1.
Welcome To Public Speaking
2.
Assignment Overview
3.
Policies
4.
Rhetoric
5.
Introductory Speech Assignment Description
6.
Impromptu Speech Assignment Description
7.
Overview of Impromptu Invention
8.
Sample Impromptu Thesis Statements
9.
Making the Speech Easy To Follow
10.
Peer Critique Assignment Description
11.
Self-Critique Assignment Description
27
29
12.
Sample Self Critique
13.
Persuasive Speech Assignment Description
30
31
14.
Picking and Researching a Persuasive Speech Topic
39
15.
Topic Selection Paper Assignment Description
16.
Sample Topic Selection Paper
42
43
17.
Reasoning
18.
Arranging and Revising Your Main Points
44
47
19.
Gallery Walk Presentation Assignment Description
54
13
14
21
24
25
1
5
8
10
20.
Persuasive Speech Outline Assignment Description
55
21.
Sample Persuasive Speech Outline
56
22.
Citing Sources Orally
23.
Advocacy Speech Assignment Description
24.
Some Figures of Style
25.
Sample Advocacy Speech Manuscripts
26.
Selection from Barack Obama’s address to the
Wisconsin Democratic Party, Feb 2008
59
61
68
69
71
73 27.
Ronald Reagan, The Space Shuttle Challenger
Tragedy Address. Delivered 28 January 1986
28.
George W. Bush, The Space Shuttle Columbia
Tragedy Speech to the Nation. Delivered 1
February 2008
75

The public speaking course here at the University of Washington has a long and distinguished history. Some of the first students at UW would have taken a course in rhetoric similar to the current public speaking course. While the syllabus has changed, as have the teaching methods, the need for students to develop strong speaking skills remains essential. Given the demands for good communication skills in the civic realm and in the workplace, a course in public speaking is perhaps more important than ever. In joining the ranks of UW speech students, you will learn the lesson that your predecessors learned, “there is no quick path to a great speech.” Good speaking is developed through practice and hard work.
The public speaking course is a unique course. Unlike, say, a course in the principles of law or the history of Central Asia, the public speaking course requires you to both know content and be able to perform a skill well. You will learn important principles of public speaking and argumentation, but simply knowing these principles is insufficient; you must also be able to apply them well. By the same token, you might be able to get through a speech without saying
“um,” but if the content of the speech is bad, it is not a good speech. The best public speakers not only speak smoothly, they also say important and interesting things.
The course objectives are deceptively simple: by the end of this quarter, you should be able to compose and deliver clear and compelling speeches on complex issues. In service of this goal, we will study the principles of argumentation and arrangement, critically examine our own speeches and the speeches of others, and practice, practice, practice. By becoming a student of public speaking, you join a long history of rhetorical study dating back to ancient Greece. This course thus advances the mission of the Department of Communication to nurture socially responsible, literate citizens who can interpret and evaluate the images and messages they create and receive.
The most successful model for teaching public speaking (and the one this class follows) relies on a mix of instruction, imitation, and practice.
reinforces the lessons learned from the history of public speaking study.
The instruction in this class draws most explicitly from the rhetorical tradition. We will study principles of argumentation, arrangement, and style.
means that when studying a performance skill like speaking, we benefit by identifying and imitating the best practices of skilled speakers. I don’t mean stealing or plagiarizing, I mean trying to link phrases together in a manner similar to a speaker we think sounds good. There are a number of speeches that you will watch this quarter
(online and in class). The intent of these speeches is to show you some best practices.
COM 220: Public Speaking 1

You shouldn’t simply watch a speech like you would a television show; you should look to find some verbal or nonverbal behaviors that you would like to be able to imitate.
is the most obvious leg of public speaking study. If you are going to get better at public speaking, you must be able to apply the lessons of instruction and imitation by practicing your speeches. The nice thing about public speaking is that you can practice it almost anywhere. However, your practice time is best spent by speaking in situations where you have an attentive audience (as opposed to a curious dog or a sleeping roommate).
1.
. Everyone can become a better public speaker through study and practice. I love to ski. I wasn’t born being a good skier; rather, I grew up skiing. I skied as often as I could and I got better. The same is true of public speaking. You were born with the basic equipment needed for speaking in public—lungs and a mouth.
2.
This misconception often works in conjunction with the misconception #1 and #3. I see this as a hugely egoistic argument since it assumes that only you know what good public speaking is and only you know how to improve. Let me return to the skiing analogy (though you could substitute any sports or skills analogy, like playing a musical instrument). Most people develop their skiing ability by simply skiing a lot. But if you want to get better, you need to seek outside information about the principles of skiing. That’s why people pay a lot of money for ski lessons. Ski instructors can both model good skiing behaviors and they can talk about the physics of metal on snow and the physiology of your muscles on skis.
3.
). This is like saying that a good essay is simply one that has good grammar or punctuation. A good essay should have good grammar and punctuation, but it also needs good content.
The same holds true of a speech. When we listen to a speech we judge the speaker according to what they say as well as how they say it. Think about presidential debates.
After any presidential debate, pundits flood the airwaves and pick apart both content and delivery, but they spend far more time discussing what the candidates said.
4.
You will hear me talking a lot about the similarities between writing and speaking, but they also differ in many important respects. A speech is an act of communication with a specific audience.
Reading a speech undermines this (and as we will see, can actually make you more nervous). If you were having a conversation with a friend about your classes and suddenly started reading a prepared set of comments, the conversation would sink. Why?
A conversation is dynamic and relies on communicating with the other person. A speech is like a conversation in this way, you are engaging in a shared act of communication with the audience.
COM 220: Public Speaking 2

1.
Each class meeting is an opportunity to participate in lectures
2.
and discussions. By being present and on time, completing the assigned reading, making study notes, and participating in discussions, you'll increase your opportunities to learn the course material. Active participation is critical to learning; passive learning is quickly forgotten. As trite as it sounds, the more time and effort you devote to this course, the more you will benefit from it. This classroom must remain a tolerant space where we reason through opposing arguments. No doubt, you will hear many opinions this quarter that are not your own, but you must engage those opposing views in a respectful manner.
I will not tolerate oppressive comments in the classroom that make it difficult for any student to have fair and equal access to education.
I will start class on time and end it on time. I realize that you have many demands on your time, but you signed up for this class at this time. I now expect you to schedule around it. You may think that arriving late/leaving early is simply a personal issue; that you can get in or out of class without disturbing class. This is false. It disturbs the lecture and it draws the class’s attention to your movement. Do not arrive late and do not leave early (this includes packing up).
3.
I operate on the assumption that you have completed the assigned reading by the time class starts. If you don’t do the reading, you will not understand all of what I’m saying in the lecture. The same holds true for the homeworks. They are not busy work—the instructors don’t have time to look at busy work. These are assignments designed to reinforce certain themes or give you focused practice on some element of speech preparation.
4.
5.
Don’t come to class and sleep. You should be in class and thinking about the information. Most of the material is covered in class so it is in your best interest to be there. The discussion sections are where you deliver the speeches and hand in assignments. Beyond that, you owe it to your classmates and to yourself to attend section. A speaker needs an audience.
I know you are busy. Speeches, however, are time intensive. If you wait until the night before to put together your speech, your grade will suffer. We have built in assignments that give you feedback at various levels of speech preparation.
Again, this isn’t busy work; the assignments are there to give you feedback at key points during speech preparation process. You are responsible for setting up your practice time.
The speaking center is there to give you a space to practice and get quality feedback from the tutors. But only practicing once isn’t sufficient (or only practicing the day before your speech).
It’s like signing up for a gym membership. Just signing up won’t make you lose weight or build muscle; you have to get yourself in the gym and use the equipment correctly.
COM 220: Public Speaking 3

Just signing up for this class doesn’t guarantee that you will become a significantly better speaker; that’s up to you. The instructors provide the equipment and training, but you gotta provide the muscle.
The term “public speaking” is akin to the term “writing;” the word merely identifies an action.
As you know, there are as many different types of writing: novels, short stories, business memos, wedding announcements, newspaper articles, government reports, and the list goes on. Even within a particular genre—the business memo, for example—writers must address very different types of audiences. A memo to an investor is written differently than a memo to one’s boss. The same is true of public speaking. There are as many genres as there are occasions and audiences:
State of the Union addresses, religious sermons, business presentations, testimony before
Congress, after dinner speeches, speeches of introduction, and, again, the list goes on. There is simply no way to cover (much less deliver) every imaginable type of speech in the time we have.
So, in COM 220 we have specialized.
COM 220 focuses on composing and delivering clear and compelling speeches based on claims and evidence.
Being able to compose and deliver a clear and compelling speech with evidence is a skill that is applicable to a wide range of setting. It is an approach to preparing and delivering a speech. For example, students regularly tell me about how they performed an impromptu speech in their job interviews. We don’t teach interviewing, but the skill of being able to articulate a few points with evidence is the heart of the impromptu speech assignment. In sum, this class focuses on speech skills rather than genre of speeches.
Public speaking is about adapting to audience and situational constraints. In this class, you will be told what those audiences and situational constraints are and you will need to adapt to them. If you do not adapt to these constraints, you will not do well. So, when the assignment description says that you need to develop a persuasive argument on a current public policy issue that motivates audience members to take action and instead you write and deliver a speech on “how to bake a cake,” you will get an F. It could be the world’s most perfect “how to bake a cake” speech ever delivered and bring tears to the eyes of each and every audience member, but it still gets an F because it didn’t respond to the constraints. The class assignments will present you with a set of expectations and constraints. You will then be graded on how well you meet those expectations. A beautifully delivered presentation can still be bad speech if it does not identify and respond to the relevant constraints and expectations.
COM 220: Public Speaking 4

Impromptu speaking reinforces all aspects of good public speaking: quick thinking, sound argumentation, strategic word choice, and engaged delivery. On the day you are assigned to speak, you will draw two thesis statements from an envelope.
Selecting one of them, you will go into the hallway for six minutes to prepare. You will then return to the room and deliver a four to five minute speech supporting or opposing the thesis. Evaluations of your speech will focus on the strength of the arguments, the clarity of the arrangement, and the effectiveness of the delivery. Please see the assignment description in this packet for a detailed list of the assignment requirements.
Unlike the impromptu speech, where your goal is to simply develop and deliver credible arguments clearly and effectively, your goal in the persuasive speech is to persuade those who disagree with you . The persuasive and the advocacy speeches require you to speak on public issues. Given what you know about the controversy, the arguments circulating in the public forum, and the classroom audience, you should attempt to increase the audience’s understanding and support for your position. Evaluations of your speech will focus on the capacity of the arguments to convince disagreeing members of your audience, the appropriateness of the arrangement and style, and the effectiveness of the delivery. Please see the assignment in this packet for a detailed list of the assignment requirements.
Y our goal in the advocacy speech is to motivate uninformed and/or apathetic members of your audience to take some form of action. This speech round will be held in an outdoor public location to allow us to work on delivery and audience engagement. Evaluations of your speech will focus on the capacity of the arguments and style to move members of your audience to take action, the appropriateness of the arrangement, and the effectiveness of the delivery. Please see the assignment description in this packet for a detailed list of the assignment requirements.
There are a number of smaller assignments that will help you prepare your speeches. There are no make-up homeworks. If you miss class on the day of an inclass activity or fail to turn in a homework on time, you receive a 0 for that assignment.
For this reason, your two lowest homework grades will be dropped from the calculation of your final grade. There are 13 total homework assignments (each worth 5 points) and I will calculate 11 into your grade.
Since you are free to speak on the same topic for both your persuasive and advocacy speeches, it is important that you select a good one that addresses a public issue and interests you and your audience. In order to assist you on that path, this assignment asks you to justify your proposed topic. You must select two
COM 220: Public Speaking 5

potential topics. For each topic, you must show that this topic is debated publicly and provide an annotated bibliography demonstrating that there are enough sources to support your claims. Your instructor will read these and provide recommendations on which topic might serve as the best one for this class. Please see the assignment description in this packet for a detailed list of the assignment requirements.
Prior to delivering your informative and advocacy speeches for a grade, you will deliver a full run through to get some practice and feedback. Each student will be assigned to present on a gallery walk day based on the speaker order. On your assigned day, you will deliver your speech for a small audience a few times and receive some feedback. Since an audience is essential to the activity, you must attend
(and will receive a homework grade) for all gallery walk days, regardless of whether you are speaking or not. Please see the assignment description in this packet for a detailed list of the assignment requirements.
Outlining your speech provides you an opportunity to develop arguments and make language choices in a format conducive to extemporaneous speaking. Your outline will be assessed based on your ability to develop arguments convincing for your audience, arrange your speech material in a clear and effective manner, and reference relevant evidence in appropriate places. Your instructor will review this outline and return it to you with recommendations for your speech.
While you won’t be turning in your advocacy outline, you do benefit by getting some feedback on it from your peers. After we have discussed the basic components of the advocacy speech, we will devote a workshop to refining the stylistic language and a workshop devoted to practicing advocacy delivery.
After delivering a speech, you should spend some time critically reflecting on it. You must complete a self-critique of both your impromptu and informative speeches. You will need to view a recording of your speech and write a short paper evaluating it according to the standards set in class. Your self-critiques will be assessed based on your ability to provide clear, insightful, and accurate analysis. Please see the assignment description in this packet for a detailed list of the assignment requirements.
Like a number of other arts, we refine our public speaking abilities through a mixture of instruction, practice, and imitation. Critically examining your peers' speeches provides you another venue for thinking about how to adapt to different rhetorical situations. Additionally, individual speakers benefit immensely from articulate feedback from their audiences. Over the course of the quarter, you will be required to orally critique your classmates’ speeches. These peer critiques will be assigned before the speech rounds begin. Please see the assignment in this packet for a detailed list of the assignment requirements. This assignment is performed in class.
COM 220: Public Speaking 6

Assignment
Impromptu Speech
Persuasive Speech
Advocacy Speech
Homeworks
Quizzes
Test assignment
Point Value
55
80
90
44
30
1
Percentage of the final grade
18%
27%
30%
15%
10%
Total: 300 points 100%
Grades will be assigned based on your final number of accumulated points. For a discussion of the grade ranges, please see your student handbook or visit: http://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/front/Grading_Sys.html
A Range (90-100%)
100% = 4.0
99% = 4.0
B Range (80-89%)
89% = 3.4
C Range (70-79%)
79% = 2.4
D Range (62-69%)
69% = 1.4
98% = 4.0
97% = 4.0
96% = 4.0
95% = 4.0
88% = 3.3
87% = 3.2
86% = 3.1
85% = 3.0
78% = 2.3
77% = 2.2
76% = 2.1
75% = 2.0
68% = 1.3
67% = 1.2
66% = 1.1
65% = 1.0
94% = 3.9
93% = 3.8
92% = 3.7
91% = 3.6
90% = 3.5
84% = 2.9
83% = 2.8
82% = 2.7
81% = 2.6
80% = 2.5
74% = 1.9
73% = 1.8
72% = 1.7
71% = 1.6
70% = 1.5
64% =.9
63% =.8
62% =.7
61% =.7
60% =.7
Below .6 is failing
COM 220: Public Speaking 7

There are no add-codes for this course. All adds and drops will be taken care of automatically by the University registration system.
An assignment is on time when it is turned in at the beginning of the class session on the day it is due (this includes online submissions). In the event that you do not turn in your homework and/or are present for the performance of a homework by the start of class on the day it is due, you will not receive credit for that homework. In other words, you cannot come late to section simply to deliver your speech or homework, unless prior arrangements have been made with the instructor. If you miss a homework
(either by not turning it in on-time or not being present for a performance homework), you will receive a zero. There are no homework make-ups.
This class runs on a very tight schedule since all speeches are performed in sections; there simply is not time in the schedule to allow for make-up speeches. Given this practical concern, I’ve listed actions to take to avoid missing your speeches and penalties that will occur if you do.
Avoid missing your speeches: If you know that you will not be able to attend on a day when you are scheduled to speak (or critique), you must make arrangements with a classmate to switch speaking (or critiquing) positions as soon as possible.
You must also inform your instructor of this change. Swapping speech days with a classmate AND informing your instructor will receive no grade penalty. If you are traveling on a University trip (athletic competition, field trips, etc.), it is your responsibility to work with your instructor to negotiate your speaking and critiquing schedule with your travel schedule. As noted above, missed homeworks will receive a zero; if you missed a gallery walk, that day is gone and cannot be made up.
Excused missed speeches: If a serious illness or emergency prevents you from performing your duties, you should do everything you can to contact your instructor as soon as possible. Prompt consultation with your instructor (within 24 hours) and documentation of the unavoidable incident (e.g., a note from your doctor, a copy of the accident report, etc.) might result in the scheduling of a make-up speaking without a grade penalty if the instructor deems the circumstances that caused the absence to be severe enough to merit rescheduling.
If the absence is excused, you must deliver the speech during the first opening in the schedule (that is, you will be on standby until time opens up in the class).
Unexcused missed speeches: An unexcused missed speech will receive an automatic 15% deduction for each section day that you are absent, or present, but unprepared to deliver it. As above, you must deliver the speech during the first opening in the schedule (that is, you will be on standby until time opens up in the class). Hypothetically, you could miss your speech day, come the next section
COM 220: Public Speaking 8

prepared to deliver the speech (receiving only a 15% deduction), but not be able to deliver it until the following section (because there wasn’t enough time to get through six speeches).
: To request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact the Disability Resources for Students Office (DRS), 448 Schmitz, 543-8924 (V),
543-8925 (TTY), or uwdss@u.washington.edu . Please present your letter from DRS indicating that you have a disability that requires academic accommodations to your instructor and the course coordinator so we can discuss the accommodations you might need for the class.
: If you wish to challenge a grade you received on an assignment, you should wait 24 hours after receiving the grade. Refer back to the assignment description in order to identify areas where you and the grader apparently differed. As a side note, “I tried really hard” is not an argument for a grade change. We can only grade product, not effort.
After 24 hours, make an appointment with your TA to discuss the grade. If the issue is still not resolved following that meeting, make an appointment with me. If you are still not satisfied with the response that you receive, you may contact the chair of the
Department of Communication, David Domke, at 543-2662. You have two weeks after receiving a grade to challenge it. After two weeks, grade challenges will not be considered.
: The University's definitions of academic and personal misconduct are outlined in the Student Conduct Code (available online at http://www.washington.edu/students/handbook/conduct.html). It is your responsibility to read and understand the University's expectations. Until you have read the Code , do not assume that you know what this University defines as academic misconduct.
Plagiarism is a significant violation of the Student Conduct Code and will be dealt with severely in this class. Plagiarism is any representation of another person's words or ideas
(in either oral or written form) in a manner that makes it seem as if they were your own.
This means that you may not copy another person's paper or speech. But it also means that you should not use another person's unique phrases or organizational schemes without making it clear to your audience where those words or ideas originated. If it becomes evident that you have collaborated with another student and/or plagiarized work, the matter will be immediately turned over to the University's Committee on Academic
Conduct (more information on this process here: http://depts.washington.edu/grading/pdf/StudentInfo.pdf
).
Finally, the same speech may not be given for credit in more than one class. If you are taking another course with speech assignments, you may not recycle a speech by giving it in both classes.
COM 220: Public Speaking 9

A class on public speaking is essentially a rhetoric class. The word rhetoric is often used to indicate that the speaker is lying (“his record doesn’t match his rhetoric”) or that the speaker is filling air with meaningless talk (“let’s move past all the rhetoric and get down to business”). It is true that term has gotten a lot of bad press over the past 2,000 years or so, but the study of rhetoric is the study of what is persuasive. We are certainly not the first group to study what goes into a dynamic and moving speech. The ancient Greeks and Romans spent a lot of time thinking and writing about good speaking. Throughout history, thinkers and charlatans alike have devoted a considerable amount of effort to figuring out what sounds good, looks good, and works to motivate various audiences.
Since the study of rhetoric has been around for so many years, there are a number of different definitions for the word. Aristotle defined rhetoric as “the faculty of discovering in any particular case the available means of persuasion.” Plato held that rhetoric is “the art of winning the soul by discourse.” The Roman thinker Quintilian suggested simply that rhetoric is the art of speaking well. John Locke however held a dimmer view of the art and wrote that rhetoric is a “powerful instrument of error and deceit.” The contemporary writer Gerard Hauser suggests, “Rhetoric is communication that attempts to coordinate social action. For this reason, rhetorical communication is explicitly pragmatic. Its goal is to influence human choices on specific matters that require immediate attention.” For the purposes of this class, we will define rhetoric as “the study and art of effective speaking.” This doesn’t begin to capture all the ways in which rhetoric could be (and has been) defined, but it does focus our study on the aspects of rhetoric most relevant to our present concern.
Earlier thinkers argued that the study and practice of rhetoric involved five main parts.
: The first thing that must go into a good speech is good material.
Invention means finding or thinking up good speech content. Basically, a good speaker knows what s/he is talking about. There are a number of different strategies that we will study to help prime the mental pump. Our focus in this class is on good arguments (solid claims supported with good evidence). Aristotle suggested that the speech content was either artistic (you had to think it up) or inartistic (it already existed). Proving your claims requires both inartistic and artistic proofs. We all know that good arguments require evidence, so let’s look at the artistic proofs. Aristotle saw three main ways to make an argument.
LOGOS: We convince people through our use of logic. So, I can argue that it rained last night by pointing to the puddles on the ground. I use the evidence of rain puddles to make a claim about something that I didn’t see, relying on the
COM 220: Public Speaking 10

basic logical premise that “puddles generally indicate recent rain.” This isn’t the most contentious of arguments, you say. Very true, but the principle is the same.
We use appeals to logic to help support our arguments. Economists make logical arguments all the time. They have evidence about current trends, but they argue about where to invest money based on logic—they don’t know 100% what the market will do, but they can try to figure out where to invest based on historical precedent, prevailing wisdom, and informal logic.
PATHOS: We persuade people by appealing to their emotions. Of course, we are not simply logical animals, we have emotions, and these often shape how we see and understand the world. Now an appeal to pathos doesn’t mean that we simply tug at people’s heart strings or we try to scare them into acting our way. Of course this happens, but you would be hard pressed to call it good argumentation.
Aristotle saw pathos as putting the audience in the right frame of mind. So, if you are arguing for something that might seem unfamiliar to your audience, you would be well advised to tell some personal stories that helped people understand the human element. The commercials you see asking for help in funding starving populations rely a lot on pathos. They are trying to evoke your compassion by showing you what the living conditions are like for many in need.
ETHOS: We can persuade people by virtue of good character. Aristotle suggested that of the three artistic proofs, ethos was potentially the most persuasive. Do we trust the speaker’s credibility as a person and her/his credibility on the topic? Do we trust that the speaker has our best interests at heart? We can gain ethos by doing all the research that a good speech needs and then demonstrating that ethos by being able to talk about the topic intelligently. We can “borrow” ethos by citing the best research available. Ultimately, though ethos must be earned by showing the audience that you are a credible source on this topic.
A good speech requires you to think about a host of different issues ranging from possible arguments, oppositional arguments, and all the different types of evidence you can use. A good speech also includes a mix of logos, pathos, and ethos. The process of sorting through all this material and deciding on the best for your case is the process of invention.
: Once you determine what your speech will be about and what types of artistic and inartistic proofs you will use, then you need to think about the best possible way to arrange your speech. How much background information do you need to give?
How should you arrange your main points? How long or short should the introduction be? In many ways, arranging a speech is more difficult than arranging an essay because a reader can jump around in an essay (look at the section headings, jump back and revisit something s/he was unclear on, etc.), but an audience member must listen to the speaker’s flow of information in chronological time. Given this, you must think about how your audience will hear and understand your speech.
COM 220: Public Speaking 11

: Once you know what you will say and the order in which you will say it, then you can begin to focus more on the details of exactly how you will say it. Some speeches are stylistically rich (Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is a famous example) while others are more stylistically plain (say, a business presentation), yet both have a type of style. The rhetorician Cicero talked about high, middle, and low styles in public speaking.
We are probably familiar with the high style; many political orators use it for famous speeches. In the U.S. the State of the Union Address is usually delivered in a middle or high style. We are also probably familiar with the low style. If not, watch a television talk show; here the style is very casual. Ultimately, style is governed by the topic and the audience you are addressing. In this class, we are concerned most with the middle and middle-high style. You should think strategically about your style and how your audience will hear and understand your words. The three main speech assignments move from low-middle style (impromptu speech), to middle style (informative speech), to middlehigh style (advocacy speech).
: This part of rhetoric was really important for speakers in classical Greece and Rome because they delivered really long speeches (often in very high style). It remains important for us because a speech is spoken not read. If you don’t practice your speech, you won’t be familiar with it. If you aren’t familiar with your speech, you will probably read it to us. This is not a class in public reading, but in public speaking. You should not try to memorize your speeches word for word. This will only exacerbate any fear you have of public speaking. However, you should know the main parts of your speech. This comes down to a matter of knowledge and practice. You need to know your material well enough so that you can talk about the topic intelligently (invention). You also need to practice enough so that you know how best to explain this topic to the audience (arrangement and style).
: The final part of a study of rhetoric is the one that people fear the most: standing up in front of an audience and actually delivering the speech. Of course, if you have the invention, arrangement, style, and memory parts down pat, the delivery part shouldn’t give you too many headaches. That said, there are a number of delivery issues that can help or hurt your speech. We will study some of those delivery issues that are most distracting and those techniques that are most beneficial. However, the basic delivery approach we will focus on in this class is conversational delivery. This doesn’t mean simply speaking as you would with your friends about any subject, but finding a style that looks good, sounds good, and helps your ethos.
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The introductory speech should help students to:
• begin a study of public speaking in a low risk setting.
• practice delivering a speech within a time limit.
• begin the process of getting to know their classmates.
• work on conversational delivery.
We all have certain stories about ourselves that we love to tell. Others get to know us a little bit better when you tell a story about yourself. This assignment asks you to tell one of your favorite stories from your personal history. It can be a funny or serious story; all that matters is that you have told this story many times before. You simply need to tell this story to your classmates. What is different is that you must conclude your story with some type of moral or lesson (e.g. “And that was when I truly learned that you never want to give your car keys to an angry bear” or “So, it is true what they say, ‘a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’”).
• The story can run no longer than 2 minutes.
• You cannot use a notecard (why would you need it? You’ve told this story before)
• You must end the story with some type of moral or lesson you learned.
: The more you practice the story, the more comfortable you will be with it and the more enjoyable it will be to listen to.
: Don’t adopt an artificial sounding “speech voice.” Such voices often sound disingenuous.
: I want you to have fun, but this is a story that is introducing you to your classmates and your teacher. If your story was a movie, it should carry a G or PG rating.
: Make sure this is a story that you know that you can speak on comfortably in front of an audience of strangers.
You would hate to get halfway through and then realize that this story was too personal.
: This is the lowest intensity speech you will give all quarter, so you better enjoy it now.
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After completing the impromptu speech, students should be able to:
• quickly develop and deliver clear and well-reasoned arguments.
• craft well phrased main points that support and advance the main argument.
• use evidence that clarifies and supports the main points.
• deftly explain how the main points and evidence all work to advance the thesis.
• use previews, reviews, and signpost words to clarify argument structure.
• speak confidently with appropriate rate and projection.
• use delivery to distinguish between key ideas and elaborating detail
In business, in school, and in public life, you are often called upon to “make a few comments.” Though these are not as formal as some of your other speeches, they are speeches nonetheless. Often, people so tasked with a short speech become flummoxed.
The impromptu speech assignment is designed to help you shine where others falter.
Impromptu speaking reinforces all aspects of good public speaking: quick thinking, sound argumentation, strategic word choice, and engaged delivery.
This speech does not reward those who simply fill air with words for a few minutes. My main goal for this speech is that you are able to quickly arrange and deliver a clear and well-supported argument. Each one of these words is important to this assignment. You must act quickly, which requires a sense of speech arrangement. Your speech must be clear, which requires you to include previews, reviews, and transitions. Your speech needs to have, at its heart, a well-organized and solid argument. This means that you must practice impromptu speeches many times before you deliver your speech in class.
For the impromptu, you will have six minutes of prep time and be expected to deliver a four to five minute speech.
Each student will receive two thesis statements on a slip of paper. You can speak on either one of the thesis statements. You do not have to agree with the thesis statement; you can argue against it. Next you should support the thesis statement with two main points. For each main point, you need two pieces of elaborating support.
COM 220: Public Speaking 14

At minimum, your speech should include the following elements:
Introduction
• State your thesis
• Preview of your main points
I. First main point
• Statement of your first main point
• Provide and explain two pieces of support illustrating the first main point
• Conclude your first main point
II. Second main point
• Statement of your second main point
• Provide and explain two pieces of support illustrating the second main point
• Conclude your second main point
Conclusion
• Restate the your thesis statement and review your two main points
• Conclude your speech
: Your preparation time cannot exceed time allotted. If you finish your preparation before the time limit is up, you can use the remaining time to think more about the speech. Once you begin the speech, you have four to five minutes to deliver your speech.
Your assignment grade will be lowered by five points for every 45 seconds you speak under or over the target time range. For example:
• A 3:15 speech would receive no grade penalty
• A 3:05 speech would receive a five point penalty
• A 2:15 speech would receive a ten point penalty, and so on.
Similarly,
• A 5:45 speech would receive no grade penalty
• A 5:55 speech would receive a five point penalty
• A 6:45 speech would receive a ten point penalty, and so on.
: You may use a notecard to prepare and deliver your speech.
: Your speech must include a thesis statement supported by two main points. Each main point should be supported by two pieces of evidence.
: You should use concrete examples to explain and support your main points.
In essence, your examples should demonstrate why your main point is valid.
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I cannot stress this enough. While practicing is always the surest way to get better at something, this is particularly true in the case of the impromptu speech. I assume that you have not performed something like this previously. This is a skill building assignment to get you ready for more formal speeches later in the quarter. You should practice developing thesis statements, main points, and evidence whenever you have the opportunity. Pick a few statements to work with and practice them in your head as you walk from class to class. If you don’t practice, you will not do well on this assignment.
: I am often struck by how much students want to rely on their notecards. You only spent 6 minutes with it out in the hallway; it only has a few words on it; why do you spend 75% of your time looking at that blank sheet? I know it feels safer to look at this card, but it generally leads to a poorer speech. You have had six minutes to gather your thoughts, now simply explain your argument to the audience. Remember, the goal here is to communicate your thoughts to the audience, not to simply stand and speak in front of us.
: Think about what your goals are in each section. In the introduction, you need us to understand what you are going to talk about, so make sure we understand. In the main points, you need to explain how this main point supports the thesis and how the evidence supports the main points. You goal is not to have everything laid out perfectly; rather, you need to spontaneously generate words that will help us, your audience, understand what you are arguing.
: Come to the Speaking Center and work with a TA or a tutor.
These people can help you (even if you don’t think you need help) and these people know what excellent, good, and adequate speeches look like and how you can improve.
COM 220: Public Speaking 16

Name:______________________________________
+ = excellent, √+ = good, √ = adequate, √ - = flawed, - = poor/missing
Note: The percentages here are guidelines. All these categories are mutually dependent.
____
• The speaker supported the thesis with appropriate main points
•
•
____
Name:______________________________________
+ = excellent, √+ = good, √ = adequate, √
The speaker explained how the main points supported the thesis clearly and effectively
• The speaker included appropriate and effective evidence for both main points
• The speaker explained how the evidence supported the main points clearly and effectively
Comments:
- = flawed, - = poor/missing
Note: The percentages here are guidelines. All these categories are mutually dependant.
• The speaker previewed the speech in the introduction clearly and effectively
• The speaker transitioned between the main parts of the speech clearly and effectively
• The speaker provided internal structure clearly and effectively
• The speaker reviewed the speech clearly and effectively and provided a sense of closure in the conclusion
____ Delivery (~20%)
• The speaker used notes effectively and appropriately
• The speaker used projection effectively and appropriately
• The speaker used speech rate effectively and appropriately
• The speaker maintained good eye contact with the audience
Additional Comments:
Time: __________ Time Penalty (if any): ________ Grade for Speech: _________
COM 220: Public Speaking 17

In addition to the above rubric, I wanted to give you a more holistic description of what the different speeches often look and sound like. What follows below is simply a discussion of some of the commonalities that occur when we see an excellent, good, adequate, or poor speech. Invention, arrangement, and delivery are all mutually dependent. A speaker might have excellent invention, adequate arrangement, and good delivery; the speaker’s grade reflects this admixture.
Invention : Excellent speakers tie the support, main points, and thesis together clearly and succinctly. Excellent speakers discuss targeted main points that are neither too broad/vague, nor too specific to sustain supporting examples and discussion. The main points are specific to the thesis; that is, the main points speak to this specific agent with this specific mandate. The supporting examples elaborate on the main points and provide greater context and detail. When discussing the examples, the excellent speaker is able to bring in the ideas and language of main point and the thesis statement.
Arrangement : Excellent speakers deliver speeches that are easy to flow. The main points are phrased powerfully and memorably. The speaker’s arrangement-talk
(highlighting the main points and support) is clear and sounds natural. They are performing the major breaks between the sections of their speeches nonverbally as well
(longer pause breaks, movement, etc.). Excellent speeches are easy to flow because the speakers highlight the organization, and because the organizational patterns are logical.
Delivery : Excellent impromptu speeches are easy to listen to. The speakers appear confident and speak with plenty of projection and vocal variety. They use pauses, rate and pitch changes, as well as other delivery devices to help the audience distinguish between high and low priority sentences and ideas. Excellent speeches appear well prepared and have good pacing (in that the speeches are neither rushed nor plodding).
Excellent speakers maintain good eye contact with the entire audience.
Invention : Good speakers tie the support, main points, and thesis together well. Good speakers have good main points that relate clearly to the thesis statement. Whereas in an excellent speech both main points are targeted and specific, the good speaker might have one really strong point and one slightly weaker point. The main points tie to the thesis, but perhaps the link to the specific agent and mandate may not be as readily obvious to listeners. The supporting examples work well as illustrations of the main points that they are supporting. In an excellent speech, these pieces of support elaborate on the main points; in a good speech, most of the examples illustrate the key ideas. The difference being that an elaborating example extends and sharpens the main point’s ideas; whereas an illustration is simply shows how the main point operates in the world.
Arrangement : Good speakers deliver speeches that are easy to flow. As with the excellent speeches, the main points are phrased well. When good speakers deliver their speeches, the arrangement-talk is clear, but, at times, clunky. They are performing the
COM 220: Public Speaking 18

major breaks between the sections of their speeches nonverbally (longer pause breaks, movement, etc.). Good speakers don’t have the clarity and conciseness of an excellent speaker’s internal arrangement. The supporting examples might not be previewed and/or the transitions between the pieces of support might also be unclear. In essence, the arrangement is clear and solid in good speeches, but not as strategic or powerful as in excellent ones.
Delivery : Good speakers sound like they are performing the speeches they have practiced a couple of times; excellent speakers sound like they are discussing an idea with the audience. One or two of the delivery aspects discussed (rate changes, pauses, projection, eye contact) tend to need work in good speeches. The speakers might need to do more to help the audience distinguish between key and supporting sentences and ideas. The speakers might be running a bit fast, or they are blurring over major breaks in the speeches, or the speakers might simply be a bit difficult to hear.
Invention : Adequate speakers don’t provide a deep explanation of how the thesis, main points, and support tie together. Each argumentative element, while fine on its own, doesn’t have a strong relationship to the other argumentative elements. In some instances this results in main points that don’t relate the specificities of the thesis statement; they argue the general idea evoked by the thesis, rather than the thesis’s specific agent and mandate. As a result, the speaker’s argument is not rooted in the thesis and thus tends to be overly vague. The support examples tend to be illustrations rather than elaborations and the speaker doesn’t do as much as they need to explain how the examples relate to the main point. Usually, this vagueness results in a speech that struggles to fill the time with relevant content.
Arrangement : It is generally easy to identify the basic idea of the main points in adequate speeches, but precision is lacking. Adequate speakers rarely preview or overtly discuss internal structure; rather, the listeners tend to make educated guesses at the nature of the supporting examples. After listening to an adequate speech, audience members can conceive of a few key changes to the arrangement that would probably increase the speech's clarity and argumentative force. The claims present in adequate speeches are generally fine (albeit with some clumsy wording), but often under-supported.
Delivery : Adequate speakers sound as if they have done a few practice impromptus, but the speech model is not yet second-nature. Adequate speakers tend to sound rather unenthused about their speech and its argument. If they are enthused, it often sounds rather forced. Audience members can detect that the pacing is off in adequate speeches.
Adequate speakers haven't run impromptus enough to find the places where tempo shifts are needed or where pause breaks help direct their audiences' attention to key ideas.
Ultimately, the delivery in an adequate speech does not contribute much to argument clarity or audience engagement. While adequate delivery may not detract much from the meaning of the speech, it adds little.
COM 220: Public Speaking 19

Invention : Audiences listening to poor speakers are unclear as to the relationship between the thesis, main points, and supporting examples. One or both main points are unclear to the point where a listener has difficulty identify exactly what the speaker is attempting to argue. The supporting examples are unclear and/or underdeveloped and their relationship to the main points is questionable. Usually, one major speech element is missing or significantly underdeveloped (e.g., only one piece of support for an example, a main point that only runs a few sentences, etc.). As with adequate speeches, these invention problems results in a speech that struggles to fill the time with relevant content.
Arrangement : Audience members often have a hard time flowing poor speeches.
Sometimes the points are out of balance, with one huge main point and one tiny, unsupported main point. Alternatively, poor speakers may make their main points very clear, but these arguments have little clear relationship with the thesis. The supporting examples are difficult to identify.
Delivery : The delivery of poor speakers seems to actively harm the quality of their speeches. This may be because they seem apathetic towards their topic, and/or their audience, and/or the assignment. Most of the delivery tactics that can help increase the clarity and energy of a speech (pacing, vocal variety, pausing) are absent or poorly used in poor speeches.
Invention : Failing speakers develop and deliver speeches that have little to do with the assignment requirements. The main points have little clear relationship with the thesis statement. The supporting examples, if present, are unclear.
Arrangement : Failing speakers seem to have little to no sense of structure. Main points and supporting examples, if mentioned, seem disconnected from one another and the thesis.
Delivery : Failing speakers have inappropriate delivery. This may mean that the speakers are clearly apathetic towards the entire act of giving a speech. This may mean that the speakers are enthused, but are doing so merely for comic effect or as a way of passionately advancing an inappropriate topic.
COM 220: Public Speaking 20

We will discuss the finer points of coming up with material for your impromptu speech in class and you’ll practice in class and the speaking center. I did want to, however, provide a few additional tips on coming up with good material for impromptu speeches
Obviously, this is the first challenge you are presented with once you select the thesis statement that you will respond to. You must take a stand on the thesis statement. Do you agree or disagree? Having practiced these for years, I can tell you one is not easier or harder than the other. Choose whichever one you think you can make a better case for.
1.
.
The best and easiest way to come up with main points is to ask, “why is my thesis statement true?”
This guides you towards main points that support your thesis. For example, if my thesis statement was, “The College of Arts and Sciences should retain its foreign language requirement” and I agreed with this, I would ask, “why is this true?” My answers would be, “because foreign language skills encourage the broad cultural outlook that a good college education should develop in students who attend the school” and “because the current requirement is not too burdensome for students.” I can drop the “because” and these become my two main points:
Thesis: The College of Arts and Sciences should retain its foreign language requirement.
I. Foreign language skills encourage the broad cultural outlook that a good liberal arts education should develop in students who attend the school.
II. The current requirement is not too burdensome for students.
They clearly support and advance my thesis statement. In fact, each main point explains in greater detail why the thesis is accurate. You might just as easily argue the opposite case:
Thesis: The College of Arts and Sciences should eliminate its foreign language requirement.
I. Foreign language skills are not necessary for each and every department in the college
II. The current requirement proves to be an unnecessary difficulty for transfer students.
COM 220: Public Speaking 21

2.
.
Each thesis you will draw has a “who” (agent) and a “what” (mandate). Your argument should be able address both elements. So, in the above example, the thesis is COAS
(agent) implementing a foreign language requirement (mandate). So, both of my main points should be arguing about the presence or absence of the requirement . The argument in favor of the requirement, for example, isn’t simply an argument in favor of knowing a foreign language, but an argument for requiring COAS students to take a foreign language course. The distinction might sound minor, but it is an important one. Your claims should advance your thesis, not some unstated thesis. Let’s take a look at a flawed example:
Thesis: The College of Arts and Sciences should retain its foreign language requirement.
I. Foreign language skills help with jobs.
II. Foreign language skills help foster a broader cultural outlook.
The problem here is that the main points aren’t dealing with the agent (COAS) or the mandate (the foreign language requirement). If we simply looked at the main points and had to guess at what the thesis statement would be, you might guess “foreign langauge skills are good.” In addressing both agent and mandate, you will find yourself talking about policy implementation: Is this policy needed? Can this policy be implemented well/effectively/at a reasonble cost?
Now that I have my main points, I can pay attention to how well they are phrased. We will discuss the finer points of phrasing in class. The main concerns though are active voice, brevity, and parallelism. Revising my main points for language might make the points end up looking like this:
Thesis: The College of Arts and Sciences should retain its foreign language requirement.
I. Foreign language skills are central to the College’s educational mission.
II. The current requirement is not too burdensome for students.
In this instance, my phrasing on the second point is fine, but the first point ran on too long. In trimming the language, I also see that I can focus the first main point even more on the stated thesis. In essence, my first point now is an argument for why the College has a pedagogical link to foreign language study and the second is a justification for why this link can be cemented into a requirement.
COM 220: Public Speaking 22

As with the thesis, you should ask of your main points, “what would show that this is an accurate statement?” The evidence you need in your impromptu speeches (and in your later speeches) should clearly demonstrate that your main points are accurate. So, in the above example, I would need some evidence that explained the link between a liberal arts education and language study. The more concrete the evidence the better. I can certainly speak to my own experiences with language courses as a way of expanding one’s intellectual horizons.
You may have great main points and wonderful evidence in your head or on your notecard, but the audience can’t see inside your head and isn’t looking at your notecard.
This is where a lot of speakers fail. They put their faith and effort only into the notecard.
Getting the information in good order on the card is only half of the equation. Now, you have to explain the argument in a way that is clear, interesting, and logical.
It may make perfect sense to you why your evidence supports your main points, but you need to explain that link to the audience. I often see speakers who simply tick off their main points and their evidence without explaining their reasoning. This is like going to a fancy restaurant and having the chef come out and dump the ingredients for your order on your table. “Oh, your meal requires some assembly.” The same is true of speaking, you have the ingredients for your speech on the notecard, but you have to cook it so that it is appealing and easy for the audience to digest.
COM 220: Public Speaking 23

NOTE Below are some impromptu thesis statements to practice with. These are the impromptu thesis statements from recent years.
The thesis statements for this quarter will be posted to the class website before the start of the round. I do this so that you can check to make sure you can speak for a few minutes on any one of the thesis statements. Also, if you are concerned that you may not know the definitions of some key words, you can look up the troubling words.
• The UW should charge in-state and out-of-state students the same tuition.
• The City of Seattle should make University Way a pedestrian only zone.
• The UW should ban the use of laptops in all classrooms.
• The City of Seattle should rebuild/recreate an NBA team.
• The UW should not allow professors to assign textbooks they authored or coauthored.
• The U.S. Federal Government should double the amount of money it gives to
NASA each year.
• The US Federal Government should pass the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in order to crack down harder on online copyright infringement.
• The NCAA should allow universities to pay student athletes.
• The UW should eliminate the tenure system for professors.
• The UW should keep the IMA opened 24 hours a day.
• Washington State should not toll the 520 bridge.
• The UW should prohibit the use of skateboards/longboards on campus.
• The UW's College of Arts and Sciences should eliminate the foreign language graduation requirement.
• Washington State should allow charter schools.
COM 220: Public Speaking 24

Your outline on the notecard may look like this:
Thesis statement:
I.
A.
B.
II.
A.
B.
You end up filling in all the gaps when you deliver the speech. That is, you explain how main point I supports your thesis, and how IIA supports II. We can call these explanations “links” because they link the evidence to the claim or “warrants.” Someone who explains the links between the main points and the thesis and between the evidence and the main points makes it easy for an audience to understand his/her speech. Someone who doesn’t explain the links may leave their audience wondering, “what was that evidence doing in the second main point?” or worse, “what are you talking about?”
The model below is meant as a way of thinking about all the filling that helps transform your truncated (and visually oriented) outline into a clear speech for an audience of listeners. Each step is a chunk of talk. Watch one of the sample outstanding impromptu speeches on the website and you will notice that they follow this model for the most part.
Intro
• open the speech
• state your thesis statement
• preview both your main points
Transition to your first main point
I. Main point 1
• state main point 1
• briefly preview both of your examples
• discuss your 1st example and how it supports main point 1
• discuss your 2nd example and how it supports main point 1
• if you haven’t already, address explicitly what main point 1 means and how it supports your thesis
• wrap up point 1
Transition to your second main point
II. Main point 2
• state main point 2
• briefly preview both of your examples
• discuss your 1st example and how it supports main point 2
• discuss your 2nd example and how it supports main point 2
• if you haven’t already, address explicitly what main point 2 means and how it supports your thesis
• wrap up point 2
Transition to your conclusion
Conclusion
• restate your thesis
• review both your main points
• conclude the speech
COM 220: Public Speaking 25

Students have requested some potential phrases for highlighting the structure in their impromptu speeches. Below are a few suggestions. Make up your own as well. All that is important is that you are helping your audience follow along with your speech.
Some potential phrases for stating your thesis in the introduction
“I am responding to the argument…”
“I agree with the assertion…” (Alternatively, “I disagree with the assertion….
And I argue instead…”)
Some potential phrases for previewing your main points in the introduction
“And we can see this by looking to two main reasons…”
“This is true for at least two reasons…”
“Two thing really stand out to me when thinking about this…”
Some potential phrases for previewing your examples in your main points
“I can think of two examples that show this well…”
“two things jump out to me on this..”
Some potential phrases for transitioning between main points
“Now that we have examined…, let’s move on to …”
“Having discussed…., let us turn now to….”
Some potential phrases for restating your thesis in the conclusion
“So in the end, I do think that…”
“So, in response to the argument…, I have argued…”
COM 220: Public Speaking 26

By performing peer critiques, students should refine their abilities to:
• critically assess speeches.
• quickly formulate a concise speech with two main points.
• provide examples to clarify the main points.
• adopt a conversational tone while still looking polished.
Over the course of the quarter, you will be required to critique your classmates’ speeches. Your peer critique assignments are listed on the speaker order sheet. You will be required to provide oral criticism following a peer’s speech. These peer critiques serve both a critical and speech function.
Critical function: Like a number of other arts, we refine our public speaking abilities through a mixture of instruction, practice, and imitation. As such, critically examining your peers’ speeches provides you another venue for thinking about how to adapt to different rhetorical situations.
Additionally, individual speakers benefit immensely from articulate feedback from their audiences.
Speech function: I was recently at a public lecture where there were a number of UW students.
During the Q&A, I was shocked and appalled at how poorly most students were at quickly articulating a single point. These peer critiques are short speeches that speak to this crucial ability to quickly develop insightful comments.
Your peer critiques are speech assignments. While they are not as long as your other graded speeches, they are speech assignments. In fact, short two-point speeches are some of the most common speeches you will deliver.
These speeches are short two-point speeches. Points I and II should take roughly 20-35 seconds.
Overall, each peer critique speeches should be about a minute to a minute and a half.
: In this section you should identify a strength of the speech.
This should be stated as a clear main point (e.g. “In his speech, Tom did an excellent job of stating clear and memorable main points.”). You should then provide one or two examples from the speech to illustrate your point (e.g. “For example, Tom’s second point was “Retrofitting the existing Alaskan Way Viaduct is significantly less expensive”)
: As above, you should identify one area of the speech that was not clear and provide an example to illustrate what you mean. Please remember that you will be hindering your classmate’s future public speaking success by being untruthful,
COM 220: Public Speaking 27

vague, or indirect about opportunities for improvement. By the same token, you should provide constructive criticism intended to help the speaker improve.
In case you are wondering what to critique. I have provided below a couple of important questions to ask of each speech. These are simply some questions to guide your thinking and critique of a speech
When developing your peer critiques you should reference specific parts and passages of the speech. Avoid critiques that are overly vague (e.g. “Your introduction was good,” “I thought your speech flowed nicely”) and work on providing specific comments (e.g. “Your call for the replacement of the UW athletic director needed some testimony from a respected UW source”).
• Did the speaker’s main points clearly support the thesis statement and address both the agent and the mandate? How could the main points have been clearer?
• Did the speaker’s evidence clearly support her/his main points? How could this evidence have been clearer?
• Was the speech easy to follow with good previews, transitions, and conclusions? How could these have been clearer?
• Did the speaker engage the audience well? Did the speaker speak too fast or slow or quiet? How could the delivery have been more effective?
• Did the speaker make her/his arguments clearly? Did you understand what the speaker was asserting? How could these arguments have been clearer?
• Did the speaker engage the opposing arguments effectively and fairly? Were there other arguments that the speaker did not address that she/he should have?
• Did the speaker make language choices that were appealing to an oppositional audience?
• Did the speaker provide enough supporting material to justify his/her claims? Where did the speaker need more supporting material/evidence?
• Was the speech delivered in a persuasive manner? How could the delivery have been more persuasive?
• Did the speaker clearly explain the ill? How could the identification of the ill and/or the cause have been more powerful for the audience?
• Did the speaker make a clear argument? Was it clear what types of actions the audience should take? How could these solutions have been better?
• Did the speaker use stylistic devices well? Did the speaker’s language choice increase the speech’s intensity? How could the speaker have used language more effectively?
• Did the speaker deliver the speech in an engaging way? What could have been improved?
• What else could the speaker have done to motivate the audience to act on her/his solutions?
COM 220: Public Speaking 28

By writing self-critiques, students should refine their abilities to:
• critically analyze all aspects of speech composition and delivery.
• distinguish between weak and strong support.
• identify unclear speech arrangement and identify possible solutions.
• diagnose delivery problems and propose remedies.
Like many other arts, the best public speakers are highly self-reflective about their skills. We all have certain strengths and areas that need improvement. These self-critiques are designed to help you identify your strengths and weaknesses. It is often difficult to distance yourself from your speech in order to reflect on it critically, but you must.
After you deliver your speech in class, you should view the recording of your speech and write a single-spaced page paper (500-600 words) that critiques your speech content and delivery. Even though you’re watching yourself on the video, don’t obsess about your physical performance. A speech is everything going on between you and that audience—physical behaviors are important, but are only one part of the much larger communication transaction. Think about how you are explaining your evidence to that audience, or how you are highlighting the arrangement of your speech.
As you view your performance and write your self-critique, you should address the following questions:
1.
What do you think you did well?
2.
What didn’t go as well as you had planned?
3.
What will you do differently the next time you give a speech?
Please use the questions listed on the peer critique assignment description to guide your analysis of your speech. In writing your self-critique, please do not focus exclusively on your delivery (as is the tendency in such self-reflections). In addition to critiquing your physical and verbal performance, also think about your structure, evidence, and argument. Cite specific passages from your speech to support your critical claims. If you say that you had good transitions, provide an example of where you had a good transition. If you say that you needed more evidence, discuss a point that lacked sufficient evidence.
Your paper should be written in paragraph form (not a bullet point response). You should actually analyze your speech; do not simply write a single sentence observation about each aspect of your speech. This is a unique opportunity to see your speech as others saw it. Don’t be too hard on yourself, but view this as another step in your ongoing improvement as a speaker.
COM 220: Public Speaking 29

Myname Here
COM 220 – Section BH
Speech Self Critique
N
UCLEAR
E
NERGY IS A
S
AFE AND
R
ELIABLE
A
LTERNATIVE TO
F
OSSIL
F
UELS
In general, I felt the speech went well, though upon viewing the DVD there are a number of areas
I would like to improve upon. To further my thesis that nuclear energy a safe and reliable alternative to consuming fossil fuels, I decided to use the additional benefits model. I had three main points: the existing concerns of opponents of nuclear energy, a response to the concerns, and the additional benefits of nuclear energy.
There were a number of things in this speech that went well, especially in terms of invention and delivery. I felt my argument incorporated a significant amount of logos. I thought that I was quite fair to the environmentalist position and provided enough evidence to prove that these were actual concerns they held. In order to address these concerns, I responded to each concern in my second main point. I didn’t argue that these concerns about nuclear energy were wrong, but that technology had reduced each of the three main threats posed by nuclear energy. I was able to use a lot of evidence here to show that nuclear energy is now much safer than it once was. In terms of delivery, I liked the way I was engaging the audience. I tried to do things to liven the conversation, considering I was talking about such a dry topic. I took pauses and asked rhetorical questions in order to provide “mental breaks” for the audience. I also liked the way I walked around during my speech, although next time I want to be more deliberate and practice walking at key points, phrases, or pauses.
There were a number of things that I would change if I were to deliver this speech again. Each point could have used more evidence. I thought my additional benefits section was strong, but it would have been stronger if I had provided more information about how nuclear energy is better for the environment than fossil fuels. I would have also liked to talk about desalination more. I forgot to add in my speech that desalination can be done with energy generated with oil but that it would still pollute the air. I don’t think I needed more statistics, but some examples would have helped make this issue easier to visualize. Each point was a bit dry in spots. At times, it felt like I was simply moving from one piece of evidence to the next. I had done a lot of research and I wanted to be able to use all this research, but points two and three might have benefited from more summary. I liked my flying analogy in point two and I think I might have used more of these types of explanations. Some things I didn’t like about my delivery were that I said things that I told myself REPEATEDLY not to say, such as “You should support me.” When I watched myself on the DVD, I noticed that I quickly caught myself saying such things, and had to correct myself. This just made things cumbersome and awkward. I also didn’t like the transition I had between my first and second points. I didn’t mean to sound sarcastic. I wanted to just take a second to provide some sort of comic relief after discussing serious and daunting information.
All in all, this was a strong speech, but for my next speech, I want to work more on developing and delivering parts of the speech that summarize the evidence more. Also, this speech was logos intensive. I would like to be able to incorporate more ethos and pathos into my speeches. The nature of the subject matter lends itself to logos , but some additional testimony or solid examples of the benefits of nuclear energy would add to overall persuasiveness of my position. I am comfortable with my delivery, but I would like to get over some of the rough spots where I seem to be reaching for a planned phrase.
COM 220: Public Speaking 30

After completing the persuasive speech, students should be able to:
• identify a target audience and the areas where the target audience might be persuaded.
• design and explain complex arguments appropriately and effectively for an oppositional audience.
• select and discuss complex evidence appropriately and effectively for an oppositional audience.
• use language and delivery appropriately and effectively for an oppositional audience.
• arrange and perform a complex case in a clear and persuasive manner.
• use previews, reviews, and signpost words to clarify argument structure.
• extemporize a speech in a manner that adds to their ethos and engages the audience.
• speak confidently with appropriate rate, projection, movement, and vocal variety.
• use delivery to distinguish between key ideas and elaborating detail
The persuasive speech asks you to persuade members of your audience who disagree with you on a topic of genuine public controversy. These controversies can range from the local, to the regional, to the national and international. What is important is that you address an issue that affects the public as a collective and is debated publicly. We will discuss public forum topics more in class.
The purpose of this speech is to persuade, not simply to argue. You might be able to develop a perfectly logical argument that is unpersuasive for your audience. Persuading audience members who disagree with you requires that you understand why they disagree with you, identify areas where audience members can be persuaded, and speak to those areas in a way that highlights shared interests. It is doubtful that you will be able to cover all the oppositional members of your audience in a six to nine minute span, but you can begin to weaken their commitment to their original position and increase their sympathy with your position.
Remember that your credibility plays an important role in persuading audiences; as such, you must deal with oppositional arguments in a fair and convincing way. Good persuaders do not ignore the opposition, nor do they simply attack the opposition, they engage opposition’s arguments in an even-handed way.
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In addition to persuading your audience, the persuasive speech must satisfy the following requirements.
. You must speak to a topic that affects us as a public and is debated publicly. See the section on “Picking and Researching a Persuasive Speech
Topic” for a description of public forum topics. In selecting a public forum topic, you must select an issue that has reasonable pro and con arguments. You should not speak to a topic that everyone agrees on; rather, you need to select issues that demand genuine persuasion.
. You are attempting to weaken your audience members’ support for the opposing case and strengthen the support for your case. You need to develop arguments that are designed to sway audience members who may initially disagree with your position.
. The speech should run 6-9 minutes. Your assignment grade will be lowered by 5 points for every 45 seconds you speak under or over the target time range.
. This means that the speech should not be memorized or scripted. You may use notedcards (standard 3x5 cards), but you should not rely too heavily on them.
. You must orally cite a minimum of three sources. Two of your sources must be available in print (the third can be a web-only source).
Odds are that you are going to have far more than three pieces of evidence, but you must include at least three sources. Your evidence should clearly support your arguments and you should explain the link. You should include a variety of evidence (statistics, examples, testimony, etc.).
.
: Students may try to speak on a topic that is not genuinely controversial. I am reminded of a speaker who made a wonderful argument against cyanide fishing (which is exactly what it sounds like—using cyanide to fish). The problem was that she didn’t really have to persuade her audience to support efforts to halt cyanide fishing…because they already agreed. No one was out there making principled arguments for cyanide fishing; there weren’t two reasonable sides that disputed that issue.
: Despite my protestations, I regularly see speeches that are simply selfdefensive arguments (e.g. “This is why I believe what I believe and you are simply wrong if you think otherwise!”). Television conditions us to make these types of arguments, but it is often
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unhealthy and unproductive in interpersonal settings. No one is going to agree with the person who just spent six to nine minutes attacking his/her beliefs. You must think about introducing new evidence that maybe we hadn’t thought about or reframing the issue in terms of a shared value.
There are a few sample speeches on the course website that does a good job of this. The Nuclear
Energy speech, in particular, is a good example. In it, the speaker argues for using nuclear energy. Why? Because there are newer and safer modes of generating nuclear power (new evidence). She also argues that the minimal risk is worth the decrease in pollution and increase in cheaper energy (shared values) and because other respected nations regularly use nuclear energy
(reliable testimony/shared ethos). Is this argument going to convince a die-hard environmentalist? Probably not. Might it convince someone who had a negative preconception about nuclear energy, but hasn’t done much research? Maybe.
: Students tend to get lost in their research and regurgitate every factoid they found. This is not helpful. We are persuaded by facts and statistics, but we are also persuaded by examples that show the human impact of your argument. Of course, you must use such examples carefully and honestly. If an audience feels that you are milking an example, they will probably discount it and much else of what you say. Also, use ethos. Make sure that we know that you know what you’re talking about.
: Please avoid the words, “my opposition.” This is a convenience in the lecture to explain the assignment and talk about the process, but it just sounds odd in your speech. You are trying to get the audience to understand your position and its benefits; you want to emphasize that you are on the same side. Use language that grants their position legitimacy, encourages agreement and negation. This is why persuading is harder than arguing. Arguing simply requires you to spout off; persuading requires you to think about how you will be heard and understood.
: This holds true for all speeches, but I’ve had the most problems with card reading in the persuasive speech. It is probably because you have more evidence in your persuasive speech than in other speeches. Regardless, you need to engage us as an audience of listeners and generate the words at the moment of speaking. There may be a few phrases that you have to get just right, but cards should be used minimally. Cards are often a crutch. You can easily remember the main parts of your speech (you are mentally equipped to remember this amount of information). However, you need to practice this speech many times before you give it for a grade. A good rule of thumb is to practice the final draft of the speech ten times before delivering it for a grade.
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PERSUASIVE SPEECH EVALUATION
Name:______________________________________
+ = excellent, √+ = good, √ = adequate, √ - = flawed, - = poor/missing
Note: The percentages here are guidelines. All these categories are mutually dependent.
____
• The speaker addressed an appropriate topic in a comprehensive manner
• The speaker included appropriate claims for the topic and the audience
•
•
•
___________________________________
Comments:
• The speaker clearly and effectively used the evidence to support the claims
• The speaker demonstrated a thorough understanding of the debate
• The speaker demonstrated a sympathetic understanding of the target audience
____ Arrangement (20%)
• The speaker arranged the speech effectively and appropriately
• The speaker highlighted the speech’s main points and subpoints clearly and effectively
• The speaker previewed the speech and oriented the audience to the topic clearly and effectively
• The speaker reviewed the speech clearly and effectively and provided a sense of closure in the conclusion
____ Delivery (30%)
Additional Comments:
• The speaker used projection effectively and appropriately
• The speaker used speech rate effectively and appropriately
• The speaker used vocal variety effectively and appropriately
• The speaker moved and gestured effectively and appropriately
Additional Comments:
Time: __________ Time Penalty (if any): ________ Grade for Speech: _________
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In addition to the above rubric, I wanted to give you a more holistic description of what the different speeches often look and sound like. What follows below is simply a discussion of some of the commonalities that occur when we see an excellent, good, adequate, or poor speech.
Invention, arrangement, and delivery are all mutually dependent. So, a speaker might have excellent invention, adequate arrangement, and good delivery. The resulting grade reflects this admixture.
Invention/style : Excellent speakers clearly know their topics inside and out. This knowledge comes through in multiple ways: they have the most appropriate evidence for their arguments, they don't have to read their cards, their manner of speaking indicates that they have more information than the bits of evidence that they are relating to the audience, and they can summarize information in a way that clarifies complex data elegantly. In terms of the argument, they have identified and developed the areas of agreement between them and their target audiences. They tend not to ask the target audience to give up too much (in terms of values or ideas), but focus on the areas with the greatest potential for audience opinion shift (new information, larger shared values, etc.). The evidence used in excellent speeches reflects the speakers' deep knowledge of the subjects: the evidence is appropriate, interesting, and clearly supports the arguments being made. Excellent speakers meet their target audiences where they are (i.e. the speakers respond well to the existing positions/knowledge held by their target audiences).
Arrangement : Excellent speakers deliver speeches that are easy to flow. The main points and sub-point are phrased powerfully and memorably. When the speakers deliver their speeches, the arrangement-talk (highlighting the main points and sub-points) is clear, but sounds completely natural. They are performing the major breaks between the sections of their speeches nonverbally as well (longer pause breaks, movement, etc.). The speakers’ choices regarding main points and sub-points make sense. Essential ideas are included; superfluous ones are excluded. Excellent speeches are easy to flow because the speakers highlight the organization, and because the organizational patterns are logical given the speakers’ goals.
Delivery : Excellent persuasive speeches are clearly well practiced. The speakers avoid many verbal stumbles. More importantly, it is apparent that even a few stumbles would not throw off these speakers (serving as another illustration of the excellent speakers' logical arrangement and mastery of the subject). Excellent speeches appear well prepared, look practiced, and thus sound solid. Since excellent persuasive speakers have practiced, the speeches aren't rushed or too slow.
The speakers deliver the speeches with confidence and plenty of projection. As above, the pauses and rate-changes seem to make it easier to flow the speeches' arguments and better understand the evidence.
Invention/style : Good persuasive speakers know their topic, but tend to know it primarily through their sources. This isn’t to say that the sources that they have are bad, merely that these sources tend to represent most of what the speaker knows about the topic. This more limited
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understanding translates into the speeches’ invention and delivery. The arguments are often solid, but the evidence carries the points a bit more than the speakers do. In terms of argument, good speakers have solid arguments and solid evidence. Usually, a lack of depth and diversity distinguish good speakers’ arguments from excellent speakers’ arguments. Excellent speakers can deploy a number of varied sources and explain the argument with greater clarity; good speakers have fewer sources discussed more cursorily. Good speakers have some points of identification with their audiences and these are discussed well. Whereas excellent speakers have these points of identification running throughout their speeches (written in at a deep level), good speakers have a few of them inserted into the speech.
Arrangement : Good speakers deliver speeches that are easy to flow. As with the excellent speeches, the main points and sub-point are phrased powerfully and memorably. When good speakers deliver their speeches, the arrangement-talk is clear, but, at times, clunky. They are performing the major breaks between the sections of their speeches nonverbally (longer pause breaks, movement, etc.). In terms of arrangement, good speeches are fine in terms of the main points and sub-points, but could benefit from a slight rewrite that rearranges the sub-points a bit.
Sometimes, there is an argument that survives into the final draft of a good speech that sounds like it stayed there simply because the speaker needed the point or liked the evidence. In essence, the arrangement is clear and solid in good speeches, but not as strategic or powerful as in excellent ones.
Delivery : Good speakers have done a number of run throughs and it shows. The speakers are polished and know the speech well. However, good speeches tend to sound like classroom speeches. Good speakers sound like they are performing the speeches they have practiced a couple of times; excellent speakers sound like they are discussing an idea with the audience.
One or two of the delivery aspects discussed (rate changes, pauses, projection) tend to need work in good speeches. The speakers might be running a bit fast, or they are blurring over major breaks in the speeches, or the speakers might simply be a difficult to hear.
Invention/style : Adequate speakers seem to know their topic, but have a few areas where that knowledge is suspect. Sometimes, the speakers have good general topics, but have failed to narrow them in ways appropriate to the assignment. Upon hearing, the audiences are convinced that the speakers have a grasp on their subjects, but there are a few points where that knowledge is questionable (either due to adequate speakers saying something that sounds a bit wrong or hyperbolic or because the speakers stay on a point that feels tangential to the issues at hand).
Most of the claims have solid evidence, but a few feel too lightly sourced. Excellent speakers convey ethos through mastery of their subjects; adequate speakers convey the ethos of someone who has a grasp on the subject. As such, the evidence in adequate speeches tends to be a mix of really good sources and a few odd ones. Adequate speakers tend to explain the evidence, but not with much depth or clarity. In essence, the evidence alone carries a lot of the burden of the arguments. Adequate speakers make some references to points of identification with the target audience, but these are not discussed in much depth.
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Arrangement : It is generally easy to identify the main points in adequate speeches, but not all of the sub-points. Adequate speakers rarely preview or overtly discuss internal structure; rather, the listeners tend to make educated guesses at the nature of the sub-claims. After listening to an adequate speech, audience members can conceive of a few key changes to the arrangement that would probably increase the speech's clarity and argumentative force. The claims present in adequate speeches are generally fine (albeit with some clumsy wording), but often undersupported.
Delivery : Adequate speakers sound as if they have done a few practice run throughs, though they still need to rely heavily on their cards to navigate the speech. Adequate speakers tend to sound rather unenthused about their speech and its argument. If they are enthused, it often sounds rather forced. Audience members can detect that the pacing is off in adequate speeches.
Adequate speakers haven't run their speeches enough to find the places where tempo shifts are needed or where pause breaks help direct their audiences' attention to key ideas. Ultimately, the delivery in an adequate speech does not contribute much to argument clarity or audience engagement. While adequate delivery may not detract much from the meaning of the speech, it adds little.
Invention : The topic/argument feels off in poor speeches. Poor speakers tend to address inappropriate topics for this assignment. Alternatively, poor speakers might choose appropriate topics, but end up discussing them inappropriately, or more commonly, in exceptionally vague terms. Strategic attempts to win over the audience are largely absent or clumsily handled. Often poor speakers explain why they believe their arguments, but do little to explain why an oppositional audience would want to agree. The quality and quantity of evidence is even poorer than in adequate speeches, with result being that poor speeches have few sources of questionable relevance. Poor speakers sound like they came to their topics fairly recently and have yet to fully grasp all of the relevant issues.
Arrangement : Audience members often have a hard time flowing poor speeches. Sometimes the points are out of balance, with too many sub-points supporting one main point and too few subpoints supporting another. Alternatively, poor speakers may make their main points and subpoints very clear, but these arguments are not the most important ones given their topics and audiences’ needs. Often major issues/arguments are missing from poor speeches. Since poor speakers don’t seem to have a full grasp on their topics, the resulting arguments tend to strike out in odd directions (e.g. responding to false concerns or simply resulting in false information).
Delivery : The delivery of poor speakers seems to actively harm the quality of their speeches.
This may be because they seem apathetic towards their topic, and/or their audience, and/or the assignment. In addition to seeming unfamiliar with the topic, they seem unfamiliar with their own speeches. Most of the delivery tactics that can help increase the clarity and energy of a speech (pacing, vocal variety, pausing) are absent or poorly used in poor speeches.
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Invention : Failing speakers develop and deliver speeches that have little to do with the assignment requirements. If they deal with appropriate topics, they make few if any attempts to persuade their audiences.
Arrangement : Failing speakers seem to have little to no sense of structure. Main points and subpoints, if mentioned, seem disconnected from one another and the thesis.
Delivery : Failing speakers have inappropriate delivery. This may mean that the speakers are clearly apathetic towards the entire act of giving a speech. This may mean that the speakers are enthused, but are doing so merely for comic effect or as a way of passionately advancing an inappropriate topic.
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Picking a topic for your persuasive and advocacy speech proves challenging at times. You must speak on a topic that is being debated (or has been within the past six months) in one (or more) of the following forums:
• U.S. Congress
• Washington State Legislature
• Seattle City Council
• Seattle School Board
• UW Board of Regents, UW Faculty Senate, GPSS (Graduate and Professional Student
Senate), and/or ASUW (Associated Students of the University of Washington) Senate
This means that you are speaking on a recent matter of public interest. It can be a matter of interest to the university community, the city of Seattle, the state, or the country.
By now you know that the audience is vital part of the public speaking equation. The persuasive and advocacy speeches focus on persuasion and argumentation. In order to craft a good argument that adapts to audience concerns, the audience must know something about your topic. You could get up there and deliver a heartfelt plea to eliminate the membership dues for the American
Philatelic Society (stamp collectors), but your in-class audience wouldn’t be able to judge how good your arguments are (since they’re not in the society).
You must speak to an issue that potentially affects your actual in-class audience. At first glance, the members of your in-class audience share little in common besides the fact that they all signed up for the course and happened to pick the same class as you. However, we can identify some deeper shared traits about that in-class audience if we look more closely: they currently attend the UW, live in (or near) Seattle, in Washington State, in the United States of America. So, you need to speak to a topic that currently addresses one (or a couple) of those levels of identification. Since these are public issues, many members of your audience will have some knowledge about them and have an opinion on them.
The other relevant aspect of this assignment is that you are engaging in the exchange of reasons.
You must address those matters that people currently disagree on. All of the approved forums are policy making entities so the debates there will focus on questions of “what should we do?”
Congress doesn’t get together and talk about how fiscal health is good; that’s not debatable. They
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do get together and debate about the best way to achieve fiscal health while balancing other demands.
There are many places to find topic ideas. If there isn’t a burning public topic that you feel you must address, there are a number of places to stoke the mental fires. Go to the “Topic Selection” page on the COM 220 website. Also, read the opinion pages of newspapers. What policy matters are people talking about publicly? A while back, I found the marijuana topic below simply be reading the papers and by going to the Washington State Legislature webpage and searching the term “marijuana.”
Avoid vague topics like the death penalty, legalization of marijuana, and euthanasia. These are important issues, but they are rarely being debated in major policy areas in such vague terms.
Bad Thesis Statement : “We should legalize marijuana.”
Good Thesis Statement : “The State of Washington should reclassify possession of forty grams or less of marijuana from a misdemeanor to a class 2 civil infraction.”
What make the bad one bad and the good one good? I see at least two big differences.
Specificity : The “we” in the bad thesis is ambiguous. Who is to legalize marijuana? The city, the state, the country? In the good thesis, we know who is taking action (Washington
State) and the specific type of action (reclassifying). As with the impromptu thesis statements, you are thinking in terms of agent and mandate.
Reality : The bad thesis is not currently being debated in any of the forums in those broad terms. The good thesis was being debated in those exact terms in the Washington legislature (HB 1177/SB 5615).
Anyone who is for or against the broader legalization of marijuana would certainly be able to make an argument for or against the good thesis statement. Additionally, the narrower thesis will make the topic easier to research and argue.
You should select a topic that is being discussed and debated in the forum as well as in the general public. For example, if you found a topic being discussed in the UW faculty senate, but no reference to that issue in any of the campus publications (e.g. The Daily, University Week), then it probably isn’t a great topic. However, if you found a topic being debated in the City
Council and that topic was also debated in editorials in the Seattle Times and The Stranger , that would probably be a good topic. Why? Because it is the subject of both policy (the Council) and public (the papers) debate.
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You need to know what you’re talking about. If you don’t, your audience and your instructor will know. You need to know what the major arguments against your position are; you need to know the major arguments for your position; and you need facts and statistics to back up your claims.
Check out the “Topic Selection” portion of the 220 website for research portals.
You already know that the internet is a factually sketchy domain. You will also note that the persuasive speech has a requirement about sources being available in print. The idea behind this is that you need to support your claims with credible (and verifiable) evidence. So much bad political argumentation currently occurs untethered by either fact or reality. It is important that you do better and speak with solid evidence.
As a side note, Wikipedia is not a valid source for this class. Anyone can play with it. The television show host, Stephen Colbert, urged his viewers to go to Wikipedia and change the entry for African Elephants to report that their numbers have tripled in the past six months (which wasn’t true). Wikipedia eventually corrected the error, but Wikipedia’s open edit policy allows for such tampering. This is not to say that Wikipedia is a great resource, but simply that you must always verify its information. You can start the research process with the Wikipedia entry, but it is not a valid source by itself and you should not rely on it in your speech.
COM 220: Public Speaking 41

This assignment is designed to help you select a topic that interests you, fulfills the requirements for a public forum topic, and has generated enough published research to support your claims.
Your will select TWO potential speech topics. For each potential topic, you must address each of the sections below. The paper is due on the first day set aside for the topic selection workshop (see the due dates listed on your speaker order sheet).
Section 1: Write an appropriate draft thesis statement for persuasive speech on this topic for your target audience. I assume that your argument will change as you conduct more research and revise the speech, but develop a working thesis that gives the reader a sense of what you might argue.
Section 2: Demonstrate that sufficient research exists to support a good speech. For this section, you must provide a bibliography with 2 recent credible sources on each topic, and for each source, provide a brief summary (1-2 sentences) of what it says about your proposed topic.
These sources must be cited appropriately. See the library website for help on proper citation
(http://www.lib.washington.edu/research/wri.html).
Section 3: Identify which deliberative body the debate is occurring/will occur. Very briefly, identify where the debate is taking place or will take place. If it is currently occurring, identify the bill number.
Section 4: Identify reasonable arguments against your position. For this section you must identify and briefly describe two of the most important and challenging arguments that you think are persuasive to your target audience (who currently disagree with you). You will get a much better sense for what these arguments are as you conduct more research, but write down what some of the existing reasonable arguments are against your position.
In an excellent topic paper, the writer:
• examines two different public forum topics.
• completes all four sections as listed above for each topic.
• cites sources that are recent and credible.
• explains the content of the source clearly.
• identifies reasonable arguments that might be persuasive to their target audience and not simply straw arguments.
In a poor topic paper, the writer:
• only examines one topic.
• does not satisfy the requirements in one or all of the sections.
• includes a couple of sources that are questionable.
• includes an overly vague description of the sources.
• is turned in after the due date.
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Name: Jane Doe
Section: AA
TA: ML Veden
Topic 1: Domestic Partnerships (old topic from 2009)
Section 1: Thesis
The Washington State legislature should pass SB 5688 extending all the rights and privileges of marriage to domestic partnerships.
Section 2: Annotated Bibliography
Eskridge, William N. Equality Practice: Civil Unions and the Future of Gay Rights. New York :
Routledge, 2002. In this book, Eskridge, as professor at Yale Law School, lays out an argument for the gradual implementation of civil unions. Rather than framing the issue solely on the basis of legal rights, Eskridge develops an argument that justifies same-sex marriage as a social good for all Americans.
Gallagher, Maggie. “Latter Day Federalists.” The Weekly Standard 9.28 (2004). Lexis-Nexis
Academic. 4 Jan. 2005 LEXIS-NEXIS. <http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/>. This article argues for a Federal definition of marriage. Gallagher asserts that marriage is a social norm that provides social stability; as such, the existing understanding of marriage merits Federal protection. Gallagher also suggests that U.S. efforts to stamp out polygamy in the late 1800’s demonstrate the importance of a Federal defense of marriage.
Section 3: Deliberative Body
This debate is occurring in the Washington State Legislature (SB 5688).
Section 4: Reasonable Arguments Against my Position
1. Legally recognizing domestic partnerships is unnecessary. Same sex couples are denied a few economic privileges, but these are minor. Same sex couples have all the same basic rights as heterosexual couples and thus do not really need this additional recognition.
2. Legally recognizing domestic partnerships is too divisive right now. So many people in the population still have a problem with homosexuality that recognizing domestic partnerships would divide the community. While such partnerships may be a good idea, we, as a country and as a state, need to wait until it is more broadly accepted.
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We all engage in reasoning; it is a human faculty. It is this ability that allows us to render judgments and decide on actions. When giving a speech, you are forced to reason quickly and explain that reasoning to an audience so they follow your arguments. In their book, An
Introduction to Reasoning , Toulmin, Rieke, and Janik define reasoning as “presenting reasons in support of a claim, so as to show how those reasons succeed in giving strength to the claim.”
1
There are two concerns when talking about reasoning in speeches. First, are your arguments logical and well-reasoned? Second, are you explaining this valid reasoning clearly to your audience? This is an important part. You could have a perfectly valid argument on the page, but unless you explain it well to an audience of listeners, they won’t see the strength of your reasoning. The section below provides some basics on making sure that you have the first of these two components taken care of.
Good reasoning explains how you are moving from the evidence to your claims. Stephen
Toulmin famously charted out the parts of an argument.
Data Claim
Warrant
Backing
A claim is the assertion you want your audience to take as valid.
Data are the facts and evidence you use to support the claim.
The warrant is the statement or belief that authorizes the link between your data and your claim.
Backing certifies the statement made in the warrant.
Each component authorizes another one: the data supports your claim; the warrant supports the link between data and claim, the backing supports the warrant.
Cindy Griffin provides a good adaptation of Toulmin’s model of reasoning by turning the key issues into questions
2 :
1 Stephen Toulmin, Richard Rieke, and Allan Janik. An Introduction to Reasoning (New York, Macmillian
Publishing Co., Inc., 1979),13.
2
have further adapted Griffin’s questions. I use Toulmin’s term for “data” as opposed to Griffin’s preferred
“grounds” because I think data is clearer for class purposes.
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Claim
Data
What do you think or want to propose?
Why do you think this or want to propose it?
Warrant How do you know your data supports your claim?
Backing How do you know the warrant supports the data?
3
I think this is a good formulation because it forces you to think about how a skeptical audience member will hear and evaluate your reasoning. If your audience understands and thinks your backing, warrant, and data are valid, they are far more likely to judge your claim as valid. Think of it this way. As you are developing arguments, you should envision a skeptical listener constantly stopping you and asking, “why is that true?”
We can see this playing out in some of the arguments that appeared in Seattle and Washington papers for and against the state-wide smoking ban (I-901). Here is a passage from one of the arguments against I-901:
“Another example of how I-901 supporters deceive voters is their New York
City study. This study uses economic data from April to September 2002 and compares it with the same period in 2003. What's the problem? On Sept. 11,
2001, the World Trade Center buildings were destroyed and businesses for miles around were closed down or severely damaged. This study uses economic data starting just six months after 9/11. Certainly revenue 18-24 months after the disaster was higher than 6-12 months after the disaster regardless of whether a smoking ban was implemented.”
Claim : The NYC study fails to prove that smoking bans are not economically harmful bars and restaurants
Data : The study establishes a flawed pre-smoking ban income level because it took place too close to 9/11
Warrant : Revenue is higher regardless of a smoking ban because the city was reemerging from a major disaster
Backing : History and common sense shows that major disasters significantly impact consumer behavior
The above example is a fairly solid reasoning based on logic and evidence. A skeptical listener might still disagree with the data in this case or more evidence to prove the validity of the backing. This specific claim is just one part of a much larger argument against I-901 (which included a number of different and interlocking claims).
3 Cindy L. Griffin. Invitation to Public Speaking 2 nd ed. (Belmont, Thomson Wadsworth, 2006), 176.
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Compare the above claim against this claim, also from the I-901 debate:
I know a few nonsmokers, and each and every one of them is against this ban because of our right of choice. Even though I'm currently a smoker, I have quit twice for a total of seven years. . . . If you can't smoke in bars, bowling alleys, etc., it will seriously cut their income. And if it cuts their income, it will also cut the amount of taxes the state gets from businesses. Guess who gets to pay more taxes? You guessed right - us.”
Claim : I-901 will increase taxes for individuals
Data : A decrease in bar revenue will decrease the amount of taxes they pay
Warrant : A decrease in tax revenue from bars will force the city to increase taxes on individuals
Backing : The city generates most of its revenue from local businesses and individual taxes.
A skeptical reader here would probably not accept the validity of the data. They might argue that the smoking ban will not decrease revenue. They might also argue that even if there is a slight decrease in revenue it will not significantly affect their tax burden. This same skeptical reader might then move on to challenge the warrant. The city has a number of individual and corporate taxpayers, a decrease in tax revenue from bars and bowling alleys will not significantly affect the city’s budget. Moreover, bars and individual taxpayers do not exist in a zero sum relationship; a decrease in one does not automatically lead to an increase on the other.
This argument relies on a number of unproven (and debatable) assumptions: I-901 will decrease bar revenue; decreased bar revenue will lead to an increase in individual taxes. Now, this may be a perfectly convincing argument to someone who already believes that the grounds and warrant are valid. But to someone who doesn’t agree, this is a weak argument. The writer could have made this argument much stronger by providing hard evidence for the data, and defended the warrant with backing that showed a clear and dynamic relationship between individual taxpayers and local bars and restaurants (assuming that such evidence exists, which it may not).
Something else that is worth noting about these two arguments is that the first is much narrower than the second. Indeed, proving that I-901 will lead to an increased tax burden on all taxpayers would require a significant number of smaller supporting claims. However, proving, with evidence, that a specific study’s findings are limited or flawed can be done rather quickly. The lesson for your persuasive speeches is this: focus and narrow.
So, what is the practical application of this? As you conduct your research, you are gathering evidence and data, but you are also thinking about the inferences that allow you to move from hard evidence (what is known and/or proven) to a claim (what is unknown). If there is a recurring problem in persuasive speeches it is that speakers list their evidence and make claims, but do not explain the reasoning process that links them together. A clear argument is, in this sense, like a good math solution, you need to show your work. You need to make sure that your audience can follow along with your logic (i.e. you are clear) and are likely to follow along with your logic (i.e. you have included appropriate sources for the audience).
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In the preparation for any speech, you should be constantly researching, writing, and revising.
Unfortunately, I imagine some people tend to think of preparing a speech as a completely linear process: Research writing audience adaptation practice deliver the final speech. That is, you do research and finish you research, and then you start writing and then finish writing, etc. When in actuality, speech composition is probably more like this:
In other words, we should constantly be working on all aspects. Early on in the writing phase, I stand up and try to talk my way through my outline. This practice, tells me which points need more evidence (research) and what needs better phrasing (writing). As I’m researching and writing, I’m thinking about what evidence works best for my target audience. All of this is to say that speech composition is non-linear. Also, think of practice as part of the composition process, not something that is merely done after you have written the speech.
One important way to guide the speech composition process is to think through some of the ways in which you can arrange your main points. The list below is meant to provide some assistance.
There is nothing inherently magical about any one of these arrangement patterns. You could
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follow one of these patterns to the letter and still have a bad speech. That said, the patterns below are designed to highlight the clarity of your speech. You can adapt these patterns in order to better suit your topic. Above all, you should design the speech so that it is clear and it achieves your speech goal (which, in the case of the persuasive speech, is to persuade those members of your audience that disagree with you).
Persuasive Arrangement Patterns
1. Responding to each major oppositional argument as a group
Thesis: The State of Washington should toll the 520 bridge.
Introduction
Body
I. Many people have some real valid concerns about the toll
A. Some worry that the toll will be too expensive.
B. Some are concerned that the toll unfairly punishes those on the Eastside.
II. Yet, the toll is the best way to improve the bridge.
A. The toll, though pricy, is a sound investment in the bridge’s safety.
B. The toll means that those who benefit most from the bridge are the ones who pay the most to support it.
Conclusion
2. Responding to each major oppositional argument one by one
Thesis: The State of Washington should toll the 520 bridge.
Introduction
Body
I. The toll, though pricy, is a sound investment in the bridge’s safety.
A. Some worry that the toll will be too expensive.
B. The Federal Government will pay a significant amount for repairing the bridge, but only if there is a toll
C. There will still be cheaper options, like riding the bus or diverting to I-90, to avoid the toll.
II. The toll means that those who benefit most from the bridge are the ones who pay the most to support it.
A. Some are concerned that the toll unfairly punishes those on the Eastside.
B. Everyone ends up paying for some of the repairs to the bridge, but a toll ensures that the heaviest users foot a larger portion of the bill.
Conclusion
3. Residue Model
Thesis: The State of Washington should toll the 520 bridge.
Introduction
Body
I. The toll does pose some problems
A. The toll won’t be cheap.
B. Those on the Eastside will feel it more than others.
II. The toll provides some significant benefits
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A. If there’s a toll, the Federal Government will pay a significant amount for repairing the bridge
B. There will still be cheaper options, like riding the bus or diverting to I-90, to avoid the toll.
III. We should support the toll since the benefits outweigh the problems
A. This toll, though pricey, ensures that we can quickly repair a dangerous bridge.
B. It is fair to bill heavy users more, especially since there remain some low cost alternatives.
Conclusion
4. Response with additional benefits
Thesis: The U.S. should increase its use of nuclear energy
Introduction
Body
I. Opponents of nuclear energy have a number of valid concerns.
A. People opposed to nuclear energy are afraid of the threat of a melt-down
B. Environmentalists note the problem of nuclear waste
C. People opposed to nuclear energy argue that nuclear energy plants are a terrorism target
II. Yet, the development of nuclear energy is proving to be increasingly safe.
A. Technological advances have almost eliminated the threat of a melt-down
B. Nuclear waste is inevitable, but we can deal with it reasonably.
C. We have largely safeguarded our nuclear facilities from terrorist attack
III. There are additional benefits that can be provided with the adoption of nuclear energy.
A. Nuclear power can lead to more drinkable water
B. Nuclear energy produces less carbon emissions than burning fossil fuels.
Conclusion
5. Including a separate background point
Thesis: The city of Seattle should replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a cut and cover tunnel
Introduction
Body
I. The current debate over replacing the Alaskan way viaduct centers on cost and workability
A. The Mayor’s office argues for a tunnel, but opponents argue for a retrofit of the existing structure
B. Opponents to the tunnel raise concerns about cost and workability
C. Currently, the debate is still ongoing
II. The tunnel is a better use of city funds
A. the tunnel will cost more than a retrofit initially
B. the tunnel will cost less than a retrofit in upkeep over time
III. The tunnel improves the waterfront district
A. The tourist area will be quieter
B. The viaduct area can be converted into business and public space
Conclusion
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Determining the arrangement of your main points allows you to start practicing right away and it allows you to conduct more targeted research. So, after you do some general background research, you can start drafting up your main points. T
HOWEVER , you should always revise your main points and sub-points. All too often, I see speakers who quickly settle on an arrangement pattern and then never change it. Your main points should evolve as you conduct more research and practice the speech. Below are four drafts of the same speech. The thesis for the speech was, “Seattle should retrofit the existing viaduct instead of replacing it with a tunnel.”
So, after settling on the topic of the Alaskan Way viaduct rebuild, I did some background research. After a few hours of finding and reading articles about the viaduct, I made my first draft of my main points.
Draft 1
T: Seattle should retrofit the existing viaduct instead of replacing it with a cut and cover tunnel.
I. Traffic would be horrible
A. the tunnel would reroute the traffic onto surface streets making for traffic nightmares
B. it will take years to build the tunnel
II. Seattle doesn’t have the money for the tunnel project
A. cost for the tunnel vs. cost for the viaduct
B. the need for other transportation maintenance
C. Seattle public schools need more money
III. Retrofitting the viaduct is just as safe as the tunnel
A. the existing tunnel was designed to survive an earthquake
B. there are other more dangerous roads and bridges that need our attention
This draft responds to each major concern against the rebuild for the viaduct. After drafting this up, I started looking for specific pieces of evidence to support my claims (the As, Bs, and Cs). In doing so, I found that I didn’t have evidence that really proved point IIIB (I didn’t have any comparative figures). Also, I liked some of the evidence I found that refuted the argument that a tunnel would allow Seattle to turn the waterfront into a pedestrian park. Given, my research, I went back and revised my main points and sub-points.
Draft 2
T: Seattle should retrofit the existing viaduct instead of replacing it with a tunnel.
I. The retrofit will make the viaduct safe
A. the viaduct was designed to stand up to an earthquake
B. the retrofit would strengthen older areas and make the viaduct capable of withstanding a massive earthquake
II. The retrofit costs less time, money, and disruption than the tunnel
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A. the tunnel would cost about 4B, the retrofit would cost about 200 M
B. the tunnel would take at least 3 years; the retrofit would take about 3 months
C. when building the tunnel, all traffic would be put out onto surface streets; the retrofit allows the viaduct to stay open during the work
III. The retrofit buys us time to decide what we want to do with the waterfront
After coming up with this draft, I was familiar enough with the case that I could stand up and try giving the speech a real quick once through for delivery. I did this because I discover things when I perform a speech that I can’t see when it is just an outline on a computer screen. The main thing I learned was that my point II was simply too long. Also, the new point III was a nice idea, but it wasn’t enough to support an entire main point.
So, I sat back down and started to revise my points again. I had all my research printed out, so I started adding in more and more of the research that I liked (and could talk about easily). After about another 45 minutes or so, I came up with the following outline.
Draft 3
T: Seattle should retrofit the existing viaduct instead of replacing it with a tunnel.
I. both the tunnel and the retrofit protect the corridor from earthquakes and strengthen the seawall
A. as a new project the tunnel is able to build to protect against earthquakes and strengthen the seawall
1. evidence: Charles Royer’s comment in the Seattle Times
B. the original viaduct was build to withstand earthquakes, but was weakened as a result of a massive oil fire
1. evidence: Seattle Times article about the fire
C. the retrofit can strengthen the existing structure to protect against massive earthquakes and also develop a separate project to strengthen the seawall
1. evidence: engineer Art Skolnik
2. evidence: Seattle Times article
II. The retrofit is cheaper than the tunnel
A. the tunnel would cost about 4.6 B
1. evidence: the mayor’s cost estimates
2. evidence: the governor’s cost estimates
B. the retrofit would cost about 600 M (400 M for the viaduct and 200 M for the seawall
1. evidence: the independent engineer’s estimates
2. evidence: the state’s estimates place it higher but still substantially lower than the tunnel
3. evidence: Seattle Times article
III. The retrofit would cause less disruption than the tunnel
A. the tunnel would take at least 3 years and cause significant traffic problems (and potential some business closures)
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1. evidence: the mayor’s time estimates (the most hopeful is 6-7 years of construction with 3 full years of closures_
2. evidence: Council Member Nick Licata’s note about time estimates
3. evidence: long term closure would displace the 48,000 cars that drive on 99 and potentially move an additional 20,000 cars daily to I-5
B. the retrofit would take 3 months and be less disruptive to traffic
1. evidence: Art Skolnik’s time estimate
2. evidence: need another estimate here
Conclusion: the retrofit buys us time without sacrificing safety (address land development)
I stood up and tried delivering this draft and I got through it pretty well. By this point, I knew what the evidence said so I could summarize it in a compelling fashion. However, I noticed that the speech dragged just a bit when the cost and time issues were separate points.
So, I sat back down again and tinkered a bit with the points to try and consolidate the time and cost issue. I also had learned more about the argument concerning the developable land along the waterfront in the meantime and I still liked that argument since it seemed to show that retrofit advocates had thought about most of the major issues. So, I came up with the following draft.
Draft 4
T: Seattle should retrofit the existing viaduct instead of replacing it with a tunnel.
I. Both the tunnel and the retrofit protect the corridor from earthquakes and strengthen the seawall
A. the original viaduct was build to withstand earthquakes, but was weakened as a result of a massive oil fire
1. evidence: Seattle Times article about the fire
B. the tunnel will be able to protect against earthquakes and strengthen the seawall
1. evidence: Charles Royer’s comment in the Seattle Times
C. Yet, the retrofit can also strengthen the existing structure to protect against massive earthquakes and also develop a separate project to strengthen the seawall
1. evidence: engineer Art Skolnik
2. evidence: Seattle Times article
II. The retrofit is quicker and cheaper than the tunnel
A. The tunnel would cost about 4.6 B and take about 3 years causing significant traffic problems
1. evidence: the mayor’s cost estimates
2. evidence: the governor’s cost estimates
3. evidence: the mayor’s time estimates (the most hopeful is 6-7 years of construction with 3 full years of closures_
4. evidence: Council Member Nick Licata’s note about time estimates
5. evidence: long term closure would displace the 48,000 cars that drive on 99 and potentially move an additional 20,000 cars daily to I-5
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B. The retrofit would cost about 600 M (400 M for the viaduct and 200 M for the seawall) and take about 3 months
1. evidence: the independent engineer’s estimates
2. evidence: the state’s estimates place it higher but still substantially lower than the tunnel
3. evidence: Seattle Times article
4. evidence: Art Skolnik’s time estimate
III. The tunnel buys us time to figure out what we want the waterfront to become
A. tunnel advocates point to the public lands that the project will open up
B. right now, we don’t know exactly who will benefit from such development
I then stood up and tried delivering draft four. It wasn’t as good as draft three. I was rushing in point II because I had a lot of information and I was floundering in point III because I didn’t have enough information.
So, I went with draft three. Why? Because even though I liked the issue of land development, I couldn’t prove as much as I wanted to. If I could have found enough evidence for the land development main point, I would have gone with draft four because that draft allowed me to address all the major arguments against my position in that version. Of course, then time might have become an issue. In which case, I would have gone back to draft three anyway.
What’s the take away lesson here? Research, writing, revision, and practice are all equal and often simultaneous parts of speech composition.
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As a speaker, you’ll get some feedback from your audience, learning how to adapt your speech to make it more persuasive to the oppositional members of your audience. You’ll also get a chance to practice the delivery of your speech before your performance is graded.
The gallery walk presentation is a full run through. Though you will make changes, you should view this as a full version of your speech. Meaning, you should know the speech and practice it before delivering your gallery walk presentation. As always, deliver the speech to your audience; don’t simply read your outline to them.
On the day you are scheduled to speak in the gallery walk activity, you will come to class with two printed out copies of your draft speech outline (one for you to work off of while presenting and one for your audience to look at). After moving all the chairs into the hallway or the center of the room, the students speaking on that day will stand at stations around the room.
The rest of the class will divide themselves to the speakers, and the speakers will then present to their small audiences (who have a copy of the speaker’s outline to review as well).
After the speech, the audience members critique the speeches, providing suggestions for improvement both orally, and in written form on post-it notes that they affix to the outlines. The post-it notes will serve as reminders to the speakers about changes they should make when they take their outlines home with them.
After enough time for the speech and some discussion, the instructor will announce a shift, and each audience group will move to the next outline.
EVALUATION
A good gallery walk presenter:
• has two completed typed draft outlines.
• is delivering the speech competently.
A poor gallery walk presenter:
• has no outlines or shoddy outlines.
• is simply talking about the speech or reading the outline directly.
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Speech outlines are practical documents that allow you to map out your argument in a format conducive to extemporaneous speaking. They provide a space for your classmates to comment on particular aspects of your speech during the gallery walk, and for your instructor to provide assistance as you revise the speech.
Your speech outline should provide a roadmap of your speech, allowing you to chart where and how you will make and support your main points. When preparing your outline, you need to avoid making your outline overly vague by not writing enough or overly specific by writing too much. You should explain your evidence and work on making the wording in your main points clear and concise. Ultimately, the work you spend developing a strong outline will pay off with a better speech because you will learn and internalize the information as you write it up.
YOUR OUTLINE IS DUE THE DAY AFTER YOU PRESENT IN THE GALLERY WALK (to give you time to make changes). So, if you present your gallery walk on Tuesday you turn in your outline online on Wednesday (see the due dates listed on the speaker order sheet).
• The outline is structured appropriately, with 2-5 main points, each with sub-points that support the main point.
• The introduction includes a clearly marked opener and thesis statement. The conclusion includes a clear closer.
• The evidence is clearly stated in the outline. The outline satisfies the speech requirements for number of sources. The outline also follows appropriate citation procedures (students should read the citation information available on the UW library’s website: http://www.lib.washington.edu/research/wri.html). All sources should be cited in the text of the outline and in the bibliography.
• The grammar, spelling and punctuation are correct. Your name, the date, your section and your instructor’s name should appear on the first page of the outline.
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I.
Vanessa Au
Sample Speech
Topic: 700-car parking garage at the Woodland Park Zoo
Opening: Being forced to spend a lot of money on something you don’t need and perhaps don’t even want is never a good thing. That is what is happening here in Seattle at the famous
Woodland Park Zoo. Seattle City Council is proposing the construction of a 700-car parking garage to be built in 2008 but many neighbors and a council majority wants the city to rethink their plans.
Relevance: The construction of the garage will be funded partly by us, Seattle taxpayers. If you live in the Phinney Ridge area you will also need to put up with the construction, increased traffic and a change in the zoning of parking in your area. The above ground garage is also an eyesore for Seattle residents.
Thesis: We should reject City Council’s proposal to build the 700-car parking garage at the
Woodland Park Zoo.
The parking garage is not necessary. Woodland Park Deputy Director Bruce Bohmke claims that “business is hampered by the parking." (Seattle PI, May 9, 2006) but this simply is not the case. a.
The perception that the zoo needed a garage was based on flawed research
Evidence: Projections about how many people will park in the garage and pay $5
(up from the current $4) or more, in addition to their zoo admission, are "wildly exaggerated." (Seattle PI, May 9, 2006)
Evidence: Projections regarding demand were based on expectations that nearly all visitors will pay to park at the zoo. But neighbors ask: If they don't do that now, why would they do so in the future? (Seattle PI, May 9, 2006) b.
There are lots of parking places near the zoo
Evidence: “Use of additional surface parking in the Woodland Park, additional parking on city streets, and shuttles from Northgate (which has a new parking garage), I-5 park and ride at NE 65 th , and school parking lots which are unused during the zoo’s peak summer season” Irene Wall, president of the Phinney Ridge
Community Council (CrossCut news, April 4, 2007). c.
The existing zoo parking lots don’t fill up
Evidence: Zoo neighbor Diane Duthweiler said the parking areas are empty much of the year. (Seattle PI, April 10, 2007)
Evidence: Councilmember Nick Conlin points out that The Zoo currently has 654 parking spaces. About 55% of visitors use the zoo spaces, many of which are
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vacant even on busy days as visitors prefer to park for free on the nearby streets.
(Conlin’s City Council Webpage)
Evidence: there are 1800 spaces on neighborhood streets. During the busiest 30 days of the year, there are only about 1000 car loads of zoo visitors searching for those 1800 spots. (Seattle PI, May 9, 2006)
II.
The parking garage is too costly a.
Zoo neighbors will end up having to pay extra money due to the garage’s presence
Evidence: Neighbors of the zoo will have to also incur the costs of an annual $35 restricted parking zone (RPZ) pass to park on their own street. This will be used to force people to park in the lot instead of on the street and is argued to be a cash cow for the city (Seattle PI June 9, 2005). b.
The garage will end up costing taxpayers a lot more than was originally estimated
Evidence: The mayor’s proposed budget includes an $18.3 million bond that would be used to finance garage construction. But with financing costs, the garage would actually cost $31 million.(Phinney Ridge Community Council, November
8, 2006 )
Evidence: City used garage use miscalculations to figure that $19M of the debt would be covered by parking fees (Seattle PI, May 9, 2006) c.
The garage could costing the zoo money instead of making money
Evidence: if the zoo defaults on its share of the debt, the city could withhold payments that it makes to the Woodland Park Zoological Society for operation and maintenance (Seattle PI, May 9, 2006)
Conclusion:
Thesis/review
Closer: It comes down to this. This is too much money for the city to spend on an unnecessary and unsightly garage.
Works Cited
Akhmeteli, Nina and Levi Pulkkinen. “Zoo Garage Opponents Make Final Plea: A Bid to Win
Over City Council as New Vote Nears” Seattle Post Intelligencer.
10 April 2007. ProQuest. UW
Lib., Seattle, WA. 19 May 2007. <http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/311160_garage11.html>
Andrews, Paul. “The Seattle Zoo's Parking Garage Cost to City Might Double, Rekindling a
Controversy.” CrossCut News . 4 April 2007. 19 May 2007
<http://www.crosscut.com/neighborhoods-communities/1471/>.
Conlin, Nick. “Zoo Garage” Making It Work . 9.4 (7 May 7 2007). Newsletter.
<http://www.seattle.gov/Council/Conlin/miw/0704miw.htm#4>
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Mulady, Kathy. “Zoo Garage Numbers Assailed.” Seattle Post Intelligencer . 9 May 2006.
ProQuest. UW Lib., Seattle, WA. 19 May 2007.
<http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/269512_zoogarage09.html>.
Phinney Ridge Community Council, “City Council Refuses to Re-Evaluate False Information
Used to Justify Controversial Zoo Garage; Phinney Ridge Community Council Appeals
Environmental Analysis for Garage.” Memo. 8 November 2006.
<www.phinneyecovillage.net/saveourzoo/prccappeals>.
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In your speeches, you should provide “oral footnotes.” These footnotes should indicate where you found a particular fact, quote, statistic, etc. Usually, this can be done smoothly by saying the name of the source (person and/or organization), and the credentials or background information that explains the credibility of that source. If the date of that information will help establish credibility, you should include that information as well.
As in all things, how much you cite is a matter of judgment, based on what your audience needs to know about that particular source. In some instances, this might be a passing reference, “just last week, the Seattle Times reported that…” In other instances, the source might take more center stage, “…we know this to be true. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ran a study on this and found that in 2011-2012….”
When citing a source, you want to make sure that we know what the source is. You should paraphrase rather than quote directly to aid extemporaneous delivery unless the direct quotation is really important or really snappy and should be recited word for word. If you are citing a direct quotation, be sure to distinguish between your words/thoughts and those that you are quoting.
For example, “In the words of Dr. George LaMaster, (pause) ‘If it walks like a duck and sings like a giraffe, it’s a bad day to play golf.’”
Additional Examples: You may choose to use information or direct quotes gathered from several types of sources. Above all, the citation should be informative and be delivered well.
Book: According to historian Dan Howe, South Carolina's two senators resigned their seats in the United States Senate on November 10, 1860.
Note : You can often discover the credibility of the source by reading the dust jacket or the short bibliography of the author at the back of the book. However, if this information is not available, you should do research to discover more about the author and his or her credentials.
Newspaper Article: The New York Times of October 2004 reported that current volcanic activity at Mount St. Helens is less threatening than the activity prior to its 1980 eruption.
Note : Since newspaper provide information that is time-sensitive, it is often important to include the date of the article in your oral footnote. If the newspaper is a credible one, and the article is not an editorial, you usually don’t have to include the name of the author in the oral footnote. However, you should almost always include the name of the newspaper in the oral footnote and the name of the person quoted.
Television Program: As was reported on a June 2002 CNN special broadcast called “Salmon on the Brink,” the salmon population of Washington has decreased continuously since 1984.
Note : Include the name and date of the broadcast and the name of the network.
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Journal or Magazine Article: University of Memphis professor and rhetorical critic Michael Leff wrote in the journal Communication Reports , “Lincoln’s purpose in the speech is to develop a frame of passive acceptance, a perspective capable of accounting for the horrors of the war and of justifying a conciliatory post-war policy.”
Note : As with newspaper articles and television programs, it is often a good idea to include the date of the magazine or journal article in your oral footnote. If it is a general interest magazine article, the name of the author may not be important. If it is an academic journal, the name and credentials of the author probably is important.
Web Page: On their website, Human Rights Watch, an international organization devoted to exposing human rights violations, calls for an end to detention of immigrants in facilities designed to hold accused or convicted criminals. They point out that these detainees are not being held for criminal sentences nor are they awaiting criminal trial, but are often held in local jails where they are forced to mix with the general population of criminal prisoners.
Note : Generally, cite the organization instead of the url. To find out who the author of information on a web page is, and whether or not that author is credible, you are often going to have to do some research. Often, the best way of starting is to go to the home page that is linked to the page you have discovered.
Interviews: In an interview I conducted with Bill Smith, the director of Undergraduate Housing at Boston College, I discovered that no one is getting rich off of the dorm food service. The income from student food contracts barely covers the cost of the utilities, the labor, and the food itself.
Note : Make sure to include the interviewee’s credentials, so the audience can judge their credibility to speak on a certain topic. If citing expert testimony, include that person’s name and some description of that person as well as where the interview was found. “As the University of Washington’s Biology professor Dr. Jones told the New York Times of
October 12, 2004,…
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After completing the advocacy speech, students should be able to:
• develop a compelling case that effectively explains problems and provides appropriate solutions.
• identify and discuss interesting and realistic actions that the audience can support.
• highlight the congruency between various argumentative elements.
• write and deliver a stylistically rich speech.
• design and deliver a speech with appropriate emotional and delivery variations and intensities
• speak confidently with appropriate rate, projection, movement, and vocal variety.
• adapt their delivery to account for a variety of environmental constraints and distractions.
The advocacy speech is quite different from the impromptu and informative speeches. In the impromptu speech, you merely had to clearly explain your topic and argument. In the informative speech, you had to inform your audience, but you didn’t need to move them to action. In the advocacy speech, your audience may know nothing about the topic or argument, so you must “make the case.” In making the case for your topic, you need to raise awareness about your topic by identifying a pressing problem, discussing appropriate solutions, and outlining specific steps that the audience can take to advance these solutions.
In so doing, you must be clear (the audience may have little to no existing knowledge); you must be convincing (you are trying to sway the audience that your argument is valid); and you must be compelling (you are trying to motivate the audience enough so that they want to take specific actions). The advocacy speech requires the clarity of the impromptu, the strategy and topic mastery of the informative, plus a sense of style and presence.
As part of the advocacy speech, you must satisfy the following requirements:
. We can assume that the audience on red Square knows little or nothing about your topic. As such, you need to quickly and clearly make your case. You need to develop an argument that identifies problems and/or causes, outlines appropriate and congruent solutions to these problems, and spells out specific and realistic actions that the audience can take that can advance the stated solutions.
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.
You must write the speech through stylistic devices. Your rich writing style must meld with the argument you are advancing. You are not sprinkling one or two stylistically rich paragraphs here and there; rather, your entire argument is made in a stylistically rich way.
. Though many sections of your speech are written out, you must deliver the speech in an engaging and dynamic manner. Your delivery should capitalize on the figures of style written into the argument. At a minimum, you need to deliver the speech with appropriate projection and presence for the space.
. The speech should run 5-7 minutes. Your assignment grade will be lowered by 5 points for every 45 seconds you speak under or over the target time range.
.
The key thing is: does your topic allow you to talk about a policy problem, policy solutions, and doable calls to action? Steer clear of social ills.
I once had someone who wanted to do an advocacy speech on “being nicer.” This was too vague.
Rather, you are looking for broad policy issues that can be understood in a problem/solution/action format: same sex marriage, increasing funding for NASA, getting charter schools for Washington State, increasing P.E. requirements in Washington State schools.
In a similar vein, you might argue increasing funding or support for a specific non-profit group working to end a larger ill. I have had students argue, quite compellingly, for increased support for agencies working to end sex trafficking. We will discuss advocacy topics more in class.
.
In thinking about your argument, keep two items in mind: stock issues and congruency. So, we will use stock issues for getting at most of the arguments in the advocacy speech. It comes down to: what’s wrong and how can it be fixed (or what’s not wrong and why attempting to fix it is bad)? In an awareness raising situation, this gets to the core elements. Similarly, you need to make sure that the various elements of your argument work well together. We’ll spend a day on this in class, but the issue is: are your solutions truly (and clearly) solving for the problems you identified? Additionally, do the calls to action truly (and clearly) advance the solutions discussed?
. In the advocacy speech, you are writing for the ear.
You are carefully crafting a speech that will sound good (even stirring) when spoken. This is quite a distance from the impromptu assignment where you delivered a clear, but plainspoken speech. Why do this? Why write in this grander form of oratory? For a couple of reasons. One is that it allows you to meld your language style and argumentative aims. Another reason is that it gives you a space to develop a richer sense of style. Now, you may not find yourself speaking in an occasion that calls for grand oratory, but you will have a familiarity with stylistic devices. A mastery of these devices allows you to instantly improve anything you say. In a business meeting, one or two stylistic devices in the appropriate places will make the presentation that much stronger and more memorable. Of course, there are many times you will find yourself in a
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position where more stylistically rich language is called for; a wedding, funeral, religious services, dedications, etc. Being able to craft a good line is always a good trait.
.
Delivery is a huge component of this speech.
You are outside in front of an audience of strangers. Delivery is key. Certainly, you will need to adapt to the space and adopt a bigger, more dynamic persona in this speech. At the very least, you will need to significantly bring up your projection level simply to be heard outside.
Beyond simply bigger delivery, though, is the issue of delivering the style well. In essence, you need to write for good speech delivery and then, in turn, deliver the speech in a way that capitalizes on your writing. If you look at the grading rubric for this assignment, you’ll see a number of specific elements like pacing, pausing, emotional tones, and the like. Just as the style needs to mesh with the argument, the delivery needs to mesh with the style. For example, symploce, as a stylistic device, calls for a particular type of delivery cadence. The part of your speech where you are talking about the problems calls for a different type of emotionality than when you are discussing your solutions. Having spent lots of time crafting the language of your advocacy speech, you need to devote considerable attention to how that writing sounds best when delivered. Herein lies the challenge: you have written a speech with style, now you must deliver it in a way that doesn’t sound read or memorized. We’ll talk more about this balancing act in class, but it is one of the most important aspect of the advocacy speech.
.
This speech is a unique opportunity to stand in a public area and demand attention. People will literally stop in their tracks and listen to your argument. The implication here is that it had better be a good argument and you had better be serious about your argument. I’m not saying that there can’t be humor in your speech, but that you should be serious about your topic and your intent. In the past, I have been discouraged when I see students playacting instead of speaking. They get out there and scream and render their garments, but it feels disingenuous. Alternatively, students simply stand there and read their notecards. Both actions miss the point of the assignment, which is to actually engage an audience of strangers with your honest and serious arguments. It is difficult and potentially embarrassing, but if you really commit yourself to being heard as a serious and engaging speaker, you will get so much from this assignment.
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ADVOCACY SPEECH EVALUATION
Name:______________________________________
+ = excellent, √+ = good, √ = adequate, √ - = flawed, - = poor/missing
Note: The percentages here are guidelines. All these categories are mutually dependent.
____
• The speaker addressed an appropriate topic in a comprehensive manner
• The speaker discussed the ill (and blame and consequences, if applicable) effectively and appropriately
•
___________________________________
Comments:
____ Delivery (35%)
• The speaker discussed realistic calls to action effectively and appropriately
• The speaker’s argumentative elements were congruent with one another
• The speaker used evidence effectively and appropriately
• The speaker oriented the audience to the topic in the introduction appropriately and effectively
• The speaker concluded the speech appropriately and effectively
____ Style (30%)
• The speaker included stylistic devices appropriately and effectively
• The speaker delivered the stylistic devices appropriately and effectively
• The speaker included emotional tones appropriately and effectively
• The speaker delivered the emotional tones appropriately and effectively
Additional Comments:
• The speaker interacted with the environment and the audience effectively and appropriately
• The speaker spoke with appropriate projection for the space and the audience
• The speaker used notes effectively and appropriately
• The speaker used speech rate and vocal variety effectively and appropriately
• The speaker moved and gestured effectively and appropriately
Additional Comments:
Time: __________ Time Penalty (if any): ________ Grade for Speech: _________
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In addition to the above rubric, I wanted to give you a more holistic description of what the different speeches often look and sound like. What follows below is simply a discussion of some of the commonalities that occur when we see an excellent, good, adequate, or poor speech.
Invention, arrangement, and delivery are all mutually dependent. So, a speaker might have excellent invention, adequate arrangement, and good delivery. The resulting grade reflects this admixture.
Invention : In excellent speeches, the argument is very clear. The speaker has done a good job of making a concise case for action. The ill is well-stated and, often, well supported. The evidence merges well with the writing. By the end of the speech, the audience understands the issue’s clear and pressing need. The cure fits the need perfectly. An audience member can clearly understand how and why these particular solutions speak directly to the stated ills. Blame and consequences, when used, also work to tighten the argument. Argument congruency is an important part of excellent advocacy speeches; these stylistically written speeches stand on a foundation of crystal clear logic. Finally, the calls to action are relevant, interesting, and doable.
The speaker provides sufficient information so each audience member knows what he or she must do in order to take the recommended action.
Arrangement : Excellent speeches have a real sense of flow. None of the speech’s sections could be said to “wander” or “lack focus”; rather, each section fits perfectly with the other sections. In terms of tone, the different sections feel and sound different. The writing and delivery in the ill is different from the blame and/or calls to action. In each case, the section’s tone matches its argument.
Style : Excellent speeches have amazingly well-crafted language. The writing and argument have merged together seamlessly. The stylistic devices are used in a way to amplify the underlying argument. Rather than having a few stylistic devices throughout the speech, the entire advocacy speech is written at a higher, grander level, thus magnifying the intensity of the argument. Yet, the stylistic devices are always appropriate to the argument and topic.
Delivery : In excellent speeches, the delivery is additive; the delivery capitalizes on the stylistic writing and the strength of the argument to make the performance motivating and interesting.
The speaker appears to command the space with presence. The speaker’s volume is appropriate for the space: loud enough to command attention, but not so loud as to reduce the range of emotion available to the speaker. The speaker’s vocal variety and pacing work to highlight the argument and the stylistic devices. The speaker builds effectively to an unmistakable conclusion.
Invention : In good speeches, the argument is clear. Most parts of the ill are discussed well.
There may be a few passages that don’t feel as if they fit the ill quite as well. The evidence is appropriate, but, at times, can take away from the speech’s momentum. As with the ills, the cures are also generally well argued. Good speeches have strong argument congruency, but the fit isn’t as perfect as in in excellent speeches. This could be because the speaker’s cures don’t cover all of the ills discussed or that the cures seem to address a related ill, but not exactly the
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one discussed. Finally, the calls to action are relevant and doable. While in excellent speeches, these calls are informative and concise, the class to action in good speeches aren’t quite as clear.
After listening to the speech, audience members may still have some questions about what they need to do in order to take up the action.
Arrangement : Good speeches have a strong sense of flow. That said, unlike excellent speeches, there are parts of good speeches that might “wander” or “lack focus.” The speech has a sense of forward momentum, but the overall structure simply isn’t as tight as an excellent speech. The sections have some sense of tonal difference. While there may not be as many tones and/or the differences may not be as significant as in the excellent speech, such tones are present.
Style : Good speeches have some excellent language use. Many of the stylistic devices are integrated well into the speech. However, there are two different voices in the speech: the stylistic one and the regular one. Whereas an excellent speech has a consistent high style throughout, the good speeches tack back and forth between a rich and overly plain style.
Delivery : In good speeches, the performer has devoted a fair bit of time and energy to finding the best delivery style. However, unlike excellent speeches, good speeches have moments of great delivery (as opposed to great delivery from beginning to end). Good speakers appear comfortable in the space, but they don’t have a consistent presence. The speaker’s volume is appropriate for the space: loud enough to command attention, but not so loud as to reduce the range of emotion available to the speaker. The speaker has some good vocal variety and pacing, but there are also some places in the speech where the delivery drags a bit.
Invention : In adequate speeches, the argument is mixed. While one element (ill, blame, cure, etc.) might be very clear, the others might be lacking clarity. This has a chain effect; if the ill is unclear, the cures won’t make as much sense in the context of the speech. Thus, there tend to be a few congruency problems in adequate speeches. While some of the evidence and/or examples work well, others seem to be odd choices.
Arrangement : Adequate speeches need a greater sense of flow. Often, the opening sections need to be clearer and name the topic sooner or more clearly. Some sections of the speech run either too short or drag on too long given what they are arguing. Similarly, there are some sections that undeniably lack focus. Adequate speeches tend to not have much appropriate variation in tone and delivery. While some delivery tones might be forced into sections of the speech, these don’t emerge organically from the argument and the writing.
Style : Adequate speeches need a greater sense of style. Whereas good speeches tack back and forth between a rich and overly plain style, adequate speeches spend much of their time in the plain style. Stylistic devices tend to stand out as noticeably inserted into the speech in that they don’t’ seem to fit the rest of the argument and writing.
Delivery : In adequate speeches, the performer needs to develop a clearer sense of delivery style.
More often than not, adequate speakers don’t speak with enough volume for the space. While they may not be uncomfortable, adequate speakers do not have much of a sense for presence. In
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many ways, their delivery style seems more appropriate to the classroom than to the outdoor space. Often, adequate speakers are overly reliant on their note cards. Ultimately, adequate speeches sound like they need another couple of practices to bring the writing and delivery closer together.
Invention : In poor speeches, the argument is poor. Multiple argumentative elements (ill, blame, cure, etc.) are vague or unclear. At the end of the speech, the audience may still not have a sense of the exact nature of the ill discussed. In many cases, this might stem from a lack of clear examples and/or evidence (or underdeveloped examples and/or evidence). Obviously, argument congruency is a major problem in poor speeches; the argumentative elements often feel disconnected from one another. The calls to action tend to be few and poorly articulated.
Arrangement : Poor speeches have a flawed sense of flow. Since the argumentative elements lack a compelling logic, the arrangement tends to follow suit. The speeches main sections tend to either be so underdeveloped that they fail to present enough relevant information or they drag on well past their usefulness and drain the speech of its momentum.
Style : Poor speeches need significantly greater attention to style. The attempts at style that are present are few and, often, poorly executed. In listening to the speech, it sounds as if the speaker never devoted much time to crafting the language of the speech.
Delivery : The delivery in poor speeches actually harms the quality and clarity of the argument.
Poor speakers don’t speak with enough volume for the space. Poor speakers often don’t change their delivery at all to accommodate the outdoor space. Poor speakers often rely too heavily on their note cards. Alternatively, poor speakers have a rambling delivery since the speech wasn’t planned out sufficiently. Ultimately, poor speeches sound like they paid little attention to crafting a strong delivery style.
Invention : Failing speakers develop and deliver speeches that have little to do with the assignment requirements. If they deal with appropriate topics, they make few if any attempts to motivate their audiences. Such speeches can be rather apathetic or, conversely, rants that relate little to the assignment design.
Arrangement : Failing speakers seem to have little to no sense of structure. Main points and subpoints, if mentioned, seem disconnected from one another and the thesis.
Style : Failing speakers have little to no stylistic devices in the speech. As an unprepared speech, the speakers tend to opt for an entirely plain spoken style.
Delivery : Failing speakers have inappropriate delivery. This may mean that the speakers are clearly apathetic towards the entire act of giving a speech. This may mean that the speakers are enthused, but are doing so merely for comic effect or as a way of passionately advancing an inappropriate topic.
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We will discuss these figures of style in class, but here is a listing of some. The figures listed here barely scratch the surface of all the possible figures of style. You can do a quick internet search for “figures of style” and find a wealth of options. For a great listing of devices, I really like the “forest of rhetoric” at http://rhetoric.byu.edu/ .
Alliteration: The repetition of consonant sounds.
Asyndeton: The omission of normally occurring conjunctions (and, or, but, for, nor, so, yet).
Polysyndeton: The insertion of excessive conjunctions.
Anaphora: The repetition of the first word or set of words in a sentence, clause, or phrase.
Epistrophe: The repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive sentences or phrases.
Symploce: The repetition of the first and last words in a clause over successive clauses.
Anadiplosis: The repetition of the last word in one sentence at the beginning of the next sentence.
Anesis: Adding a conclusion that diminishes what was said previously (for contrastive effect).
Antithesis: The pairing of contrasting words or ideas.
Appositio: The elaboration and variation of a word.
Scesis Onomaton: The elaboration and variation of a phrase.
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Below is a manuscript for a COM 220 advocacy speech. While this speech, I think, needs more argumentative development, the style is well done. In terms of argument, I think it needs a sharper discussion of the ill and the cure. If these elements were better defined, then the calls to action could also be a bit clearer. I put the speech here because Ann did a really nice job of blending the stylistic writing with the nature of her argument. That is, you can’t pull the argument and style apart; they are one in the same.
COM 220 Advocacy Speech by Ann Trigg
“To Infinity and Beyond.” Those words, first uttered by a Disney-Pixar animation in 1995, can sum up the hopes and expectations of generations. Since 1961, when JFK promised America we’d land on the moon, imaginations and dreams of galactic exploration have spilled into our culture. An entire genre of fiction, film, books, radio was born, predicting the future of man in space, discovering alien life forms, exploring new, fantastical worlds, living somewhere other than Earth, taking a step into the technological future that we know we’re capable of creating. It all starts with the moon. The moon is the stepping stone to space exploration. It’s the first step to understanding all that space around us. Until we can navigate the moon, there’s a very obvious limit to what we can accomplish. If we can’t invest in manned explorations to the moon, the closest planetary body to Earth, then how can we expect to ever roam farther than our own orbit?
NASA has been stuck using the technologies we developed back in the ’50s and ’60s. But over the past four years NASA’s Constellation program has been working to replace the original space shuttle model with new rockets and spacecrafts with new technology, designed to carry crew and cargo to the International Space Station. This means astronauts on the moon, maybe
Mars, not robots, but the return of man to space and with that the eyes of the entire world as we conquer the final frontier and unite not as individual countries, but as Earthlings.
But recently, aspirations to return astronauts to the Moon by 2020, have been completely dashed.
Like many agencies in recent years, NASA has undergone a serious budget change. And under
President Obama’s new budget plan, NASA’s Constellation program has been put on hold. There are only two confirmed space shuttle launches left, after which point, the United States will rely on, ironically enough our competitor in the Great Space Race, Russia for access to the
International Space Station. But why, Obama says, the moon? In the words of JFK, why the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain?
Why, 83 years ago, fly the Atlantic? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.
Debate on future human space flight is on the horizon again, with Congress becoming increasingly concerned with more budget cuts than new adventures and without another bill from
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Congress, manned missions to the moon by the United States could very well be obsolete in the next decade. And we MUST garner support for manned missions, for us, for the world, for the future we’ve only seen through CGI. It is difficult to express an opinion to the federal government. It is impossible for a single student to sway the opinion of the federal government.
It is empowering to remember that the popular support of the public is ultimately the keeper of the federal government. We must exert our influence on our politicians, on our Congressmen, on our friends, on our families. We must e-mail our congressman Jim McDermott at his forms.house.gov/mcdermott website. We must tell our friends and family through facebook or
Twitter that our faith in NASA has not wavered like Obama’s has. We must make this issue known, because without public support of NASA we will lose our global leadership, enshrined by Neil Armstrong’s first step on the moon in 1969, by the moment the world turned to look at us in awe.
In the words of Lou Friedman “without a greater public will exerting influence on the politicians, we are not going to do better. We need to harness public support and express that public will for the same reasons that Carl Sagan and Bruce Murray did 30 years ago. Space exploration brings out the best in people and in nations, enabling great adventures and great discoveries for the benefit of humankind.” And without this exploration, without this unifying focus, without this hope for a new wondrous world, the future of human space travel looks altogether too bleak. Up there are new hopes for knowledge and a new kind of peace. Supporting NASA will lead to new discoveries and it is these discoveries that will usher in the future.
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But understand this argument about words not mattering I – the most important thing that we can do right now is to reengage the American people in the process of governance to get them excited and interested again in what works and what can work in your government, to make politics cool again, and important again, and relevant again - don’t tell me words don’t matter.
“I have a dream” - just words? “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal” - just words? “We have nothing to fear but fear itself” - just words? Just speeches?
It’s true that speeches don’t solve our problems, but what is also true is if we cannot inspire the country to believe again, then it doesn’t matter how many policies and plans we have and that is why I’m running for president of the United States of America and that’s why we just won eight elections straight because the American people want to believe in change again - don’t tell me words don’t matter! Don’t tell me ideals and inspiration don’t matter, don’t tell me hope doesn’t matter.
It’s fascinating for me to see lately my campaign criticized because I talked about hope too much. “He’s talking about hope again, he’s so naïve, he’s so idealistic, his head is in the clouds, he’s a hope monger! but, democrats I also know this, I also know this, that nothing in this country worthwhile has ever happened except somebody somewhere was willing to hope. That’s how this country was founded by that greatest generation, by that group of patriots that declared independence against the mighty British Empire - nobody gave them a chance. That’s how slaves and abolitionists resisted that wicked system. And how a new president charted a course to ensure this country would not remain half slave and half free. That is how the greatest generation, my grandparents’ generation, my grandfather fighting in the World War two, my grandmother staying behind with a baby working on a bomber assembly line, how that greatest generation defeated Hitler and lifted itself up out of the great depression. That’s how we populated the West pioneers with great courage but also hope. That’s how immigrants came from distant shores uncertain about what they would find when they arrived, but knowing they want a better life for their children. That is how workers won the right to organize against violence and intimidation. That’s how women won the right to vote. That’s how young people travel South to march and to set in, and to be beaten, and some went to jail, and some died for freedom’s cause. That’s what hope is!
That’s what hope is. Imagining, and then fighting for, and then working for what would not seem possible before.
That’s leadership. John F. Kennedy did not look up at the moon and say: “Oh, that’s too far, we can’t go, false hopes.” Martin Luther King didn’t stand on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and say: “Go home, everybody, the dreams deferred, false hopes, y’all need a reality check”.
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There is a moment in the life of every generation when that spirit of hopefulness has to come through if we are to make our mark on our history. When we cast aside the fear and the doubt, and the cynicism and we stop settling for what the cynics tell us we have to settle for.
When we join together and we decide that we are gonna roll up our sleeves and we are gonna remake this country block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood, county by county, state by state. When we decide in our guts, when we are determined that our children and grandchildren deserve the same chances as somebody gave us. When we make a determination that we are willing to fight on the basis of the conviction that we are gonna keep the dream alive for those who still yearn for justice, who still thirst for opportunity.
And democrats, this is our moment. This is our time. And if you will stand with me on Tuesday.
If you vote for me on Tuesday. If you are willing to keep on marching and organizing, and knocking on doors, and making phone calls and attracting young people, and getting old folks reinvigorated, and getting the middle folks involved. I promise you we will not just win
Wisconsin, we will win this nomination, we will win the general election and together, you and I, we will change this country and we will transform the world! Thank you, Wisconsin, I love you!
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Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd planned to speak to you tonight to report on the state of the Union, but the events of earlier today have led me to change those plans. Today is a day for mourning and remembering. Nancy and I are pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss.
Nineteen years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. But we've never lost an astronaut in flight. We've never had a tragedy like this.
And perhaps we've forgotten the courage it took for the crew of the shuttle. But they, the
Challenger Seven, were aware of the dangers, but overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly.
We mourn seven heroes: Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison
Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe.
We mourn their loss as a nation together.
For the families of the seven, we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we're thinking about you so very much. Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that special spirit that says, "Give me a challenge, and I'll meet it with joy." They had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths. They wished to serve, and they did. They served all of us.
We've grown used to wonders in this century. It's hard to dazzle us. But for twenty-five years the
United States space program has been doing just that. We've grown used to the idea of space, and, perhaps we forget that we've only just begun. We're still pioneers. They, the members of the
Challenger crew, were pioneers.
And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's take-off. I know it's hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It's all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It's all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons. The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow them.
I've always had great faith in and respect for our space program. And what happened today does nothing to diminish it. We don't hide our space program. We don't keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public. That's the way freedom is, and we wouldn't change it for a minute.
We'll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and, yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue.
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I want to add that I wish I could talk to every man and woman who works for NASA, or who worked on this mission and tell them: "Your dedication and professionalism have moved and impressed us for decades. And we know of your anguish. We share it."
There's a coincidence today. On this day three hundred and ninety years ago, the great explorer
Sir Francis Drake died aboard ship off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime the great frontiers were the oceans, and a historian later said, "He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it."
Well, today, we can say of the Challenger crew: Their dedication was, like Drake's, complete.
The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of
God."
Thank you.
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My fellow Americans, this day has brought terrible news and great sadness to our country. At nine o'clock this morning, Mission Control in Houston lost contact with our Space Shuttle
Columbia. A short time later, debris was seen falling from the skies above Texas. The Columbia is lost; there are no survivors.
On board was a crew of seven: Colonel Rick Husband; Lt. Colonel Michael Anderson;
Commander Laurel Clark; Captain David Brown; Commander William McCool; Dr. Kalpana
Chawla; and Ilan Ramon, a Colonel in the Israeli Air Force. These men and women assumed great risk in the service to all humanity.
In an age when space flight has come to seem almost routine, it is easy to overlook the dangers of travel by rocket, and the difficulties of navigating the fierce outer atmosphere of the Earth.
These astronauts knew the dangers, and they faced them willingly, knowing they had a high and noble purpose in life. Because of their courage, and daring, and idealism, we will miss them all the more.
All Americans today are thinking, as well, of the families of these men and women who have been given this sudden shock and grief. You're not alone. Our entire nation grieves with you.
And those you loved will always have the respect and gratitude of this country. The cause in which they died will continue. Mankind is led into the darkness beyond our world by the inspiration of discovery and the longing to understand.
Our journey into space will go on.
In the skies today we saw destruction and tragedy. Yet farther than we can see, there is comfort and hope. In the words of the prophet Isaiah, "Lift your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? He who brings out the starry hosts one by one and calls them each by name.
Because of His great power, and mighty strength, not one of them is missing."
The same Creator who names the stars also knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today.
The crew of the shuttle Columbia did not return safely to Earth; yet we can pray that all are safely home.
May God bless the grieving families. And may -- may God continue to bless America.
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