CEREMONIAL, SPECIAL OCCASION, TRIBUTE SPEECH To pay tribute to a person, place, object or abstract idea Purpose: Length: 6-­‐8 minutes Points: 100 points Specific Requirements: You are to give a ceremonial, special occasion, or tribute speech. This can be a toast, a eulogy, best man/maid of honor speech, acceptance speech, or a simple tribute. In this speech, you will choose a person, a place, an object, or abstract idea to pay tribute to in some way. The purpose of this speech is for you to demonstrate your knowledge of the power of creative language techniques and to practice the art of ceremonial speaking. The creative use of artful, descriptive language and the use of language resources such as repetition, parallel structure, antithesis, metaphor, simile, alliteration, etc. will be incorporated into this speech to demonstrate the connection between the creative and emotive power of our words. This speech should be 6-­‐8 minutes in length. You are required to incorporate the techniques of identification and magnification into your speech in order to emphasize shared values, emotions, memories, motives and culture as well as to maintain focus on the relevant, honorable and praiseworthy characteristics of your chosen person, place, object, or abstract idea. Remember you are paying tribute to your topic, so specific examples and short stories are great for supporting your information in a way that enhances credibility but more importantly that demonstrates what you are saying in a way that creates interest for your audience, helps us understand the topic and its significance and better commemorates your chosen topic. It also can be a great way to increase your ethos and pathos. In a eulogy you might tell a brief story or an example to demonstrate the individual’s character, qualities, influence, or how they impacted you and others. •
Make sure your speech is easy to follow in terms of structure, organization and clarity. Your audience still needs to know the occasion, what you are going to talk about, and why you are discussing it. •
Be sure to incorporate the use of language strategies as mentioned above (refresh yourself on those language strategies by reviewing the textbook). •
Meet the needs and basic expectations of a tribute speech. •
Overall, pay tribute to the specific topic chosen and connect with your audience as though they were paying tribute, too. •
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Strong delivery is KEY to success, please be well-­‐prepared and extemporaneous in delivery. (You may use notecards.) Refer to your textbook and the class website for examples of Special Occasion Speeches and for additional reference materials. •
Remember you will need to submit a full sentence outline with this speech with an introduction, thesis statement, body, conclusion, and strong transition statements. •
Visual aid is optional.