find at least two credible sources
do not use blogs, editorials, or opinion pages
you may need more than two sources to meet the time limit
cite your sources in the simple manner
include a couple visual aids for interest's sake
time limit: 2:30 - 3:00 minutes
click here for the evaluation of Quirky #2
What constitutes as a separate source?
Finding the same article on two different sources will NOT count. What do I mean? If the story comes from the AP or Reuters, they might be worded exactly the same way because it’s a pool story—that is not a different source then.
Finding two different articles on the same site IS OKAY. Be sure though, the articles are different—meaning, it is not worded exactly the same way—it’s probably a follow-up article, etc. That will count as a separate source.
Combining topics
do not pick a sporting event unless something newsworthy happened at it
Look for a common thread in two stories. Examples:
example: you find a story about an elephant escaping the zoo and another story about a different animal having issues in the zoo, that will work; or, for the second article, you find one about elephants, but it has nothing to do with the zoo, that'll work too
more examples: two different incidents of elderly people stepping on the accelerator instead of the breaks; two different stories of kidnappings from parks; two different stories about clowns; two different stories about animal cruelty, etc.
if doing it that way, you then make the connections in the body of your speech between the separate events
You attention getters should cover the common theme in your articles, and not refer directly to one (because your speech is about two different events)
consider the common thread in your articles -- that is how you create an attention getter
example:
article 1: kindergarten teacher bites her student
article 2: a mummy is found in the janitor's closet behind a hidden wall
attention getter should refer to weird stories about schools (it should not be about biting or mummies), and you'd need to follow the rule of 3