How-To Speech
Overview
Prepare a 4-6 minute speech demonstrating a process (how to do something or how to make something).
When choosing your topic, consider your time frame, your personal skills and abilities, and your audience. You may decide to only demonstrate part of a process in order to adjust to the time limits (e.g., how to putt instead of how to golf, or how to shoot a free throw instead of how to play basketball). If showing only a portion of the process, it would be wise to bring in an example of the "finished product" for your audience to see (e.g. a video showing a clip of a game and how defense fits in, or a finished example of a cake or other cooking dish).
This speech requires a visual aid. Remember all of the different types of visual aids so that you might use more creativity. You can show charts or graphs that show the popularity of your topic, images that show various ways to make it, videos or cartoons that show it in use, etc. In addition to your props, PowerPoint slides that show lists of ingredients, charts, and other images are helpful.
You must use at least 2 sources for this speech. They can include interviews, cookbooks, websites where you found tidbits and stats.
The trick to this speech is preparing "speaking time" during the spaces in your process that might be tedious. For instance, notice how they offer interesting info related to the audience on cooking shows or sports shows. You need to come up with something to say, for example, when you are stirring a mix. This is one reason you will need to practice with your visual aids: how will you know how much speaking time to prepare if you haven’t practiced with the visual aids. Practice will also ensure that you are comfortable using the visual aids and that you fall within the appropriate time limits.
This speech requires a high degree of creativity, so really take some chances with it and give it some thought.
And, of course, the disclaimer: your topic (props, etc) must be appropriate for school. Please speak to me if there are any concerns (especially before you bring the concerning item to school)
FYI
Possible Topics
Feeling stumped? Browse through this (very long) list to get some ideas!
Health
- How to do infant CPR/make a drowning rescue
- How to treat heat stroke
- How to do the Heimlich maneuver
- How to treat a small wound
- How to deliver first aid for bleeding
- How to care for a shin splint
- How to help someone having a seizure
- How to floss your teeth
- How to relieve a headache without med
- Proper oral hygiene
- Read a nutrition label
- How to deal with an EKG
- Maintain healthy weight
Sports
- Baseball – hitting/block start/pitch/pass rush
- Saddle a horse
- Pick perfect running shoe
Music
- How to line dance/salsa
- How to play the clarinet/guitar
- How to write a love song (guitar)
- Play piano/tambourine
Hobbies/Entertainment
- How to play chess/spades
- How to watch T.V.
- How to watch a soap opera
- How to build a model airplane
- How to build paper airplanes
- How to scrapbook
- How to do a card trick
- How to give a massage
- How to deliver a punch line
- How to take a better picture
- How to race a sports car
- How to tie on a fishing hook
- How to bargain shop
- How to act
- How to catch a wave
- How to read a palm
- How to do a shoelace trick
Travel
- How to plan a road trip
- How to survive airport security
- How to fly comfortably
- How to visit seattle (insert city here...)
Food
- How to cook cookies/taco dip/chocolate covered pretzels/a chicken dish/ make a Caesar salad/make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich/banana bread/flan/ramen noodles
- Make the perfect pot of coffee
- Make iced tea
- How to eat pasta
- Make lasagna/brownies/homemade salsa
- How to make a hurricane
- How to barbeque
- How to eat an oreo cookie
Home
- How to do feng shui
- How to make a bird feeder/plant a bulb
- How to braid hair
- How to build a hammock
- How to do laundry
- How to fold laundry/pack
- Make a shirt
- Give a pedicure
- Better grocery shopping
- Gift wrapping
- How to use chopsticks
Holidays
- How to put together a valentine’s day gift
- How to carve a pumpkin
Career
- How to dress for success/tie a tie/dress for an interview
- How to invest in mutual funds
- How to interview well
- How to do a place setting
- How to fix a watch
- Serve at a restaurant
- How to make a big mac
- How to vaccinate a dog
Everyday Things
- How to speak Creole/write Kanji
- How to get rid of a telemarketer
- How to put on lotion
- How to defend yourself
- How to drive a manual shift
- How to shave
- How to effectively wash your hands
- How to care for your skin
Car/Auto/Bike
- Change oil/a bike tire/watch battery
- How to fix a flat tire
Relationships
- How to accept a bad gift
- How to break up with someone/ruin a relationship
- How to be romantic
- How to lie effectively (be careful with this one...)
Sports
- How to play golf (golf swing) /tennis (forehand)/ volleyball (spike a ball) / lacrosse/ roller hockey/ basketball (do a lay-up)/ pole vault/swim (freestyle)
- How to surf/scuba dive/put on scuba equipment
- How to do a pirouette/do ballet/do yoga
- How to fence (discuss props with me)
- How to put on a grip/do a deck change
- How to do a squat/lose weight/work out
- How to stretch
- How to do an abdominal routine
- How to buy a surfboard