Week 2 Assignment – Creating an Effective Speech

Learning Objectives Covered

• LO 02.02 – Explain and apply the functions, factors of credibility, and strategies for catching audience attention in an introduction
• LO 02.03 – Identify and use a variety of transition words to create effective transitions within a speech
• LO 02.05 – Explain and apply the three steps of an effective conclusion

Career Relevancy

The art of persuasion can be used in many different aspects of your life. You don’t necessarily have to be having a full debate with someone, you just simply have to have an opinion about a particular matter and try to express why your idea is the best. You use persuasion when it comes to jobs or where to live. Persuasion can be used with something as simple as a vacation day outfit choice to where to have lunch catered from at your next work event. Knowing how to effectively express your views to an audience, convince others of the productiveness of your plan, and carrying through a persuasive speech can be excellent skills to know when it comes to your future career.

Background

Author Justin Chase writes,

Presentation skills are important at some level in every career. Think of it this way. Every job requires you to create value, and you need to be able to present that value in some meaningful fashion. Of course, if you’re a financial analyst you will be expected to provide a formal presentation at some point, whether to your boss or a prospective client. But other jobs also require presentations. Teachers need to present and communicate ideas effectively, artists must showcase their work with some form of presentation, and so on. To even get a job you must be able to present well, by answering formal questions or highlighting your credentials through your resume.

Brett Fox, CEO of Touchstone Semiconductor, also writes about this issue:

Presentation skills are critical to your career growth. Do you want to get a job? Then you better have good presentation skills because a job interview is a presentation. Okay, great. You have a job…

Do you want to get to a higher level? You’d better have good presentation skills because you’re likely going to be presenting your ideas to your peers. Let’s back up…

Do you want to graduate from college? You’re going to have to present your projects regardless of the major you select. Okay, you’re out of college doing really well…

Do you want to start a business? How are going to raise money without good presentation skills? The answer is you will not. You’re the CEO…

Do you want to keep your business growing? Presentation skills again are key here. You’re going to be presenting to your board, your team, and your customers.

In short, whether you are delivering a keynote speech or trying to convince your boss you deserve a raise, presentation skills will help you succeed in your career. To present a successful speech, you must first engage and “hook” your audience from the beginning. Knowing strategies like opening with a controversial statement, starting with a question, or opening with a quote can give you confidence and grab your audience from the start. Another important element in giving a speech is to establish credibility with your audience. People are more likely to listen to what you have to say if they believe your information and trust your character. One way that you can build credibility is to align yourself with the same values your audience holds and explain how you both are similar. You can also display confidence by your stance and expressions which will also build confidence from your audience. When your audience is confident in you, they are more likely to find you credible. While giving your speech, it’s important to know transition words and when and how to use them. You want to make your audience comfortable and engaged while listening to your speech and the best way to do that is to eliminate awkward pauses or mismatched topics. Transitioning between main points and using phrases like “for my next example”, “furthermore”, or “however” can be effective. Last but not least comes the conclusion where you can apply three steps to ensure your conclusion is effective: (1) Wrap up all the thoughts you’ve expressed, (2) restate your stance, and (3) explain why the information you’ve presented is important. Of course, before you can give an excellent presentation, you need to write what you plan to say.

Reference

Quora (2017) How important is presentation skills for my career? Retrieved from https://www.quora.com/How-important-is-presentatio…

Prompt

For this assignment, you will be writing a persuasive speech. The topic will be a new idea that you would need to present at work, either in your present job or in the career you will enter after you graduate. Choose carefully, because what you write this week is what you will be presenting for your final project.

Step 1: Think about something you persuade others to do when you are at work. You can use what you wrote about last week, or you can choose a new topic.

Step 2: The introduction to your speech must have these components:

• Attention-getter (also known as the “hook”)
• Link to your topic
• Reasons to listen (the “why should I care?” section)
• Thesis statement

Step 3: The body of your speech must have these components:

• At least three main points. This is a good place to have the problem, cause, and solution. Alternatively, you could give three comparisons.
• Research to support the main points. You need to use information from at least two sources. Make sure to include appropriate citations.
• Transitions that connect your main points.

Step 4: The conclusion of your speech must have these components:

• Restatement of the thesis
• Review of the main points
• Concluding device

The length is determined by your speaking speed. Read your speech out loud and time yourself. The speech needs to be 3-5 minutes long. You will need to write a minimum of 400 words of text for your speech. When you are finished, submit your paper below.

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