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SPCH 1311 | Amy Dopierala

Informative Speech

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Informative Speech

Review your assignment below, including the requirements chart. Let your professor know if you have any questions.

  • You have the freedom to choose your topic; but remember, no how-to speeches allowed. Make sure that it stays informative throughout.
  • You must cite your sources fully and correctly. Sources must be written below your outline AND stated orally, within your speech. DO NOT say "according to studies…"; which study, when, by whom? DO NOT say, "according to ESPN.com…". Citations must be specific and intentional.
    • Who said it?
    • When did they say it?
    • What did they say?
    • Why does it matter?
  • When choosing a visual aid, make sure that you are helping the audience in some way.
  • Introduction | Use an attention getter (e.g. picture, story, quote, joke, etc.); it must be relevant to your topic. Help the audience understand the importance or relevance (relationship). Must have a thesis (preview the purpose and main points in order).
  • Body | Should be well organized with sources. Make sure to preview and review each point throughout.
  • Conclusion | Review your thesis. Stress relationship- with self, audience, or introduction. Have a BIG finish. Give them a reason to remember (e.g. picture, story, quote, joke, etc.); it must be relevant to your topic.

Remember to practice, practice, practice! 

 

Criterion Points (150) Requirements
Topic 0-15 Must be an appropriate speech of information. It cannot be a demonstration "how to..." speech. You cannot ask the audience for any action (because that is a persuasive speech).
Time 0-15 3-5 minutes 
Professionalism 0-15

Professional behavior is expected. This is a formal presentation and should be treated as such! You must wear business casual attire. Must appear and act in an appropriate manner, while using appropriate language. (No hats, gums, clothes with writing or distractions.) Make sure that your recording environment is appropriate, and free from noise and distractions.

Your audience must behave appropriately as well.
Sources 0-30 Must cite 3 sources, correctly, ORALLY, within your speech. (You cannot blanket site sources at the beginning or end of your speech.) No Wikipedia.
Introduction 0-10 You must have a proper introduction for the speech--including an appropriate attention getter, relationship to audience or self, and a thesis with preview of points.
Conclusion 0-10 You must have a proper conclusion for the speech--including a thesis with a review of points, relationship to audience, self, or introduction, and a BIG finish.
Visual Aid 0-30 You must have an appropriate audience centered visual aid. Make sure that it is not an afterthought; advanced preparation is necessary.
Organization 0-15 The speech needs to have proper organization and flow. You must preview and review in your introduction and conclusion as well as transitioning throughout the ENTIRE speech.
Delivery 0-10

Your delivery should include appropriate tone, vocal variety, and gestures.

Your delivery should be conversational with minimal notes (on plain white note cards ONLY). Do not write out what you want to say and read it.

If you read your speech, you will lose half of your points (i.e., grading will start at 75 points).
Audience see requirements A 5-member adult audience (high school or older) MUST be present, either in-person, virtual, or combination, or the speech will get a ZERO.

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