Senior Final
Assessment
All seniors will:
 Go through the steps of the writing process to
create a 5-7 minute speech.
 Brainstorming
 Writing
 Revising/editing
 Rehearsing
 Publishing (in the form of presenting) to senior
English class
Topic will be of your choice:
 Graduation Speech
 Most important lesson learned
 Passion you have developed
 How have you changed through the years
 Challenge that has helped you
 Who you wanted to be vs. who you have become
and how
 If you have an alternative idea, MUST get approval
from teacher.
This is a REFLECTIVE speech
 It should focus on and demonstrate that
you have thought back about your high
school career and are able to recognize
growth, challenges, important moments,
etc. (may vary according to topic)
 The audience should be able to clearly
identify the topic and “claim” of your
speech.
Timeline
 Assignment Presented
May
 Lesson on public speaking
 Topic choice confirmed
May
 Writing begins
May
 Rehearsal
June 1-3
 Presentations begin
June 4th
Public speaking:
the basics
What is public speaking?
 Public speaking is anytime you have to speak in
public!
 Speaking in public scares more Americans than going
to the dentist, falling, or death!
 It’s the #1
fear
for all Americans!
 This presentation will give you public speaking basics
and help you realize some good multimedia
presentation skills at the same time.
Fears…

While most people fear public
speaking there are some very
simple ways to get around it…
 Practice
 Practice
 Practice

By practicing you get around
the reason for the fear: saying
something stupid or messing
up in front of people.
Before the presentation…
 Preparation is key!
 Figure out a thesis for your
speech.
 Write down the structure for
your presentation.
 Introduction, body, and
conclusion.
 Read it out loud.
 Edit your writing.
 Read it out loud again.
 Put it into your visual
presentation.
 Practice again.
Basics of Public Speaking
Know your topic
You are the expert of the topic you have
chosen.
Nobody in the room knows more than
you so make sure that you know it
thoroughly so you can teach others.
Know your audience
What do they find funny? What are they
interested in? What would they like to
hear about your topic?
What is appropriate or inappropriate
Basics, continued.
 Find a hook
 A hook is an interesting, funny, or creative beginning to your
presentation. The first 30 seconds of a presentation are very
important, so a good hook will keep your audience focused. DO
NOT USE A RHETORICAL QUESTION. I WILL LIGHT YOU ON FIRE
(WITH WORDS) IF YOU START YOUR SPEECH WITH “HAVE YOU EVER
WONDERED…?” ETC.
 Be yourself
 If you try to do what your friends would do, you will mess up. Just
be yourself and you will feel the most comfortable!
 Stay on point
 Do not discuss topics that are not important to your presentation.
They will distract your audience and you will lose your focus.
 Do not repeat yourself
 Do not repeat yourself.  Repeating a point more than a few
times sounds as if you do not have anything else to say. So avoid
repetition.
Pet Peeves:
 Use language that is appropriate
 You do not know what offends your audience, so
words like sucks, blows, screwed etc. are absolutely
NOT APPROPRIATE!!!
 I will stop you mid-speech if you use unprofessional
language. You will get a zero.
 Verbal clutter
 Repeated filler words are distracting and annoying.
 Like, um, uh, yeah, you know, etc. are most
common
Be
Confident!
•Project a calm,
confident tone while
speaking.
•You are the expert on
the topic, so you have
nothing to worry about!
•Audience members
can tell when you are
nervous or do not know
what you are talking
about.
•Confidence can be
gained through good
preparation and
effective practicing.
Eye Contact
 Be sure you smile at the audience
 Take a deep breath
 Look at each person in the room as you
speak
 Do not talk to the screen or to your
notecards…the screen is not judging
you. Talk to the audience.
Tips
 Attitude is everything!
 Preparation is key
 Confidence comes with practice
 First 30 seconds are the most important!
 This is the hook.
 If you have a creative, witty, or interesting
introduction, you can hold the audience’s attention
for the rest of the presentation.
 Strong conclusion
 Just like the introduction, have a strong message the
audience can take away from your presentation.
 Avoid just repeating your introduction and your thesis
statement.
 Action statements make good conclusions.
6 PowerPoint tips
1.
Have consistent slide
backgrounds.
2.
Contrast helps people
see your presentation.
3.
Animation adds some
flavor (but too much
can be distracting!).
4.
Make it
5.
Too many words turns
your audience off.
6.
Images are important!
large!
Consistency
 Having a consistent
background adds
to your
presentation.
 An easy way to
distract your
audience is by
having your slide
background
constantly change.
 You want to seem
in charge of your
presentation, so
keep the design
simple and
consistent.
Contrast
 Contrast is when two
colors are put next to
each other which are
very different from one
another.
 For example green
and blue or black and
white.
 Look at the boxes to
the right. Which one is
easier to view?
 The greater the
contrast, the better
your audience will be
able to read your slide.
Can you
read me
now?
Can you read
me now?
Large…
Notice that in this slide everything is large and easy to see.
Making your words and pictures large is very important when
working with power point!
Wordy Slides…

Multimedia presentations are visual
tools. It is not a good tool to use if
you have too much to say.

So keep your words to a minimum.

This slide has quite a few words,
some may say too many.

They are easy to read, however,
because they are large enough.

Also, the addition of the fish
animation adds to the slide.

A multimedia presentation is not a
chance for you to write a paper. It
is a chance to give a summary of
the main points of a paper.

Use bullet points to break up the
writing.
Images…
 Images are important
to a multimedia
presentation, so do not
shy away from clip art,
images, or artistic
designs to show off
your text.
 The slide at right has an
image, a box around
the words, and a strong
background.
 The overall effect is
very professional and
pleasing to the eye.
 Integrate your pictures
into the presentation.
Based on years of
watching
speeches…
The Best Speeches
 Convey emotion or passion
 You are the one who chose this topic…show why you
picked this above all other topics.
 If you don’t have it…fake it!
 Show outside connections
 Any “warm fuzzy” moments should absolutely be
conveyed…bonding time with dad or grandparent,
losing 75 lbs., personal growth as a result of volunteering,
life plans that have changed…audiences will LOVE this.
 Use humor…or at least SMILE! 
 Keep the audience engaged, not falling asleep. If your
speech lacks passion, so will the grading.
Visuals
 Your PowerPoint counts, but…..why not bring other
visuals to show?
 Obviously, if you are talking about a school project, then
bring it in!.
 Other ideas:
 Sheet music
 Instruments
 Tools you used
Headings
 The headings on the checklist are there to guide
you…not to be said out loud.
 “Results. Some of the results of my project were…” No!!
Results is not a complete sentence, and it sounds
exceptionally choppy.
 Work on blending your statements to incorporate the
item on the checklist.
 i.e. “Overall, I was pleased with what I learned in my high
school career.”
 NO PRESENTATION SHOULD HAVE A SLIDE THAT SAYS
‘HOOK’.
When you use names:
 Be sure you are using the correct title
 Mrs. = Married woman
 Ms. = woman who is either single or married
 Miss = single woman who is still using original last name
 Names of teachers, authors, ANYONE should be capitalized. They are
proper nouns, which means they are automatically capitalized.
 Be sure you know how to pronounce names correctly without
stumbling over the words. If you don’t know how to say it, you
shouldn’t be trying to.
Pacing
 On your notecards, you might want to consider the
following ideas:
 Writing words like
 Change slide (or having a symbol that means it’s time to
move to the next slide). This way you don’t have to keep
looking at the screen.
 Breathe (reminding yourself to pause and take a deep
breath. Your brain needs oxygen!)
 Slow down (reminding yourself not to rush)
 Smile (smiling helps you feel relaxed and relaxes the other
people in the room as well…remember, you want them to
like you and pass you!)
Slide definition
 Many of your presentations were WAY too dark.
 Be sure the background is light, the writing is dark, and
the clip art is not the focus.
Wording
 Proofreading is required! This should be your HIGHEST
QUALITY WORK!!!
 If you bring in your PowerPoint after school the week
before the speech, I will edit it for errors.
Subject Verb Agreement
 Many students use the wrong verb form in
their speeches when discussing the topic
areas.
 For example, “some of the skills I learned was”
 NOOOOOOOOO! “The skills I learned WERE”
 OR “My work habits was” (augh…killing my spirit)
 Or “I never knew how much problems I was going to
have” (MANY)
 You sound uneducated and like you don’t deserve to
graduate high school when you can’t get this basic
grammatical concept correct.
Conclusion
 You need a strong conclusion to leave the audience
with a polished, finished feeling to your speech.
 Ideas:
 Quote: something memorable that an influential person
said, a famous quote about perseverance or hard work,
a snippet of a mission statement etc.
 Statement of purpose: “Because of AP Biology, I now
know that I want to be a marine biologist. I plan on
pursuing that goal next year at the University of Hawaii
and I can’t wait to deepen my knowledge in the field.”
 You can bring a bottle of water to sip from
 You will listen to all the presentations and be attentive
 Be sure you are talking about your topic in past tense
Dress code
 No jeans
 No tennis shoes
 Dress as you would for a professional interview (not an
interview for a mechanic job or Hooters )
Time to strengthen your
conclusion!
 You will be turning in a copy of your new and
improved conclusion before you leave class today, so
make it good. Yes it will be graded.
For this week:
BE PREPARED! HAVE YOUR
PRESENTATION AVAILABLE TO PRESENT
IN SEVERAL WAYS: USB, EMAIL, EMAIL
TO TEACHER, PRINTED OUT SLIDES!
Ask if they have a clicker to advance
slides
Ask how the room will be set up.
Remember…
 Your final speech must be 5-7 minutes
 Must have a visual
 Must be dressed appropriately
 Notecards are required and you will be
turning them in for points. Don’t read
from them, just use them as a prompt
 PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!!! 