教学内容:Chapter 6 Speech Composition — Beginning the Speech

采用教材:祝蔚红著《实用英语演讲教程》第六章，南京大学出版社出版（2007）

Perspectives

Public speaking is a course in speech communication. Its purpose is to improve students’ skills to write and deliver effective public speeches, to improve their ability to think critically and to apply the skills of critical thinking to the analysis of written and oral texts. The principles students learn in this course should benefit them not only in subsequent courses in a university setting, but also in their future career.

Topic activity 2 (20 min)

Have students list one or more introduction purposes (A. capture attention, B. reveal topic, or C. promote goodwill and establish credibility) for each of the following situations:

A graduate giving a speech on the value of graduate study.

A volunteer worker appealing to a group of wealthy people to donate money for needy families in the community.

A candidate’s election speech for the leader of the Students’ Union.

A senior student giving a speech to freshmen on “homesickness”.

A classmate’s view on the campus environment.

Topic activity 4 (20 min)

Divide the class into small (4—5) groups. Each student in a group is given a copy of a sample speech, but the introduction is omitted. Each group is assigned to write an introduction to the sample speech. The introductions are to fulfill the three purposes of an introduction. When all groups have completed the assignment, each group presents its work to the class. Class commentary and suggestions for revision are encouraged. During the discussion, students often realize that different styles of introductions are acceptable and desirable.

Objectives

Students should be able to identify the three purposes of a speech introduction and develop six techniques that can be used to gain attention in an introduction.

Source material

Base on “Practical Course in Public Speaking”.

Topic activity 1 (20 min)

Identify the three purposes of introduction in a speech: capture attention, reveal topic, and promote goodwill and establish credibility (textbook pp 83—84). Then explanations and examples are given for the six most common introduction techniques: rhetorical question; suspense; story/example; quotation; reference to subject; and history review (textbook pp 84—89).

Topic activity 3 (20 min)

Divide the class into small (4—5) groups and assign each group a topic on which it must compose a complete introduction. Give the groups 20 minutes to work on their introductions. They must be sure to fulfill all three purposes of an introduction. Afterward each group should pick one of its members to deliver its introduction to the class. Have the class pay special attention to their classmates’ introduction during their presentation. The class should be able to identify the topic of each introduction and the technique(s) that is (are) used to gain attention in it. The speech topics are as follows:

Public Display of Affection (PDA)

Graduate Study or Work

Going on a Crash Diet

Campus Marriage

Plastic Beauty

Reality Show Craze

Human-powered Search Engine

E-shopping Desk Culture Luxuries Craze

Discussion

Group activities can be highly productive if they are properly organized and supervised. The following benefits are realized: students get to know one another and feel less threatened by their classmates; students get experience in front of the class in an informal, highly supportive, and entertaining atmosphere; students are stimulated to think more creatively by being exposed to thought processes different from their own; students’ critical thinking, creative thinking，and collaboration are highly promoted.

Extra teaching and learning resources

Reference: Lucas, Stephen E. The Art of Public Speaking. (8th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2004.

Videos: 1.“Our Future: The Garden of One Flower or Many Flowers”, Wu Xiangcheng; 2.“College Education in Today’s Competitive World: Challenges and Opportunities for Students”, Fan Shushuang; 3.“Walls and Bridges”, Xia Peng; 4.“Chinese Dream: Peace and Prosperity”, Zhao Ting

(from The “21st Century” National English Speaking Competition)