PERSONAL EXPERIENCE SPEECH
Tell us a story….
GOALS FOR THIS SPEECH
Improve eye contact!!!
 Improve vocal variety and tone of voice
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More exciting and engaging storytellers
Tell a detailed story of yourself to the class
Review plot graph
 What makes for a good story
 We get to know you more
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Work on interesting introductions and a clear
purpose for the speech
 Work on brainstorming techniques
 Speak comfortably for 2-3 min with a manuscript
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GET OUT YOUR JOURNAL PLEASE.
It is time to go deeper than what you shared in
your interview speech.
 HOW DEEP? You are going to share a story with
the class of an experience that you have had that
is personal to you.
 LIKE WHAT? It can be humorous, frightening,
dangerous or adventurous. But you must have a
point to make… it could be what to do or not to
do, a moral or lesson…
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Now we are going to work on brainstorming
techniques
Topic Ideas….
1. Closest you ever came to death
2. Most trouble you ever have been in
3. Time you “got away with something”
4. Scariest thing that you’ve witnessed
5. Strangest thing you ever witnessed
6. Best trip you ever went on
7. Strangest vacation you ever took
8. Most unusual/cool person you’ve met
9. Best practical joke
10. Most life-changing experience
11. Pet peeves
12. Most embarrassing moment
13. Favorite thing to do
Brainstorm # 1:
Pick one of the
topics on this page
and make a
cluster/bubble
map that
addresses all the
situations you
could talk about
for that topic.
Topic Ideas….
1.
Closest you ever came to death
2.
Most trouble you ever have been in
3.
Time you “got away with something”
4.
Scariest thing that you’ve witnessed
5.
Strangest thing you ever witnessed
6.
Best trip you ever went on
7.
Strangest vacation you ever took
8.
Most unusual/cool person you’ve met
9.
Best practical joke
10. Most life-changing experience
11. Pet peeves
12. Most embarrassing moment
13. Favorite thing to do
Brainstorm #2
Chose another
topic from the list
and make a
journalistic
brainstorm
Who:
What:
When:
Where:
Why:
How:
Topic Ideas….
1.
Closest you ever came to death
2.
Most trouble you ever have been in
3.
Time you “got away with something”
4.
Scariest thing that you’ve witnessed
5.
Strangest thing you ever witnessed
6.
Best trip you ever went on
7.
Strangest vacation you ever took
8.
Most unusual/cool person you’ve met
9.
Best practical joke
10. Most life-changing experience
11. Pet peeves
12. Most embarrassing moment
13. Favorite thing to do
Brainstorm #3
Pick one more
topic either from
the list or of your
own choosing.
I will give you 5-8
min to freewrite
on that topic. The
rule are…you
must constantly
be writing – no
stopping until I
say so. Let it go
where it may –
anything might
come to mind.
NOW WHAT?
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Once you pick your topic, Write down all the
details you can remember.
Some details may include:
Where were you? (Describe the setting so I could
draw it if I wanted to)
How old were you?
Who was with you?
What time of year? Time of day?
What happened before and after?
Thoughts running through your mind?
Small details that will make the story come to
life.
PLOT IT OUT – THE STORY GRAPH
FOCUSING IN ON THE DETAILS
Chose one moment in this story to describe in
greater detail
 (Mrs. Bell will work you through some exercises
to practice this)
 Focus on Sensory Detail
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What did you hear?
What did you see?
What did you touch/how did things feel?
What did you smell?
What did you taste?
Add in a simile or metaphor
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A comparison using “like” or “as”
WRITING YOUR INTRODUCTION
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How can you draw your audience in to your
story?
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Open with action (in medias res) in the middle of the
story
Open with a startling statement or fact about you or
the situation
Open with a hypothetical situation – “What would
you do if you…” “Imagine…”
Open with a relevant quote
Open with a rhetorical question (one not meant to be
answered but to get the audience thinking).
THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN YOU START
WRITING
Think of this speech as telling the audience the
story of “The time when…”
 Talk TO the audience rather than AT the
audience.
 Use wording as if you are having a conversation
with the audience, but keep in mind the decorum
of the public speaking arena.
ORGANIZATION
 Get interest from your audience = HOOK
 Tell story: Background, paint a picture, where ,
when, what, how, etc.
 DETAILS ~DESCRIPTIONS ~DETAILS
 What did you learn? Result?
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REQUIREMENTS
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It has to be a story about you - the more specific the
better
It has to be school appropriate (no drugs, swearing,
sex…)
It has to be 2-3 minutes long.
It has to be interesting!!
It must have a catchy introduction (use our handout)
It must have sensory description in it (we will
practice this)
It needs to have a purpose (theme, moral, lesson,
larger meaning, point)
You will also be graded on poise, eye contact, vocal
variety, tone (we will practice this)
You will need to write out a manuscript of the entire
speech to turn in (and use).