The most memorable speeches inspire, entertain, and praise. By blending stories and eloquence, great speeches highlight the core values motivating an audience. You might need to do this in a keynote address, a eulogy, or simply a business meeting. Inspiring audiences is a common, but difficult writing challenge. You want a speech that elevates the topic and the audience.
This course gives you a method for preparing and delivering speeches that inspire and entertain. By the end of this course, you should be able to compose and deliver moving speeches that praise core audience values through evidence, storytelling, and humor. You should be able to write eloquent passages in tones appropriate to the audience and occasion and speak fluidly from either a well-prepared manuscript or from memory. Learners will record speeches, providing and receiving peer feedback.
This course is part of the Dynamic Public Speaking Specialization
Speaking to Inspire: Ceremonial and Motivational Speeches
Offered By
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Week
13 hours to complete
Week 1. Using values and storytelling to develop a great speech
Welcome! We begin this week with an overview of the course: What it is and what we’ll be doing. From there we can start preparing our speeches. We’ll start by finding the core values that will drive the speech. Values that speak to the topic and inspire your audience. We’ll then explore how to discuss those values through evidence and storytelling. By the end of the week, you’ll have a list of values and stories to write a speech. With a sense for the topic, we can then get to know each other with an introductory speech. It’s a fun and easy speech that allows you to get to know some of your classmates.
18 videos (Total 92 min), 6 readings, 4 quizzes
18 videos
Welcome!1m
What’s this course about?5m
Ceremonial speech assignment6m
What do ceremonial speeches do?4m
How to find your fit5m
A process for preparing speeches3m
You need values at the core of your speech4m
Finding your values6m
Supporting your values6m
What is a story?5m
How stories help your speech6m
Structuring your story3m
What's the point of the story?8m
Writing characters7m
Writing description4m
Transforming stories into anecdotes5m
Sample introduction speech2m
How to record speech videos4m
6 readings
Week 1 preview2m
Ceremonial speech assignment description (Optional reading)10m
Values in action--Emma Watson15m
The most touching story--Frank Oz remembers Jim Henson15m
Week one lesson summaries2m
Week one assignment check-in5m
3 practice exercises
Ceremonial speaking6m
Stories6m
Week one quiz10m
Week
22 hours to complete
Week 2. Arrangement. Finding the right form for your speech.
Last week, we worked on developing the pieces of our speech (values and support). This week, we’ll take those pieces and build a speech outline. There are a few broad arrangement models that prove helpful in organizing the speech in a compelling and moving way. We’ll look to some of the very specific concerns that emerge when dealing with speeches of introduction, eulogies, and award speeches. Having discussed invention and arrangement, we'll watch and evaluate a sample speech. You’ll watch a speech, write up some feedback, and read how others analyzed the speech.
8 videos (Total 52 min), 7 readings, 2 quizzes
8 videos
Topical arrangement4m
Narrative arrangement6m
Informative arrangement6m
Speeches of introduction7m
Presenting and receiving awards6m
Eulogies9m
Sample ceremonial speech6m
7 readings
Week 2 preview2m
Arrangement at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame10m
Public mourning--The 9th Earl Spencer's Eulogy for Princess Diana of Wales15m
Speech analysis #1 overview2m
Matt's review (Optional)5m
Week two lesson summaries2m
Week two assignment check-in5m
1 practice exercise
Week two quiz10m
Week
33 hours to complete
Week 3. Getting it just right. Good language, tone, and writing for the delivery
You have your outline, so now let transform that into a manuscript. This week is all about style. We’ll start by thinking about what overall style is most appropriate for your speech. Then we’ll move through a bunch of stylistic devices. These are equations for eloquence. You put your value into these stylistic devices and eloquence pops out the other side. From there, we can talk more about word choice and overall tone. Once we have the basic structure down, we can look to openers and closers, basically figuring out how to get into and out of the speech. Finally, we’ll talk a little bit about writing for the ear and drafting a speech manuscript (which is different from an essay). The optional assignment this week is a draft manuscript. This is just a chance to get some feedback from others on an early draft.
11 videos (Total 54 min), 6 readings, 4 quizzes
11 videos
Stylistic devices: Allusions and rhetorical question6m
Stylistic devices: Tricolon and enuimeratio5m
Stylistic devices: Diacope, epanalesis, epizeuzis.4m
What is speech “tone”?2m
Presidential tone comparison9m
Presidential tone analysis5m
Writing for the ear4m
Preparing a manuscript4m
Formatting a manuscript for speech delivery4m
Speaking from a manuscript2m
6 readings
Week 3 preview2m
Strategies for openers10m
Strategies for closers10m
Which manuscript format do you prefer?10m
Week three lesson summaries2m
Week three assignment check-in5m
3 practice exercises
Style6m
Manuscripts6m
Week three quiz10m
Week
42 hours to complete
Week 4. Remembering and delivering a great speech.
You have your manuscript, now let’s perform it. Memory and delivery are clearly linked. We need to decide whether we’ll extemporize the speech, work from a manuscript, or memorize the whole thing. No one approach is inherently better, but should be a good response to the rhetorical situation. We’ll talk about making this decision. Now we can finally get into some humor work. Some of this is certainly invention, but a lot of it is delivery. We’ll think about where and how to insert some humor into our speeches. And just as important, what to do when a joke falls flat. We’ll wrap up with some general delivery and performance issues. The assignment this week is a speech analysis. You’ll watch a speech, write up some feedback, and read how others analyzed the speech.
12 videos (Total 67 min), 6 readings, 2 quizzes
12 videos
Overview of memorization5m
Memory techniques4m
Memorization process4m
Humor in speeches6m
Integrating humor8m
What humor do I leave in? What do I take out?4m
A failed joke is your best opportunity5m
Martin Nevdahl: How the voice works4m
Martin Nevdahl: Techniques for good vocal performance6m
Martin Nevdahl: Maintaining vocal health5m
Sample ceremonial speech #24m
6 readings
Week 4 preview2m
Funny building to meaning: Conan O'Brien's 2011 Commencement Address20m
Speech analysis #2 overview1m
Matt's review (Optional)5m
Week four lesson summaries2m
Week four assignment check-in5m
1 practice exercise
Week four quiz10m
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Top Reviews
It was an amazing experience with University of Washington and Sir Matt MacGarrity. Thanx to Coursera and Prime Minister for providing such learning opportunity.
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Instructor
Dr. Matt McGarrity
Principal LecturerUW Department of Communication
About University of Washington
Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest state-supported institutions of higher education on the West Coast and is one of the preeminent research universities in the world.
About the Dynamic Public Speaking Specialization
Good speaking is your most enduring job skill. This four-course specialization will provide you with the instruction, experience, and practice to develop and deliver compelling presentations. Drawing from the established knowledge in communication, rhetoric, linguistics, and argumentation, each course balances proven ideas with lots of speech practice.
The courses in this specializations should help speakers at all levels. If you are nervous about public speaking, this is for you! I have spent an entire career helping nervous novice speakers grow into confident communicators. We slowly work up specific skills that you can practice multiple times before putting together a longer speech.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?
Once you enroll for a Certificate, you’ll have access to all videos, quizzes, and programming assignments (if applicable). Peer review assignments can only be submitted and reviewed once your session has begun. If you choose to explore the course without purchasing, you may not be able to access certain assignments.
What will I get if I subscribe to this Specialization?
When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.
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