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CHAPTER FIFTEEN - SPEAKING TO INFORM
OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter students should be able to:
2. Describe several types of informative speeches;
4. Be able to analyze and present an informative descriptive speech;
5. Be able to analyze and present an informative demonstration speech.
Additional Skill Builder Exercises
3. The difference between informative and persuasive topics. Have students choose 4 topics
and write one informative and one persuasive specific purpose for each.
4. Overworked topics. Divide your class into several groups. Have students analyze the
following specific purpose statements containing worn-out topics. As them to rework the topics
and write new specific purposes to provide new information that motivates audience members to
5. “Raising the Monitor” Speech. Have students read Chaim Verschleisser’s speech at the end
of the chapter. Divide your class into several small groups and have them answer these
6. Lecture evaluation. Have students evaluate an informative lecture of one of their instructors.
Ask them to comment on the following areas:
a. Is the instructor clear and well organized?
b. Does the speaker maintain the interest of the audience?
c. If visuals are used, does the instructor incorporate them effectively into the
presentation?
d. Does the speaker have an effective delivery?
7. Speech of definition. Have students choose terms that may be familiar to them from their own
8. Demonstration speech topic. Choose a topic from your own knowledge and experience for a
9. Process speech evaluation. Have students watch a program on television that demonstrates a
process such as cooking, home building, landscaping, or auto repair. Ask them to evaluate the
10. Demonstration speech topic selection. Divide your class into groups of 3 or 4. Have
students choose one of the demonstration categories in Chapter Fifteen. Ask them to develop a
11. Critiques of speeches. One or two class periods before the first major speech, conduct a
session in which you discuss speech evaluations. It takes some groups several class periods to
learn how to make effective criticisms. The instructor should monitor and guide students
carefully, drawing out the inhibited individual, cutting off the talkative member, checking
12. Alternative introductions and conclusions. Have students evaluate the alternate
13. Demonstration speech evaluation. Ask students to read the demonstration speech, “How
Airplanes Produce Lift,” in Chapter 12. Have them comment on the following:
a. Organization.
b. Audiovisual aids.
c. Delivery.
d. Research.
InfoTrac/Library Database Exercise
Have students search Vital Speeches to find the article titled, “American Journeys and General
Washington’s Ghost,” by Paul G. Ashdown. When they have read the speech, they can answer
the following questions:
a. Is this an informative or a persuasive speech? Support your answer with
examples from the speech.
b. What types of supporting materials does the speaker use?
c. What research sources were cited in the speech?
d. Analyze the elements of the speaking occasion. Who was the speaker, and
when and where was it delivered? Who were the listeners? What references are
there in the speech that indicate the speaker analyzed his audience and tried to
connect his topic to them?
Speech Builder Express
This chapter presents students with excellent opportunities for developing outlines of their
descriptive or demonstration speeches online. Have students use the speech builder program to
organize, structure, and print their outlined speeches.
