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Chapter 18
SPEAKING ON SPECIAL OCCASIONS
A common form of public speaking includes a variety of short speeches that provide an
integrative function in organizational settings. One way to give students practice in special
occasion speaking is to require or allow (non-graded or for extra credit) these speeches on a
regular basis throughout the term. Discuss how such speeches serve to integrate the class to the
classroom culture or to the culture of the larger institution.
Chapter Goals
At the end of this chapter, your students should be able to:
•
Create introduction and farewell speeches
•
Make announcements
•
Give award and nomination speeches
•
Create commemorative speeches
•
Understand the role of special occasion speaking in creating and maintaining cultures
Chapter Outline
I.
Introductions provide information about people.
A.
Introduce a newcomer to an established group.
1.
Provide her or his name and job title.
2.
Provide relevant details about background and personal characteristics.
3.
Welcome the newcomer to the group.
B.
Introduce a guest speaker.
1.
Greet and/or welcome the group.
2.
Make a statement about the occasion.
3.
Announce the speaker’s name and topic.
4.
Provide relevant information about the speaker’s background and personal
characteristics.
5.
Be prepared to follow the speech with a few remarks that provide closure.
II.
Say farewell as one who leaves or as one who stays behind.
A.
Say good-bye when leaving a group.
1.
Remind people what they’ve meant to you personally.
2.
Share lessons you’ve learned from them.
3.
Tell humorous stories that will be happy memories.
4.
Express sadness but hope for the future and invite them to keep in touch.
5.
Encourage them to continue to uphold the organization’s mission and values.
6.
Invite people to write or visit you in new location.
B.
Say good-bye to a person for a group.
1.
Recognize ways the person benefited the group.
2.
Note memorable positive personal traits.
3.
Tell funny stories.
4.
Express personal sadness and the group’s sense of loss.
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5.
Wish the person well.
6.
When appropriate, present a going-away gift.
III.
Give an announcement to keep informed and motivated to attend.
A.
Draw attention to the event.
B.
Provide details like who, what, when, where.
C.
Give cost and benefits of attending.
D.
End with a summary of important information.
IV.
Nominations are short speeches that introduce your candidate to the group and present
brief arguments explaining why he or she should be elected.
A.
Name the office and tell its importance to the organization as a whole.
B.
List the reasons the candidate is right for the office.
C.
You may want to use the statement of reasons pattern or the criteria satisfaction
pattern.
V.
Present an award at rituals that express a group’s common values.
A.
Name the award and describe its significance.
B.
Summarize the reasons this individual was chosen as recipient.
C.
Say how appropriate the award is for the recipient.
D.
Express good wishes to the person.
E.
Remember that some cultures hesitate to single out individuals and praise a group
instead.
VI.
Give an acceptance speech.
A.
Thank those who gave the honor.
B.
Acknowledge others who supported you along the way.
C.
Personalize how special it is.
D.
Express appreciation for the honor.
VII.
Tributes highlight and reinforce important cultural beliefs, values, and behaviors.
A.
Indicate why the subject is significant or worthy of the honor.
B.
Identify a few ideals the subject represents.
C.
Consider using a statement of reasons pattern.
D.
Develop each point with illustrations from the person’s life.
E.
Although not an informative speech, you probably need to include information about the
subject.
VIII.
Toasts are ritual speeches that honor a person or persons on special occasions.
A.
Make sure all participants have a drink in hand.
B.
Stand and hold your glass at waist level.
C.
Look at the honoree during the speech.
D.
At the end, raise your glass, say a ritual phase, and take a small sip.
E.
Honorees remain seated and do not drink.
F.
The speech itself should be short, but well-planned.
1.
Briefly state your relationship with the honoree.
2.
State the honoree’s name at the beginning and end of the speech.
3.
Give reminiscences that show your goodwill for the guest of honor.
4.
Be brief.
5.
End with sincere best wishes.
IX.
A eulogy is possibly the most difficult type of speech to give.
A.
Ask the family if there is something you should (or should not) say.
B.
Draw from your memories to identify positive things about the deceased.
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C.
Humor or poetry can be appropriate.
D.
The wave pattern works well.
E.
Lines from poetry or lyrics often work well.
F.
Don’t worry about showing emotion during delivery.
G.
Be brief; ten minutes or less is usually best.
X.
Commemorative speeches inspire or reinforce beliefs and values and can often be
entertaining.
A.
Build the speech around a theme.
B.
Inspire listeners.
C.
Pay special attention to language.
D.
When appropriate, use humor.
E.
Be relatively brief.
XI.
Speeches to inspire take place in many settings.
A.
The exemplum pattern has five elements.
1.
State a quotation or proverb.
2.
Identify and explain the author or source of the proverb or the quotation.
3.
Rephrase the proverb in your own words.
4.
Tell a story that illustrates the quotation or proverb.
5.
Apply the quotation or proverb to the audience.
Suggested Videos
Eulogy by Cher (available on www.americanrhetoric.com) Actress and singer Cher eulogizes her
former husband, Sonny Bono.
Inaugural Address by John F. Kennedy. An audio and video version is available on
www.americanrehtoric.com
Critical Thinking Exercises
(See p. 260 of the textbook for Critical Thinking Exercises)
Application Exercises
(See p. 260 of the textbook for Application Exercises)
Internet Activities
You can access instructor’s resources at http://www.cengage.com/us/. You will need your instructor’s
access code. Students and instructors may also go to MindTap to find a broad range of resources that
will help students better understand the material in the chapter, complete assignments, and succeed
on tests. MindTap also features speech videos with critical viewing questions, speech outlines, and
transcripts.