Schedule
• This week (Week 4): Lesson on Personal Experience
Speeches and the Body of the Speech
• Next week (Week 5): Lesson on Voice Qualities
and Conclusions
• Week 6: Quiz, Speech Outline due,
Lesson on Speech Delivery
• Week 7: Speech Day
“There are many truths of which the full
meaning cannot be realized until personal
experience has brought it home.”
- John Stuart Mill
“A mind that is stretched by a new
experience can never go back to its old
dimensions.”
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
• We’ll be thinking about personal
experiences today, but first, let’s review…
Review
• What is an outline?
- a written plan of the speech
• What are the three main parts of a speech
outline?
I. Introduction
II. Body
III. Conclusion
Review

What is the first part of your Introduction
called?


The Hook!
What are the 4 types of Hooks?
- Fact / Statistic
- Quote / Proverb
- Question
- Story
Review

What comes at the end of your
Introduction?


What is included in the Thesis?


Thesis
Main points (often 3)
What should your Thesis do?

Forecast: tell the audience what you will
talk about.
Review

What connects your Hook and your Thesis?


The Bridge
The Bridge is a transition to make the
Introduction sound smooth.
Different types of speeches
• There are different types of speeches
depending on their purpose.
• Informative Speech: shares information
• Persuasive Speech: presents a position on an
issue
• Demonstrative Speech: teaches the listeners how
to do something
• Commemorative Speech: gives honor to someone
or celebrates the opening of something
• Personal Experience Speech: shares the lessons
learned from an experience the speaker had
Choose the type of speech…
• Choose from Informative, Persuasive, Demonstrative,
Commemorative, Personal Experience
• A speech which teaches the steps of making dumplings.
- Demonstrative
• A speech by a student trying to be chosen as a class leader.
- Persuasive
• A speech about the history of Sias.
- Informative
• A speech about what you learned on your trip to Beijing.
- Personal Experience
• A speech at your grandmother’s 80th birthday party.
- Commemorative
Personal Experience Speech
• Our first speech in this class will be a personal
experience speech.
• For the next several weeks, we will be working
on the different pieces of the speech.
• Today, we will choose our topics and begin to
work on the Introduction.
Choosing an experience
from your life…
• Think of an experience that…
- taught you something important
- strengthened some part of your life
- created an emotional response in you
• The most important part of the speech will not
be the story of your experience,
but WHAT YOU LEARNED from it.
Ideas for experiences to talk
about…
• Describe an experience that led to something you
now love to do
• Describe an embarrassing moment and what you
learned from it
• Talk about someone special in your life and what that
person has taught you
• Share about a trip you took and how it changed your
life
• Share about a movie you watched and how it changed
your thinking
• Share about a challenge you faced and how you
overcame it
My example…
• A speech about my experience of having
cancer and what I learned from it.
Outline of my speech
I. Introduction
A. Hook
B. Bridge
C. Thesis – 3 lessons I learned
II. Body
A. First lesson
B. Second lesson
C. Third lesson
III. Conclusion
During the break,
choose your topic
• Describe an experience that led to something you
now love to do
• Describe an embarrassing moment and what you
learned from it
• Talk about someone special in your life and what that
person has taught you
• Share about a trip you took and how it changed your
life
• Share about a movie you watched and how it changed
your thinking
• Share about a challenge you faced and how you
overcame it
Writing the Introduction
• First step: Write 2 or 3 main points.
Your main points will be the things you learned from the
experience.
• Second step: Create a thesis statement with your main
points. Your thesis statement is one sentence.
My example:
Main points:
1) Going through cancer taught me patience.
2) Going through cancer taught me about dependency.
3) Going through cancer gave me an appreciation of
health.
Thesis: Going through cancer taught me patience,
dependency, and an appreciation of health.
The Body of the Speech
• The Body of the speech is the biggest
part; it is where we share most of the
information.
• In the Body of your speech, each main
point will have its own section.
• For each main point, you will have
supporting details from the experience
you’re talking about.
Outline of the Body
II. Body
A. Main point 1 (first lesson)
1. Supporting detail from your experience
2. …..
B. Main point 2 (second lesson)
1. Supporting detail from your experience
2. …..
C. Main point 3 (third lesson)
1. Supporting detail from your experience
2. …..
Let’s start working on the Body
• I am giving you a worksheet to help you think
about what to include in the speech.
• You should write down short answers to the
questions and these will become your notes to
help you put the pieces together.
Tips for good storytelling
Look around at the audience – make them feel
you are telling the story to them.
Set the scene – describe places, use facial
expressions, body language, and gestures.
Use pauses to increase interest, particularly
before the final part of the story.
Include actual words spoken during the event if
you can remember them.
Homework
• Give your speech a Title (for example, “What I
learned from cancer”).
• Finish writing the Introduction of your speech.
• You should label each part of the Introduction.
Your paper will look like this:
- Title:
- Hook:
- Bridge:
- Thesis: