Let's move to Ch. 2. Like an essay, a speech has a beginning, middle and end. The beginning or introduction should (1) get the audience's attention, (2) state your thesis and (3) preview how you will develop your ideas.
One way to get your audience's attention may be an interesting or funny story of something that happened to you related to the topic. I am going to organize a speech and show a possible example. The second part, the thesis, should not be a topic statement as emphasized by Zarefsky.
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For example, you don't start a speech with "I am going to talk about RC cars." That is too general of a statement and in my opinion a waste of words. Your thesis could be "RC cars is a fun hobby because it relieves stress and you can make friends with the same hobby" for example. To further add to the RC car example, one could give a preview by stating what they are in case someone doesn't know and use stories on how people or the speaker have been able to relieve stress and make more pals. (The preview of how you develop your speech may be omitted if it's a one-point speech. What that is will be talked about next blog)
The body is the largest portion of the speech; it develops your thesis statement and offers whatever proof you need to support your claims. It is good to have a variety of supporting material such as experiences, narratives (stories), data and opinions because different cultures emphasize different ones.
Now, how do we organize the "evidence"? Do we possibly want narratives before data? Or vice versa? The goals is to get a good "flow" for the speech. This may take some time to get it down pat. Finally, the conclusion has two main function (1) to draw together the ideas in a speech so that they are memorable and (2) to give a strong note of finality. Eventually, this format will become natural to you.
More interesting blogs to come! I will write about speech preparation and more ways to present well as written by Zarefsky.
Image from: https://www.walmart.com/ip/FMT-9118-Remote-Control-Truck-1-12-Scale-RC-Cars-Electric-Off-Road-2-4Ghz-2WD-High-Speed-28-KMH-Racing-RC-Toy-Car-Color-Yellow/383778831
For example, you don't start a speech with "I am going to talk about RC cars." That is too general of a statement and in my opinion a waste of words. Your thesis could be "RC cars is a fun hobby because it relieves stress and you can make friends with the same hobby" for example. To further add to the RC car example, one could give a preview by stating what they are in case someone doesn't know and use stories on how people or the speaker have been able to relieve stress and make more pals. (The preview of how you develop your speech may be omitted if it's a one-point speech. What that is will be talked about next blog)
The body is the largest portion of the speech; it develops your thesis statement and offers whatever proof you need to support your claims. It is good to have a variety of supporting material such as experiences, narratives (stories), data and opinions because different cultures emphasize different ones.
Now, how do we organize the "evidence"? Do we possibly want narratives before data? Or vice versa? The goals is to get a good "flow" for the speech. This may take some time to get it down pat. Finally, the conclusion has two main function (1) to draw together the ideas in a speech so that they are memorable and (2) to give a strong note of finality. Eventually, this format will become natural to you.
More interesting blogs to come! I will write about speech preparation and more ways to present well as written by Zarefsky.
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