CHAPTER THREE
BUILDING YOUR FIRST SPEECH
Objectives
After reading this chapter you will be able to:
2. Create a blueprint of 10 building blocks for constructing a speech;
3. Understand how to research and develop a career speech.
Skill Builder Exercises – Discussion of Selected Activities
1. The speech of introduction. In a class of twenty students, this assignment will usually take
45 to 55 minutes if each student is assigned to speak for 2-3 minutes. You might want to plan
the exercise so that you save some time at the end of the period for a general discussion. As you
begin the class period, you might ask if anyone has any final questions before the exercise
begins. Maintaining a non-threatening climate is crucial to the objectives of the assignment.
Instead of calling the roll to start the exercise, ask the class how they would like to proceed. Tell
This exercise works especially well when assigned within the first week of class. It can
be an effective ice breaker, promoting energetic discussion once it has been completed. When
making the assignment, try to minimize apprehension. If you don’t attach too many points to the
exercise (10 to 20 points may be sufficient), students will get the idea that while they are
expected to do their best, perfection is not demanded and they will be allowed to make a few
mistakes. If a student is terribly worried about points or performance after a difficult speech, I
respond by saying: “You have met many of my objectives for this assignment. I wanted you to
Evaluating the Speech
Once the class has finished, I like to provide a general critique of the exercise. Start with
the feeling dimension. How did you feel? Were you nervous? (Almost universally, the answer is
“Yes.”) Did you forget anything? Were you able to follow your notes? The sudden shot of
adrenalin from nervousness will stimulate an interesting variety of student answers.
When you have exhausted the feeling aspect, then gently introduce the performance
dimension of the assignment. “When you think back over the speeches, what were some things
in your presentation or in another speech that you liked, and some areas that could be
improved?” If you keep this discussion general without getting into specific individuals, students
will generally feel comfortable with the discussion. They will usually bring up many of the
important topics that need to be covered. (“I noticed that a lot of people said ‘um, um,’ or, “I
found that some people were better organized than others.”) I take general notes on each speech
I hand each student my specific comments in writing at the end of the class period. Since
students are terribly grade-conscious I award points out of a possible 10. I apply this following
“rough” grading scale on the first assignment:
1—5, failure. I don’t award failing points. On the first assignment students fail
only if they do not deliver the speech.
6—below average. Speech is sloppy, poorly prepared, and ineffectively delivered.
7—average. Speech meets some objectives. There are attempts at eye contact, a
thesis, and some basic organization. The topic could be improved.
2. The career speech. It is helpful if students are able to go to the campus career center and
gather information on their specific careers from a career specialist. A good career counselor can
the audience and create an attention-getting introduction and specific examples throughout the
speech.
Additional Skill Builder Exercise
3. The impromptu speech. This is often a fun activity that can be done at almost any time
during the course. If it is done at the beginning of the semester, an effective approach is to treat it
as an ice breaker. I like to use it as a warm-up activity for other more important speeches.
The first time we do impromptu speeches, I select about 40 topics in advance, place them
on separate notecards inside an envelope, and ask students to draw two topics, selecting one for
the speech. I don’t give them any thinking time at all—simply the instructions, “try to develop an
introduction, thesis, body, and conclusion on your feet.” A few speeches are fairly good and
some are dreadful. I don’t spend a lot of time evaluating the speeches, however; I get feedback
Speech Builder Express
This is the first opportunity for students to use Speech Builder Express to organize their
speeches. Have students develop their career speeches or speeches of introduction to help them
get to know this program.