TRANSCRIPT of “Speech Activity Demo” video (recorded 5/24/12)

This is an overview of the speech activity that I discussed in class. It is a three part assignment.  The first part is to do a brainstorm.  You can see my sample on the screen.  I have a few that I have already started.  You should continue writing down as many things you could until 15 minutes is up.  Remember to write anything that comes to mind and do not self-censor your words during the brainstorm.  The goal is to get at least 30 topics ( though you should be able to get many more in 15 minutes) to choose from for the next step in the assignment.  This part may be typed or handwritten.
The second thing you do is call it expanded personal inventory list.  You start from the words you just created on your brainstorm.  Select 12 topics and put them on a new piece of paper.  The way you select them is buy considering things like you, your audience, and the occasion (remember we talked about this is in class and is called the “rhetorical situation”) as your basic filter.  As you can see I have started another sample personal inventory list.  On the left hand side you write down your brainstorm topics and on the right hand side you would put your “why statements”.  Remember that a “why statement” is just why did you write the topic on your brainstorm or what comes to mind when you are looking at that word now?  As an example I have given things like Michael Jordan and when I think of a Michael Jordan what I think of is that he has had many accomplishments and when I think of spandex I think it should be outlawed.  You do this for each of the 12 topics you picked off of the brainstorm you just completed.  Again, you may either hand write or type this part of the assignment.  Either way you need to bring a hard copy to class to show me in class on the due date.
The third step into the actual speech activity outline.  This is when you take a total of six topics off of your personal inventory list and write out your why statement and your general topic in a full sentence which will become an actual thesis statement.  You can see my first one says Michael Jordan has many accomplishments and then you break down that thesis statement into what could be 3 main points for a speech about in this case Michael Jordan’s accomplishments.  And then you do this for the other two topics in the non-controversial category.  By contrast you have to take three of your topics that you have picked from your personal inventory list and take them in a controversial direction.  That means you have to make the thesis statement that not everybody would agree with.  My examples are “Kobe Bryant is the best NBA player ever” and “Shag carpet is better flooring option than tile”.  Basically the Kobe Bryant one answer is similar to my Michael Jordan one on the non-controversial list except that “Michael Jordan has many accomplishments” is really just a series of facts you can’t dispute whereas “Kobe Bryant is the best NBA player ever” is a sentence which argues a perspective that clearly not everybody would agree with and they could also argue against.  When you develop your main points for your controversial topics keep in mind that you are trying to prove something so your main points should basically be reasons why we should accept your thesis.  So in my example “Kobe is the best NBA player ever” I used the main points that he is a clutch shooter, he holds many NBA records, and he is a durable player.  In class I showed you the speech activity slide which was the black background one with the green box and the pink box that showed things on a PowerPoint slide however yours will probably look more like the plain one I am showing you here on a regular word document.  Remember that part three your speech activity outline DOES have to be typed you cannot hand write it like you can parts one and two.
So in review, remember this assignment has three parts.  Part one is to do a brainstorm, part two is to do an expanded personal inventory list, in part three is to do a speech activity outline.  Remember that you can hand write parts one and two if you choose but everyone must type part three the speech activity outline.  Bring all three parts to class to show me.