Chapter 3: Preparing for Your First Speech
Scenario
Where Do I Begin?
“Watch out! You just about ran me over, Ellis. Don’t you know that reading and walking at the same time can be dangerous for your health–or mine? You were totally focused on whatever that is you’re reading. What is it? The latest stats for the NFL draft? Or maybe some juicy gossip in the latest edition of Campus Connection?”
“Sorry, Kym, I didn’t see you. No, actually I was thinking about running for student government, but I can see now that I was delusional. I just picked up a copy of the requirements, and apparently all candidates have to give a speech in the quad next week, introducing themselves and outlining three ideas they have to improve campus life. I wouldn’t know where to start.”
“I think you’d make a great officer, Ellis. You’re smart, and you’d give it your all. What’s the holdup? Afraid of speaking in public?”
“Well, there’s some of that, but really it’s more about the issues we’re supposed to address. We only have five minutes each to speak, and I have no idea how to choose the issues from the hundreds of improvements we need around here or how to narrow it all down to a five-minute presentation. Plus, I’m supposed to turn in an outline of my planned speech to the faculty advisor two days before the presentation. I still have nightmares about the thirty-page research paper I had to do in Simpson’s history class! Seriously though, you’re just overwhelmed. You need to take it one step at a time. Figure out the issues you care about most and then decide how many details you can give for each.”
“Yeah, but how do I actually do that? Make a list or something?”
“Sure, it’s called brainstorming. Make a list of every issue you can think of, and then choose four or five that you think are most important and focus on those. Once you’ve narrowed the list down to the ones you want to discuss, do a little research and figure out what it is you want to say about each. You’d have to time yourself, so you know how much you can include in the five minutes allotted to you. Then you can decide what to leave in and what you have to leave out.” “Yeah, but what about that outline?”
“I’d be glad to help you with the outline. It’s really just a skeleton of the speech you plan to give–you know, the bones of the speech. Then you add in a few examples, maybe a funny story, and voila–you’ve got a speech. And look at the bright side–there’s no grade for this one!” “You do make it seem less intimidating by breaking it down into manageable chunks. I guess I’ll give it a try, as long as you promise to respect my fear of red ink and go easy on the critique.”
“No red ink, I promise. Besides, your biggest worry isn’t a grade on an outline. In case you’ve forgotten, you’ve still got to face all those students in the quad. You’re on your own there!”
Introduction
You probably have a first speech coming up soon, and we understand that you may feel some uncertainty–maybe even a bit of intimidation–at