ENG 104B: Informative Speech Topic Assignment

Description

Submit your Informative Speech Topic with three main points and 2 sources from the Virtual Library that you are looking to cite in your speech.

TOPIC: How to survive a plane crash in the wilderness.

Questions to Answer
After you have selected your topic, please answer the following questions:

1. Why did you choose this topic? I enjoy watching survival shows/movies. Favorite survival movie (Cast Away) and show (Lost).

2. What are your three main points that you will cover in your speech?
For 3rd main point: Staying alive with the human spirit to never give up

3. What is one source that you will use in your speech. You are required to have 2 sources! Show us exactly how you'll verbally cite this source in your speech. See my example below, if you're confused.

4. List one way that you can begin your speech other than with your name or stating your topic. Give a specific example. (Hook: “If you were stranded in the wilderness after a plane crash, will you know how to survive?”)

5. List one way you can end your speech without saying, "That's it". Give a specific example.

Pick a topic you are passionate about or are really interested in. Stay away from topics that deal with death and disease, as they depress the audience. Think outside the box and be creative!

Examples of a Good Assignment

Here's an example of how a good assignment should look:

For my Informative speech, I will be discussing tornadoes. I chose this topic because I was in Joplin, Missouri shortly before the tornado destroyed the city. I would like to inform the audience of three things in my speech:

1) Conditions that create tornadoes and when they are predominant in Texas (I chose Texas because this is where I live).

2) Difference between tornado watch and tornado warning

3) Firsthand account of aftermath of 2011 Joplin, Missouri tornado

Here is how I would verbally cite my two sources:

"A book written in 2016 by Marlene Bradford, tells us that March-May are the months when tornadoes are most likely to strike in Texas."

"An article in the Springfield News-Leader, by Thomas Gounley, in 2017, tells us the Joplin, Mo. tornado took a path that was 13 miles long and 3/4 of a mile wide"

I would start my speech with an attention getter and say, " What would you do if you looked out the window and saw this..." (I would then show a picture of a tornado)

I would end my speech with a strong final thought by saying, " The wind is scary.. during a tornado or in life in general.. never know when a gust is going to come in your direction and change everything" by David Walsh.