Things to keep in mind before you begin your Informative Speech assignments:
This week’s module (Week 8 Module) revolves around your next speaking assignment,
the Informative Speech. Last week, your readings included the instructions for this speech (p.
178), but please review them this week before you begin your work. I also expect you to review
your rubrics from the self-introductory speeches, and try to improve in the areas I have
highlighted there. You can find your rubric and feedback in Canvas. Finally, I want to remind
you of the requirements regarding the recording and submission of your speeches for this class.
Although I allowed some leeway with these rules during the first speaking assignment, I will not
do so for this one, so please review the syllabus before you submit your video. I will address the
most common mistakes, however, below.
1. You must record your video in one, continuous shot with no editing of any kind. This
means that from the moment you press “record” until the moment you press “stop” there
must be no cuts to the video.
2. You must make eye contact with the audience, not the camera. Do not give your speech
to your camera. Your camera should be pointed at you, but not directly in your face.
3. You must show your entire audience on the one, continuous shot that is your video
submission. You may not record your audience and then edit a cut to your speech.
Showing the audience, both before and after the speech, must happen all in the one,
continuous shot.
4. You are expected to arrange a location for your speech that is free from distraction. You
may not record your speech in a public place or in a room with people talking, music
playing, or the television on. Arrange an environment as close to a professional setting as
possible. This can be your home, but make it as close to professional as possible.
These are not all of the requirements for your speech, but simply a few that students had trouble
with during the first speech. Again, please refer to the syllabus (link on the home page of
Canvas) and to the instructions (textbook p. 178) for a full list of requirements.
What’s different this time?
Your first speeches involved a brief introduction of yourself. Because you know yourself
better than anyone, in gathering information for your first speech, you did not need to do
research, cite sources, and avoid plagiarism. Your next speech will be different. You need to
research your topic and include a references page for your sources on your outline, as well as
orally cite your sources during your speech. Also, your Informative Speech will be the first speech
you do in this class for which you must prepare both a preparation and a speaking outline.
Finally, this speech will be the first for which you must prepare a presentation aid. Because of
these differences between your first and second speech, I will highlight some key information
below and also remind you where to find this information from your readings in your textbook.
1. Outlines: You first read about outlines in this class in Chapter 5 (p. 51), even before you
did your first speech. For that first speech, you prepared only one outline, but recall from
Chapter 5 that in this class we will use two outlines for most speeches—a preparation and
a speaking outline. The preparation outline contains your full speech, written in full
sentences, but in outline form, as well as an APA-style references page. The speaking
outline, however, contains only the key words and phrases you need to remember what
you intend to say during your speech, as well as the fully written-out quotes and oral
citations. You must turn in both outlines to Canvas. For more information, review
Chapter 5 (pp. 51-56).
2. References and Oral Citations: Because you will be doing research for this speech, you
must cite your sources on your outline and orally as you give your speech. Review Chapter
7 (pp. 131-138) for more about research. Pages 139-144 have guides for creating refences
pages and oral citations. Remember, if you got the information from a source other than
your common knowledge, you must cite it during your speech. You must use at least
three sources during your speech, but you may use more if you find it necessary.
3. Presentation Aids: Finally, you did not need presentations aids during your selfintroductory speech, but you do for your informative speech. You read about presentation
aids in Chapter 9 (pp. 153-159). Review this chapter to ensure you are successfully using
presentation aids during your speech. This can be difficult for online students. Most of
you are delivering your speeches in your own homes and do not have access to audiovisual technology. That’s fine. Do the best with what you have. Obviously the bigger the
better when it comes to slideshows. Many televisions will allow you to connect a laptop
or flash drive. If yours allows this, you may deliver a slideshow speech this way. If you
need to use a laptop or other small screen, consider printing the slides for your audience
so they can better see them. Do not feel obligated to use a slideshow, however. As
Chapter 9 in your textbook indicates, there are several other presentation aid options for
you, such as, models, objects, and photographs.
To recap:
Please pay careful attention to the Informative Speech instructions (p. 178), review your
rubric from the last speech, review the syllabus for the rules and requirements of speech
assignments in online classes, and make sure to email or call me with any questions you may
have
