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B. Hurricanes also affect the economy as prices climb close to all-time highs when
hurricanes hit.
1. According to economist Beth Ann Bovino, quoted in the September 29, 2005
issue of The Washington Post, gas prices skyrocket when a hurricane like Katrina,
Rita, or Ike hit.
a. Paul Davidson said, in a September 12, 2008 article in USA Today, that in
anticipation of Hurricane Ike, 12 refineries in Texas were shut down. “This is
17% of the U.S. refining capacity” he said.
b. That’s why even residents here in Lexington saw a dramatic spike in gas
prices immediately following Ike’s landfall.
2. Energy costs to heat and cool our homes also rise.
a. When we consumers have to pay more to heat and cool our homes, we also
have less to spend eating out at restaurants.
b. And we have less to spend on nonessentials at the mall.
c. So, economically we all feel the ripple effect when hurricanes hit.
Transition: So, yes, we all feel the effects of hurricanes, but we should not overlook the
dramatic ways in which people who live in the direct path of a hurricane are affected.
III. When a hurricane hits, many of these people become homeless, at least for a while, and
suffer emotionally and financially as they evacuate to places all over the country,
including Kentucky!
A. People who go through hurricanes suffer extreme emotional effects.
1. Evacuation is stressful because people have to pack up what they can and have
no way of knowing if their home will still be standing or inhabitable when they
return. (Slides 5 and 6: Before and after pictures from Hurricane Ike)
2. Even returning home is emotionally taxing because returning home means
rebuilding homes, neighborhoods, and even memories.
3. Though we try to get back to a “normal” life, it can never really be the same as it
once was. Instead, it’s what Silicon Valley venture capitalist and investor Roger
McNamee calls the “new normal” in his book: The New Normal: Great
Opportunities in a Time of Great Risk.
B. Because they have to rebuild their homes and lives, people also go through financial
difficulties.
1. People battle with insurance companies about whether a home has wind or water
damage as they seek financial assistance. (Insurance companies will often claim
that it is the one—wind or water—the homeowner is uninsured for.)
2. Price gouging is another financial challenge hurricane victims face.
a. When families and businesses begin the process of rebuilding, people come
from outside areas to help with labor and materials and will charge exorbitant
fees.
b. An example of this is when my father needed people to help remove two trees
from our home in September 2005 after Hurricane Rita.
Conclusion
I. Hurricanes affect victims who live in their direct path and the country as a whole.
II. To understand these effects, we talked about how hurricanes work, how they affect our
country and daily lives, and the impacts they have on the lives of people who live
through them.
III. Maybe knowing some of these facts will help each of us appreciate our homes and our
families just a little bit more. (Handout: Hurricane tracking charts)
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References
Associated Press. (2008, October 8). Windstorm costs insurers $550M. Newark Advocate, p.
x.
Bovino, B. A. (2005, September 29). Hurricanes impact national economy. The Washington
Post, Retrievedfrom http://washingtonpost.com/wp-
dym/content/discussion/2005/09/28/D12005092801431.html
Davidson, P. (2008, September 12). Ike blows gasoline prices higher.” USA Today, p. x.
Marshall, B., Freudenrich, C., & Lamb, R. How hurricanes work. Retrieved from
http://www.howstuffworks.com/hurricanes.htm
McNamee, R. (2004). The new normal: Great opportunities in a time of great risk. New
York: Penguin.
Rappleye, C. (2008, October 7). Hurricane strands marine mammals, damages facility for
the stranded. Beaumont Enterprise.
Evaluation Checklist
1. Was the goal of the speech clear?
2. Did the speaker have high-quality information?
3. Did the speaker use a variety of kinds of developmental material?
4. Were the visual aids appropriate and well used?
5. Did the speaker establish common ground and was the content of the speech adapted to
the audience’s interests, knowledge, and attitudes?
6. Did the speaker’s introduction gain attention, goodwill, and lead into the speech?
7. Were the speaker’s main points clear, parallel, and in meaningful, complete sentences?
8. Did the speaker’s transitions lead smoothly from one point to another?
9. Did the speaker’s conclusion tie the speech together?
10. Was the language clear?
11. Was the language vivid?
12. Was the language emphatic?
13. Did the speaker sound enthusiastic?
14. Did the speaker show sufficient vocal expressiveness?
15. Was the speaker’s presentation spontaneous?
16. Was the speaker’s presentation fluent?
17. Did the speaker look at the audience?
18. Were the speaker’s pronunciation and articulation acceptable?
19. Did the speaker have good posture?
20. Was the speaker’s movement appropriate?
21. Did the speaker have sufficient poise?
22. Evaluate the speech:
Excellent
Good
Satisfactory
Fair
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Chinese Fortune Telling
Adapted from a speech by Chung-Yan Man, Collin County Community College
1. Review the outline and adaptation plan developed by Chung-Yan Man in preparing his
speech on Chinese fortune telling.
2. Then read the transcript of Chung-Yan’s speech.
3. Use the Speech Critique Checklist from Figure 14.3 to help you evaluate this speech.
4. Write a paragraph of feedback to Chung-Yan describing the strengths of his presentation
and what he might do next time to be more effective.
Adaptation Plan
1. Key aspects of audience. The majority of listeners are not familiar with Chinese
culture and have had little exposure to Chinese mysticism.
2. Establishing and maintaining common ground. My main way of establishing
common ground will be by using personal pronouns.
3. Building and maintaining interest. Because interest is not automatic, I will provide a
variety of examples to pique audience interest.
4. Audience knowledge and sophistication. Because most of the class is not familiar
with Chinese fortune telling, I will introduce them to the three most common forms of
fortune telling. I believe that by repeating key points and by using a variety of
examples, the audience will be more likely to retain the information.
5. Building credibility. Because I am Chinese, the audience will assume that I am familiar
with the culture, and I will reinforce this as I speak.
6. Audience attitudes. The audience is likely to be curious but skeptical.
7. Adapting to audiences from different cultures and language communities.
Because most audience members come from a different culture and language
community than I do and are unfamiliar with these practices, I will be careful to describe
these techniques in everyday language.
8. Using visual aids to enhance audience understanding and memory. I will show an
overhead transparency of the palm of a hand, a transparency of a face, and samples of
the sticks used in joss stick fortune telling.
Speech Outline: Chinese Fortune Telling
General purpose: To inform.
Speech goal: I want my audience to appreciate three different kinds of Chinese fortune
telling.
Introduction
I. Do you want to know what your future will be?
II. In general, people want to know the future, because knowledge of the future means
control of the future.
III. As you know, I am from Hong Kong and I have experienced the mysterious and unique
practice of fortune telling in the traditional Chinese culture.
IV. So, today I am going to going to talk about three different forms of Chinese fortune
telling.
Body
I. One kind of Chinese fortune telling you may have heard of is palm reading.
A. Palm reading, also termed palmistry, is the process of foretelling one’s future by the
imprints and marks on the palm.
1. Palmistry is based upon the interpretation of the general characteristics of one’s
hands.
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2. Palmistry focuses on the study of lines, their patterns, and other formations and
marks that appear on the palms and fingers. (Overhead 1: Picture of palm with
heart, head, and life lines labeled.)
B. Palmistry is divided into two subfields: the palm itself and the fingers.
1. The three principle lines on your palm are heart, head, and life lines: if lines are
deep, clear, and have no interruptions, it is a sign of a smooth and successful life.
2. Fingers are also important in palm reading: length of the index and ring figure
each indicates different beliefs.
Transition: So now that you have understood the basic ideas of palm reading, let us go on
to a second kind of Chinese fortune telling, face reading.
II. The Chinese believe that the face can also be used to predict the future and fortune of
an individual.
A. Face reading is the Chinese art of predicting a person’s future and fortunes by
analyzing the different elements of his or her face. (Overhead 2: Simple line drawing
of a Chinese face.)
1. The major facial features that are used in developing the fortune are the nose,
mouth, forehead, eyebrows, and eyes.
2. The face shapes show basic constitution and attributes.
B. Balance and proportion are important in face reading, as in paintings.
Transition: The final type of Chinese fortune telling uses joss sticks—you may be least
familiar with this practice.
III. The oldest known method of fortune telling in the world is the use of fortune-telling
sticks.
A. It is to give an indication of the possibilities of the future instead of exactly what will
happen.
B. This method, which is part of religious practice, takes place in a temple.
1. A believer selects numbered sticks from a bamboo case containing 78 sticks.
2. Prayers burn joss sticks, then kneel before the main altar.
Conclusion
I. In conclusion, when people know more about Chinese fortune telling, they begin to
understand that these methods are quite scientific and, to a certain extent, accurate.
II. So, I hope what you have learned today about palmistry, face reading, and joss sticks
will give you an appreciation for Chinese culture and fortune-telling practices.
Works Cited
Bright, Maura. “Chinese Face Reading for Health Diagnosis and Self Knowledge.” 2001. The
Wholistic Research Company. 18 Oct. 2005.
http://www.wholisticresearch.com/info/artshow.php3?artid=96.
Chan, King-Man Stephen. Fortune Telling. May. 2005. Chinese University of Hong Kong. 15
Oct. 2005. http://www.se.cuhk.edu.hk/~palm/chinese/fortune/.
“Fortune Telling.” Chinese Customs. 2003. British Born Chinese. 17 Oct. 2005.
http://www.britishbornchinese.org.uk/pages/culture/customs/fortunetelling.html.
“Most Popular.” Wong Tai Sin Temple. 18 Oct. 2005. Hong Kong Tourism Board. 18 Oct.
2005. http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/touring/popular/ta_popu_wong.jhtml.
“What is Palmistry?” 2004. Palmistry. 16 Oct. 2005.
http://www.findyourfate.com/palmistry/palmistry.htm.
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Evaluation Checklist
1. Was the goal of the speech clear?
2. Did the speaker have high-quality information?
3. Did the speaker use a variety of kinds of developmental material?
4. Were the visual aids appropriate and well used?
5. Did the speaker establish common ground and was the content of the speech adapted to
the audience’s interests, knowledge, and attitudes?
6. Did the speaker’s introduction gain attention, goodwill, and lead into the speech?
7. Were the speaker’s main points clear, parallel, and in meaningful, complete sentences?
8. Did the speaker’s transitions lead smoothly from one point to another?
9. Did the speaker’s conclusion tie the speech together?
10. Was the language clear?
11. Was the language vivid?
12. Was the language emphatic?
13. Did the speaker sound enthusiastic?
14. Did the speaker show sufficient vocal expressiveness?
15. Was the speaker’s presentation spontaneous?
16. Was the speaker’s presentation fluent?
17. Did the speaker look at the audience?
18. Were the speaker’s pronunciation and articulation acceptable?
19. Did the speaker have good posture?
20. Was the speaker’s movement appropriate?
21. Did the speaker have sufficient poise?
22. Evaluate the speech:
Excellent
Good
Satisfactory
Fair
Chapter Activities
15.1: Vocal Conditioning
Purpose: To bring to a conscious level the various voice factors affect meaning
Time: 15 minutes
Process: Divide class into small groups. Each group should take turns reciting the
following exercises. As you make your way around the room throughout these
practice sessions, you can critique the student deliveries somewhat, but also
be alert for especially good performances. You can pull aside these students
and have them recite their pieces for the rest of the class. Tape recording
could be used as a feedback device.
1. For increased pitch range, read the following out loud, stretching the voice
from high to low, with reasonable variation:
You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the
people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all
of the time.
2. For volume variety, read the following sentence out loud five times, each
time stressing a different word in the sentence:
When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
3. For rate variation, read the following sentence out loud twice, first reading
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the first half quickly and the second half slowly, and then reading the first
half slowly and the second half quickly:
He who laughs first laughs loudest, but he who laughs last,
laughs best.
4. Try to incorporate pitch, volume, and rate variation into the following
selection.
You ask, “What is your whim?” One can answer in one word:
victory—victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory,
however long and hard the road may be; for without victory
there is not survival.
Variation
Ask students to exaggerate their performances to emphasize a wide range of
different possible delivery options. Then ask them to go back and attempt a
more appropriate interpretation.
15.2: Vocal Variety
Purpose: To give students practice using vocal variety in their speaking
Time: 30 minutes
Process: Divide the class into pairs and instruct each pair to write the following words
on strips of paper, one word per strip. Students should then fold each strip in
half so that the word is inside. Then they should mix all of the strips together
in a manila envelope. Here are the words: anger, love, happiness, joy,
excitement, fear, sadness, anxiety, disgust, serenity.
Students should then take turns drawing one of the folded strips from the
envelope. Ask each person to communicate the feeling she or he drew by
saying the alphabet (or counting), using variation of voice (changes in pitch,
rate, volume, and intensity).
After each person’s attempt to communicate the emotion, his or her partner
will try to identify the emotion. The students in each partnership should take
turns until each had tried communicating all the emotions.
15.3: Articulation
Purpose: To practice articulating more clearly
Time: 10 minutes
Process: Have students pick a page from their textbook or from another text of their
choice. They will be reading and performing the following drills simultaneously
as a group. It may get loud as everyone performs the drills, but that is fine,
as it serves the purpose to decrease student inhibitions. Each drill should last
one minute.
• Enunciation drill: Tell students to read a passage from the page they
selected very slowly, hitting all of the hard consonants (g, t, k, d, p, b, r, y,
and so on) and over-enunciating every syllable. Then have them slowly
increase their speed. Then ask them to read the same passage normally
and ask them if they notice any difference in delivery
• Pencil drill: Tell the students to hold a pencil in their teeth and read
from their text. This naturally forces the mouth to over-compensate and
increase enunciation
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• Tongue twister drill: Hand out a few tongue twisters and have students
read them at high speed. Many are freely available online at
http://www.uebersetzung.at/twister/en.htm.
• Open mouth drill: Have students open their mouths to a very
exaggerated degree while they read. (Let them know that this will look and
feel silly.) Now have them repeat the passage speaking normally.
15.4: Impromptu Speaking
Purpose: To give students further practice in preparing short speeches with minimal
preparation time
Time: 40 minutes
Process: Create a list of topics (or, alternatively, provocative quotations). Write each
topic on a strip of paper, one topic per strip, and put the strips into a manila
envelope. Ask for a student volunteer to draw two topics from the envelope,
select one, and take three minutes to prepare a three-minute speech. Just
before the first person starts speaking, have a second person draw two
topics. This second person, and each subsequent speaker, also has three
minutes to prepare a three-minute speech and does so while the previous
speaker is giving his or her speech. At the end of five speeches, have the
class discuss what they considered the strengths of each speech in terms of
delivery and organization.
Variation
Rather than you creating a list of topics, ask student pairs to brainstorm
possible impromptu speech topics. This method has the potential to generate
more current or class-specific topics, and may also increase the comfort level
of students.
Journal Assignments
A. Practicing Your Speech
Follow the steps in your textbook on how to rehearse your speech (pp 397–400). After you
are done with your first practice session, reflect on your experience. Was your speech a lot
longer or shorter than you expected it to be? Now listen to or watch your tape while you
look through your complete outline. Did you leave out any important points? Did you talk
too long on any one point? Were your note cards helpful? What do you notice about your
delivery, pitch, rate of speech, and so on, that you would like to keep? What would you like
to improve?
B. Accents
What stereotypes are associated with various accents within the United States? Why? How
could an accent affect speech presentation? Have you ever been judged because of your
accent? Is there a “standard” speaking style that would appeal to all U.S. English speakers?
Why or why not?
C. Communication Apprehension
Make a list of all the fears you have related to speech presentation. Order them on a
continuum from least feared to most feared. Decide which fears are preventable and
describe how they could be prevented. For the unpreventable fears, decide what you will do
it they occur.
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What Would You Do?
A Question of Ethics
Nalini sighed loudly as the club members of Toastmasters International took their seats. It
was her first time meeting with the public speaking group, and she didn’t want to be there,
but her mom had insisted that she join the club in the hopes that it would help Nalini
transfer from her community college to the state university. It wasn’t that the idea of public
speaking scared Nalini. She had already spent time in front of an audience as the lead
singer of the defunct emo band Deathstar. To Nalini’s mind, public speaking was just
another type of performance, like singing or acting, albeit a stuffy form better suited to
middle-aged men and women than people her age, a sentiment that explained why she
wanted to be elsewhere at the moment.
After the club leader called the meeting to order, he asked each of the new members to
stand, introduce themselves, and give a brief speech describing their background,
aspirations, and reasons for joining the club. “Spare me,” Nalini muttered loud enough for
those next to her to hear. The club leader then called on a young woman to Nalini’s left,
who rose and began to speak about her dream of becoming a lawyer and doing public
advocacy work for the poor. After the young woman sat down, the club members applauded
politely. Nalini whistled and clapped loudly and kept on clapping after the others had
stopped.
The club leader, somewhat taken aback, called on Nalini next. She rose from her seat
and introduced herself as the secret love child of a former president and a famous actress.
Nalini then strung together a series of other fantastic lies about her past and her ambitions.
She concluded her speech by saying that she had joined the club in the hopes that she
could learn how to hypnotize audiences into obeying her commands. After Nalini sat, a few
of the club members applauded quietly, while others cast glances at each other and the club
leader.
1. Is mocking behavior in a formal public speaking setting, either by an audience member
or a speaker, an ethical matter? Explain your answer.
2. What ethical obligations does an audience member have to a speaker? What about a
speaker to his or her audience?
PopComm!
Political Comedy and the Credibility of Our Leaders
What was your impression of vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin when she said, “I can
see Russia from my house” in response to a question about her foreign policy credentials?
Did her statement help convince you that—wait, hold on a minute. Did Palin really say that?
No! Comedian Tina Fey said it when she imitated Palin on Saturday Night Live in 2008.
What Palin actually said was “[Y]ou can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from
an island in Alaska” (. But within 48 hours after Fey’s impression was posted to the Web, 5
million people had watched it, and over a year later, what many people remember about
Palin is Fey’s unflattering impression of her.
Does biting political comedy like the kind featured on Saturday Night Live, The Daily
Show, and The Colbert Report undermine the credibility of our political leaders? If so, is that
OK? Mocking political figures for entertainment has been going on since at least the time of
the ancient Greek playwrights, and most likely for centuries before. What’s new today is
that, increasingly, this type of entertainment is spilling into the serious commentary we
receive about political figures. Today many people include the “fake news” provided by
entertainment programs in their overall consumption of news. Not only that, blogs and
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mainstream news sources such as The Huffington Post, The New York Times, and MSNBC
comment on and air the really popular comedy bits, such as snippets of Daily Show
interviews, Amy Poehler’s SNL imitation of Hillary Clinton, and Will Ferrell’s impressions of
George W. Bush. As a result, in addition to getting unbiased news about political figures
from mainstream sources, many people also see mocking portrayals.
How does the ridiculing of political figures affect our opinions? Citing a study by Jody
Baumgartner and Jonathan S. Morris of East Carolina University where participants watched
episodes of The Daily Show, The Washington Post’s Richard Morin wrote, “The results
showed that the participants rated both [2004 presidential] candidates more negatively
after watching Stewart’s program. Participants also expressed less trust in the electoral
system and more cynical views of the news media.” But on the blog MyDD, Matt Stoller
interpreted the same study differently: “This is a woefully misleading representation of the
study . . . [T]he authors of the study concluded that we don’t know what the effect of The
Daily Show is on voting patterns. They mused that it could be positive, or it could be
negative”. Jessica Clark of the newsmagazine In These Times argues that the fact that
politically humorous TV shows decrease our trust is not necessarily a bad thing—skepticism
is a sane response to the problems in the media and in politics, and it encourages
explorations of authenticity.
Furthermore, political leaders can use satirical TV shows to enhance their credibility. For
example, candidates John McCain and Barack Obama both appeared on Saturday Night Live
during the 2008 presidential race. John McCain was able to poke fun at Obama’s prime-time
infomercial with a sketch of his own, selling plates on the QVC network that commemorated
town hall meetings between him and Obama—which were blank, because the meetings
never happened. McCain’s appearance increased his likeability. Even Obama remarked,
“John McCain was funny yesterday . . . [T]hat’s part of what our politics should be about,
being able to laugh at each other, but also laugh at ourselves”.
Sources:
Associated Press. (2008, December 17). “I can see Russia from my house!” Brisbane Times.
Retrieved from
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/articles/2008/12/16/1229189584297.html; Associated
Press Strategic Planning. (2008, June). A New Model for News Studying the Deep Structure
of Young-Adult News Consumption pp 5, 45; retrieved from
http://www.ap.org/newmodel.pdf; Bentley, J. (2008, November 2). McCain “fine gold” and
a special guest on Saturday Night Live. CBS News.com. Retrieved from
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/11/02/politics/fromtheroad/entry4563297.shtml;
Clark, J. (2006, August 4). In politics, comedy is central. In These Times. Retrieved from
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/2745; The Daily Show: Journalism, satire, or just
laughs? (2008, May 8). PewResearch.org (Pew Research Center, Project for Excellence in
Journalism). Retrieved from http://pewresearch.org/pubs/829/the-daily-show-journalism-
satire-or-just-laughs; Gay, V. (2008, November 3). McCain’s poignant appearance on
Saturday Night Live. Newsday. Retrieved from InfoTrac; Hinckley, D. (2008, October 7).
Saturday Night Live is buzzworthy again, thanks to Tina Fey as Sarah Palin. New York Daily
News. Retrieved from http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2008/10/07/2008-10–
07_saturday_night_live_is_buzzworthy_again_.html; Morin, R. (2006, June 23). Jon
Stewart, enemy of democracy? Washington Post. Retrieved from
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2006/06/22/AR2006062201474.html.
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Experiential Assignments
Articulation Practice
The goal of this activity is to practice articulating difficult word combinations. Go to
www.jimpowell.com/ArticulationEx.htm to find a list sentences that are difficult to articulate.
Practice saying each of these sentences until you can do so without error.
Controlling Nervousness
Interview one or two people who give frequent speeches (such as a minister, a politician, a
lawyer, a businessperson, or a teacher). Ask what is likely to make them more or less
nervous about giving the speech. Find out how they cope with their nervousness. Write a
short paragraph summarizing what you have learned from the interviews. Then identify the
behaviors used by those people that you believe might work for you.
Evaluating Speaker Vocal and Body Action Behaviors
Attend a public speech event on campus or in your community. Watch and evaluate the
speaker’s use of vocal characteristics (voice and articulation), body action (facial
expressions, gestures, movement, poise, and posture), animation, spontaneity, and eye
contact. Which vocal or body action behaviors stood out and why? How did the speaker’s
use of voice, body actions, animation, spontaneity, and eye contact contribute to or detract
from the speaker’s message? What three things could the speaker have done to improve the
delivery of the speech?
Communication Apprehension (handout)
Make a list of all the fears you have related to speech presentation. Order them on a
continuum from least feared to most feared. Decide which fears are preventable and
describe how they could be prevented. For the unpreventable fears, decide what you will do
if they occur.
COMM5 Instructor Manual Chapter 15
Experiential Assignment Handouts
Communication Apprehension
Make a list of all the fears you have related to speech presentation. Order them on a continuum from least feared to
most feared. Decide which fears are preventable and describe how they could be prevented. For the unpreventable
fears, decide what you will do if they occur.
Fear
Preventable?
Unpreventable?