Video Examples

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SPEECH #

SPEECH

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NOTES
 

Impromptu Speeches

 
1 Thesis: UW should abolish FIGs. This is an excellent student impromptu speech
2 Thesis: All professors and TAs should be required to take a public speaking class. This is an excellent student impromptu speech
3 Thesis: UW should require all students to take a P.E. course. This is an excellent student impromptu speech
4 Thesis: UW libraries should be open 24 hours a day. This is an excellent student impromptu speech
 

Below are some more sample impromptu speeches.  Each speech attempts to demonstrate some problem.  In these speeches, both Dru (the lead TA at the time) and I performed three speeches with the same thesis statement to show how the same speech would look as an average, above average and excellent speech. 

 
A Thesis: The University of Washington should have a mandatory attendance policy for all students. This is an excellent impromptu speech
B Thesis: The University of Washington should have a mandatory attendance policy for all students. This is a good impromptu speech
C Thesis: Numerical grades in college should be abolished. This is an adequate impromptu speech
D Thesis: Numerical grades in college should be abolished. This is an excellent impromptu speech
E Thesis: Numerical grades in college should be abolished. This is a good impromptu speech
F Thesis: The University of Washington should have a mandatory attendance policy for all students. This is an adequate impromptu speech
G

 

Thesis: Physician assisted suicide should be legalized.

 This is a good student impromptu speech.  Here what a grading form might look like for this speech (Sample Grading Form for this Speech)
 

Peer Critique Speeches

 
5 Sample peer critique speech This is a good peer critique speech
6 Sample peer critique speech This is a good peer critique speech 
 

Persuasive Speeches 

 
7 ANWR This is an excellent persuasive speech
8 UW should host Tent City 3 This is an excellent persuasive speech
9 Pub in the HUB  This is an excellent persuasive speech

 

10 Divestment from Sudan  This is a good to excellent persuasive speech

 

 

Additional Sample Persuasive Speeches

 
  Intelligent Design This is an excellent persuasive speech
  Gun Control  This is a good to excellent persuasive speech

Sample teacher evaluation of this speech
  Drilling in ANWAR This is a good to excellent persuasive speech
  Electoral College This is a good persuasive speech
  Gun Control  This is an adequate persuasive speech

Sample teacher evaluation of this speech
  Stem Cell Research This is an adequate persuasive speech
  Capital Punishment This is a below adequate persuasive speech 
 

Advocacy Speeches

 
11 Alskan Way Viaduct This is an excellent advocacy speech
12 Divestment from Sudan This is an excellent advocacy speech

13

 Tent City on campus This is an excellent advocacy speech

14

 Reinstate the tuition cap This is an excellent advocacy speech
 

Additional Sample Advocacy Speeches

 
  Nuclear Energy This is an excellent advocacy speech
  Same Sex Marriage This is an good advocacy speech
  Media Conglomeration This is an good advocacy speech
  Drug Policy This is a good advocacy speech

 

  
 

Professional Speeches 

 
  
14 Robert Reich (Former U.S. Secretary of Labor)

 

 Pay attention to his energy and naturalness. 

What are the verbal and nonverbal traits that make his speech easy/difficult to follow?

More on Reich here
15 Greg Nickels (Seattle Mayor)

 

 Listen to how he quickly provides a thesis, main points, and evidence.

You should map out his comments and be able to talk about his reasoning.

16 Ralph Nader (Political Leader and Critic)

 

 This comes from a speech at Berkeley.  Just watch the introduction.  

What is clear/unclear about his introduction?
17 Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. (Former Chairman of IBM)

 

 This comes from a talk given by IBM's chairman to a conference. 

How is this introduction better/worse than the Nader introduction?

More on Gerstner here
18 Barack Obama (U.S. Senator from Illinois) This is one of Obama's weekly radio addresses.  You should mark down the stock

issues in his discussion of Darfur.

More on Obama here
19 Ronald Reagan (40th President of the United States)

 

 Again, listen to how Reagan crafts a sense for the astronauts and for the space program.

More information on the speech and a text copy here
20 Martin Luther King Jr. (Civil Rights Leader) One of, if not the, greatest American speeches of the 20th century.

For today, pay attention to the role of cognitive metaphor in the speech.

How does King frame civil rights for this audience?

More information on the speech and a text copy here
21 George W. Bush (43rd President of the United States)

--note: you need to click the link for video on the right side of the page

 Compare Reagan's speech following the Challenger explosion, with Bush's following the

Columbia explosion.  What are the framing differences and the stylistic differences?