Progym 4: Preview of Formal Speech

As Dr. Linus Pauling, a Nobel Prize winning scientist, has said, “the best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas” (and I think Thomas Edison must have said it before him). Often, we are tempted to cut the creative process short just to get work done, and by doing so we often have weaker ideas than we should. One of the main goals of this progym is to develop copia, “copiousness,” for your formal speech, and you should have a fair amount of copia already for the preview. If you come prepared only to speak for 2-4 minutes it’s not going to go well.

Assignment

Provide an objective summary to the issue your will be persuading on in the formal speech. Think of it as a “teaser” to get people interested in your topic and to give them enough information that they can ask questions. Your progym should be the usual 2-4 minutes, and it will be followed by a Q and A session of 2 or more minutes (depending on the discussion).

Choosing a Topic

The topic you choose for the progym and for the formal speech that follows is essentially up to you. Try going back to the Stump or CQ Researcher for ideas. Following the links that interest you on Wikipedia can also be a good way to come up with ideas. The only thing that I ask is that you avoid topics that people might not disagree about in a reasonable way. Avoid religion, extremist politics, and brand loyalties (PC versus Mac, Coke versus Pepsi). At the same time, you can argue quite everyday issues, like that people need to hug more or that Bladerunner is the best science fiction movie (as long as you provide useful criteria, so it isn’t just about personal taste).

Challenge 1: Objective Presentation

Though you will argue your issue in the formal speech, think of the progym as the informative version. The challenge will be evaluated on the degree to which you retain your objectivity while still conveying the importance of your issue. Make it objective, but don’t make it boring. It’s okay if your personal opinion comes out in the Q and A, but it doesn’t have to.

Challenge 2: Answering Questions, Including a Really Tough One

If you don’t know the answer to a question, admit it, but do so gracefully. Don’t get embarrassed, don’t fake an answer—say it’s an interesting question, say you’ll get back to them on it. And if you really want to be good, refer to the question and the person who asked it when you give the answer in your formal speech.

Additionally, to give you extra practice responding to at least one really tough question in a safe environment, I will intentionally ask each speaker a stupid, tangential, openly hostile, or conceptually difficult question. Appendix B (282-3) gives good advice on how to respond to questions. The challenge will be evaluated on responding the right way to the right questions, using eye contact inclusively, and preparing the ending.

Make Sure to Attribute

Research at least one source, attributing it in your speech. Example: “As Mike Hutcheson observes in his article for the business e-journal Unlimited, entitled ‘Good Ideas, Lots of Ideas,’ wait to judge ideas until after the brainstorming is completed.”

Due: Monday 20 and Wednesday 22 February.

The image is of Plato and Aristotle from “The School of Athens,” by Raphael. They liked to talk a lot about ideas, too.

Progym 3: Fight the Fallacy

Summarize and respond to an opinion piece, whether editorial, syndicated, or letter to the editor. Take your opinion piece from The Stump, which is the Oregonian opinion website. The piece doesn't have to be on the first page.

Of course, your response needs to be persuasive, but remember that summaries need to objectively represent the source's ideas. Make sure to frame the issue, too—provide a complete speech with full intro and conclusion, not just summary and response. Finally, make sure to introduce and to attribute your source in your speech.

Challenge 1

Each speech must have an objective summary and an argumentative response, and there should be a clear distinction between them. The idea is to first give your audience a clear idea of what the source is saying and to then allow in your own opinion of the sources ideas, good or bad.

Challenge 2

I will challenge each speaker's argument with a fallacy (on pages 197-9). To counter the fallacy you can't just say that I am using a fallacy, because I already told you that. You must name the type of fallacy and explain why precisely the fallacy is faulty thinking.

Hard Copy of Your Source

As always, you will be required to provide a speaking outline for your progym, but for your outline to be accepted you must also provide a hard copy of the piece from The Stump you responded to.

Length: 2-4 minutes.

Due: Wednesday 08 February.

The above image is, of course, Darth Vader. Fallacies are powerful, but they are the dark side. Resist the dark side. As Yoda says, the dark side is “easier, more seductive, but not more powerful.”

Short Statement 2: Response to Speech

Each of you will be selected randomly to respond to a speech orally. You say the kind of response you are doing and then explain why you respond in that way. Choose from the following responses:

• Revise: change one of your beliefs. What do you now see differently?
• Endorse: already agreed, but now feel it much more, inspired. What makes you feel more strongly?
• Learn: don’t change beliefs but substantially increased your knowledge. What did you learn?
• Accept: already agreed and/or knew, and haven’t changed. What did you already believe and/or know?
• Consider: withhold judgment; need more processing time. Why do you need more time to think it through?
• Concede: still disagree, but have to allow a substantial point. Why do you disagree, and what do you concede?
• Refute: still disagree, and can point out at least one substantial hole. Why do you disagree, and what do you refute (in a friendly way)?

Your feedback will be evaluated on focus and support. Essentially, answer the appropriate question and support your answer well, with both examples from the speech and your own reasoning.

Progym 2: Demonstrate

Explain how to do something. There are a variety of things you may choose from to explain. You could explain how to make something, how to use a tool, how to follow a procedure, etc. However, I do ask you try to make it something interesting—please, no peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Of course, use your common sense, too—no firearms, blood drawing, or training attack dogs.

As usual, your speech must be at least two minutes long but can be up to five minutes to allow for some relatively more complex demonstrations. Don’t forget two copies of the speaking outline.

Challenge: WIIFM

For your challenge, answer the “What’s In It For Me” question for the class. What makes your topic on interest for the other students? Remember, 2-4 main points will now be part of your “basics.”

Due: Mon 30 Jan and Wed 01 Feb.

The above image is from the World Health Organization.

Progym 1: Explain Interest

Welcome to the SPE 111 blog. Your first progym will require you share something you are interested in. The goal is to enable the rest of the class to get to know you better without simply saying the usual laundry list of name, major, hometown, etc.

As with all speeches (except for the formal where it is required) you may provide a visual if you wish. Also, you must include some sort of attribution, where did you get the ideas you are talking about?

Looking for something to say? Consider some of the following directions to take:

• Tell a story you like to tell and explain what it says about you.
• Explain what you like about your favorite hobby.
• What is something you know a lot about that isn’t your major?
• What books, movies, or music do you love? What do you love about them?
• What is something about you people may not expect when they first meet you?
• What career do you intend to go into? What do you like about that career?
• What interesting places have you traveled or lived? What did you like about those places?

Whatever direction you take you will need 2-4 main points, and you will need to fill 2-4 minutes. Again, don’t just laundry list. Focus—provide a theme to hold it all together.

Challenge: 2-4 Main Points

Because it is the first speech, your 2-4 main points, transitions, and speaking outline will all be evaluated as part of the challenge. In the future they be part of the “basics.”

Short Statement 1: Introduction

Along with your progym you will introduce another student. Your goal is to “warm up” the audience. You will note on 204-5 that one of the things you must do is preview the speaker’s topic. Since the other student may not be decided on their topic, yet, I will give you about ten minutes at the start of next class to incorporate what they decided upon. Still, you might want to exchange emails or phone numbers if you want more time.

There is no time requirement for the introduction. Be brief but cover enough. Beyond the usual requirements of a short statement (thesis, main points, and because-clauses), I will be evaluating your introduction on how well you touched on the different parts (background/qualifications, preview, and welcome) to get the audience interested while still not overshadowing the student presenting.

Due: Wed 18 Jan

The image above is of Ali, from my lecture on introductions. The image is taken from a biography on Full Issue, http://www.fullissue.com.