Speech #3 Assignment: Public Advocacy (Comm 441)
Assignment Description
For your final formal speech, you will prepare and deliver a speech that attempts to effectively “advocate”
on behalf of something, someone, or some cause to your classmates in order to make a larger claim that
by accepting your thesis statement (i.e., persuading us), the world (i.e., “public”) will be better than it is
now. Your speech should attempt to advocate on behalf something as a way to convince the “general
public” (your audience is a portion of that general public) that something must be done to make the world
a better place in some way. A “successful” public advocacy speech is one that has convinced your
audience that they will go out and do something to make the world different (you cannot just “think” it is
a good idea to do what you are discussing and be successful in “advocating” on behalf of your cause). Be
creative, but be realistic. Your audience may think that giving all their spare change every month to a
homeless shelter is a good idea, but if they do not have the ability to easily make that happen, you have
not successfully advocated on behalf of helping the homeless in a specific way. As part of this speech’s
evaluation, you are required to incorporate at least one visual aid into your speech. How this visual aid is
incorporated, what it looks like, how it aids your speech, and in what form it appears is completely up to
you. Part of a smooth speech is using this visual aid in the speech, so if your visual aid is technologydependent, be prepared for “worst case scenario” – Do you have a back-up plan? Do you know how the
equipment works before you get up to give your speech? Have you practiced with your visual aid?
Be sure to make your topic interesting and relevant to your audience and be sure that your organization is
such that we know what you are advocating for *and* what we should do if we support your cause. Be
sure that your main points have similar support and level of detail and be sure your speech purpose is
delivered in an clear and organized manner. Your outline is NOT required to be in full-sentence format –
but you must turn in a PHRASE outline (i.e., a keyword outline does not reveal the appropriate level of
detail to warrant understanding by someone other than yourself – so be sure I can follow your thoughts
and organization so that I can evaluate it appropriately). If you have any questions, please ask me well in
advance of your speech due date and I am happy to talk more specifically about your individual case.
Please see next page for specific requirements of both the speech and the outline.
Speech #3 Assignment: Public Advocacy (Comm 441)
This speech and outline are worth a combined 150 points (Delivery = 100 points; Outline = 50 points)
Minimum Speech Requirements
– 7-9 minutes
o IMPORTANT: These are the penalties for not adhering within your designated speaking
timeframe…
 If you are OVER, you will be deducted 2 percentage points for every additional
30 seconds you talk beyond a 30 second window.
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If you are UNDER, you will be deducted 1 percentage point for every minute
you are under the minimum time requirement outside of a 15-second window.
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Ex. If you talk for 9:45 instead of 9:00, you will be deducted 2 percentage points from your final
delivery grade. So, if you received a 90% on your delivery grade, you will receive an 88% instead.
You have 30 seconds “free” from penalty. So if you talk for 9:15 seconds, you will be not be
deducted points.
Ex. If you only speak for 6:30 seconds instead of 7:00, you will be deducted 1 percentage point from
your final delivery grade. If you spoke for 6:50 seconds, however, you would be within your 15second window, and no deduction would be taken.
3-part framework (Introduction, Body, Conclusion) including transitions [OR if you prefer,
Monroe’s Motivated Sequence with parts labeled appropriately]
Effective introduction and conclusion.
Clear speech design pattern (topical, chronological, MMS etc.)
Clear speech purpose (to persuade, I anticipate! But since this is Persuasive-Action, persuading us
to do what? Be clear!)
The seamless, useful integration of at least one visual aid to help support your speech
Clear connections among what you are advocating for, your audience, and your support/visual aid
Extemporaneous delivery (no reading – use your phrase outlines appropriately!).
Minimum Outline Requirements
– Phrase outline to turn in for grading (does not need to be the same outline you speak from).
– Label parts of outline and transitions.
o I recommend labeling preface/header information at the top of your outline for
clarity/organization ease
– Typed and proofread for grammar/spelling/sentence format
– Must use standard outline labels and indentation (no paragraphs disguised as an outline!)
– Each point (this includes main points, subpoints, and transitions) should be only one phrase.
– Source Requirement = At least 4 different external sources integrated into your speech
o Note: Not all of these need to be necessarily “verbal” (they could be only “internal”)
BUT be sure that your audience would not need to know the source before you make this
decision (i.e., if it is “commonly accepted knowledge” but you have a source to help you
explain the “current event” you are discussing, that may not need to be “verbal” but it
would need to be cited “internally” – and “externally” – whereas if you have a specific
statistic, you *must* be sure to verbally, internally, and externally cite that information).
– Visual Aid must be clearly identified in your outline
o i.e., Where in your outline are you planning on using your visual aid? Indicate this in
your outline
 E.g., If you have a Ppt presentation for the entire speech, you will need to
indicate (Ppt slide) for each point in your outline that you are planning on having
a visual aid to support
 E.g., If you are referring to a graph while discussing a particular statistic, indicate
(graph) next to that statistic.
– Must be turned in when your speech is delivered.