Tribute Speech Assignment

CMS 111H Tribute speech assignment

There are times when you will be called upon to give a speech that is focused on praising a person, place, or concept. These speeches are more likely to be developed based on strong language and emotional appeals. Because they are so different, it is useful to have some experience with this genre.

For this speech, you will select a historical civil rights figure, event, or concept and develop a speech that praises the person/event/concept.

Due date: Saturday, December 3

Specifics:

 Time limit: 4-5 minutes  Topic submission: I would prefer to avoid topic repetition. For this reason, you will submit your topic via Facebook (a discussion thread will be opened for each speech).  Be creative when choosing your speech topics. Keep your audience’s background and interests in mind. Of course, you should also choose topics that interest you. The more creative you are with your topic (and the development of the presentation), the more interesting the presentation will be.  Audience: Assume a general audience—your actual classmates. When planning, researching, and delivering the speech, make sure that you are completely focused on the people who will be listening to the presentation. Keep in mind that for this speech, you may have random audience members stopping by during the speech.  Source requirements: There are no explicit source requirements for this speech. You should research the topic, however, and may find that citing sources within your speech would strengthen it.  Speaking date and order: These speeches will all take place during our visit at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. The speaking order will be decided on the last class day before the trip.  Make up speeches: Make up speeches will be practically impossible for this assignment. Unless you have an emergency situation, you should plan to present on the assigned date. All unapproved missed speeches will be given a grade of zero.  Speaking Center: You are required to schedule at least one appointment with the Speaking Center for this assignment. You may use that time to brainstorm, research, outline, develop, or practice the speech with a tutor. You must, however, come to the appointment with something prepared. To schedule an appointment, visit the Speaking Center web site: http://www.usm.edu/speakingcenter  General purpose: Remember that this speech is about praising the person/event/concept. Your goal should be to persuade the audience members to agree with your assessment.  Content: Although the content of the speech is largely determined by you, make sure that your audience drives the material that you choose to cover in the presentation. Make sure that the speech is interesting and motivational.  Outline: For all of your speeches, you will develop a thorough speaker’s outline. You will email a copy to me 24 hours before you speak.  Delivery style: For most of the speeches, your delivery should be extemporaneous. That means that you should avoid writing out speeches word- for-word and/or memorizing them. Instead, you will develop thorough outlines and speak based on those outlines. For this speech in particular, keep the notes to a minimum. You want to be inspirational with your delivery and that might mean trying to memorize small parts of the speech. Be dynamic with your delivery. Remember that we will be in a crowd and you’ll be competing with different noises and distractions.  Speaking notes: Keep your speaking notes to a minimum. We will talk about options here, but know that you will probably want to speak from note cards or brief notes.  You will record this presentation.

Topic examples:  Tribute to o Greensboro sit-ins o Equality o Non-violent protest o Particular civil rights figures (particularly unknown figures)

Grade information: For more specific grading information, see the posted grading sheet. Know that your speech will be assessed based on content, organization, delivery, audience adaptation, and language.