widespread in American today, Adult Illiterates often live in poverty, and Adult illiteracy is costly to society. Organization Pattern: Cause-and-Effect.
Results: Students should now be able to determine what organizational patterns works the best for their future individual speeches.
Day Five: Conclusions
Objective: The students will be able to identify the various conclusion methods. They will write their own rough draft conclusion for their speeches.
Materials: Outlines created in Day 1, Forecasting and specific purpose statements, materials for “Conclusion Jeopardy” activity.
Steps:
1. Explain to students that the conclusion is similar to the introduction in that it summarizes the main points that are discussed in the speech. In a way, it uses the forecasting statement to say what has been said. The conclusion should also reinforce the specific purpose of the speech.
2. Play the “Conclusion Jeopardy” game.
3. Instruct the students to choose three of the methods discussed and write a conclusion for their speech using each of those methods. Explain that the conclusion will probably change once they have written the main body of their speech, but like having the main points in place, it is easier to work with a rough draft.
4. Tell the students that next week you will be discussing research methods and beginning more work on the body of their speeches.
Conclusion Jeopardy!
(Adapted from the activity by Heather Shotkoski)
What is a…conclusion method, Alex?
Topic: Conclusion Methods
Objective: The students will be able to identify the various conclusion methods and effectively apply them to their own speeches by the end of this lesson.
Materials: Power point presentation with conclusions or selections of conclusions made by teacher before beginning of class time, extra examples not included in the power point, dry erase markers, erasers, and small marker boards, depending on class size, and bags of hard candy in accordance with school policy.
Steps:
1. Before class begins, prepare a power point with selections of conclusions or short conclusions. They can be from famous speeches, newspapers, past speeches that students have given, or simply just the imagination. Make sure there is plenty of each type: summary, quoting someone, personal reference, call to action, offering of a utopian vision, anecdote, and rhetorical question. More or less types can be used according to the teacher’s preference. Have each conclusion on a different slide, in a simple and easy to read layout and design. Make sure it is ready to go before beginning class.
2. At the beginning of class, ask students to think of different ways that a person can end a speech. Write examples on the board that students are willing to give.
3. Next, start discussing the various methods they might use. If some of the examples are on the board, begin with them, as they are more familiar to the students. Spend a little more time explaining those that they may not have given examples for, such as offering a utopian vision. Give an example that is not used in the power point, or ask students to think of examples for each type on their own.
4. After spending some time talking about the different types, divide the classroom into two teams by numbering them off.
5. Members from each team will take turns going up to the board to compete against a member of the other team. All students are required to participate. When the students at the board are ready, click to show the next conclusion. The first student to read it and write what type it is wins points for his/her team. The points are determined as follows:
– 100 points for rhetorical question and quotation conclusions
– 200 points for summary, personal reference, and anecdote conclusions
– 300 points for call to action and offering a utopian vision conclusions
If the classroom is not equipped to project the power point so that students can easily see it, the teacher should just read the conclusions aloud. In this case, students may not begin writing their answer until the teacher is done reading. If they begin too soon, they are disqualified for the round and the remaining student still has a chance to answer the question. If neither student at the board gets the conclusion method correct, both sit down. The next set of students will be given a different conclusion after the teacher states the correct answer.
In the case that the class is too big to divide into just two teams, have the groups sit together and give each group a dry erase marker and small marker board. As the conclusion is either shown or read, the groups can discuss with each other and the designated writer will write the group’s answer on the marker board. After giving about 30 seconds to come up with an answer, have each group raise up their board for all to see. Groups with the correct answer get points, while those with incorrect answers do not.
6. Quit the game when either questions or time are up. Allow the winners to take some candies if school rules do not prohibit them. If candy is prohibited, reward each of them with five bonus points instead. For homework, ask the students to look for the different types of conclusions in newspapers, magazines, and/or on the internet. Have them bring their findings to class the next day.
Final Unit Results: At the end of the unit, students will have completed a rough outline of their speeches, developed a specific purpose and a forecasting statement, as well as three main points for their speech, and they will have a rough draft of both their introduction and conclusion. The next step in the process is to teach research methods and to allow the students time to work to develop their main points. Eventually, students will present their speeches to the class.
Elissa Martin
Summer 2007