Explanatory Speech or Definitional Speech

Osborn and Osborn (1997) define persuasion this way: “the art of convincing others to give favorable attention to our point of view” (p. 415).   [Osborn, M., & Osborn, S. (1997). Public speaking (4th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.] In a nutshell, persuasive speeches must confront the complex challenge of influencing or reinforcing peoples’ beliefs, attitudes, values, or actions, all characteristics that may seem natural, ingrained, or unchangeable to an audience. Because of this, speakers must motivate their audiences to think or behave differently by presenting reasoned arguments.   For this assignment, you may give a speech whose FUNCTION is either to CONVINCE or to ACTUATE.  The speech may either be a PROPOSITION OF FACT (Textbook, Chapter 16, pg. 3)  or a PROPOSITION OF POLICY (Textbook, Chapter 16, pg. 4). Grading evaluation: Organization of speech:       A.  Introduction, Body, Conclusion — cohesive and clear       B.  Timing — You are allowed 15 seconds over/ under time constraints.  More than 15 seconds over and under  is an automatic deduction of 10 points       C.  Content — is the topic collegiate level, well researched. Delivery       A.  Is the speech delivered smoothly.  You are allowed the use of no more than three 5×7 cards. (reading from cards is a deduction of 5 points.       B.  Use of visual aid is ADDED 5 points.