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SPCH 1315 | Amy Dopierala

Speech 3: Informative Speech

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Speech 3: Informative Speech

Your third speech will be a speech of information. You will complete your informative speech by recording a 3-5 minute speech video. You must remain neutral about the topic you choose, being careful not to make it a persuasive speech. You will need to conduct research on your chosen topic. You will cite 3 credible sources (not Wikipedia), orally, within your speech (not all at the beginning or all at the end). Remember to be intentional and specific with your citations. Do not say, "according to CNN.com." It must be the article and author, for the who, not just a website. 

The citation should include the following:

  • who said it
  • when they said it
  • what they said
  • why it is relevant

Once again, a 5-member adult audience is required. You must show me the audience in the beginning of your speech (this does not count as part of your time). The audience must remain visible throughout the speech. If the speech is recorded virtually, the audience member cannot be an avatar. I must see a live human throughout the speech. Without a 5-member, adult audience, properly shown, your speech grade will be a zero. The audience is expected to behave in an appropriate manner throughout your speech. (They should not be laying in a bed, driving a car, playing a video game, on their phones, etc...this is how you find out who your true friends are).

A typed, full-sentence outline is required for this speech. Please follow the provided example outlines. This is an outline NOT an essay. All sources need to be formatted in APA and listed below your outline. 

The remainder of the assignment requirements are located within the grading rubric. Please review to see how the assignment points will be allocated. Reach out to your professor directly if you have any questions about your assignment expectations.

Academic Research Video

Additional Video Tutorials 

Below are video tutorials to help you navigate some of the library resources.

Reference Databases

The following resource will provide you some resources for background information. Doing background research will not only help you narrow your focus, but will also help you identify keywords to use when searching the databases for scholarly articles. 

Boolean Operators 

Using Boolean operators in a database is highly recommended, as this approach usually generates the most useful results.  Databases are not "intuitive" like search engines (e.g., Google) - they must be "told" how to process a search query.  Boolean operators let you "tell" the database what you want to see in your results.  

AND

Use AND to connect KEYWORDS - Retrieves sources with both/all terms [refines search]

Example: diabetes AND adult AND self-management 
OR

Use OR to connect SYNONYMS & LIKE CONCEPTS - Retrieves sources with either/any term(s) [broadens search]

Example: heart attack AND (female OR women) AND symptoms
NOT

Use NOT to EXCLUDE word(s) - Eliminates sources with the word(s) following NOT 

Example: Omega-3 fatty acids NOT fish oils 

Identifying Keywords

When you are conducting your background research on your topic, consider the who, what, when, where and why of what you are reading, and highlight or write the main points down. You can use those as keywords in the databases!

Who, what, when, where and why

Recommended Databases

Since the topics for the Informative Speech can consist of topics across the subjects, I have provided a link to the the Research Databases page. You can take your selected topic and look at it across the subjects or you can look at resources that fall within the subject for your selected topic.

Database Video Tutorials 

Other Resources