Defining information:
Identifying the essential qualities and meaning of something
You can define information by the following:
Give an example in which you define something using each of the five methods above.
According to the textbook, in addition to defining information, you can communicate
information in three other ways. Identify and
briefly explain each.
Describe information:
Provide an array of details that paint a mental picture of your topic
List the four types of informative speeches, and give specific examples of each.
Speech of definition
What are the four different learning styles as described in the text?
Visual learners
How can informative speeches be arranged?
ACTIVITIES
What Holds Your Attention? (also for online courses)
Purpose: To introduce informative speaking and get students to think about interesting
informative speeches.
Instructions: When you think about informative speeches or presentations, it’s a good idea to
reflect on situations in which you were absorbed by material being presented to you. Ask
students to think of four or five times this has happened to them, and write down what the
speaker did that was good, and why they think they were so absorbed by the speech. Specifically,
identify what the speaker did to promote interest, understanding, and remembrance of the speech.
Once students have finished with their lists, they can share their examples with the class. This
exercise should be used at the beginning of the
chapter as a way to introduce the topic of
informative speaking.
Putting Principles into Practice: Informative Speech Analysis
Purpose: To give students an opportunity to apply
the concepts of informative speaking to actual
student speeches.
Instructions: Using the sample informative speech in the back of the textbook, have students
critique the speech in terms of the function of informative speeches and the design(s) used to
arrange main supporting
ideas. Have students identify the differences and similarities between
informative and persuasive speeches. Does the speech overstep the boundaries of informative
speaking
by advocating
certain attitudes or beliefs, or by
requesting that the
audience
engage in
some sort of behavior? Students can even use the instructor’s grading sheet to analyze the
speech. This will help them to become familiar with what the instructor will be looking for when
grading their informative speeches.
Additional instructions: If you have
access to informative speeches on tape, either by students
or others, this assignment can be done in class individually, in small groups, or as a class. Class
discussion can continue
once viewing is over.
Types of Informative Speeches*
Purpose: To give students an opportunity to become more familiar with the types of informative
speech and to brainstorm examples of each type.
Strategies for
Presenting Information
Instructions: This activity should be used at the end of the chapter, after students have been
introduced to the material. This activity can be done in small groups or as a class. Have students
identify the subject matter of informative speeches: objects, people, events, processes, issues,
and concepts. Write them on the board, and ask each student to go to the board (one after the
other or all at once) and write an example of each. (Students can use the examples in the
textbook to spur their own thoughts.)
*This activity and the next two activities can be used separately or together in a chronological
sequence. If all three are
used in sequence, allot the entire class period or perhaps two.
Purpose: To familiarize
students with the four strategies for presenting information.
Instructions: Based on the list of examples of different types of informative speech (see
previous activity) or the
ones in the textbook, have students identify which strategy would be
best for presenting that information: defining, describing, explaining, or demonstrating. If time
allows, pick one example for each strategy
and ask four students (one for each strategy) to give
an example of how they
would give this speech using this strategy. For example, if the speech
was about pumpkin carving (a speech about a process) and the strategy was demonstration, what
would be a
good introduction, three main points, and a conclusion?
Organizing the Informative Speech
Purpose: To familiarize
students with the five ways to organize an informative speech.
Instructions: Ask students to consider the descriptions in the chapter and determine their
dominant learning style. Place students in groups according to their learning styles. Then ask
them to brainstorm strategies that speakers could utilize in order to appeal to their specific
learning style. Encourage the groups to cover all aspects of speechmaking, including but not
limited to audience analysis techniques, organizational patterns, delivery techniques, and use of
presentation aids. Once all groups have completed this portion, have groups present their
findings to the class. This activity will help students prepare to present information that appeals
to all of the various learning styles they will encounter in their audience.
Instructions: Based on the list of examples of different types of informative speech (see
previous activity) or the
ones in the textbook, have students identify which arrangement would
be best for presenting this type of speech: chronological, spatial, topical, cause-effect,
comparative
advantage, narrative, or problem-solution. The best strategy for presenting this
information should also be considered before students decide which arrangement to use. Based
on the previous example of pumpkin carving (a speech about a process), which should be
communicated through demonstration, the best arrangement would be
chronological.
Appealing to My Learning Style
Purpose: To help students learn ways to appeal to different learning styles.
Categories of Informing
Purpose: To help students learn how to classify informative speech topics.
Instructions: In preparation for the next class session, ask students to choose a category of
informative speeches (objects or phenomena, people, events, processes, issues, or concepts).
Then, they should prepare a brief one- to two-minute informative speech that is appropriate for
their chosen category. In class, have students present their brief speech without indicating the
category. Have the class identify the correct category presented by each student.
What Is It Like to . . .
Purpose: To give students an opportunity to inform others about something simple.
Instructions: Ask students to prepare
and deliver a brief, one- to two-minute speech describing
what it is like to do or to be something. Examples could include, “what is it like to be an only
child,” “what is it like to be from a small town,” or “what is it like to travel across Europe.”
Students should be creative and think of topics that would really interest and inform the
audience. Have students discuss the informative techniques used in each student’s speech.
Planning an Informative Speech
Purpose: To give students experience forming an informative strategy.
Instructions:
Imagine that you have been asked to give a short informative presentation about
the Internet to a
group of fourth-graders. Write a
few paragraphs on message requirements for
this presentation. What kind of organizational pattern will
you use? How much technical
information will you include? (Remember, children often know as much—or more—about
computers as many adults do.) What can you do to be direct and to maintain clarity in your
explanation?
It may be helpful for students to work in groups when generating these requirements. The
first set of requirements should include audience analysis: figuring out what fourth-graders
already know about the Internet and determining what children their age are able to comprehend.
Second, speakers need to formulate an organizational pattern with which to present the
information. This pattern should have a relevant introduction, clear transitions, and a simple
conclusion that summarizes the speech. Within this part of the requirements, students should
know what kind of language to use that will neither confuse members of the audience nor insult
their intelligence. A presentation that involves a lot of presentation aids will also hold fourth-
graders’ attention. Finally, speakers need to have
a delivery style that is friendly, personal, and
interesting in order to hold the attention of fourth-graders.
Practice Description
Purpose: To help students learn to use visualization and description in their speeches.
Instructions:
Practice using visualization and descriptive language. Think of an everyday object,
such as a chair or
a kind of food, and describe it in as many ways as possible.
Bring objects to class, and have students work individually or in groups to generate descriptions
of the objects. Students should describe size, color, uses of the object, or who would use the
object. Also, get students to practice
conveying meanings (if applicable) by having them
generate examples, negations, and operational definitions.
Writing a Specific Speech Purpose Statement
Purpose: To give students experience practicing
writing specific speech purpose statements.
Instructions:
After choosing an informative speech topic, write a specific
speech purpose
statement that covers your chosen topic. Your purpose statement should reflect the
goals of
informative speaking.
After students write their statements, have them share them with a group or the class to check for
appropriateness and clarity.
Combining Strategies in an Informative Speech on an Issue
Purpose: To help students think through how they
would select an informative approach and an
organizational pattern for a hypothetical informative topic.
Instructions:
Using the speech topic of health care reform (an issue), how
would you present the
information to your classmates?
What combination of definition, description, explanation, or
demonstration would you select?
What organizational pattern would you use?
This activity works well as a
group assignment if it is done in class; otherwise, it can be assigned
a day in advance
as a solo assignment. Suggest that students choose one or more of the
approaches (definition, description, explanation, and demonstration) before deciding on an
organizational pattern.
Approach: If students want to explain the nature of health care reform, they may want to
choose a combination of
all four approaches. If they
want to discuss the potential problems of
health care reform, then a combination of description and explanation may
be beneficial.
Instructions:
In a
group of three to four people, make a list of speech topics (at least five)
for
each of the informative speech types (objects, people, events, processes, issues, concepts) that
would be interesting for
classroom speeches. Don’t use speech topics already mentioned in this
chapter. Be prepared to discuss your topics in class.
Organizational pattern: If students are simply explaining what health care reform is about,
then a topical or chronological pattern would suffice. If they want to discuss the potential
problems, as suggested above, they may choose a cause-effect or problem-solution pattern.
In preparation for your next informative speech, identify at least two different ways you can
make your speech content appeal to each learning style discussed in the chapter.
This activity will allow students the opportunity to brainstorm about their upcoming speeches
and to practice considering audience needs and approaches to conveying information. Encourage
students to utilize these strategies during their presentations. This question also works well for
an
online discussion board prompt.
IV. GROUP ACTIVITIES
Brainstorming Topics for Each Type of Informative Speech
Purpose:
To give students experience brainstorming at least five topics for each type of
informative speech.
This is a good activity for helping students to generate topics in a group format. Suggest that
students generate topics that, at face value, would not seem mundane or be
taken for
granted.
With careful thought and an attempt to make the topics relevant, students will be able to
understand how seemingly
mundane topics can generate some very interesting speeches. For
example:
Objects: water, dust, iPads
People: lobbyists, vegans, first ladies
Events: birthing rituals, sleeping, WWII
Processes: how newspapers are printed, assembly-line construction of automobiles, how rain
is formed
Concepts: romantic love, the difference between jealousy
and envy
Issues: The First Amendment, separation of
church and state, standardized testing
Critiquing a Live Speech
Purpose: To give students experience critiquing a live speech.
Instructions:
In a small group of three to four people, listen to a speech on campus or in your
community that
you feel would be primarily informative. Conduct a meeting of your group after
the speech to determine the type of informative speech you heard and its organizational pattern.
What were the strongest features of the speech? The weakest? Report your findings to the class.
After listening to the speech, students may want to assess whether the speech was primarily
informative in purpose. Sometimes speeches that appear to be informative turn out to be
persuasive, commemorative, or otherwise. Also, an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses
of the speech should touch on the appropriateness of the organizational pattern, as well as the
appropriateness of the approach (definition, explanation, description, and demonstration) used.
Have students bring a
written assessment of the speech they heard to class.
Brainstorming Scenarios Appropriate for Informative Speaking
Purpose: To get students to consider where it might be appropriate to convey information
through an informative speech.
Instructions: In a group of four to five classmates, brainstorm different situations, topics, and
audiences where giving an informative speech (compared with the sources above) is the best way
to provide information. Report your findings to the class.
When students brainstorm situations, topics, or audiences that require informative speaking,
suggest that they consider the purpose of giving the speech, whether it is to give instruction, to
introduce interesting information, or to draw attention to issues that are problematic.