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If it helps you get in the mood, you can even throw on one of these outfits before you bust out the rubrics. (Source)
Let's be honest: you know you've fantasized about being a judge on a reality competition show. (We all have.)
Just imagine pressing the button to spin your red chair around for a mellifluous voice, telling a chef who made a deflated soufflé to please "pack your knives and go," or praising a fashion design contestant who "made it work" with a three-piece suit sewn from shower curtains.
Well, we're happy to report that now is your time to shine. You won't be on television, and you won't be sending anybody home, but in this lesson, we'll show you how to be the judge of a speech.
Using the rubric we outlined in the last lesson (and, we guess, a gavel, if you're into that sort of thing), you'll learn how to evaluate a speech's effectiveness or lack thereof.
Going point by point through the strengths and weaknesses of a given performance can help you
Become an even better super-mega-champion listener, both professionally and personally (although we don't recommend you grade your partner on this rubric the next time you get into an argument).
Hone your skills as a speaker by learning from others' mistakes and victories.
Measure your own speeches against the rubric to determine how well you're performing (perhaps with the use of a webcam, like Scott Berkun suggests). The ten categories of the rubric allow you to identify your own pros and cons, as well as gauge your general performance.
Begin your journey to becoming the next celebrity guest judge on game show, Who Wants to Be a Public Speaker? Or…not.
We'll help you discover these and other magical powers by testing out the rubric on two sample speeches.
A TALE OF TWO SPEECHES
To demonstrate the power of our rubric in action, we've applied it below to two separate speeches. Both are about global human rights issues, but from very different perspectives.
First, watch Eleanor Roosevelt (former First Lady and United States Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly) deliver a speech on the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights on television to the American public.
Follow along with the transcript below:
I'm very glad to be able to take part in this celebration in St. Louis on Human Rights Day. Ever since the Declaration of Human Rights – the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was passed in Paris in 1948 on December the tenth, we have fostered the observance of this day, not only in the United States, but throughout the world.
The object is to make people everywhere conscious of the importance of human rights and freedoms. The reason for that is that these are spoken of and emphasized in the charter of the United Nations, and the Declaration was written to elaborate the rights already mentioned in the Charter, and to emphasize also for all of us the fact that the building of human rights would be one of the foundation stones on which we would build in the world an atmosphere in which peace could grow.
For that reason, all over the world, we have encouraged the associations for the United Nations to observe a whole week before United Nations, uh, Day comes around, uh, to explain United Nations and what goes on in that organization, and when we come in celebration for human rights, we try to particularly have people study Declaration, so that they will really understand what were considered to be the most essential rights for all people to have throughout the world.
They fall in different groups, and one reason that we are now considering the writing of a covenant or covenants is because we feel that these rights should sometime be actually written into the laws of countries throughout the world, and that can be done and by the adoption of covenants and changing of laws to meet whatever a country has accepted in a covenant which will be written in treaty form.
These things must be well understood because even though in the past, you accept treaties, and countries ratify those treaties, the real changes which must give the people throughout the world their human rights must come about in the hearts of people. We must want our fellow human beings to have rights and freedoms which give them dignity, and which will give them a sense that they are human beings that can walk the Earth with their heads high and look all men in the face. If we observe these rights for ourselves and for others, I think we will find that it is easier in the world to build peace, because war destroys all human rights and freedoms. So, in fighting for those, we fight for peace.
Below, we've scored the respectable Mrs. Roosevelt's performance as if we were viewers watching her televised performance. Next to each category, we'll describe the logic for our rating to provide further insight.
For our rating system, each audience member scores the performance on a scale of 1 to 5:
1 = Strongly disagree
2 = Disagree
3 = Agree somewhat
4 = Agree
5 = Strongly agree
This former First Lady clearly knows how to deliver an outstanding oration. Her passion and knowledge shine through every word. If we could time-travel back to this television broadcast, we'd certainly tune in.
More Rubric Clues
More Rubric Clues
Next, we consider another speech about global political issues and human rights, but from a very different viewpoint. Cher, played by Alicia Silverstone, delivers a, like, totally awesome debate argument in support of Haitian refugees coming to the United States in the 1995 classic film, Clueless.
We're not trying to be way harsh (as if), but we've scored Cher from the perspective of her debate teacher, Mr. Hall (of course, as a movie character, Cher earns a perfect 5 from us).
You can also follow along with the speech's transcript here.
For our rating system, each audience member scores the performance on a scale of 1 to 5:
1 = Strongly disagree
2 = Disagree
3 = Agree somewhat
4 = Agree
5 = Strongly agree
Yeah, we're honestly not surprised that Mr. Hall gave Cher a midterm grade of "C." Actually…we think that was kind of generous.
Now that you've got two case studies to work with, you're no longer clueless—hey-o!— about how to use our rubric, and you're ready to change your audience's hearts.
Throughout this course, you've learned how to express yourself, craft a beautiful speech, deliver an excellent performance, and, last but certainly not least, truly listen. We've given you the tips, tricks, strategies, and even the rubric for public speaking. Now, it's time for you to write, practice, get behind the podium, and make us proud.
As Mary Jane Watson would say, "Go get 'em, tiger."
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