Welcome back to another week of class. At the start of each week, you will find a preview of the assigned weekly readings from our course text. This preview is designed to give you an overview of the material we will cover. Please be sure to completely read each assigned chapter since the material will be needed to answer the quizzes and to complete other graded work such as discussions and assignments.
For this week, please read:
Identify common topic categories for informative speeches.
Identify strategies for researching and supporting informative speeches.
Explain the different methods of informing.
Employ strategies for effective informative speaking, including avoiding persuasion, avoiding information overload, and engaging the audience.
Many people would rather go see an impassioned political speech or a comedic monologue than a lecture. Although informative speaking may not be the most exciting form of public speaking, it is the most common. Reports, lectures, training seminars, and demonstrations are all examples of informative speaking. That means you are more likely to give and listen to informative speeches in a variety of contexts. Some organizations, like consulting firms, and career fields, like training and development, are solely aimed at conveying information. College alumni have reported that out of many different speech skills, informative speaking is most important (Verderber, 1991). Since your exposure to informative speaking is inevitable, why not learn how to be a better producer and consumer of informative messages?
Employ audience analysis.
Determine the general purpose of a speech.
List strategies for narrowing a speech topic.
Compose an audience-centered, specific purpose statement for a speech.
Compose a thesis statement that summarizes the central idea of a speech.
There are many steps that go into the speech-making process. Many people do not approach speech preparation in an informed and systematic way, which results in many poorly planned or executed speeches that are not pleasant to sit through as an audience member and don’t reflect well on the speaker. Good speaking skills can help you stand out from the crowd in increasingly competitive environments. While a polished delivery is important and will be discussed more in Chapter 10 “Delivering a Speech”, good speaking skills must be practiced much earlier in the speech-making process.
The above image is an example of a brainstorming exercise from Chapter 9.1
