The Information Speech
• The assignment is to deliver an informational
speech no shorter than 2 minutes and no longer than 3 minutes. For this assignment, you are not permitted to use notes, visual aids or props.
• In order for language to have information value, it must meet all three of the following criteria: it must be TRUE, it must be NEW to the audience, and it must be either interesting enough or relevant enough (or, preferably, both) to be MEMORABLE. We'll talk about these criteria in more detail in class.
• To avoid plagiarism, you should be careful to cite the sources of your facts. The ins and outs of speech citation are explained here. Your speech should include a minimum of two citations of different types (book, newspaper, magazine, website, pamphlet/brochure, or interview you conducted yourself), but you may well need to use more than two. At the beginning of class on the day we start this round of speeches, you should be prepared to turn in a 4" by 6" white index card with your name on one side and your citations listed on the other side according to these instructions. If you don't have a Citation Card with you on that day, you won't be given the opportunity to do this speech, and your grade will be zero. Don't let that happen! Make sure that you have your Citation Card with you on the day the round of speeches begins. If there are fewer than two correct citations on your card and/or fewer than two correct citations in your speech, the speech's quality grade will be lower than an A and you will lose the protection of the "70% cushion." In order to earn an A on this speech, one requirement (not the only one!) is that you must have at least two legitimate MLA citations on your Citation Card and at least two matching legitimate oral citations in your speech.
• The speech is worth a possible total of 30 points. Your grade will be based on the following four criteria:
a. Organization (33% = 10 points): I will be asking the following questions about your speech. Does your introduction draw audience attention, provide an orientation to the topic, and/or present a thesis? Is your thesis clear and memorable? Has your topic been effectively narrowed? Do you include transitions (e.g. forecasts, restatements) which help your listeners follow and remember key points? Does your presentation follow a logical pattern? Does your conclusion summarize, let listeners know where to get more information, and/or provide a clincher?
b. Content (33% = 10 points): How much information value is contained in the body of your speech? Are you meeting the criteria of "TRUE/NEW/GLUE"? Do you include sufficient effective evidence (e.g., examples and statistics) to support and/or explain your ideas? Does your evidence reflect an understanding of your audience? Is your evidence presented in appropriate language (diction, usage, grammar)? Do you include a minimum of two citations from two of the six acceptable types (book, newspaper article, magazine article, pamphlet or brochure, website, interview you conducted yourself)? Do your sources provide recognizable authority? Are your sources correctly identified with oral citations during the speech, and formally identified (using MLA style) on your Citation Card? (Reminder: If any of your citations are incorrect, you lose the "70% cushion" from your quality grade. Make sure you get the citations right, both on your citation card and in the body of your speech!)
c. Presentation (33% = 10 points): Here, I'll be looking at such items as your rate, pitch, intensity and animation, your articulation and pronunciation. Is your volume appropriate? Are you speaking slowly and distinctly enough to be understood? Are there vocal disfluencies in your speech? Are you dressed for public speaking success? Where is your eye contact? Do your attitude, posture and movement, use of gestures make it easier or harder for your audience to focus on the content of your presentation?
• You will receive one grade — referred to as your "quality" grade — which takes into account all three of the criteria discussed above. If your speech meets the time requirements for the assignment, this grade will also be your "official" grade, which is the grade which will be recorded in my grade book. If your speech is shorter than the minimum required time, your "quality" grade will be prorated against the percentage of the minimum time requirement you used. (In other words, if you speak for one minute, which is exactly half of the required two minutes, you will receive exactly half of your "quality" grade, and so on.) If you are still speaking at the end of three minutes, I will stop you and subtract 3 points (10% of the total value of the assignment) from your "quality" grade. For a more detailed explanation of the impact timing can have on your grade, see Grading of Speeches.
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