Fundamentals of speech

1.Book Speech:

Choose a book you loved and that really influenced you.

Tell us about it, tell us why you consider it worth reading and how it changed the way you think about things. (2 pages)

2.Pursuasive Speech:

Change our mind about something or someone: politics, social issues, health issues, religious, whatever.

You need to be passionate about it, with a personal connection, but not browbeat us.

you need to back up any claim with statistics from a reputable source, the more the better, not all internet (3 pages)

3.Information speech

Teach us about something, someone, or somewhere

You’ve seen thousands of these in your academic career–they’re usually called “lectures”

It can be your hometown, a place you want to visit, a person you want to know or see performing, anything you want (4 pages)

Persuasive vs. Informative Speeches
Differences between an Informative and Persuasive Speech
You’ve already read this information in your textbook – but I’m going to reiterate. There is a
difference between an Informative and a Persuasive speech. (Since you are doing one of each
and they are the largest part of your grade – you might want to make sure you’re doing the
right one for the right assignment.)
An Informative Speech: is basically a speech about a “noun”. You are telling your audience
about something. You are not trying to get anyone to change his or her minds or make any
drastic action.
An information speech has a thesis statement that gives information. Informative speeches
describe, define, analyze, tell how to use and synthesize information.
Some examples of thesis statement that are informative are:
•I will tell how to make a pizza
•I will describe how to swing a golf club
•I will describe how it is to live in Germany today
•I will analyze the difference between camping in national parks and state campgrounds
•I will synthesize the views of the Catholic Church toward women
•I will analyze the growing problems resulting from identity theft
•I will describe how to find information about your ancestors
•I will define the medical problem of dyslexia
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Of course, there are many other thesis statements that you could add to this list.
A Persuasive Speech: involves reason and logic and emphasizes opinion. You’re actively making
an argument and trying to change your audience. You either want them to change their
attitudes, beliefs, values, or actions.
Typical persuasive speeches give an opinion about whether something is good or bad, should or
should not be done, or is or is not meeting some valued goal.
Here are some examples of persuasive thesis statements:
•I will argue that the Graduate Record Exam should not be used to determine if applicants
should be admitted to graduate degree programs
•I believe that eating red meat is not good for your health
•I believe that gun control laws violate the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
•I will argue that a “Fat Tax” on fast food will help over-weight Americans get healthier
•I will show that teen pregnancy rates are at crisis levels
•I believe that the US Government must re-establish full diplomatic relations with Cuba
Telling the difference between informative and persuasive speeches
How do you tell the difference between an informative speech and a persuasive speech? How
will you know that your thesis statement really does meet the requirements for your speech?
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You need to decide if your thesis statement seeks to inform or if it state your opinion about
information.
Some of the differences between informative and persuasive speeches are shown in the table
below:
Informative
Persuasive
Reveals and clarifies options
Urges audience to make a choice
Requires little commitment from audience
Requires great commitment from audience
Ethical obligation (to tell truth and not plagiarize – cite sources etc.)
Greater ethical obligation (to tell truth and not plagiarize – cite sources & not mislead or
manipulate audience)
Speaker acts as a TEACHER
Speaker acts as a LEADER
Speaker stresses UNDERSTANDING
Speaker excites EMOTION to bring change
What’s really cool – is when you realize that the same TOPIC can be Informative or Persuasive.
For instance: I can speak about Recycling.
If I’m informing my audience, I’ll simply talk about the process, the cost, the different types of
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materials etc. I’m trying to teach my audience about recycling.
But if I’m persuading them, I’ll bring out photos of garbage dumps and talk about pounds of
disposable diapers. I’m trying to change my audience’s attitudes & get them to start recycling.
Do you see the difference?
Don’t think that just because you say, “I’m going to inform you about the injustices of Puppy
Mills, so you never buy a pet from a mall store again.” That you are making in informative
speech. You wouldn’t be – it would still be Persuasive.
One of the quickest ways to tell if you’re headed down the wrong path is to look at your
attention getter.
If you’re saying something about, “You know the little recycled symbol on products? Did you
ever wonder what happened to make those items ‘Recycled’? Well, I’m going to tell you. . . .”
then your speech is probably Informative.
But if you say, “Did you ever wonder if your grandchildren will have a grassy field to play in? Or
if they’ll only have a landfill?” then your speech is probably persuasive. (Okay, that’s a little
extreme but, you get the idea.)
Checklist:
•If you’ve got an emotional appeal to your audience – it’s probably persuasive.
•If you’re trying to change your audience’s attitude or behavior – it’s probably persuasive.
•If you expect something from the audience – it’s probably persuasive.
•If it’s a topic that your friends typically say, “Oh, don’t get them started” and are serious and
back away from you – it’s probably going to be persuasive.
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•If it’s a topic that your friends typically say, “Oh, don’t get them started” and laugh – it will
likely be an informative speech.
•If it’s something that you know a lot about and doubt the audience does – then it will likely be
an informative speech.
•If you’re explaining terms and just scraping the surface of available information – it’s probably
an informative speech.
•If you don’t expect anything from the audience – it’s likely an informative
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