That two weeks off from blogging was nice...but back to it!
The speech buddies are back for another rousing round of videos that elaborate on the chapter reading assignment. Woot! They gave some advice for building strong introductions and conclusions into your speeches. Once again, I am able to relate this to essay writing, where hooking your reader at the beginning and leaving them with something to think about are absolutely key. Looking at it from an essay enthusiast's point of view, this ins't really new information, but I agree that well done introductions and conclusions are important to teach. Having evaluated many, many student essays in the past, I can't tell you how boring it is to read fifty essays on the topic of whether or not Othello was a tragic hero, and essentially be reading the same essay over and over again due to the entire class mundanely repeating the teacher's lectures. And it is just as boring to listen to an entire class give their speeches on topics that they don't care about and haven't put any effort into.
Introductions are your first opportunity to show off your creativity, understanding, and enthusiasm for the topic at hand. Take advantage son. Let the audience know what you are talking about and why it's freaking amazing. Because this speech is going to change their life, right? Right.
Your conclusion is where you wrap everything up with pretty paper and top it off with a nice bow. Don't leave anything hanging, and never, under any circumstances, present new data in your conclusion. Just like your hook in the beginning, leave the audience with something with which they will remember you, and that will also keep them thinking about what you have said.
One thing I really like about this class is that I get to write, which I really like to do. What I don't like is that I have to stand up in front of everyone and speak. Have a great introduction helps alleviate some of the nerves, especially if I have it well practiced. In the same way it is boring to read all of the essays you spoke about, it is almost more painful to sit through a speech that is clearly going to be boring based on the introduction. Writing the introductions to the 2 speeches we have done so far has been my favorite part of speech writing. I like the challenge of being creative and coming up with an attention getter. I love your conclusion/ wrapping paper presentation analogy. Good point about not introducing new data. That is a sure fire way to ruin your speech by confusing and annoying your audience with new information just when they thought they were done listening to you! The conclusion should make everything you said memorable, as well as let everyone know you are done. You're a great writer by the way!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that an introduction and the conclusion are here to show off your creativity and not be the same old speech everyone has heard. I think that when you make the speech your own thats when it really draws people in. I think that having a good introduction will really draw in your audience and basically pave the way for the rest of your speech. That is the best part of being able to pick out your own topics, because you usually pick out something you know about so when preparing your speech make it your own!!
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoy reading your posts and I very much appreciate that you are a good writer. I couldn't agree more on the whole boring thing. There is nothing worse! weather a written paper or a presented speech, there is no torture worse than something which is poorly put together or in which the author/presenter has no interest or enthusiasm. As you, and the text, have stated, the introduction and conclusion are everything. they will make or break what ever you are doing. The introduction will determine how well your audience is going to listen to you and absorb what you are saying and your conclusion will determine to wast extent of an impact you leave with them. Are you memorable or forgettable? I also like how you made note of never introducing new information in the conclusion. This is a very important aspect. The audience has prepared mentally for the closure of the speech and are awaiting your finalization. If there is new information thrown in there, everyone is going to be jarred and your speech will surely be forgettable. Great job on another fantastic blog.
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