Speech

Looking to role models can help students improve as public speakers. Who is your speech craft role model? Who do you enjoy or look forward to listening to? You do not need to know your role model personally. Describe the person using terms and ideas from the chapter and examples from your ...

What types of "noise" most affect or distract you? Internal or external noise? Be specific. What kinds of strategies do you or can you employ to ensure focus during a presentation that is fraught with "noise?

Then comment on the responses from at least two fellow classmates. Do you agree or ...

The end of the chapter (pages 70 and 71) advises focusing on feeling as much as logic. In your opinion, how do you strike a balance, and when do you know you've crossed the line? Defend your answer using terms or ideas from the book and examples.

For full credit you should submit a response (8 ...

Topics for speech presentations can come from a variety of sources: what you already know, what you're interested in, something outside of your current sphere that comes across your path (a song, a movie, a conversation, a speech topic website, etc.). Sometimes we can manufacture topics through ...

Researchers at Project Information Literacy at the University of Washington say that 8 out of 10 students surveyed experience anxiety at having to start a research project because of information overload. Students struggle to launch projects, find topics, and narrow their scope. Do you agree with...

Chapter 6 asks whether bias is always bad or unavoidable when using support material. What do you think? Defend your answer with ideas from the chapter and examples.

Due Friday, October 10 at 11:59 pm. Your reflections + two responses to classmates.

"The great PowerPoint debate" refers to the disagreement about the usefulness of slideware. On the one hand, slideware tends to stifle discussion and critical thinking. On the other, hypercognitive audiences expect slides and require a lot of stimulation because we live in a media-centric era. ...

Goodwill is the act of demonstrating that a speaker has the audience's best interests at heart. We have been calling it "establishing community." Speakers need to establish goodwill in the introduction. What can you do in your next speech to establish goodwill? Use ideas and examples from the ...

What are some of the ways that delivery or body communication can contradict the message or spoken word of a speech? What is the impact of the contradiction? Explain your answer using ideas from the chapter and examples that illustrate your points.

Playing with form or genre can be risky because it violates audience expectations. Can you think of examples in music, film, or any other type of expression in which the creator played with form? Was the attempt successful? What made the attempt work? Explain your example, using ideas from the ...

What ceremonies, events, or celebrations have you attended where you delivered or observed a celebratory speech? What were the audience expectations for those speeches? What made the speeches successes or failures? Explain your answer with ideas from the chapter and illustrate with examples. 

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