Part One-Overview–This part just lists notes and background for the assignment. Your task/assignment is part two.
Chapter 10 and Chapter 11 Overview/Lecture Notes for Speech Analysis Assignment
The Speechmaking Process
Throughout your educational, professional, and social life, you have been called upon to speak to various audiences. If you have not, you will likely will be called to speak one day. A review of the chapters covered this semester highlights the intricacies involved in effective communication, and can also help us understand why public speaking/public communication is considered one of the most challenging of the eight broad areas of human communication (see Chapter 1 Overview/Lecture Notes for eight broad areas of Human Communication).
Whether we are preparing, presenting, or even listening effectively to a speech, three major areas are critical:
Content (what is said in a speech)
Structure (how a speech is organized)
Delivery (how speakers use vocal and physical elements to present a message)
Additionally, effective public speaking involves a systematic process that includes several time-tested steps to improve the likelihood of success. In general, these steps are
Select a topic.
Select a general purpose (either to inform, to persuade, or to entertain; speaking to entertain includes speeches of acceptance, speeches of introduction, keynote speeches, welcome speeches, after-dinner speeches, eulogies, toasts, and commemorative speeches such as graduation speeches and speeches commemorating or celebrating the anniversaries for historic events, etc.).
Develop a specific purpose (one audience-centered statement that identifies the goal for a speech). For example,
To inform my audience of three major developments in the history of the iPhone.
To persuade my audience to vote in the upcoming mayoral election in our city.
Develop a thesis statement (one sentence that summarizes the major ideas of a speech).
Research and support speech (use credible, scholarly resources to identify facts, examples, statistics, testimonies, etc., to support your main ideas; identify presentation/visual aids, if appropriate for the speech type).
Prepare outline/speaking notes (select best organizational pattern; develop introduction, body, and conclusion; develop transitions/signposts; prepare formal outline, speaking outline, or informal notes).
Practice delivery (use memorized, manuscript, impromptu, or extemporaneous delivery method; practice to make corrections, minimize/manage public speaking anxiety, and become comfortable with ideas being presented).
Present speech (use appropriate non-verbal communication, which includes vocal delivery, or how you use your voice to deliver a speech – rate, pitch, volume, variety, articulation, pronunciation, avoiding fillers, etc., and physical delivery, or how you use your body language to deliver a speech – facial expressions, eye contact, posture, hand gestures, body movement, etc.).
Ultimately, these steps are all for naught unless the most important part of the speechmaking process is considered: The audience. At each step in the process, speakers must be audience-centered, beginning with a formal audience analysis or with one simple question: “Who is my audience?”
Part Two-Speech Analysis–This part is your assignment.
GUIDELINES:
The format for your analysis is a brief, typed essay. Please use general MLA format. If you are not familiar with this format, please see the guidelines and sample in the following link. Specifically, your paper should include a four-part heading, a title for your paper, double-spaced format, 12-pt font size, standard 1-inch margins, etc.
OWL Purdue/MLA General Paper Format – https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_general_format.html
For this paper, please note the following –
Your paper should be 1 1/2 – 2 pages. Please do not exceed two pages.
Your paper should include at least five brief paragraphs
Introduction
A paragraph for Question 1
A paragraph for Question 2
A paragraph for Question 3
Conclusion
Check your paper for correct grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, word usage/spelling, etc., before submission. Submit your paper as an attachment to in the assignment folder. Be sure to submit paper in .doc, .docx, or .pdf format (I am usually unable to read other formats). Your analysis should clearly and directly answer the three questions shown below.
Turnitin.com (plagiarism checker) will automatically check your paper for originality.
SPEECH ANALYSIS INSTRUCTIONS:
Dr. King’s remarks about his speech: “I started out reading the speech and I read it down to a point, and just all of a sudden I decided – the audience response was wonderful that day, you know – and all of a sudden this thing came to me that I have used. I’d used it many times before – that thing about ‘I have a dream’ – and I just felt that I wanted to use it here. I don’t know why. I hadn’t thought about it before the speech.”
Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech is a wonderful case for the importance of an extemporaneous speaking in public speaking, which is the preferred method of delivery for modern public speakers. To analyze this speech,
Go to americanrhetoric.com and listen to OR watch Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech (https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm, includes transcript). NOTE: You may listen to the mp3 audio of this speech at no charge, OR you may pay a small fee to watch this video (fee required due to copyright). Again, you may choose to listen to or watch this speech to complete this assignment.
To analyze this speech, pay close attention to its content, structure, and delivery. If you choose to watch the video version of the speech, pay close attention to Dr. King’s vocal delivery and physical delivery. If you choose to listen to the audio version of the speech, pay close attention to Dr. King’s vocal delivery.
After the speech, please answer the following three questions in your analysis:
Can you identify the moment Dr. King moves from a manuscript delivery to an extemporaneous delivery? Please explain.
Are you surprised to know that he did not plan to use the now famous “I Have a Dream” theme for this speech? Please explain.
Had Dr. King kept to his planned manuscript, as he did at the beginning of his speech, do you think it would have had the impact it has had in the U.S. and globally. Please explain.
Following is a helpful supplementary video on analysis of this speech for ideas.
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