1. What two major steps are discussed in Chapter 4 for developing your first speech (see page 62 in textbook)? Provide examples of how you will do this in your first presentation. 2. Explain how will gain attention in your first presentation (see page 67 in textbook). 3. View a TED Talk on www.TED.com. Select a speech on a topic that interests you (include the title and website address). As you watch the speech, answer the following questions: (a) How well does the speaker organize his or her talk for effective communication? (b) How does the speaker control the online environment? (c) How effective is the speaker’s delivery as it comes across on your computer screen? page 62 from the textbookFocusing Your Topic No matter what kind of introductory speech you are assigned, be sure to focus your presentation sharply so it conforms to the assigned time limit. One of the most com- mon mistakes students make on their first speech is trying to cover too much. It would be impossible, for example, to tell your audience everything about your life in a two- or three-minute speech. A better approach would be to focus on one or two events that have helped define who you arecompeting in the state track meet, tutoring disadvantaged children, getting your first job, and the like. This allows you to make a few well-developed points about a clearly defined subject. On the other hand, avoid the temptation to narrow the focus of your topic too much. Few listeners would be pleased to hear a two- or three-minute discussion of advanced trumpet-playing techniques. Such a speech would be too specialized for most classroom audiences. Developing Your Topic Once you have a topic for your speech, be creative in developing it. Think of ways to structure the speech so it will be interesting and meaningful to your audience. Look, for example, at the sample speeches with commentary at the end of this chapter. The first speaker explains aspects of her life by referring to her grandmother’s courtyard, which she used to visit as a child. The second speaker uses the notion of fearlessness when introducing one of her classmates. In both cases, the speakers found a creative way to frame their information. Another possibility is to think of ways you can make your presentation mysteri- ous or suspenseful. Suppose you are telling the audience about meeting a celebrity, visiting a famous place, or participating in a newsworthy event. Rather than identify- ing the celebrity at the outset, you might save his or her name for the end of your speech. As your story unfolds, tantalize your classmates with clues about your celeb- rity’s gender, physical characteristics, special talents, and the like, but keep the name secret until the last moment. Audiences are also interested in dangerous situations, adventure, and drama. If your task is to introduce a fellow student, find out if she or he has ever been in dan- ger. Suppose your classmate was caught in a flood or spent a year in Africa with the Peace Corps. The details would make excellent material for a speech. If you think about it, every person has faced risk, done the unusual, or triumphed over hardship. Try to find ways to include such fascinating experiences in your speech. You can also make your speech interesting by using colorful, descriptive lan- guage. One speaker used this technique when introducing a fellow student, named Alexa, to the class. The speaker began by saying: The spotlight shines. The music blares. The crowd cheers. The colors, bright and vibrant, bleed together as Alexa and her partner sail around the dance floor. Her partner touches her hand and her waist, but only briefly. He then spins her away, and she glides across the floor in what seems like a single motion. Alexa has worked many weeks for this moment. Alexa, you see, is a championship ballroom dancer. page 67 from the text bookof a great deal of practice. As your speech course progresses, you will gain more experience and will become more comfortable delivering your speeches extemporaneously. The first time you rehearse your introductory speech, however, you will probably struggle. Words may not come easily, and you may forget some things you planned to say. Don’t become discouraged. Keep going and complete the speech as well as you can. Concentrate on gaining control of the ideas rather than on trying to learn the speech word for word. You will improve every time you practice. For this approach to work, you must rehearse the speech aloud. Looking silently over your notes is not enough. Speaking the words aloud will help you master the content of your talk. Once you have a fairly good grasp of the speech, ask friends or family members to listen and to give constructive feedback. Don’t be shy about ask- ing. Most people love to give their opinion about something, and it’s crucial that you rehearse with a live audience before presenting the speech in class. As you practice, time your speech to make sure it is neither too long nor too short. Because of nerves, most people talk faster during their first speech than when they practice it. When you rehearse at home, make certain your speech runs slightly longer than the minimum time limit. That way, if your speaking rate increases when you get in front of your classmates, your speech won’t end up being too short. PRESENTING THE SPEECH Delivering your first speech can be a nerve-wracking experience. As your class pro- ceeds and you gain more experience, your confidence (and skill) will grow by leaps and bounds. We will take a detailed look at speech delivery in Chapter 13, but here are a few things to concentrate on in your first presentation. Starting Your Speech When it is your turn to speak, move to the front of the room and face the audience. Assume a relaxed but upright posture. Plant your feet a bit less than shoulder-width apart and allow your arms to hang loosely by your side. Arrange your notes before you start to speak. Then take a moment to look over your audience and to smile. This will help you establish rapport with your classmates from the start. Gestures Once you are into the speech, feel free to use your hands to gesture, but don’t try to plan all your gestures ahead of time. If you don’t normally use your hands expressively during informal conversation, you shouldn’t feel compelled to gesture a lot during your speech. Whatever gestures you do use should flow naturally from your feelings. Above all, don’t let your gestures or bodily actions distract listeners from your message. Do your best to avoid nervous mannerisms such as twisting your hair, wringing your hands, shifting your weight from one foot to the other, rocking back and forth, or tapping your fingers on the lectern. No matter how nervous you feel, try to appear calm and relaxed. Eye Contact During your talk, look at your classmates as often as you can. One of the major rea- sons for speaking extemporaneously is to maintain eye contact with your audience. In your own experience, you know how much more impressive a speaker is when she or he looks at the audience while speaking. Explanation & Answer: 370 Words Tags: communications ted talk Developing Speech Student has agreed that all tutoring, explanations, and answers provided by the tutor will be used to help in the learning process and in accordance with Studypool’s honor code & terms of service.
Reference List: Basic Rules
Note: This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7), which released in October 2019. The equivalent resource for the older APA 6 style can be found here.
This resource, revised according to the 7th edition APA Publication Manual, provides fundamental guidelines for constructing the reference pages of research papers. For more information, please consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, (7th ed.).
Note: Because the information on this page pertains to virtually all citations, we’ve highlighted one important difference between APA 6 and APA 7 with an underlined note written in red.
Formatting a Reference List
Your reference list should appear at the end of your paper. It provides the information necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any source you cite in the body of the paper. Each source you cite in the paper must appear in your reference list; likewise, each entry in the reference list must be cited in your text.
Your references should begin on a new page separate from the text of the essay; label this page “References” in bold, centered at the top of the page (do NOT underline or use quotation marks for the title). All text should be double-spaced just like the rest of your essay.
Basic Rules for Most Sources
- All lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented one-half inch from the left margin. This is called hanging indentation.
- All authors’ names should be inverted (i.e., last names should be provided first).
- Authors’ first and middle names should be written as initials.
- For example, the reference entry for a source written by Jane Marie Smith would begin with “Smith, J. M.”
- If a middle name isn’t available, just initialize the author’s first name: “Smith, J.”
- Give the last name and first/middle initials for all authors of a particular work up to and including 20 authors (this is a new rule, as APA 6 only required the first six authors). Separate each author’s initials from the next author in the list with a comma. Use an ampersand (&) before the last author’s name. If there are 21 or more authors, use an ellipsis (but no ampersand) after the 19th author, and then add the final author’s name.
- Reference list entries should be alphabetized by the last name of the first author of each work.
- For multiple articles by the same author, or authors listed in the same order, list the entries in chronological order, from earliest to most recent.
- When referring to the titles of books, chapters, articles, reports, webpages, or other sources, capitalize only the first letter of the first word of the title and subtitle, the first word after a colon or a dash in the title, and proper nouns.
- Note again that the titles of academic journals are subject to special rules. See section below.
- Italicize titles of longer works (e.g., books, edited collections, names of newspapers, and so on).
- Do not italicize, underline, or put quotes around the titles of shorter works such as chapters in books or essays in edited collections.
Basic Rules for Articles in Academic Journals
- Present journal titles in full.
- Italicize journal titles.
- Maintain any nonstandard punctuation and capitalization that is used by the journal in its title.
- For example, you should use PhiloSOPHIA instead of Philosophia, or Past & Present instead of Past and Present.
- Capitalize all major words in the titles of journals. Note that this differs from the rule for titling other common sources (like books, reports, webpages, and so on) described above.
- This distinction is based on the type of source being cited. Academic journal titles have all major words capitalized, while other sources’ titles do not.
- Capitalize the first word of the titles and subtitles of journal articles, as well as the first word after a colon or a dash in the title, and any proper nouns.
- Do not italicize or underline the article title.
- Do not enclose the article title in quotes.
- So, for example, if you need to cite an article titled “Deep Blue: The Mysteries of the Marianas Trench” that was published in the journal Oceanographic Study: A Peer-Reviewed Publication, you would write the article title as follows:
- Deep blue: The mysteries of the Marianas Trench.
- …but you would write the journal title as follows:
- Oceanographic Study: A Peer-Reviewed Publication
- So, for example, if you need to cite an article titled “Deep Blue: The Mysteries of the Marianas Trench” that was published in the journal Oceanographic Study: A Peer-Reviewed Publication, you would write the article title as follows:
Please note: While the APA manual provides examples of how to cite common types of sources, it does not cover all conceivable sources. If you must cite a source that APA does not address, the APA suggests finding an example that is similar to your source and using that format. For more information, see page 282 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th ed.
