Saturday, May 08, 2004
HA!! Can't hold him back!!!Friday, May 07, 2004
The first thing a speech writer should consider is what the point of the speech is going to be. What are the goals of the speaker? Once the writer has figured out the goal of his speaker he must also consider the audience that will be hearing the speech. What are their general opinions on things? Are the liberal, conservative, neither? How educated are they and what are they most likely to respond to in a speech? The speech writer should then look at the issue being presented and consider what the extreme position are for both sides, and then plot out all the possible opinions on the matter between them, creating a graph of opinions. Then the speech writer should consider where both the speaker and the public stand on the issue, and then estimate how far the speaker can push the crowd towards his ultimate goal. A writer must be careful at this point, too much pressure and the crowd will be alienated. Too little and there will be no point in the speech.
When it comes to actually writing the speech there are some things to consider. First, it usually helps to have about three main points in the speech and then divide everything up under those points. Studies show that most people can’t remember more than three to five topics in a speech, so the writer should keep it tight. Next, the speech should have a strong beginning and conclusion. Reach to the audience, use the Silva Rhetoricae to plunder rhetorical figures that could be used to spice up the speech and make it more appealing and effective. Remember to consider the social judgment theory and where the audience is coming from, and that will give you a good basis to work around. In our group’s speech we tried to center our deliberation around compassion and a plea to the audience. We frequently alluded to a better society and many other positive things that we connected with our topic, hopefully doing the same in the collective mind of the audience. Second, ethos, pathos, and logos (character, feeling, and logical argument) of both the audience and the speaker must be considered and exploited to the speech writer’s advantage.
Finally, the speaker must be familiar with the speech itself and must spend time practicing inflections within the speech to make it sound more natural and effective. Practice makes perfect, as they say and the McGuffey readers are a good source of practice drills for common inflections used in speeches. The goal should be a state where the speaker is familiar with the speech and can make plenty of contact with the audience, drawing them into the speech and wining them over with appearance and attitude. Two members of our class have written excellent answers to this question. One is Liz, and the other is Richard.
When it comes to actually writing the speech there are some things to consider. First, it usually helps to have about three main points in the speech and then divide everything up under those points. Studies show that most people can’t remember more than three to five topics in a speech, so the writer should keep it tight. Next, the speech should have a strong beginning and conclusion. Reach to the audience, use the Silva Rhetoricae to plunder rhetorical figures that could be used to spice up the speech and make it more appealing and effective. Remember to consider the social judgment theory and where the audience is coming from, and that will give you a good basis to work around. In our group’s speech we tried to center our deliberation around compassion and a plea to the audience. We frequently alluded to a better society and many other positive things that we connected with our topic, hopefully doing the same in the collective mind of the audience. Second, ethos, pathos, and logos (character, feeling, and logical argument) of both the audience and the speaker must be considered and exploited to the speech writer’s advantage.
Finally, the speaker must be familiar with the speech itself and must spend time practicing inflections within the speech to make it sound more natural and effective. Practice makes perfect, as they say and the McGuffey readers are a good source of practice drills for common inflections used in speeches. The goal should be a state where the speaker is familiar with the speech and can make plenty of contact with the audience, drawing them into the speech and wining them over with appearance and attitude. Two members of our class have written excellent answers to this question. One is Liz, and the other is Richard.
Saturday, May 01, 2004
Dave makes an interesting post about how we are mishandling terror investigations. This shit pisses me off. I assume its true, and make no bones about the fact that its damn stupid. I'm not against the Cuban trade embargos, even though I do like their cigars, but seriously, at this point in time, is it that important?
