Introduction Speech – Introducing a Classmate

QUESTION

SPK 201
Introduction
Speech – Introducing a Classmate

Your first planned speech this quarter is an
Introductory Speech, but instead of introducing yourself, you will be
introducing a classmate. The goal is to
tell us a little more about one of our classmates than just their name, which
is all we get to learn in the Name Game.
The length requirement for this speech is 2-4 minutes, and it should be
delivered extemporaneously, which means from brief note cards. You are not to simply read the speech – you
are to deliverit.

In order to learn more about the classmate
that you partner up with for this speech, you will need to interview
him/her. There are some sample interview
questions attached to this assignment sheet, but you can feel free to ask your
own questions as well. While you can
certainly tell us some basic information about your partner, such as his/her
hometown, academic major, hobbies/interests, etc., these kinds of speeches
become much more interesting when you ask other questions or teach us something
about that person that we would not normally expect. I am sure that you can come up with some more
creative questions beyond the ones I’ve provided for you, and that will be
important because creativity WILL account for some of your grade.

As you ask questions and start to learn more
about your partner, you will then need to decide what information you actually
want to include, put that information into main points, and then add an
introduction and conclusion to round out the speech. As you learned in Chapter 4, there are some
important steps to take in preparing your speech.

First, focus your topic. Remember that as the book explains, for a
speech of this length, 2-3 main points should suffice. While you might learn a lot about your
partner through the interview process, you need to create a focus for your
speech, and a rambling of scattered facts will not create that focus. It is often helpful to find some kind of
theme to tie your main points together as you organize the information you
receive into main points. This is where
you get the chance to be creative. You
will watch a couple of sample speeches in class, and as you’ll see, a theme can
really add some creativity to the content of a speech. Also, don’t forget to try to make your main
points stand out by using transitions.

Once you have the body of the speech
organized and planned, you must also add your introduction and conclusion. With your introduction, you must first gain
the attention of your audience, then transition into announcing the topic,
which of course will be your partner’s name.
Providing a brief preview statement of the main points you will cover is
also a good idea, especially because it acts as a transition statement into the
body of the speech. For the conclusion,
you first need to signal the end with phrases like “In conclusion,” “To end,”
“Now that you know,” etc. You also need
to reinforce the central idea. In
addition, your book recommends trying to end on a dramatic, clever, or
thought-provoking note.

Beyond the content of the speech, delivery
will also be assessed. As previously
mentioned, you are to deliver the speech, not read it, which means that you
must have good eye contact and a conversational tone as you speak. You can use brief note cards or a brief
outline, but do not put every word of your speech on your notes or you will end
up losing eye contact. To become
comfortable with the information so that you can deliver it without having word
for word notes, you must practice, practice, practice! As you practice, also work on using your
voice as expressively as you would in normal conversation.

SPK 201 Name
________________________________________
Introductory Speech
50 points possible

Introduction:

Gained audience
attention and interest 0 1 2 3 4 5

Introduced topic clearly 0 1 2 3

Previewed the body of the speech 0 1 2

Body:

Organized the speech
into 2-3 clear main points 0 1 2 3 4 5

Utilized transition statements between
main points 0 1 2 3 4 5

Made the speech interesting and unique 0 1 2 3 4 5

Conclusion:

Prepared audience for ending 0 1 2 3

Reinforced central idea 0 1 2 3 4

Ended on a dramatic, clever, or
thought-provoking note 0 1 2 3

Delivery:

Maintained strong eye contact 0 1 2 3 4 5

Spoke loud and clear 0 1 2 3 4 5

Time Requirement:

Completed the speech within time limit 0 1 2 3 4 5

TOTAL = _____________/ 50

Introductory
Speech Sample Interview Questions

Basic information:
Name, Family, Academic major, Work/Career,
Interests

Additional questions you may want to ask:

What was the last
good movie you saw? Why was it good?

What was the last
good book you read? Why was it good?

What is your
favorite type of music? Why?

What made you
decide to go to college?

Why did you choose
Baker?

What inspired you
to choose the program you’re studying at Baker?

What is your
most/least enjoyable part of going to college?

What would you like
to be doing five years from now? 10 years?

If you could go
back in time, where and when would you live? Why?

If you could
produce your own television talk show, what would be the subject of the
discussion? Why?

If you could talk
to any person (alive or dead), to whom would you speak? What would you talk
about? Why did you choose this person?

If you were granted
3 wishes, what would they be? Why?

ANSWER:

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