Those who fail to prepare are preparing to fail.

..............................................- Benjamin Franklin

This week your work will focus on specific steps for preparing for your first speech.

Key topics for this week include:

· Selecting a topic;
· Assessing the audience;
· Organizing the talk; and
· Practicing and rehearsing.

Personal Narrative Talk (0-50 points)

Present a speech, lasting 2-3 minutes, in which you share a personal value, opinion, belief, or attitude that will enable you to establish your credibility. This is an extemporaneous talk so you are welcome to have notes, but no manuscript. The emphasis should be on delivering a conversational talk. Develop your narrative informally, with emphasis on demonstrating the qualities of an effective communicator (i.e., SPEAK).

Concentrate on developing a clear introduction, discussion, and conclusion for your talk. Do not plan a question/answer session since time will not permit this.

Possible topics might include:

· I wish everyone would use his/her turn signal when driving.
· Political candidates do a disservice to politicians when they employ negative campaign messages.
· I've found that walking is a great way to relieve stress and to meet my neighbors.
· I've learned the hard way to keep my (cigarette) butts to myself.
· My year as an exchange student taught me to appreciate the Middle East.