Instructions
Brainstorm and narrow topics, considering the following criteria:
Provide a genuine contribution of knowledge to the class (i.e., something they do not already know)
Select a topic of interest to yourself
Select a topic of interest to your audience
Determine a specific purpose statement
Brainstorm possible informative strategies
Assess your speech topic:
Consider its pros and cons
Determine how you might resolve any issues (e.g., narrow topic further, connect topic to your audience, etc.)
Draft a thesis statement
Begin collecting supporting material, using diverse types of information, including: examples, expert testimony, statistics, definitions, narratives
Select main ideas, and an organizational pattern for your speech:
Draft introduction and conclusion
Draft transitions
Write a formal outline
Create speaking notes from full sentence outline
Practice delivering your informative speech
Speech Assignment Guidelines
The speech should be 4-5 minutes.
The introduction should be approximately 1 minute.
The body should be approximately 3 minutes.
The conclusion should be between 30 seconds and 1 minute.
The delivery should be extemporaneous in style.
A minimum of four outside sources should be cited in the speech; make sure to establish credibility for all sources (especially for sources found online).
Required documents:
A formal speech outline
Sample outline can be found in Chapter 9, under the heading “A Sample Informative Speech” (Figure 2, CHINAS GOLDEN SHIELD SURVEILLANCE PROJECT).
Please do not turn in your speech in manuscript form, as illustrated below the outline version of the speech.
A reference list, using an accepted style: MLA or APA
Citation examples can be found in Chapter 10, under the heading “Creating an Effective Outline” (Table 3, APA AND MLA CITATION FORMATS).
Sources:
Hack, Kevin. EIA Expects Gasoline and Diesel Prices to Fall in 2022 and 2023 as Demand Growth Slows – Today in Energy – U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). U.S. Energy Information Administration, 13 Jan. 2022, www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=50878.
Kevin M. Camp, David Mead, Stephen B. Reed, Christopher Sitter, and Derek Wasilewski, “From the barrel to the pump: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on prices for petroleum products,” – Monthly Labor Review – U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, October 2020, https://doi.org/10.21916/mlr.2020.24.
Letourneau, Matt. The Reason Behind High Gas Prices and Why Some Commonly Proposed Solutions Wont Help. US Chamber of Commerce, 1 Dec. 2021, www.uschamber.com/energy/the-reason-behind-high-gas-prices-and-why-some-solutions-wont-help.
Troderman, Jimmy. Retail Gasoline Prices Rose across the United States in 2021 as Driving Increased – Today in Energy – U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). U.S. Energy Information Administration, 1 May 2022, www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=50758.
