Instructions
Students will: (1) video record themselves on camera (students must be both seen and heard) delivering a persuasive speech of 3-5 minutes focused on advocating for a specific action, policy, or procedure; (2) submit to the assignment dropbox a Word document that presents their recorded speech video as a URL along with their APA formatted references.
Students must:
- Design a well-organized and supported speech on a topic that is appropriate for a time limit of 3-5 minutes.
- Present a persuasive claim that is framed by a clear organizational framework that includes an introduction, supporting points, and a closing.
- Use at least 3 reputable sources as evidence in the speech; these sources must be presented both orally, using attributive tags (such as According to a report published by the CDC in 2023 or As stated by Professor X, a researcher at X school, in 2022), and in writing, using APA reference formatting.
- Use a suitable visual aid throughout the speech, such as a prop, brochure, infographic, or slideshow presentation.
- Video record themselves on camera presenting to the camera as their audience, ensuring that they can be both seen and heard. (Students must show themselves and their visual aid on camera.)
- Upload a Word document to the assignment dropbox that presents their speech video URL at the top of the page as well as their APA formatted references.
[A video tutorial will be provided in Canvas on the recording and submission process.]
Guidelines for Choosing a Topic
When choosing a topic:
- Ensure the topic is persuasive by using a should statement to frame your argument rather than a how statement, which leans toward an informative speech. For example, note how plastic grocery bags should be banned is persuasive, while how to recycle is informative.
- Ensure the topic is appropriate for a 35-minute speech. This means that highly controversial topics should be avoided, as it takes more than 3-5 minutes to persuade someone to consider changing their core values. This also means that the scope of the argument should be narrow: focus on an aspect of an issue rather than the whole. For instance, in 3-5 minutes, you could focus on what might be done with a specific aspect of pollution, such as eliminating disposable straws about water pollution or cutting back on fast fashion to help impact landfill pollution.
Topic Suggestions
To help you select a topic, here are some examples of focused and persuasive claims appropriate to the context of a persuasive speech of 3-5 minutes in length:
- People should take a First Aid course.
- People should donate blood.
- Students should take a self-defense class.
- Nurses should not work twelve-hour shifts.
- People over 40 should take a multivitamin to help protect against dementia.
- People should adopt a pet from a shelter instead of a breeder.
- People should reduce caffeine.
- People should omit sugar in their diet.
- People should exercise daily.
Submission
Submit to the assignment dropbox a Word document that presents your recorded speech video as a URL along with APA formatted references.