About this course: 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.
Created by: University of Washington
Taught by: Dr. Matt McGarrity, Principal Lecturer
UW Department of Communication
| Basic Info | Course 4 of 4 in the Dynamic Public Speaking Specialization |
| Level | Beginner |
| Commitment | 5 weeks of study; 2 hours per week |
| Language | English, Subtitles: Spanish |
| Hardware Req | You need to be able to upload a video of yourself for the speech assignments. |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
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, 6 readings, 2 practice quizzes
- Reading: Week 1 preview
- Video: What’s this course about?
- Video: Ceremonial speech assignment
- Reading: Ceremonial speech assignment description (Optional reading)
- Video: What do ceremonial speeches do?
- Video: How to find your fit
- Video: A process for preparing speeches
- Practice Quiz: Ceremonial speaking
- Video: You need values at the core of your speech
- Video: Finding your values
- Video: Supporting your values
- Reading: Values in action--Emma Watson
- Video: What is a story?
- Video: How stories help your speech
- Video: Structuring your story
- Video: What's the point of the story?
- Practice Quiz: Stories
- Video: Writing characters
- Video: Writing description
- Video: Transforming stories into anecdotes
- Reading: The most touching story--Frank Oz remembers Jim Henson
- Reading: Week one lesson summaries
- Reading: Week one assignment check-in
- Peer Review: Introductory Speech
- Video: Sample introduction speech
- Video: How to record speech videos
Graded: Week one quiz
WEEK 2
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, 7 readings
- Reading: Week 2 preview
- Video: Topical arrangement
- Video: Narrative arrangement
- Video: Informative arrangement
- Reading: Arrangement at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
- Video: Speeches of introduction
- Video: Presenting and receiving awards
- Video: Eulogies
- Reading: Public mourning--The 9th Earl Spencer's Eulogy for Princess Diana of Wales
- Reading: Speech analysis #1 overview
- Video: Sample ceremonial speech
- Reading: Matt's review (Optional)
- Reading: Week two lesson summaries
- Reading: Week two assignment check-in
Graded: Speech analysis #1
Graded: Week two quiz
WEEK 3
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, 6 readings, 2 practice quizzes
- Reading: Week 3 preview
- Video: Stylistic devices: Allusions and rhetorical question
- Video: Stylistic devices: Tricolon and enuimeratio
- Video: Stylistic devices: Diacope, epanalesis, epizeuzis.
- Practice Quiz: Style
- Video: What is speech “tone”?
- Video: Presidential tone comparison
- Video: Presidential tone analysis
- Reading: Strategies for openers
- Reading: Strategies for closers
- Video: Writing for the ear
- Video: Preparing a manuscript
- Video: Formatting a manuscript for speech delivery
- Reading: Which manuscript format do you prefer?
- Video: Speaking from a manuscript
- Practice Quiz: Manuscripts
- Reading: Week three lesson summaries
- Reading: Week three assignment check-in
- Peer Review: Speech manuscript draft
Graded: Week three quiz
WEEK 4
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, 6 readings
- Reading: Week 4 preview
- Video: Overview of memorization
- Video: Memory techniques
- Video: Memorization process
- Video: Humor in speeches
- Video: Integrating humor
- Video: What humor do I leave in? What do I take out?
- Video: A failed joke is your best opportunity
- Reading: Funny building to meaning: Conan O'Brien's 2011 Commencement Address
- Video: Martin Nevdahl: How the voice works
- Video: Martin Nevdahl: Techniques for good vocal performance
- Video: Martin Nevdahl: Maintaining vocal health
- Reading: Speech analysis #2 overview
- Video: Sample ceremonial speech #2
- Reading: Matt's review (Optional)
- Reading: Week four lesson summaries
- Reading: Week four assignment check-in
Graded: Speech analysis #2
Graded: Week four quiz
WEEK 5
Week 5: Review and assessment
Thank you for your time in this course. I hope the material has proven helpful in some way. We concluded our discussion of the ceremonial speech last week. I would like to spend a bit of time reflecting on the course. We will end this week with your final speech.
3 videos
- Video: Other courses in this specialization
- Video: Sample ceremonial speech
Graded: Ceremonial speech
FAQs
How It Works
Coursework
Each course is like an interactive textbook, featuring pre-recorded videos, quizzes and projects.
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Creators
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.
Pricing
| Purchase Course | |
|---|---|
| Access to course materials | Available |
| Access to graded materials | Available |
| Receive a final grade | Available |
| Earn a shareable Course Certificate | Available |
Ratings and Reviews
Great course gives you an insight into preparing and delivering a great speech! I will recommend it.
Thx Matt for conducting in-depth research into this topic and delivering it to us. thx
I really enjoyed this course very much. The content helped me on some recent projects so a quick win already. Thank you Matt and Coursera.
The course has interesting material, nothing that would be completely surprising, however the combination of lectures, exercises and the video practices - together with the feedback from peers is a really great combination. The videos are hard to do, however is what makes this course great.
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SF
This course, along with the whole certification is filled with helpful and appropriate content. The workload is structured in a manner that is both comprehensive and accessible to a new learner. I believe this is the best course in the specialization because it tackles the most difficult subject manner, and does so in a perhaps better way than the rest.