CHAPTER 15—SPEAKING TO INFORM 215
216 CHAPTER–BY–CHAPTER GUIDE TO THE ART OF PUBLIC SPEAKING
3. Show students the needs improvement version of “Lady Liberty,” which appears on the DVD
of student speeches that accompanies this edition of The Art of Public Speaking. Have students
analyze the speech by focusing on how well the speaker develops the introduction, body, and
conclusion. Students should also pay attention to the speaker’s delivery and visual aids.
Lady Liberty
Needs Improvement Version
1 I think the Statue of Liberty is a great idea for a speech. If you live in New York, like
I do, you see it all the time. The Statue of Liberty stands for America. It’s a symbol of our
country.
2 Neil Kotler calls it a monument of breathtaking proportions. You see it all the time in
movies and on TV. I just saw it yesterday on a commercial. So I thought I’d tell you about the
Statue of Liberty.
3 There’s a lot of symbolism in the statue. Here, have a look at this photo. If you could
see the feet of the statue, you’d see that there’s a bunch of broken chains around her feet, and
these chains symbolize the end of slavery and the Union’s victory in the Civil War.
4 Then there’s the torch, which is right at the top. It’s because of that torch that Emma
Lazarus, the famous poet, wrote her lines about the poor and tired masses.
5 And then there’s the statue’s crown, which has seven rays. Listen to this: One of the
Web sites I used for research said there’s one ray for each continent on earth.
6 The Statue of Liberty has a really, really interesting history, and I found some great
information in a book called The Statue of Liberty. Did you know the statue was built in
France? These two Frenchmen came up with the idea for the statue. They thought it would be
a perfect gift for the United States.
7 Construction began in 1876 and was finished several years later. Then the statue was
taken apart and shipped to New York. You can see in this photo what it was like when it was
taken apart. You can see in this painting how many people turned out for the celebration
when it finally got to New York.
8 Now, the architecture of the statue is really impressive. The exterior is made of
copper—pretty amazing. And it’s 2.4 millimeters thick—so thin. The Statue is more than
300 feet tall, if you include the pedestal. It’s out in the wind and the rain and the weather all
the time. There has to be something really strong underneath.
CHAPTER 15—SPEAKING TO INFORM 217
218 CHAPTER–BY–CHAPTER GUIDE TO THE ART OF PUBLIC SPEAKING
CHAPTER 15—SPEAKING TO INFORM 219
Visual Aids: The speaker presents his visual aids using the Web–based program Prezi.
Although Prezi can be beneficial in certain situations, it too often turns speeches in-
to what presentation expert Garr Reynolds calls “heavily decorated and animated
affairs with excessive motion that distracts from even well–researched content”
(Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery, 2nd ed.
[Berkeley, CA: New Riders, 2012], p. 11). Prezi becomes progressively distracting as
the number of visual aids in a speech increases. While the speaker has only a few
visual aids in the needs improvement version of “Lady Liberty” (far too few, as we
shall see below), one can get a sense of Prezi’s obtrusiveness by imagining all its
zooming effects with the number of visual aids used in the final version of “Lady
Liberty.” The result would be dizzying.
Apart from the speaker’s use of Prezi, the major problem with visual aids in the
needs improvement version is the fact that they are underdeveloped and poorly
thought out. This can be seen by comparing the two versions of the speech. The
needs improvement version contains eight somewhat desultory slides, while the fi-
nal version contains sixteen well–chosen and crisply–presented slides—all of which
are in keeping with the criteria for visual aids discussed in Chapter 14 of the text-
book. The speaker has rehearsed thoroughly with his slides, discusses them only
while they are being displayed on screen, and presents them in perfect coordina-
tion with his words.
The creativity of the speaker’s slides in the final version also merits discussion.
Twice in the needs improvement version he says that he wishes the audience
could visualize the point he is trying to make—first, when he talks about the chains
at the foot of the Statue of Liberty, second, when he explains the internal structure
of the statue. In the final version, he comes up with ways to make both of these
items visually present to his audience. Most impressive is his use of animation to
“build” the statue’s iron skeleton so the audience can see what would not other-
wise be visible. Overall, the visual aids in the final version do exactly what they are
supposed to do—make the speaker’s message more interesting while helping the
audience grasp it more easily and retain it longer.
4. Popular nonfiction writing often provides helpful models of informative discourse on technical
topics. Have each student select an article of interest from the medicine, science, or business
section of Time or Smithsonian. The student should prepare a brief report on the article an-
swering each of the following:
a. How effectively does the author use definition, explanation, description, comparison, con-
trast, and examples to make the subject clear and interesting to ordinary readers? Identify
two particular techniques used in the article that you might want to try in your next in-
formative speech.
b. Are there some points in the story that you don’t fully understand? If so, what infor-
mation might the author have supplied to make the points clear to you?
220 CHAPTER–BY–CHAPTER GUIDE TO THE ART OF PUBLIC SPEAKING
CHAPTER 15—SPEAKING TO INFORM 221
222
Informative Speech Self–Assessment
Your task is to review your informative speech and to reach a full, objective assessment of its
major strengths and weaknesses. Write a thoughtful evaluation of the speech in full–sentence and
paragraph form with an introduction and a conclusion.
Be specific and concrete in your comments. Note in particular the areas in which you believe
you did especially well and those areas in which you want to make special improvement in the
next speech. Explain why you had difficulty with certain aspects of this speech and indicate the
specific steps you will take to improve your next presentation.
Use the following questions to guide your self–assessment, though you do not need to answer
each question individually in your paper. Be specific and concrete in your comments.
Topic and Purpose
Was the topic appropriate for the audience and the occasion?
Did you have a clear specific purpose that you could accomplish in the allotted time?
Organization
Was the speech well organized?
Did you fulfill all the major functions of a speech introduction?
Did you fulfill all the major objectives of a speech conclusion?
Were the main points of the body clear and easy to follow?
Did you use connectives effectively?
Supporting Materials, Audience Adaptation, and Language
Did you conduct adequate research when preparing the speech?
Did you adapt your speech so it would be relevant and interesting to your audience?
Did you follow the criteria in your textbook for the effective use of supporting materials?
Did you make a conscious effort to use clear, nontechnical language?
Delivery and Visual Aids
Did you begin and end your speech without rushing?
Did you use pauses, rate, pitch, and vocal variety effectively in delivering the speech?
Did your physical action add to or detract from the speech?
Did you maintain strong eye contact throughout the speech?
If you used visual aids, were they carefully prepared and smoothly integrated into the speech?
Did you follow the guidelines in your textbook for presenting visual aids?
Overall Assessment
What were you most pleased with in the speech? What were you least pleased with?
If you had an opportunity to deliver this speech again next week, what changes would you
make? Be specific.
223
Informative Speech Preparation Worksheet
Name Section
1. What is the topic of your speech? Why is it appropriate for you?
2. Why is the topic appropriate for your audience?
3. How is your topic narrowed to conform to the time limits for the speech assignment?
4. What is your specific purpose statement?
5. Can you answer yes to all the questions on the Specific Purpose Checklist on page 85 of your
textbook? __________
6. What is your central idea?
7. Can you answer yes to all the questions on the Central Idea Checklist on page 90 of your
textbook? __________
8. What method(s) of gaining attention do you use in the introduction?
9. How do you establish your credibility in the introduction?
— over —
224
10. Write the preview statement you will use in your introduction.
11. Can you answer yes to all the questions on the Speech Introduction Checklist on page 182 of
your textbook? __________
12. What method of organization do you use in the speech?
13. State in full sentences the main points to be developed in the body of your speech.
14. Can you answer yes to all the questions on the Main Points Checklist on page 170 of your
textbook? __________
15. What steps have you taken to adapt the content of your speech so it will be clear and interest-
ing to your audience? Be specific.
16. What method(s) of reinforcing your central idea do you use in the conclusion?
17. Can you answer yes to all the questions on the Speech Conclusion Checklist on page 191 of
your textbook? __________