There are lots of speeches on the internet -- some follow our format, and some don't. Find a speech online that includes an introduction with at least 2 of the 3 elements covered in class. Then:
1. Paste the URL address into a blog comment
2. Tell us what you think of the introduction -- is it good or bad? Why? How could it be better?
This is due by next Thursday and worth up to 15 points.
1. Paste the URL address into a blog comment
2. Tell us what you think of the introduction -- is it good or bad? Why? How could it be better?
This is due by next Thursday and worth up to 15 points.
18 comments:
Laura Lake
1.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA&playnext=1&list=PL315E816B11C94DDF
2. I think the introduction is great. He starts off with encouraging words and a little bit of his own background and then goes right into what he wants to talk about. He tells the audience that he wants to talk about three stories. He pauses and leaves the audience with a hint of curiosity and then starts with his first story. All of his points flow well together and this speech as a whole is very inspirational and is well put together. He related the speech to the audience in many ways. He makes people think and connects well with the audience. I think he could have made the introduction a little longer and a little more in depth, but he makes up for it with the three stories. He mentions in the introduction that is all he wants to talk about. This is a great example of an introduction to a speech.
Cody A. Medeiros
1)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpd3raj8xww
2) I think Oprah's introduction is kind of long and kind of dragged out, but it is very affective. Oprah starts out slow in her speech and gains momentum. She says to begin with that she has family in the graduating class and soon starts telling her personal college past time. Then she tells a quote and directly following the quote Oprah specifically states what she wants to talk to the graduating class about. Before her quote is her attention getter, after is her connection step and she is very direct with it. I think the speech overall isn't very well put together or is disorganized and Oprah is trying to be funny in times she shouldn't be. Although this isn't my favorite speech I have had the pleasure to watch, I think it is still an effective way of communication and is a well delivered speech.
1)http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barackobama/barackobama911pentagonmemorialspeech.htm
2)I think Obama’s introduction and conclusion to this speech were very effective. He starts out with a fact/story that draws the audience in. The detrimental truth that his opening statement holds grabs the audience’s attention. If his attention getter hasn’t captivated the audience, his connection that he makes to us as Americans definitely should. He uses phrases such as “we as a nation” and talks about joining in prayer in the second paragraph. This causes the audience to feel strong emotions and feel that they are a part of what he’s saying. Similar to the introduction, the conclusion was very rich in religious and patriotic rhetoric that draws the audience in. He uses the wrap-around technique by coming back to his initial point of the lives lost on September 11th and how we must stand together as a nation.
-Hannah Baroni
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMiqEUBux3o
I think this introduction was good. Even though he already had the attention of the nation due to the tragedy that had happened, he quickly started speaking about what his speech would be over. His introductions wouldve been better if he wouldve pointed out the main things that America would be doing in the future,instead of talking about them later on in the speech.
Seth Edwards
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZZ6GrzWkw0
the actual speech starts at 3:23
Obama started with connecting his speech to his audience. I thought he did a good job at this by including those who are nervous on their first day of school, and those seniors who are excited to begin their last year. He then mentioned that everyone probably wishes it was still summer so they could stay in bed. After that, he drew them in with a personal story--his attention getter. Obama followed this with his thesis: to discuss their education and what is expected of them as students.
I liked the introduction because it felt personal, even though he was speaking to millions, and it was humorous.
Before his speech began, there was a boring intro. The speech would have been better without this, but it was probably neccessary.
Courtnie Adams
1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztbJmXQDIGA
2) Obama is a very persuasive speaker. In his introduction he reaches out to the people to sympathize with them. He gets them to be on his side of the argument, which is a huge plus for him. His introduction is very good in my opinion because he sets up what he is going to speak about so everyone knows what is about to come. Also, he says “there is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your hearts” as to let the people understand he cares about what he is going to talk about. To be honest I feel he did a good introduction to the speech he gave and there are no improvements I can think of for this speech.
~Alyssa Elkhay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkREt4ZB-ck
J.K. Rowling Harvard Commencement Speech
I think J.D. Rowling did a great job giving her speech. Her attention getter was the joke about having aspirations of being a gay wizard. This was funny and it definitely grabbed the attention of the audience. It was harder for me to find her connection step but I think it was when she was talking about how when she was thinking back to who gave her commencement speech she couldn't remember a word she said. So I guess the connection step is that they wont remember what she is going to say. Then she has a very clear thesis. "what important lessons i have learned from that time to this. I have come up with two things. the benefits of failure and the crucial importance of imagination."
I think she did a very good job with her speech, it was inspirational and well thought out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuOm2lLIOoU
Dolly Partons commencement speech at the University of Tennessee is a great example as to what an introduction sould be like. She begings by congratulating the graduates for their hard work, but connects with them by explaning how she is suppose to say something meaningful to the students. She then continues on to explain how somethings "have worked for her" and how somethings may work differently for graduates. This speech as far as the introduction goes is very good. She states why she is there, connects with the students, and contiunes on with discribing how they can achieve great things in their lives.
-Sara Cathey
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=VB6hLg3PRbY
J.F.K. did an excellent job in this speech. He had a great introduction. He started off with good attention getter with a strong statistic/fact, then moved into a connecting statement that included everyone listening making them feel apart of the speech. Then proceeded with his thesis and then continued with a great over all speech.
-Matt Lipscomb
http://politicalhumor.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=politicalhumor&cdn=entertainment&tm=5&f=00&tt=9&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http://video.google.com/videoplay%3Fdocid%3D-869183917758574879
This was a special occasion speech given by talk show personality Stephen Colbert at the 2006 White House Correspondent's Association dinner. The dinner included President Bush & The speech was directed towards the President.
The opening of the speech began with an attention getter in the form of a joke talking about government vehicles that immediately got the audience laughing and therefore paying attention.
The connection step itself was a joke as well and did specifically include the audience, but if you were not listening closely you would easily have missed it. The connection step was when Colbert told the audience that if they needed anything to just speak into their napkins and the NSA would be right out to help.
The thesis statement then followed the connection step with Colbert specifically saying that he was giving his speech about President Bush.
The introduction of the speech was very funny, but had no true organization. The speech could have been better if Colbert had fewer jokes was more direct so that the audience could easily understand the main point of the speech right out of the gate. It makes sense that Colbert being a comedian started out with a lot of humor, but he was still giving a public speech & if he would have had a more clear connection step in his speech I believe that it would have been better. None the less the entire speech was very funny and worth watching.
Erica Taft
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkREt4ZB-ck&playnext=1&list=PLD94522A858C4D29D
This was a very good speech because of her use of well-placed jokes and her personal stories. She has a very strong attention getter about her fear on giving this commencement speech. She also describes her experience in college and graduation. This is her main point and gives the graduating class something to relate too. Over all it was a very well presented inspirational speech.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3n0CHHLDVg&feature=pyv&ad=5876759197&kw=speech&gclid=CIrArafNj6cCFUVqKgodeh9RcQ
This is a very good graduation speech because the introducee introduces the speaker with a quote, like we were taught to do in our informative speeches. Also, Mitch Thrower starts off his speech with many attention getters, like "If only you could see how funny you look from up here," to get the audience interested in his speech. He also uses a rhetorical question at the beginning of his speech. He also keeps the audience going using many attention getters that make them laugh. His introduction shows us how attention getters and rhetorical question help, in a positive way, to get your speech going in the right direction. Overall, his speech was very good and very well delivered.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA
Steve Jobs delivers a speech to Stanford University and keeps his introduction short and sweet. He starts off with a small joke to get the audience’s attention. He then goes straight into what he is going to inform the graduating class about. He said he will inform the class about three stories that happened in his life. I think his introduction could have been a lot better. I feel like he didn’t connect with the audience enough before he talked about the three stories.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev05yGcN6I4&feature=related
I like that he begins his introduction listing words and artist that most people are familiar with. This got my attention. He says everyone knows what rock is, but asks the question " do you know where it comes from?" I think this a good way to get the audience interested in whatever else he has to say. Just like we discussed in class he then proceeds to tell us what he will be informing us on for the next five minutes. It's clear and direct and let's us know exactly what to be listening for.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEMXaTktUfA
He begins his speech by telling everyone they are about to witness the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of America. He then drops a fact about Abraham Lincoln signing the emancipation proclamation. His attention getter at the beginning got the audiences attention so he could start with his fact and continue to talk about inequality and civil rights. I think this is one of the greatest speeches.
-Chris Hussein
Taylor Smith
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVu8jfhcO9k
2. In 2003, Will Ferrell gives an excellent graduation speech for Harvard School of Law. He starts out his speech by pretending that he is speaking to the audience of a boat show, but then recognizes that he is no where near the boat show. His attention getter is a story of how he applied to Harvard and never got a call back from admissions. I think this a good and funny way to get the audience interested and to break the ice. Just as we discussed in class, he then proceeds to inform us what his speech is going to be about. It is a clear, direct and interesting introduction to pull the audience in.
I think Obama's introduction to his speech given at The University of Michigan, is a very good and effective introduction. He starts with a story about certain letters he got from a kindergarten class and trying to figure out what the kids were trying to ask. He used it as his attention getter, and used one letter in particular, which was "Are people nice?" He then relates it back to the audience, using his connection step. I think this was an effective way to relate back to the audience because he used a personal story, which immediately grabs most peoples attention.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_Egv-0mF4g&playnext=1&list=PL779F0FC00DAE8471
-Alyssa Hamilton
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qub9lTYZJx0
I chose this speech because I thought it was relevant as the speaker was a high school junior and probably had little experience in introducing a former President of the US. He could not be heard at first, but he made adjustments until he could be heard. His speech was not long but he did cover the basics.
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