REMINDER OF GUIDELINES
It has to be a story about you - the more specific the better
It has to be school appropriate (no drugs, swearing, sex…)
It has to be 2-3 minutes long
It has to be interesting!!
It must have a catchy introduction (use our handout)
It must have sensory description in it (we will practice today)
It needs to have a purpose (theme, moral, lesson, larger meaning, point)
You will also be graded on poise , eye contact, vocal variety
You will need to write out a manuscript of the entire speech for this one.
VOCAL VARIETY
What is Vocal Variety and why do we need this when we speak?
Vocal variety is achieved through combining pitch, tone, volume and rate.
VOLUME
How loudly or quietly you speak is called volume. Some people are habitually loud and
others, quiet. Make sure you are loud enough to hear comfortably, and increase volume
when you want to emphasize something in your speech.
RATE
The term 'rate' refers to speaking pace. How fast or slow do you speak? Do you know the
effect of slowing deliberately? Speaking rate matters because how fast or how slow you
speak alters the listener's perception of your topic. When you speed up, you sound
nervous.
PITCH
To understand pitch, think of music. It has high and low notes
as do people's voices. Everyone's voice has a natural pitch.
Women's tend to be higher than men's and everybody has
a pitch range: the number of notes we habitually use.
When that range is very small, the effect is monotonous.
When someone speaks at a higher pitch than normal for
them, what is the effect?
When someone speaks as a lower pitch than normal what is
the effect?
Where is your natural pitch?
TONE
How can the tone of voice change the meaning of
something… Use the phrase “I’m sorry.”
Tone refers to the emotional content carried by our
voices. It is not the words themselves, but 'how' we
say them. To speak expressively, is to fill or energize
our words appropriately.
For example: a person who puts very little energy into
their speech, no matter what they are saying, is often
described as being “flat.” By contrast someone who
fills their speech to overflowing with energy is
described as being “exuberant” or “enthusiastic.”
NPR THE ARGUMENT
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/play_full.php?play=241&podcast=1
TONE OF VOICE
For TONE:
The Ham Sandwich Exercise:
Repeat the words 'Ham Sandwich' in as many varying ways as you can. For example
say it angrily, happily, sadly, lovingly, despairingly, laughingly, importantly, slyly,
snidely, shyly... This is a fantastic exercise to share with a partner. Take turn about
giving each other the way to say the phrase. Repeat until you run out of variations.
NB. Listen for emotional truth or believability!
Extension Ham Sandwich:
Use the phrase to 'converse'. Take an emotional state and build a whole conversation
around the phrase 'Ham Sandwich'.
For example:
Imagine you've just seen the most exciting thing. You want to share that experience
with a friend. You ring to tell them. The catch is you must use the words 'Ham
Sandwich' to convey your feeling and NO others.
Try consoling using 'Ham Sandwich' or congratulating. Experiment with as many
different ways as you can.
And yet Another Ham Sandwich:
This time take two opposite emotions, for example: happy - sad or angry - contented...
Start with one and gradually switch to the other. Make sure you grade the switch.
Unless we're very, very excitable emotionally, we seldom alter suddenly from one to
the other.
EYE CONTACT
What is the effect when a speaker does not have eye contact with the
audience?
Seek out smiling, friendly faces as you speak – don’t just look at one
person.
Memorize pieces of your manuscript, highlight the areas you need to
remember to draw your eyes back to, so you don’t get lost.
Tasks:
Read your speech silently right now and use a highlighter to indicate when
you should look back down at the speech (highlight sections you don’t
know as well.
Read a piece you’ve written today to a partner and practice looking up and
down without losing your place.
Practice one more time, before we begin the speeches – I will time you
three minutes, read in your head and look up when you can.
REFLECTION ON PERSONAL EXPERIENCE SPEECH
On a separate sheet of paper, reflect on…
• What did you find easy and difficult about preparing for and
performing your speech?
• What goals did you accomplish during this speech (that you
made last time)? And what goals do you want to make for
the next speech?
• Of the speeches you observed, which ones did you like best
and why?
• What do good speakers do to make their speech
interesting and effective?