CMS 111H
Tribute speech assignment
There are times when you will be called upon to give a speech that is focused on
praising a person, place, or concept. These speeches are more likely to be developed
based on strong language and emotional appeals. Because they are so different, it is
useful to have some experience with this genre.
For this speech, you will select a historical civil rights figure, event, or concept and
develop a speech that praises the person/event/concept.
Due date: Saturday, December 3
Specifics:
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Time limit: 4-5 minutes
Topic submission: I would prefer to avoid topic repetition. For this reason, you
will submit your topic via Facebook (a discussion thread will be opened for each
speech).
Be creative when choosing your speech topics. Keep your audience’s
background and interests in mind. Of course, you should also choose topics that
interest you. The more creative you are with your topic (and the development of
the presentation), the more interesting the presentation will be.
Audience: Assume a general audience—your actual classmates. When planning,
researching, and delivering the speech, make sure that you are completely
focused on the people who will be listening to the presentation. Keep in mind
that for this speech, you may have random audience members stopping by
during the speech.
Source requirements: There are no explicit source requirements for this speech.
You should research the topic, however, and may find that citing sources within
your speech would strengthen it.
Speaking date and order: These speeches will all take place during our visit at
the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. The speaking order will be decided on the
last class day before the trip.
Make up speeches: Make up speeches will be practically impossible for this
assignment. Unless you have an emergency situation, you should plan to
present on the assigned date. All unapproved missed speeches will be given a
grade of zero.
Speaking Center: You are required to schedule at least one appointment with
the Speaking Center for this assignment. You may use that time to brainstorm,
research, outline, develop, or practice the speech with a tutor. You must,
however, come to the appointment with something prepared. To schedule an
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appointment, visit the Speaking Center web site:
http://www.usm.edu/speakingcenter
General purpose: Remember that this speech is about praising the
person/event/concept. Your goal should be to persuade the audience members
to agree with your assessment.
Content: Although the content of the speech is largely determined by you, make
sure that your audience drives the material that you choose to cover in the
presentation. Make sure that the speech is interesting and motivational.
Outline: For all of your speeches, you will develop a thorough speaker’s outline.
You will email a copy to me 24 hours before you speak.
Delivery style: For most of the speeches, your delivery should be
extemporaneous. That means that you should avoid writing out speeches wordfor-word and/or memorizing them. Instead, you will develop thorough outlines
and speak based on those outlines. For this speech in particular, keep the notes
to a minimum. You want to be inspirational with your delivery and that might
mean trying to memorize small parts of the speech. Be dynamic with your
delivery. Remember that we will be in a crowd and you’ll be competing with
different noises and distractions.
Speaking notes: Keep your speaking notes to a minimum. We will talk about
options here, but know that you will probably want to speak from note cards or
brief notes.
You will record this presentation.
Topic examples:
 Tribute to
o Greensboro sit-ins
o Equality
o Non-violent protest
o Particular civil rights figures (particularly unknown figures)
Grade information: For more specific grading information, see the posted grading
sheet. Know that your speech will be assessed based on content, organization, delivery,
audience adaptation, and language.