Personal Experience Speech
The personal experience speech is essentially a speech that tells a story. We hear this kind of
speech from athletes, missionaries, and business leaders who often have very interesting personal
stories to tell. Therefore, the purpose of this assignment is for you to a share major event that has
taken place in your life. Make sure to select an experience that presented you with a new
perspective and shaped your identity in some way. Try to relive the experience in your mind. Where
did it happen? What sensory details can you recall? How did you feel when the experience began
and ended? You want to recreate the experience for your audience.
Speech topics can be as happy, sad, funny, or serious as you see fit, so long as the events are true
and meaningful to you. Along with your speech, you will prepare a visual aid and an outline. A visual
aid is an object that is used to enhance the speech (i.e. a picture of your best friend, a gamewinning baseball, ballet slippers, etc.) In order to gain full credit, you must make reference to your
visual aid during your speech; merely holding it up and mentioning it at the end will result in a loss of
points. Your visual aid is supposed to AID the development of your speech. Your outline must be
typed and written in complete sentences. The outline should follow your speech exactly, so make
sure to include everything you plan on mentioning!
The speech must be 3-5 minutes long, and you will lose points for going over or under on time; 1
point will be deducted for every 3 seconds you stray over or under your time limit, so make sure to
rehearse and time yourself ahead of time. Your primary goal should be to project an enthusiastic
style with lots of eye contact. Furthermore, make sure that your speech has an effective beginning,
an interesting body, and a clear conclusion.
Please bring your rubric, outline, and visual aid to class on the day of your speech and make all
attempts to be here the day you present. Sleeping, talking, texting, laughing, rolling your eyes, or
working on other work during your classmates’ speeches will not be tolerated. Lastly, this is a FUN
assignment; so have fun with it!
Name
Date
Personal Experience Speech:
(150 points possible)
Purpose/Thesis Statement: The purpose of my speech is to tell my audience about
Introduction:
0 1 2 3 4 Hook/Interest Level
0 1 2 3 4 Identification of subject
Body:
0 1 2
0 1 2
0 1 2
0 1 2
0 1 2
3
3
3
3
3
4
4
4
4
4
Content Quality
Logical Development
Clarity of Ideas
Organization
Familiarity with Material
Conclusion:
0 1 2 3 4 Summary
0 1 2 3 4 Life-changing effect
0 1 2 3 4 Closing/Interest Level
Language:
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3
4
4
4
4
Appropriateness
Oral Grammar
Fluency
Pronunciation
Voice:
0 1 2
0 1 2
0 1 2
0 1 2
4
4
4
4
Volume/Projection
Articulation
Control
Expression
3
3
3
3
Presentation:
0 1 2 3 4
0 1 2 3 4
0 1 2 3 4
0 1 2 3 4
0 1 2 3 4
0 1 2 3 4
0 1 2 3 4
Approach/Departure
Appearance
Eye Contact
Enthusiasm
Gestures
Movement
Ethos/Character/Sincerity
Visual Aid: (20 points possible)
Outline: (30 points possible) __________
Points Accumulated: ________________
Comments/Suggestions:
Time:
Total Score
/150