CHAPTER 5
SELECTING SPEECH TOPIC
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Objectives
Speakers should be able to generate ideas and, general purpose, specific purpose, thesis statement, and speech Dtle. Generate Ideas • Self-­‐Generated • Audience-­‐Generated • Occasion-­‐Generated • Research-­‐Generated Self-­‐generated Topics • Speech subjects based on the speaker’s interests, experiences, and knowledge Audience-­‐generated Topics • Speech subjects geared to the interests and needs of a speaker’s listeners Occasion-­‐generated Topics • Speech subjects derived from parDcular circumstances, seasons, holidays, or life events Research-­‐generated Topics • Speech subjects discovered by invesDgaDng a variety of sources. Brainstorming • NoncriDcal free associaDon to generate as many ideas as possible in a short Dme. Focus Your Topic through Visual Brainstorming •  Free associaDon around a key word •  Write your topic in the center of a sheet of paper •  Think of how you could divide and narrow that topic Visual Brainstorming • As you think of subtopics, draw a line from the center in any direcDon • Write the narrower topic • See Figure 6.2 on p. 97 Select Your Topic • Considera*ons: • Am I interested in this topic? • Is the topic important to others? • Can I find supporDng material? • Do I know enough about the topic to interpret and understand the research? Focus Your Topic • Employ brainstorming • Research • Time limit • Audience interest Determine Your General Purpose • To inform • To persuade • To entertain General Purpose • The broad goal of a speech, such as to inform, to persuade, or to entertain. Speech to Inform • A speech designed to convey new or useful informaDon in a balanced, objecDve way. •
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hybrid: cars, vegetables, animals the reality show phenomenon the origin of alphabets the history of tobacco use botox history of comic books first woman astronaut Speech to Persuade • A speech designed to influence listeners’ beliefs or acDons. •  TradiDonal books or eBooks? •  Organ donaDon aZer death should be encouraged. Speech to Convince • A speech designed to influence audience believes and a[tudes rather than behavior. •  Juvenile sentence is right. •  God is real. Speech to Actuate • A speech designed to influence audience behaviors. •  Lets join military •  Use your right to vote for the president. Speech to Entertain • A speech designed to make a point through the creaDve, organized use of humorous supporDng materials •
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Excuses to get you out of every situaDon How to drive people crazy? What not to say to a police officer? The best prank ideas Specific Purpose • A statement of the general purpose of the speech, the speaker’s intended audience, and the limited goal or outcome. Formulate Your Specific Purpose To develop a specific purpose statement: Examples State General purpose
To Persuade Name Intended audience
Classmates State Goal of your speech
Not to use phone in the classroom Word Your Thesis Statement • One sentence synopsis of a speaker’s message: •  Central idea •  Support with evidence & argument •  Begin with a working thesis * Working Thesis is a statement that is based on your current research and thinking, summarizes what you will say in your speech. Thesis statement
• Strong Thesis Statement VS Weak Thesis Statement • 1. A strong thesis statement takes some sort of stand. • Remember that your thesis needs to show your conclusions about a subject. Ex. There are some negaKve and posiKve aspects to the Banana Herb Tea Supplement. • This is a weak thesis statement. First, it fails to take a stand. Second, the phrase nega0ve and posi0ve aspects is vague. • Ex. Because Banana Herb Tea Supplement promotes rapid weight loss that results in the loss of muscle and lean body mass, it poses a potenKal danger to customers. • ** This is a strong thesis because it takes a stand, and because it's specific. • Source: hap://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/thesis_statement.shtml
Thesis statement
• 2. A strong thesis statement jusKfies discussion. • Your thesis should indicate the point of the discussion. • Ex. My family is an extended family. • This is a weak thesis because it merely states an observaDon. Your reader won’t be able to tell the point of the statement, and will probably stop reading. • Ex. While most American families would view consanguineal marriage as a threat to the nuclear family structure, many Iranian families, like my own, believe that these marriages help reinforce kinship Kes in an extended family. • **This is a strong thesis because it shows how your experience contradicts a widely-­‐accepted view. A good strategy for creaKng a strong thesis is to show that the topic is controversial. Readers will be interested in reading the rest of the essay to see how you support your point. • Source: hap://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/thesis_statement.shtml
Thesis statement
• 3. A strong thesis statement expresses one main idea. • Readers need to be able to see that your paper has one main point. • Ex. Companies need to exploit the markeKng potenKal of the Internet, and Web pages can provide both adverKsing and customer support. • This is a weak thesis statement because the reader can’t decide whether the paper is about markeDng on the Internet or Web pages. To revise the thesis, the relaDonship between the two ideas needs to become more clear. One way to revise the thesis would be to write: • Ex. Because the Internet is filled with tremendous markeKng potenKal, companies should exploit this potenKal by using Web pages that offer both adverKsing and customer support. • ** This is a strong thesis because it shows that the two ideas are related. Hint: a great many clear and engaging thesis statements contain words like because, since, so, although, unless, and however. • Source: hap://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/
thesis_statement.shtml Thesis statement
• 4. A strong thesis statement is specific. • A thesis statement should show exactly what your paper will be about, and will help you keep your paper to a manageable topic. • Ex. World hunger has many causes and effects. • This is a weak thesis statement for two major reasons. First, world hunger can’t be discussed thoroughly in seven to ten pages. Second, many causes and effects is vague. You should be able to idenDfy specific causes and effects. A revised thesis might look like this: • Ex. Hunger persists in Glandelinia because jobs are scarce and farming in the inferKle soil is rarely profitable. • **This is a strong thesis statement because it narrows the subject to a more specific and manageable topic, and it also idenDfies the specific causes for the existence of hunger. • Source: hap://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/thesis_statement.shtml
Idea Generation for Speech Topic (Informative Speech) 5%
•  Create a mind-­‐map on A3 size of paper •  Associate your idea from a word, “Food” •  Present your mind-­‐map to show how you associate your idea •  Choose one topic (circle it) from your mind-­‐map as your informaDve speech topic (to be used in the next assignment) •  Clarify reasons why you chose your topic based on the 4 criteria of choosing speech topic taught in class (chapter 5) **Submission: Feb 1st, 2nd, 4th 2016