SPECIAL OCCASION SPEECH
Select one type of special occasion speech from list:
1) Speech of Introduction
2) Speech of Acceptance
3) Speech of Presentation
4) Roast or Toast
5) Eulogy or Tribute
6) After Dinner Speech
7) Speech of Inspiration
*CommCoach is an online learning environment designed to help students improve their oral
presentation skills. The website contains video clips illustrating effective and ineffective public
speaking practices, as well as an interactive feedback component designed to foster students'
ability to critically evaluate presentation segments.
http://myweb.stedwards.edu/corinnew/commcoach/
Speech One Ceremonial Speech: (3 min)
FOCUS OF ASSESSMENT:
DELIVERY Specifics (eye contact, etc.)
Creative use of language, ideas
Sense of structure (intro/conclusion & outline)
Connection with/impact on audience (ETHOS)
Originality of thought & expression
Aims for a conversational style
Potential DANGERS OF THE ASSIGNMENT:
Sounding informative, e.g. doing a biography
Inappropriate or ineffective humor
Reading the speech to the audience
Plagiarism
For Inspiration as you begin work on the assignment:
Read Chapter 8– Special Occasion Speeches
II. Speaking on Special Occasions: Language Use Your word choices lead other people to
make assumptions about you, so it is in your best interest to become conscious of your
choices.
For the Special Occasion Assignment one major expectation is that you will use
language creatively.
Creative use of imagery and rhythm can help your ideas be remembered and can help create
the mood appropriate for the occasion.
One feature of vivid language is imagery.
We create imagery with concrete words.
You could say: "They were great people and we will always remember them."
But what Reagan said was better: "We will never forget them or the last time we saw them,
this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved good-bye and 'slipped the surly
bonds of earth to touch the face of God.'"
We create imagery with simile.
You could say: "The impact of freedom in one part of the world has a great impact on
freedom in other parts of the world." 3
But what Adlai Stevenson did say was better: "Freedom is like a drum; strike it anywhere and
it resounds everywhere.”
We create imagery with metaphor.
You could say: "Now is the time to put an end to segregation and to abolish racial injustice."
But what Martin Luther King, Jr… did say was better: "Now is the time to lift our nation
from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood."
A second feature of vivid language is rhythm.
We create rhythm with alliteration.
You could say: "My constituency is the desperate, the cursed, the poor, the overlooked, and
the despised."
But what Jesse Jackson did say was better: "My constituency is the desperate, the damned,
the disinherited, the disrespected, and the despised."
We create rhythm with antithesis.
You could say: "We should negotiate from a position of strength and we should always be
willing to negotiate."
But what John F. Kennedy said in his 1989 Inaugural address was better: "Let us never
negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate."
We create rhythm with repetition.
You could say: "We are a people in a quandary about the present as we search for our future
and for a national community."
But what Barbara Jordan did say was better: "We are a people in a quandary about the
present. We are a people in search of our future. We are a people in search of a national
community."
We create rhythm with parallelism.
You could say: "Rich and poor, intelligent and ignorant, wise, or even foolish, man, woman
and child--it is ever the same, each soul must depend wholly on itself."
But what Elizabeth Cady Stanton did say was better: "Rich and poor, intelligent and ignorant,
wise and foolish, virtuous and vicious, man and woman--it is ever the same, each soul must
depend wholly on itself."
Developing your skills in the creation of imagery and rhythm is a major goal of the special
occasion speech assignment.
PRACTICE!
PRACTICE!
PRACTICE!
Special Occasion Speech Helpful Tips
Answer these key questions and proper suggestions will come across :-)
Simple Speech Organization
Here's a simple and effective way to organize a formal speech:
The INTRODUCTION
Wake up interest (Do NOT start with..."Hello!" or "Good Evening...!" or "I am about to start my
speech..." or "My name is...") State your specific statement. Relate it to your audience. List the
main points of the body - your main ideas/points.
The BODY
List the main special occasional speech topics and construct the successes, pros and cons, values,
examples, funny remarks, narratives, anecdotes or insight stories.
The CONCLUSION
An amusing general remark, or joke or a toast are in general good public speaking topics and
especially last special occasion speech topics
Do NOT close with "That's it!"or "I am done." or "This concludes my speech..."
Answer these key questions and proper suggestions will come across :-)
1. Why? What is the purpose of the special occasion?
What's the purpose of the meeting, event, conference or ceremony?
What are the demands and wishes regarding your special occasional speech topics?
Are there special requirements related to the singularity of the event?
What was the first thing that comes into your mind when you were invited?
Are you invited because of your expertise or professional abilities?
What do you know about the character and ambiance?
Why did you accept the honor to be public speaker?
What do you want your public to remember, consider, support or believe in? That's the
special purpose of this public speaking assignment, your specific topic statement.
To conclude: what's the purpose of your special occasion speech topics?
Before you determine specific aims, first determine the general goal of your special
occasional speech topics. Do you want to entertain or amuse?
An after dinner speaker tries to ridicule the listeners by spoofing persons or to exaggerate
familiar situations.
2. Do you want to celebrate or praise?
Ask yourself: who or what is being honored or set in a positive light? Why?
If it's a person: how does the life and works of this person influence other people? Tribute
speech topics stimulate and strengthen the audiences' sentiments of adoration and
excitement. Share joy over someone's character, or over successes at the beginning or
completion of a project or season. Other special occasion speech topics to celebrate or
praise can be developed for weddings, birthdays, and roasts and toasts.
Commemorative special occasional speech topics honor and strengthen the values of a
person, group, institution, place, event, idea or subject. Focus on the values of life and
past, present, and future of society. The special occasion speech topics have to be
symbolic. Eulogies honor a deceased person and praise the person's virtues and character.
Tell what we learned and why we are thankful.
3. Inspire your audience?
Inspirational special occasion speech topics are based on policy or value claims. Uplift
the moral of an organization.
What do you want to accomplish? How can you persuade the audience to belief, feel or
think the same? This is the core of that type of occasion speech topics.
With commencement special occasion topics you can offer insight and knowledge by
revealing your own personal ideas and thoughts. List behavioral standards and indentify
how the educational institution, company or other group could strengthen those
standards.
4. Set a social agenda?
Keynote speeches reinforce or establish new goals in special occasional speech topics.
Set the tone and arouse enthusiastic emotions for upcoming discussions.
Of course there are more other unique moments at which a bit more ceremonial special
occasion speech topics are expected. E.g. introductions and announcements, vote of
thanks speeches, and events at which people are being welcomed, say farewell, retire,
nominated or accept a special award.
5. Who do your special occasional speech topics address?
What kind of organization? In case of a celebration or honoring ceremony: who is being
praised? What are her or his needs and expectations?
Is it a special group competition, group discussion or special event?
6. When will you speak?
Will a host introduce you and your special occasional speech topics? Prearrange that you
don't cover the same special occasion speech topic!
Are you the only public speaker? If there are more people, then bear in mind to wake up
the audience if you for example deliver your special occasion speech topics as speaker
number seven.
7. Where are you speaking?
What is the ambiance, can you maintain the proper atmosphere? How big is the room? Is
there a full-length podium? A hand-held microphone?
Can you get in touch with your listeners? All very important details to consider when
preparing for delivering a special occasion speech.
8. How long are you requested to speak?
If extemporaneously, then prepare notes with some keywords. Special occasional speech
topics usually are short (E.g. 2-5 minutes), for instance self introduction speech topics.
Please note: Speeches falling outside of the “grace period” (10 seconds before/after time) will
result in a significant point deduction.
Start Brainstorming:
Partner:
Occasion:
General Pupose
Audience
Objective
What points/interesting points will you be making?
YOU WILL ALSO NEED A VISUAL AID!