READ THIS

Now that you’ve had some practice working in a team, and talking in front of the class, it’s time to take your speaking to the “next level.” The information on this blog is here to help you prepare for your presentation/speech – and ultimately, for your Final Exam.

As you may have guessed collecting all this information from many parts of the Internet took MANY HOURS, as did compiling it into this format, for you. For your part, you should spend at least ONE hour reading the information to get ready for your assignment.

1. Remember the elements of speaking I taught you in class.
2. Remember to use SQRR.
3. Remember to write down notes, as you read, and to use those notes to help you write your speech
4. Remember to focus only on the main ideas and keywords – and to SKIP THE FLUFF(词藻):

• Big/difficult words
• Names/proper nouns
• Words you can’t pronounce

Write your speech IN YOUR OWN WORDS – in other words: DON’T JUST COPY DOWN WHAT YOU READ AND THEN READ IT WORD-FOR-WORD

ONE LAST THING: the issues and subjects we are discussing this semester are global issues; but much if the information you will read in English, unfortunately, is written from an American or British point of view. As critical thinkers, you should also add the Chinese point of view – where appropriate. My only stipulation is that you SUPPORT YOUR VIEW … with FACTS, DATA, SOURCE OF INFORMATION.

Standard Speech Format

Your speech must follow a standard speech format, which means it MUST have a beginning, a middle, and an ending.

INTRODUCTION: The beginning is called the Introduction – in this part you tell the audience what you will talk about and what “points” you will cover

BODY: The middle of the speech is called the Body – which typically has three points. This is where you should put your arguments, reasons, explanations and so forth.

CONCLUSION/SUMMARY – as the name suggests, the Summary reminds the audience what you talked about and delivers the final message you wanted to convey to your audience.
Typically you should prepare your speech to be a little longer than what you expect for the final speech – for example a 2 minute speech should last about 2 ½ minutes, when you are practicing it. The Table below is an example of how you might organize your speech to meet your time goals:

STUDY FORMULA SQ3R

I. SURVEY II. QUESTION III. READ IV. RECITE V. REVIEW

Survey and question at the same time to find what the material contains. (Read and reread or read, write and say aloud.)

I. & II. Survey and Question - Method

• READ title, author, first and last sentences of each paragraph, and skim through sections of the passage noting illustrations – if there are any, and other sources of quick information. Make a brief note of any unknown words, but don’t stop to try to look them up right now.
• QUESTIONS. Who, what, when, where, and what emphasis? What aspect is my weakest point? What will need to be memorized?
• SELECT a passage. Read introductory sentence. Skim with a pencil. Mark any who, what, when, where, or other vocabulary that is unknown. Stop to read headings, subheadings, and last sentence. If the material is very difficult, write down every difficult word or sentence. This survey should not take more than a minute and should show at least three to six core ideas.
• QUESTION. Now turn what you’ve read into a question. If you are taking a test, this would be a good time to go to the questions and try to answer as many as you can. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT YOU WILL FIND THE ANSWERS TO AS MANY AS 70% OF THE QUESTIONS, BY THE TIME YOU’VE GOTTEN THIS FAR.

III. READ

Read to the end of the first sentence to answer this question. Make this an active search for the answer. Underline only key words--never whole sentences. Restate in your own words the relationship being made. Use a dictionary if necessary.

IV. RECITE.

Now look away from the book and try briefly to recite the answer to your question. Use your own words and cite an example. You can jot down from memory brief cue phrases in outline form on a sheet of paper. These should be brief and your own words. If you cannot do this, glance over the selection again.

Now repeat steps QUESTION, III, and IV with each successive headed section. Do this until the entire lesson is completed.

V. REVIEW.

When the lesson has been studied in this way, check your memory by reciting the major subpoints under each heading. You can do this by covering up the notes and trying to recall the subpoint listed under it. Review daily during the period of time before class exam. During an exam you should use this time to review your ANSWERS, to make sure you haven’t made any mistakes or missed any questions. Review should probably not be longer than five minutes.

It is a good idea to try and study for two hours daily. Make a study plan so that time is available!