Thirty-Eight Basic Speech Experiences

This book was written for students and teachers who want to teach and learn speech by the simple process of giving speeches. To those teachers who are plagued by the everlasting question of "What shall I assign my students for their next speeches?: this text provides thirty-eight completely worked-out projects. These speech projects are of the kind a student will be asked to continue in real life situations when he no longer is enrolled in a speech course. They are practical because they meet the needs of students who will be tomorrow's business and social leaders. The teacher may assign any one of the speaking experiences and know that the student will have all the information he needs in the assignment in order to prepare and present a dedication speech, a eulogy, a sales talk, an after dinner speech, a panel, a debate, a speech to inform, or any one of dozens of others. The text is adaptable and flexible. Any sequence of assignments a teacher desires may be scheduled. Any specific assignment may be modified as an instructor wishes. Any basic speech text may be used as a supplement, since each speech assignment carries references to leading speech texts. The student's job is made easy because he knows from each assignment what he must do to fulfill adequately the purpose of a specific speech. He knows because the assignment specifies clearly what he must do. The requirements, such as time limits, outlining, organizing, and reading source materials, are not easy. They are not intended to be easy. They are basic to all good speech making, and while some students may complain that it takes too much effort to time a speech properly, to make a complete sentence outline, to read two or more sources, and to rehearse aloud, yet these same students will quickly discover that as a result of such preparation they can present excellent speeches.