Graduation Project: The Career Speech
Every day in the real world people give the same kinds of speeches that are assigned in school.
The only difference is that on the job, people talk about speeches in terms of what the speech does,
rather than the speaker’s delivery method. In the workplace, people refer to a speech as “an
explanation”, “a report”, “some instructions”, “a presentation”, “an introduction”, or “a little talk”. For
this reason, mastering speech delivery is one of the best things you can do to prepare yourself for your
future career.
Assignment:
Deliver a speech in order to communicate to your audience what you learned in your career
exploration. The speech must include detailed information about three schools that you could attend to
receive training for the career for your choice and a personal reflection on each of these instructions.
You should use your Career Training File to fill the content of this speech. The speech must last between
3-5 minutes.
Process:
1. Prepare yourself to speak.
 Know your audience: What are the ages, backgrounds, interests and needs? How can I
shape my speech to keep their attention?
 Know your occasion: How formal is the setting? What should I wear and what kind of
language should I use? How much time do I have?
 Understand your purpose: Am I going to inform my audience? Give them information
about a topic? How will this information be useful to them?
 Understand your topic: Have I gathered enough information to fill the length of the
speech? What areas need more research?
2. Outline Your Speech. Write out the main ideas you plan to talk about in outline form. You will
be required to use this outline when you give the speech. You may transfer the outline onto
note cards if you choose.
 Introduction: A good introduction gets the attention of your audience, introduces your
topic, states the purpose of your speech, briefly identifies the main points, and makes
your audience eager to hear what else you have to say. For this particular assignment,
your topic is your future career and your purpose is to provide information on schools
that could prepare you for this career. To grab your audience’s attention, you might try
starting with an amazing fact or a shocking statement, a funny story or attentiongrabbing illustration, a short demonstration or colorful visual aid, a series of questions, a
short history of the career, or a strong statement about why the career is important to
you and your audience.

Body: The body presents the information you gathered on your topic. The way you
organize the information is very important. In fact, the organization must be so
effective that the audience understands the information after only hearing it once.
Consider organizing the body of your speech under these three subtopics: dream school,
reality school, and back up school. Then, within each subtopic, you can share the
relevant data and reflection on the school.
 Conclusion: A good conclusion helps your audience understand what they have heard,
why it is important, and how it relates to them. You may want to restate your central
idea, emphasizing the school you will most likely attend, and then use some of the same
attention getting devices that were recommended for the introduction. This technique
creates unity in the speech and provides a more memorable conclusion.
3. Rehearse the speech. Rehearse the speech until you are comfortable with it. Ask a friend or
family member to listen and give you feedback, or use a tape recorder or video recorder to
listen to and/or watch yourself. (There is a good chance that your smart phone has a video
option and a voice memo option.)
4. Deliver the Speech: Stand, walk to the podium and carefully arrange your notes. Face the
audience with your head up and back straight. Speak loudly and clearly. Don’t rush. Take your
time and glace at your notes when you need them. (Color coding your notes may be beneficial
to you.) Think about what you are saying so your audience hears the feeling in your voice. Talk
with your hands; use gestures that help you communicate. Talk with your eyes and facial
expressions by looking at the audience as you speak. Conclude your speech by picking up your
notes and walking carefully to your seat.
Requirement:
A visual aid is required for this presentation. Lots of items that advertise colleges (t-shirts,
brochures, poster, pennants) and photographs are available from most colleges. Maps, charts and
diagrams may also serve as great visual aids too. The visual aid is an additional 1-5 points added to
the 50 point speech (possible 55 points total).
Due Dates:
Career Training File: Tuesday, January 14th
*2 bonus points may be earned if the packet is turned in on Friday, January 10th and 1 bonus
point may be earned if the packet is turned in on Monday, January 13th.*
Outline: Tuesday, January 21st
Speech: All speeches will begin Tuesday, January 21st. Slots will be chosen by lottery every day,
so everyone must be prepared to present on the first day. Because the speech is a graduation
requirement, all students must participate and achieve a passing grade. Failing speeches must
be redone until a passing grade is earned.