Speaker: Student XYZ
Title: The Princess Diaries
Speech Purpose: To Inform
Thesis: Six interpersonal theories that some’s up Mia Thermopolis struggle to take on a role she inherited
at birth.
INTRODUCTION:
 Attention material: Were you born into a family with an inherited role/expectation from birth that
you are supposed to live up to? Did you fight taking on the role or were you excited to have
inherit this role/expectation.
 Initial audience relevance: Studies show that most parents have a plan/expectation of what they
want their child/children to be when appropriate age is reached. In the movie The Princess
Diaries an example of an inherited role is shown.
 Initial Credibility: I was not born into a family with an inherited expectation/role to take on. But,
I have meet many people and friends that were born into a family with an inherited
role/expectation to either take on a family business, work the farms, or fields like past generations
 Thesis: In the clip I am about to show you, you will see an example of the “self-fulfilling
prophecies” (Adler and Proctor, 2014, p. 49-58) theory as the main character Mia is being
prepared to take on her role as princess.
 Preview of main points: We will see how her journey to becoming a princess reflects the theories
of “self-fulfilling prophecies,” “identity management,” “privacy management,” “self-disclosure,”
“self-concept,” and “communication competence.”
TRANSITION TO BODY: Let’s begin with a look at how the movie reflects self-fulfilling prophecies.
BODY:
 Main Point 1: In this scene, Mia’s grandmother has her taking the first step in the direction
towards “self-fulfilling prophecies” as well as identity management (Adler and Proctor, 2014, p.
49-58), and everyone seems to be impressed with the outcome.
 Sub-point: Define: “Self-fulfilling Prophecy” – An expectation of an event, followed by
behaviors based on the expectation, which makes the outcome more likely to occur than
would have been the case otherwise (Adler and Proctor, 2014, p. 414).
 Sub-point: Define: “Identity Management” – The communication strategies people use to
influence how others view them.
 http://youtu.be/sWJ_Sg92epA

Transition: Now that I have covered the “self-fulfilling prophecies” and “identity management”
theory (Adler and Proctor, 2014, p. 49-58), let me show you a scene that demonstrates privacy
management.

Main Point 2: In this next scene, Mia is tested to reveal something about her-self that she’s not
ready to reveal demonstrating “privacy management” (Adler and Proctor, 2014, p. 61).


Sub-point: Define: “Privacy Management” – The choices people make to reveal or conceal
information about them self (Adler and Proctor, 2014, p. 413).
http://youtu.be/zG3yNlm0YxE

Transition: Mia is coming to the end of her journey of completing her “self-fulfilling prophecies”
(Adler and Proctor, 2014, p. 49-58), and it is now time to find out if she can pull off her “identity
management” (Adler and Proctor, 2014, p. 49-58) strategy. For my third and last main point Mia
will reveal her decision and while at it will demonstrate “self-disclosure”, “self-concept”, and
“communication competence” (Adler and Proctor, 2014, p. 30, 48-49, and 28).

Main Point 3: In this scene, Mia the main character gives a speech demonstrating “selfdisclosure”, “self-concept”, and “communication competence” (Adler and Proctor, 2014, p. 30,
48-49, and 28).
 Sub-point 1: Define: “Self-disclosure” – The process of deliberately revealing information
about oneself that is significant and that would not normally be known by others (Adler and
Proctor, 2014, p. 414).
 Sub-point 2: Define: “Self-concept” – The relatively stable set of perceptions each individual
holds of himself or herself (Adler and Proctor, 2014, p. 414).
 Sub-point 3: Define: “Communication Competence” – The ability to accomplish one’s
personal goals in a matter that maintains a relationship on terms that are acceptable to all
parties (Adler and Proctor, 2014, p. 410).
 http://youtu.be/xnMMD5wogVw
CONCLUSION

Marker to conclusion: In review at 15 Mia discovers that at birth she inherited a role of heir to the
throne. Mia must decide if she will embrace her role as princess and if so she must take the steps
to change everything she knows to be true about her-self. Meaning the way she walks, talks,
dresses, eats, and etc.

Summary of speech thesis: Today I shared with you some clips from the movie The Princess
Diaries and that demonstrated six interpersonal theories “self-fulfilling prophecies”, “identity
management”, “privacy management”, “self-disclosure”, “self-concept”, and “communication
competence”.

Summary of main point: Although we might want to impress our parents and make them happy
by following the dreams or visions they might have for our lives, we first need to make sure that
the dream our parents have for us is the same dream we have for ourselves. Or figure out a way to
compromise and make it a dream of both yourself and your parents without feeling like your
giving up everything that represent you.

Audience take-away: My hope is that you all have learned something today worth your while, and
some strategies that will help you come to a compromise the next time you’re feeling cornered or
pressed by your parents to take on a role your uncomfortable with.

Closing Material: Remember that although you might want to please your parents or make them
happy, you must first make sure your decisions/choices make you happy first or you will end up
having some regrets.
References
Adler, R. and Proctor, R. (2014). Looking Out Looking In. New York: Cengage.