Presentation Skills

Assignment 4 - A Persuasive Speech

2008-02-26T09:11:00.001-08:00

CN-253 Presentation Skills
Instructor Paul Koidis
Contact: pkoidis@centennialcollege.ca

Graded Assignment # 4 (20 %)

A 3-minute speech to Persuade

Individual Assignment

Prepare a 3-minute written speech to be submitted (and NOT presented) based on a topic of YOUR CHOICE.

Deliverables:

• Written Speech (to be handed in) DOUBLE SPACED
• Apply the motivated sequence structure
• Apply all other speech writing techniques learned so far
• One page attachment companion document describing the various persuasive techniques used and explain why.

Things to keep in Mind:
PERSUASIVE SPEECH goal is to change our beliefs or actions.
It shows us YOUR opinion on a subject: Is it good/bad, right/wrong, moral/immoral, justified/unjustified, and why we should/should not do something.
• Expresses a point of view, and works to prove it
• The viewpoint should be stated directly at some point
• The audience now believes something that they did not before
• Overcoming the resistance of other ideas or previously held belief systems
• Use of logical arguments
• Use of persuasive speech structure, problem and solution
You will also be evaluated on overall effectiveness of:

• Writing for the EAR techniques
• PCI techniques
• Motivated sequence structure
• Specific Persuasion Techniques as discussed in class
• Broadening of the topic CONTEXT
• Opening
• Ending

Assignment # 3

2008-02-06T05:58:00.001-08:00

CN-253 Presentation Skills
Instructor Paul Koidis
Contact: pkoidis@centennialcollege.ca

Graded Assignment # 3 (20 %)

A 3-minute Speech to Inform

Topic: My Greatest Achievement

Individual Assignment

Prepare a 3-minute speech to inform to be presented in class. You will be speaking about YOUR life and times and YOUR greatest achievement to date.

You will be given formal in-class workshop time to develop your speech.

Speeches will be delivered next week.

Things to keep in mind:

1. Structure
2. Organizing information / Speech Structure
3. Opening and Closing Techniques
4. Writing for the Ear Techniques
5. Speaking styles and speech writing techniques
6. Confidence, Content and Connection

You will be presenting this speech, not handing it in. You are required to submit a one-page companion document (DOUBLE SPACED) which outlines:

• The Speech Topic and an explanation of why you chose this topic
• Your objective and key messages
• Your structural approach: metaphor, logical order, brain’s filing system
• Writing for the Ear techniques and why you used them where you did 0 what’s the strategy?
* You are being evaluated on the presentation and will not be evaluated on this companion document.

writing for the ear

2008-02-06T05:57:00.000-08:00

Speech Writing Techniques

STYLE: Writing for the EAR

Preamble:

So far…

• We’ve tasted what is like to give a speech:

• We’ve re-written someone else’s speech of introduction

• We’ve written an introduction speech form scratch

• We’ve looked at the general structure of speeches, techniques for opening, and closing, for organizing information etc.

Now, let’s take a closer look at various techniques for speech writing itself, STYLE

1. Alliteration

A Poetic device used to ease the injection of notions not now in their noggin.

It is the repetition of sounds at the start of two or more words to create melody, which makes the content sometimes more memorable.

An example:

Big Boys of Boston
High Hills of Hamilton
The Dead Dogs of Denver

2. Tri-Colon: The rule of THREE

Descriptive phrases, lists and adjectives are more memorable when they travel in threes.

The first two set the pace, the last one hammers the thought home.

So great is the ears retention for threes, that it alters the memory of Winston’s Churchill’s famous line

“all we have to offer is blood, sweat and tears.”

When he really said:

Blood, toil, sweat and tears

3. Imagery

Be specific, colorful and vivid…this will add memo ability to your speech. Pant a picture.

4. Anaphora

Successive sentences are begun with the same word or the same group of words.

I had a dream…

5. Balanced Phrase / Inversion of elements

A balances phrase opposes two elements (the first spoken with the pitch going up, and the second with the pitch going down.

Ask not what your country and do for you, but what you can do for your country.

We did not land on Plymouth Rock. Plymouth Rock landed on us.

6. The Rhetorical Question

A question that you are not meant to answer directly…

Used to:

• Issue a challenge
• Issue a debate
• To indicate misunderstanding
• Make an accusation

7. Hyperbole

An exaggeration used to emphasize a point – whether to weaken it or strengthen it.

If I’ve told you a thousand times, don’t exaggerate.

8. Repetition

A thematic word or phrase is repeated through a speech. Repetition is the oldest technique known for getting something into memory.

It can unify long blocks of spoken words.

Assignment #2: Meet the Candidates

2008-01-28T07:23:00.001-08:00

CN-253 Presentation Skills
Instructor Paul Koidis
Contact: pkoidis@centennialcollege.ca

Graded Assignment # 2

Meet the Candidates: A speech of Introduction (10%)

Individual Assignment (but working in pairs)

Congratulations. You have been asked by President of Centennial College to introduce X who has been asked to speak to the students, faculty and staff of School of Communications, Media and Design. The speaker will deliver a typical campaign speech designed to raise awareness, etc. The event will be televised.

Prepare a written 2-minute speech of introduction to be submitted (not presented).

Speeches will be based on information provided in official biographies supplied, and will also provide some context as to why this speaker and topic is uniquely important to Canadians.

Be sure to include information about, within the T.I.S. formula of Topic, Importance and Speaker.

1. Who
2. What
3. Where
4. When
5. Why
6. How

Things to keep in mind:

What is the goal of a speech of introduction?

• To introduce the speaker
• To generate interest
• To set the tone
• To transition from one thing to another
• To warm the audience up
• To inform the audience

Week One Lecture Notes

2005-01-17T18:08:00.000-08:00

Presentation Skills / Week One Notes:

Link to Tony Robbins speech:

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/96

Speech Structure

Preamble:

Last day, we talked informally about public speaking and presentations, including fears and strengths.

We agreed that in general terms a good public speech revolves around:

Content
Connection
Confidence

We learned three important delivery principles:

>Break the Ice
>Turn audience into stakeholders or participants
>Know your audience

Today, we will get into the specifics of public speaking in terms of form and structure.

When constructing a speech, pen to paper, where do you start?

You know the following:

The topic
The audience
The time allotted

Now, what is the first thing you need to do?

Decide what you want to achieve. Each good public speech or presentation should be strategically designed to achieve some sort of communications objective.

What is the OBJECTIVE?

Clearly define the communications objective of your talk.

State in ONE unambiguous sentence.

Then determine the type or style of speech you would like to give:

Essentially, there are 5 types/ categories of speeches:

Speech to Inform:

In essence, all speeches are to inform.
That should be the baseline
From teaching a class, to a presenting at board meeting, etc.
The facts

When my speech is over, I want my listener to know…

Speech to Stimulate:

Immediate and intensive effect
Designed to Incite passion
Reinforce and intensify already existing feelings in the listener
To motivate, before a football game, war, wedding.
Can be achieved by word choice, delivery of content, etc.

When my speech is over, I want my listener to feel…

Speech to Persuade

Expresses a point of view, and works to prove it
The viewpoint should be stated directly at some point
The audience now believes something that they did not before
Overcoming the resistance of other ideas or previously held belief systems
Use of logical arguments
Use of classic speech structure, problem and solution

When my speech is over, I want my listener to believe or think differently about…

Speech to Activate / Call to Action

Based on persuasion speech, but with an added element
The speech to activate wants people to do something,

Not the same as merely persuading
Now that you are convinced, do this…
Be specific about what you want the listener to do
Fundraising speeches are a good example
Support public TV, or call this number to donate money to support public TV
Measure the results

When my speech is over, I want my listener to do the following…

Speech to Entertain

Typically involve humour, or use the vehicle of comedy to get a message across
Ronald Reagan was a great believer in the use of humour for speeches

When my speech is over, I want my listener to feel amused, entertained, and happy about…

A Speech is not a thing. It is an Event.

When you plan a speech, you resemble a composer planning a performance.

However, speech writing or construction is not so much a science as it is an art form.

But, over the years, a certain amount of techniques and conventions have been developed to help one craft a speech.

The Structure

Opening
Body / Content
Closing

The Opening

Early on in your talk, within the first thirty seconds, your audience will be asking and answering for themselves, themselves the following questions:

Does the speaker care about me?
Does he / she cares about my situation?
Is the speaker credible?
Does the speaker have something worth saying?

Does it add value to my life?

A good speech opening lasts about 30 seconds to 1½ minutes.

Your opening should do the following things:

Get the listener’s attention
Establish your credentials and caring
Give the listener a compelling reason to be there
Smoothly introduce your topic

You can use the following techniques to accomplish this:

1. Begin with a story or illustration

Stories command attention
People like stories, they can relate to them
It builds empathy with your audience
The best stories are honest, personal and directly related to the topic
They add value

2. Establish a common bond with the audience

It says I am one of you, a common bond building technique
Connect with the life and times of the listener. Establish empathy
But make sure the connection is real, meaningless and trivial connections will not get you far

3. Pay the Audience a GENUINE compliment

Complimenting your audience a point a pride illustrates that you care enough to know why it makes them proud
You understand their values

4. Use HUMOUR to steer your audience into a topic

The effective use of homour will set your audience at ease

It must be tasteful, Relevant and Elegant

It should not override your credibility as an expert on the subject

Or USE some combination thereof.

The Body of the Speech

After the opening, you get right to the body of the speech.

A good speech will, at this point, will include the main thesis point or main statement.

This is the NUB of the speech.

This is what I am going to talk about.

This is the purpose.

A good thesis statement does three things.

Sets the Expectation of style: informative, persuasive, funny etc.

Sets the Tone of your talk. Light. Heavy. Enthusiastic.

Contains a hint, suggestion, or plants a seed of where is this going?

A good speech is based on just a few MAIN ideas.

But now you need to understand how to organize your ideas.

There are many ways and models to go about this.

A SPEECH TO INFORM:

Structure Options:

1. Format the speech to fit the brain’s filing system

TIME – when things happen
SPACE – where things happen
CAUSE and EFFECT – how things happen

2. Format you speech into LOGICAL parts that you chose in descending / ascending.

Start with MOST important to least important, in order.

3. The EXTENDED Metaphor

It can be a powerful technique, because it allows you explain a large amount of information without having to go into all of the details.

If it is a good metaphor, the listeners will fill in the details on their own.

Links your ideas to already known concepts, ideas or experiences.

Be careful in choosing your metaphor. It can backfire.

The Body:

Why do we use support material?

To explain, illustrate, expand upon, prove, support, etc.

Supporting you MAIN ideas with:

>Facts

>Illustrations

>Examples

>Expert Testimony

>Metaphor / Imagery

> Analogy

Connecting Ideas:

Transition Statements: A benchmark of where you are and where you are going.

This is a street sign.

The Closing

Bring the audience back to the beginning. Let them see the connections. Bookends.

FOUR ways to end a speech

1. End with a good, brief and relevant story that illustrates your point

2. End with a quotation or ringing phrase

3. End with an example of your theme

4. Summarize your main ideas