COMM 111

Major
Assignments

Self Introduction
Speech

Visual Aid

Current Issue Speech

Persuasive Speech

Ceremonial Speeches

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The first speech you will do in this course is a Speech of Introduction. You have only 4-5 minutes to give the audience a sense of who you are, so you will need to limit what you say. This speech should show the audience your uniqueness. Take this opportunity to show us some of your positive qualities. Your speech should center around a theme that shows us the real you. We suggest you consider the following questions to come up with your theme, and remember this is a speech about you so be sure to focus on what this tells us about you. (Adapted from Osborn & Osborn, 1994.)

• How were you affected by your environment?
• Did a special person have a major impact on your life? If so, how?
• Were you shaped by some unusual experience?
• Does some activity give meaning and purpose to your life? How?
• Is the work you do in some way reflective of who you are?
• Are your goals or purpose in life important determinants of your character?
• Can you best be described in terms of your values?
• What does your choice of major say about you?
• What career will your major lead to and why do you want that career?
• Can you use an analogy to describe your personality characteristics?

Once you have narrowed your theme, arrange the ideas (no more than 2 or 3) for the body of your speech in an orderly fashion. Then develop an attention arousing introduction and a conclusion which pulls your ideas together. Put this all together in a proper outline, and practice it to see how long it takes. If it goes over the time limit, then go back and edit until it fits the time allotted. Once you have a clear outline and know what you intend to say, make key-word notecards and practice, practice, practice.

(See Evaluation Form in your workbook)

Speech: Your speech needs to meet the basic requirements found on the Evaluation Form to earn a "C" grade. This is the form your instructor will use to grade your speech. To earn a "B" or "A", see the Criteria for Grading Speeches.

Outline: You need to turn in 2 copies of your outline on the day you speak. Your outline must be typed, free of spelling and grammar errors, and properly formatted.