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(assignment liberally borrowed from Jennifer Sheppard at MTU)
Telling stories is an important form of communication that gives us not only enjoyment but also a way of understanding our lives. Stories organize our world, allow us to learn without suffering the "real" consequences, preserve what matters to us, entertain us while stretching our mental capacities, promote creativity, and connect each person involved in listening to the story. In all types of stories, the underlying function is to convince the audience to accept or believe the point of our narrative. An effective speaker is one who can transform an everyday story event into a larger theme that transcends differences in geography, culture, social status, gender, and language. This is part of the challenge for you in this assignment.
Stories are characterized by a plot that involves characters, events, narrative tensions, and resolution. Oral stories give listeners a sense of action and drama by developing characterizations, dialogue, vivid descriptions, and using animated delivery. Emotional sincerity and involvement are hallmarks of a good storyteller.
Your first graded speech is a Narrative speech. For this assignment, you will tell a 3-5 minute story that has a moral (lesson). The purpose of your story telling is to illustrate the importance of the moral or lesson for this audience in order to persuade them to accept your moral. Start by thinking about why the audience might find the point of your story important or instructive. Remember that you need to choose a narrative that is appropriate for this audience and this setting. See handout for full description of the speech. Topics: Hand into me two possible topics that focus on an important lesson you have learned in life. Give me a brief description of the topics. Working Outline: Turn in an outline of your story (the body of the speech): beginning to end. Revised Working Outline: Turn in a full working outline with an introduction, thesis, body, and conclusion. The introduction should set a context that will help the audience realize the importance of the moral for their lives. Remember to get us involved in the idea of the moral before you move into the thesis-it is no different than any other introduction. The thesis should be the moral itself. Do not start out the story as the introduction, but gently draw us into the thesis. The story-which is the body of the speech-should be carefully constructed so that you give descriptive details, but do not ramble. Language choices, delivery techniques, and dramatic vocals must be chosen to lend interest and animation to your story. The conclusion of your speech should be carefully thought out and worded since it is your chance to leave a lasting impression with your audience. It will reinforce the moral or point of the story. You will not finish the story in this area, but reinforce the moral and conclude the speech. Your speaking outline should use brief notes that guide you through the speech:
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