Public Speaking (Summer 2019)/Commemorative Speech

Toasts. Commencement addresses. Keynotes. These are all speeches that call for praise. Linking a subject with accepted values. This is a common, but difficult writing challenge. You have to balance the musicality of stylistic writing with clarity; moving passages with realistic ones.

In this assignment, you will write a speech manuscript that richly and stylistically lauds the subject. This requires you to think closely about what values you want to bring to the fore in your discussion of the subject. How to elaborate on these values in interesting ways, with rich language, interesting stories, and the occasional fact or two. We swing from an impromptu speech to a deliberate speech that will need to go through many drafts.

Objectives
After completing the commemorative speech, students should be able to:
 * identify how speeches fit into ceremonies and events.
 * praise a person, event, or organization, linking the subject to appropriate values.
 * elaborate on key values with interesting and appropriate support.
 * write entertaining stories and use these stories to demonstrate shared values.
 * write and deliver stylistically rich speeches.
 * find appropriate speech tones.
 * prepare speech manuscripts that support good oral delivery.
 * speak fluidly from manuscripts.
 * remember speeches easily.
 * incorporate humor in speeches effectively and appropriately.
 * perform emotional levels effectively and appropriately.
 * perform prosody, rhythm, and pauses appropriately and effectively.

Procedure/topics
For the assignment, you must select a subject worthy of praise. This can be a person. You can praise Steve Jobs. You can praise your uncle Steve who recently lost his job..s. You can select an organization. You could talk about the Girl Scouts or the University of Washington. But you do need to genuinely praise the subject. You can’t devote 5-7 minutes to praising how perfect of a jerk your boss is.

I do think more general topics work better. The majority of the audience probably knows something about the Girl Scouts and can thus better understand your discussion. We don’t know your aunt and so your speech carries the additional burden of informing as well as praising; that’s a lot to do in seven minutes. You will submit your topic for TA review and advice.

Unlike your impromptu, this is a manuscript speech. You should plan on writing the entire thing out. This will allow us to work on writing for the ear and delivering from a manuscript. Also, we’ll speak from podiums in this assignment to get practice at working with these.

Below are some topic area suggestions.

Option 1. Person
You can talk about a famous person, but you don’t have to. These speeches highlight how the person illustrates a core set of values, usually through lots of stories about the person and their impact. Award speeches, toasts, and eulogies typically focus most on praising the person. Samples: Victor Frankl, Winston Churchill, my grandfather, etc.

Option 2. Organization
You can talk about how an organization demonstrates a shared value. These are often like person-based speeches, but the subject isn’t a single group. The stories here often focus more on the organization’s positive impact. Award speeches and keynotes typically focus most on praising the organization and speaking to the reasons why members benefit by being a part of it. The concern here is staying focused on praising the organization instead of advocating for it. The two certainly blend together, but speak more to the values shared by current members instead of getting money from the pockets of potential members. Samples: UNICEF, the University of Sao Paulo, Goodweave (an anti-child labor organization).

Option 3. Event
Maybe you want to talk about an event. Commemoration speeches are there to mark the importance of an event. It can be something benign, the opening of boating season. It can be something deeply important, commemorating a memorial to tragedy victims. The issue is that the reason people are brought together is because of the event itself. Commemorative speeches and keynotes are often focused on the event. Samples: Speech at a Veterans Day ceremony, Free Comicbook Day, College graduation, etc.

Time
You have five to seven minutes to deliver the speech. Your assignment grade will be lowered by five points for every 45 seconds you speak under or over the target time range.

Going under time incurs penalties.
 * A 4:15 speech would receive no grade penalty
 * A 4:05 speech would receive a five point penalty
 * A 3:15 speech would receive a ten point penalty, and so on.

Going over time carries penalties.
 * A 7:45 speech would receive no grade penalty
 * A 7:55 speech would receive a five point penalty
 * A 8:45 speech would receive a ten point penalty, and so on.

Values
This is a tough speech. You need to find the right values that help you best make your case for your topic. Praising George Washington for being punctual misses the mark; that value isn’t a core value that enables you to make the best case.

Elaboration
This speech is stylistically written, but it’s still about stuff. You need to root your discussion of the subject and the values in some type of support. This might be stories, quotations, and facts. But you do need to anchor your discussion in some type of elaboration.

Style
This speech should sound different. We will spend a great deal of time working on stylistic devices. These allow you to write eloquently. This is your opportunity to practice your hand at rich language use. These speech need to be written in a higher style.

Manuscript preparation
You may use a manuscript marked up in whatever way you find best. We’ll spend time in class talking about how you might elect to mark your manuscript to aid with your delivery.

Fluidity and style
By style/fluidity, I mean how well you perform a line. Does it sound natural? Does it include appropriate pitch, pauses, and volume? Is it easy to understand? We’ll speak to each one of these issues in class. The assignment is to help you perform well-written sentences with vibrancy and clarifying prosody.

Podium and movement
Our primary focus is on the sound of your sentences, but we are also looking at how we you interact with a podium. I try to avoid using podiums whenever I can, but they are certainly a fixture of modern speaking life. We’ll spend time in class talking about how the podium can help the performance without reducing your sense of dynamism.

Don’t postpone that first draft
You have to get a draft down on paper. The longer you postpone that draft, the more trouble you’ll find yourself in. Good stylistic writing requires multiple drafts and rewrites. You need to allow the draft to stew for a few days.

PRACTICE!!!
Even though you have a manuscript, you need to practice. Simply reading hurts your memory grade and your delivery grade. Why? As we will learn, most read sentences don’t sound good. Their word and syntactic markers are usually just a bit off. You need to spend time with your manuscript to know it’s structure, understand it’s rhythm, and practice your prose. We’ll do some practicing in class, but you need to log in at least 10-15 run throughs on your own.

The manuscript is an aid not a crutch
You want to be talking to the audience, seeing their eyes, 80-85% of the time. The manuscript is there to remind you where you are going, but the speech is to and for the audience.

Mark the manuscript for your performance
No one will see your manuscript. Mark it as needed. If you want to remind yourself about rising intonation, mark it in pen. If you want to hit a word with emphasis, PUT IT IN CAPS. If a paragraph is too long for you to glance at it and find your spot quickly, break it into multiple paragraphs. The manuscripts we have are transcriptions of actual speeches. What the speaker used probably looked marked up with lots of crazy paragraph breaks. Your manuscript should reinforce your delivery decisions, not get in your way.

The podium is a prop, not earthquake insurance
Please don’t death grip the podium. It shows. Your knuckles whiten and you look like you’re on a fishing trawler preparing to get hit by a huge wave. You should be gesturing as normal. Since the podium is there to hold the manuscript, both hands are free; use them.

Finally, PRACTICE
Come to the Speaking Center and work with a tutor. These people can help you (even if you don’t think you need help) and these people know what excellent, good, and adequate speeches look like and how you can improve.

Rubric
Note: The percentages here are guidelines. All these categories are mutually dependent.

Invention and Arrangement (28 points / 40%)
The speaker:
 * linked the subject to appropriate values.
 * reinforced the values with appropriate support (fact, quotations, etc.)
 * included appropriate stories and told them effectively.
 * arranged the speech appropriately and effectively.
 * oriented the audience to the topic appropriately and effectively.
 * concluded the speech appropriately and effectively.

Style (21 points / 30%)
The speaker:
 * included appropriate tones and performed them effectively.
 * wrote a stylistically rich and appropriate speech.
 * performed the stylistic writing effectively.
 * wrote for the ear.

Memory and Delivery (21 points / 30%)
The speaker:
 * used the manuscript appropriately.
 * spoke fluidly, avoiding memory and/or delivery gaps.
 * performed prosody appropriately and effectively.
 * used the podium and gestured appropriately and effectively.

Grading descriptions
In addition to the above rubric, I wanted to give you a more holistic description of what the different speeches often look and sound like. What follows below is simply a discussion of some of the commonalities that occur when we see an excellent, good, adequate, or poor speech. These items are mutually dependent. A speaker might have average invention, adequate style, and excellent delivery; the speaker’s grade reflects this admixture.

Excellent commemorative speeches (63 - 70)

 * Invention and Arrangement: Excellent speakers gracefully link their subject to one or a few core values. They are able to explore these values through interesting stories and support.

Excellent speakers have clear and compelling arrangement that increases audience engagement without any slow sections.


 * Style: Excellent speakers weave in stylistic devices well. The speech is always clear and yet never far from a well-written line or stylistic passage. The speaker takes full advantage of this writing by performing it stylistically. Rhythm is vibrant and interesting. Overall, pitch and rate actively support the manuscript’s words. That is, the performance not only makes comprehension easy but also strengthens the power of the content.


 * Memory and Delivery: Excellent speakers have mastered the manuscript. They are able to reference the manuscript occasionally without any break in their delivery. The speech is not memorized, but rather known deeply. As such, the entire speech is fluidly and accurately delivered. Excellent speakers move and gesture dynamically and appropriately. Like their prosody, the physical movement complements and strengthens the content. They sound confident and compelling for the entire speech. Excellent speakers develop an appropriate ethos for their subject matter.

Good commemorative speeches (56 - 62)

 * Invention and Arrangement: Good speakers link their subject to one or a few core values generally well. Their stories and support and generally interesting and relevant. Good speakers have clear arrangement that logically adds to the praise of the subject.


 * Style: Good speakers include a number of stylistic devices. Good speakers perform the majority of the stylistic passages well. Rhythm is interesting. Overall, pitch and rate support the manuscript’s content. The oral performance clarifies both words and syntax.


 * Memory and Delivery: Good speakers have a deep understanding of the manuscript. They are able to reference the manuscript occasionally with few breaks in their delivery. The speech is not memorized. The majority of the speech is fluidly and accurately delivered. Good speakers move and gesture in an interesting and appropriate fashion. The physical movement complements the content, or at the very least doesn’t contradict it or distract from it. They sound confident and compelling for the vast majority of the speech.

Adequate commemorative speeches (49 - 55)

 * Invention and Arrangement: Adequate speakers link their subject to one or a few core values. The relationship between subject and value is generally clear. Their stories and support and generally relevant. Adequate speakers have solid arrangement, but might have a section or two that seems out of place.


 * Style: Adequate speakers include a couple of stylistic devices, but some sections still need more. Adequate speakers will perform a most passages well, with a few flat and/or choppy sections. Rhythm is generally fine, but lacks vibrancy. There are a few small edits here and there. Overall, pitch and rate are fine, but compelling. Overall, their performance generally aids comprehension.


 * Memory and Delivery: Adequate speakers have a strong familiarity with the manuscript, but not quite mastery. There are more fluid sections than choppy ones. They move off the manuscript for long periods. Adequate speakers move and gesture appropriately, but minimally. They generally sound confident, occasionally dropping into a flat tone.

Poor commemorative speeches (42 - 48)

 * Invention and Arrangement: Poor speakers attempt to link their subject to values, but the relationship is generally unclear. The values might also be poorly chosen. Their stories and support often seem irrelevant. Poor speakers have unclear arrangement, with many sections that seem out of place.


 * Style: Poor speakers include few stylistic devices, and need many more. They perform a few passages well, but are flat and/or choppy for the majority of the speech. Rhythm is uneven with speakers occasionally going back a few words to edit a mistake. Overall, pitch and rate are more flat than appropriate. Overall, their performance both hinders and aids comprehension.


 * Memory and Delivery: Poor speakers show little familiarity with the manuscript. They have a few sections that are delivered fluidly, while other sections remain choppy. They move off the manuscript for brief periods, but fluidity suffers. Poor speakers move and gesture occasionally, though they have a small movement and gesture repertoire. They generally sound unconfident, occasionally sounding fine.

Failing commemorative speeches (41 and below)

 * Invention and Arrangement: Failing speakers either fail to link their subjects to a value or actively link it to inappropriate values. Their stories and support are irrelevant. They have unclear arrangement, resulting in a very difficult to follow speech.


 * Style: Failing speakers hardly any stylistic devices. They operate largely at the level of the word (since the familiarity with the manuscript is lacking). Consequently, reading is flat with little pitch or rate variation. The pauses fall in inappropriate places. Overall, their performance significantly hinders rather than aids comprehension.


 * Memory and Delivery: Failing speakers will show no familiarity with the manuscript. Though trying to read verbatim, they will often fall into very choppy and uneven speech. Failing speakers move and gesture little. They sound unconfident, due largely to having to pay so much attention to the manuscript.