Personal Object Speech
This informative speech assignment will take elements from a descriptive speech and a cultural artifact speech.
You will need to select an object that represents the essence of who you are. So consider your ethnicity, religious
and cultural background, personality, aspirations, moral principles and values, etc. Then brainstorm for object
ideas – you may want to illicit help from friends or family to pull together a variety of ideas.
Some examples are:
a coach could pick a stop watch, a play book, or a whistle
a homeowner may choose welcome mat, a thriving plant or a house key
a new mom/dad might decide on a blanket, a teething toy, or a baby monitor
Once your selection is made you can develop the speech content. You’ll want to think about how the object
mirrors you as an individual. It would be suitable to come up with 2-3 main ideas. These main ideas may
highlight: perspectives/worldviews, values, personality, feelings, behaviors and/or the object itself. Once
you adequately developed the main points, it would be appropriate for you to revise/edit content, organization
timed content before you prepare the other speech parts. Now that the body of the speech is completed, you
may turn your efforts to the introduction and conclusion (in that order). Continue to work on the attention
factor/getter: check out the ideas given in your textbook (introduction), try different ways to provide a
psychological orientation then practice these with a live audience to get their feedback. Remember to include
your specific goal/purpose in your introduction. The conclusion is your last chance to reminder your audience
of purpose and end with a positive remark.
In regard to the visual aid, think about ideas that go beyond the object itself. Think about using a visual aid that
reflects the content of the overall speech. An object can be limiting in terms of interest, it may be too small for
viewing, too awkward to transport, or, too valuable/fragile (monetary or sentiment).
Time Requirement: 4 - 4½ mins
Outline: Typed
Visual Aids: one
Speaker Cards Only
Personal Object
Outline Format
Introduction
I.
Attention Getter
Specific Purpose:
Thesis Statement:
Body
I.
Main Point
A. Subpoint
B. Subpoint
II.
Main Point
A. Subpoint
B. Subpoint
III.
Main Point
A. Subpoint
B. Subpoint
Conclusion
I.
II.
Summary (thesis statement)
Closing remark
Sample Outline
Introduction
I.
Growing up with a drug addicted Mother, I had a very dark start in life.
II.
But becoming a mother gave me a chance to resolve my own childhood.
Specific Purpose: To deliver a speech about my son’s blanket that symbolizes
who I am today
Thesis Statement: I brought in my son’s blanket because it is a representation of
how far I’ve come.
Body
I.
This knotted blanket symbolizes my life today as a Mother.
A. This blanket reminds me how important my job as a mother.
B. The job of a mother is about focusing on the large details all the way to the
small ones.
C. Like this blanket, I have flaws but I am still capable of doing my job well.
II.
Even though my own family is distant, I married into a close “knit,” Latin family
and the ties of the blanket show how close my new family is.
A. This blanket actually comes from my husband’s home land.
B. Before I gave birth my Aunt, in Peru, knitted this blanket for my son, Hunter.
Conclusion
I.
My son’s knitted blanket is symbolic of me in my many family roles and how I’ve
grown as a person.
II.
I am a wife, sister, daughter, friend, student, niece and cousin but most of all I
am a mother. I am all these tiny stitches that make up the entire blanket, and while I’m
not perfect, I’m still proud of who I am.