What is a commemorative speech

Speech 4

Commemorative Speech

Time limit 2-3 minutes As you prepare your speech, you need to consider several questions:

Please email me the type of commemorative speech you will do by tomorrow at 11:59 pm. Students who deliver Speech 4 next week will receive 5 points extra credit.

You will type the answers to the questions on the top of your outline.

General Purpose: To Inform

Specific Purpose:

1. What type of commemorative speech do you plan to give? You may choose to give a eulogy, a

toast, a birthday speech, an anniversary speech, present an award, receive an award, or give a graduation address etc.

2.What or who is being celebrated in your speech? As a speaker you need to know about the person or

situation?

3. What is the situation or context in which this speech is being given? As a speaker you need to ask how can you adapt your speech to fit the expectations of the context? What are the emotions that are expected in this

situation?

4.Who is in your audience? As a speaker how can you adapt your speech to fit your audience’s expectations?

Manuscript (Complete Sentence Outline)

Example of Speech Outline you will type for Speech 4. Below is the actual speech delivered by Oprah Winfry. See in example below how the use of language devices can be used. While planning your speech, you will develop a full complete sentence preparation outline with labeled Introduction, Body and Conclusion. When you give your speech in class, you should use no more than 5 note cards preferably less with keywords outlined with only quotes word for word in sentences. Or you can type your manuscript triple spaced and mark it for emphasis no more than 3 pages and keep on podium.

Oprah Winfry

Specific Purpose: Eulogy Speech she delivered in honor of Rosa Parks.

Introduction

Attention Getter: /Reverend Braxton, family, friends, admirers, and this

amazing choir:/

Thesis: /I -- I feel it an honor to be here to come and say a final goodbye.//

/I grew up in the South, and Rosa Parks was a hero to me long before I

recognized and understood the power and impact that her life embodied./ I

remember my father telling me about this colored woman who had refused

to give up her seat.// And in my child's mind, I thought, "She must be really

big." //

/I thought she must be at least a hundred feet tall. I imagined her being stalwart and strong and carrying a shield to hold back the white folks.//

/And then I grew up and had the esteemed honor of meeting her. And wasn't that a surprise. Here was this petite, almost delicate lady who was the personification of grace and goodness. And I thanked her then. I said, "Thank you," for myself and for every colored girl, every colored boy, who didn't have heroes who were celebrated.//

/I thanked her then.//

Body

/And after our first meeting I realized that God uses good people to do great things. And I'm here today to say a final thank you, Sister Rosa, for being a great woman who used your life to serve, to serve us all. That day that you refused to give up your seat on the bus, you, Sister Rosa, changed the trajectory of my life and the lives of so many other people in the world. I would not be standing here today nor standing where I stand every day had she not chosen to sit down. I know that. I know that. I know that. I know that, and I honor that. Had she not chosen to say we shall not -- we shall not be moved./

/So I thank you again, Sister Rosa, for not only confronting the one white man who[se] seat you took, not only confronting the bus driver, not only for confronting the law, but for confronting history, a history that for 400 years said that you were not even worthy of a glance, certainly no consideration. I thank you for not moving.//

/And in that moment when you resolved to stay in that seat, you reclaimed your humanity and you gave us all back a piece of our own. I thank you for that. I thank you for acting without concern. I often thought about what that took, knowing the climate of the times and what could have happened to you, what it took to stay seated. You acted without concern for yourself and made life better for us all. We shall not be moved.//

Conclusion

/I marvel at your will./

/I celebrate your strength to this day./

/And I am forever grateful, Sister Rosa, for your courage, your conviction .//

/I owe you -- to succeed.//

/I will not be moved.//

Create a ceremonial speech that is short and eloquent and commemoratively inspiring to all. Adapt your speech to the occasion and the person, place, or event you are celebrating. Consider the emotional needs of your audience and attempt to fulfill these needs with your speech. Focus more on conveying your emotions, respect, and sincerity than providing a great deal of information about the honoree. Unify your audience around emotions and sentiments you commonly share for the commemorated. Make specific references to the particular characteristics and contributions of the honoree. Balance your praise of the honoree's professional accomplishments with praise for her/his personal achievements. Do not understate or exaggerate your emotions or praise for the honoree–BE SINCERE.

The Ceremonial Speech: Although it usually presents information about its subject, a commemorative speech is different from an informative speech. The aim of an informative speech is to communicate information clearly and accurately. The aim of a commemorative speech is to express feelings, arouse sentiments, and inspire. It is NOT just a list of a person's achievements, accomplishments and/or background; it is much more. Commemorative speeches depend, above all, on the creative and subtle use of language.

Organizing your speech: Since commemorative speeches have a much more fluid structure and organization than informative or persuasive speeches, your speech does not need to have obvious transitions and main points. However, each type of commemorative speech has a set of expectations for how the speech will be structured and what will happen in the speech. Your speech should meet the expectations for the particular type of commemorative speech that you have selected. All speeches are like a sandwich. The Introduction, Body and Conclusion.

For example, if you are giving a wedding toast, you need to remember to ask everyone to raise their glasses and toast the couple at the end of your speech. If you are receiving an award, you should begin by thanking the person or organization that gave you the award.

Language: Commemorative speeches rely heavily on the use of language structures and devices to help heighten the importance and emotion of the situation. You could include a line from their favorite poem, or use quotes appropriate for the speech or words the honoree has stated. One speaker taped their mother's laughter since it was something they appreciated about their mother. Two aspects of language use are especially important for commemorative speeches. The first is avoiding clichés and trite sentiments. The second is utilizing stylistic devices to enhance the imagery, rhythm, and creativity of the speech. (eg., Antithesis: "young and old" "If you fail to prepare–You prepare to fail." or "Let us never negotiate out of fear. But never let us fear to negotiate") (Alliteration:"You want your speech to be a clear, concise, creative, commemoration."Parallelism: "Our mission is to right wrong, to do justice, and to serve humanity"-- the use of parallel ideas in succession. Alliteration and Parallelism:"The task is heavy, the toil is long, and the trials will be severe"). (Simile: "You are as sharp as a tack" or "The Red Man has ever fled the White Man, as the morning mist flees before the morning sun") Metaphore: "Your eyes are the windows to your soul." or "My Mother was the spoonful of sugar that sweetened life's bitter medicine" Repetition: using the same phrase over throughout your speech or in succession as in Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech and the "I have a dream" phrase.

If you use a Manuscript: The Manuscript is to be Typed, Large Font (20pt.+), double and triple spaced; no orphans on the page. You could Bold or highlight the first word in each sentence to make it easy to pick up the start of each sentence. You could start all sentences on the left margin so you don't have to fish around in the interior of the page to find the start of the next sentence. Your goal is to develop a manuscript that is easy for you to use when delivering the speech.

As we discussed in class, you look down one time and get the marked section of the material in your mind's eye and say it with 100 percent eye contact.

/You can mark your script with one line for a comma,/ and two lines for a period.// You can also underline one word in the sentence that you want to emphasize.//

/Here are some examples of Manuscript techniques you can use for your manuscript.//

/You can start each sentence with the first word bolded and on the left margin.//

/You can use a larger first letter for each sentence so that you can quickly pick out the beginning of each sentence.//

/You can also bold and/or italicize words that you want to emphasize or just underline word.

You want to develop a manuscript that is easy for you to use. You can use the top two thirds of an 8.5 x 11inch sheet of paper so as to keep your eyes from having to look down to the bottom of the page.

Make sure you have no orphans on your pages. Use smaller margins (longer lines for each sentence-one sentence per line would be ideal, but hard to do with larger font). Do NOT use UPPER CASE LETTERS ONLY! UPPER CASE ONLY IS HARDER TO READ THAN a mixture lower case and a Upper Case letters. Use a manuscript on full sheets of paper or you may use note cards if prefer. Using note cards or manuscript typically this is decided by the type of ceremonial speech.