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. 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. 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. If you want, you can end the week by telling us a story and getting some feedback on it. This is a longer week. The storytelling material goes better in week one than week two. If you feel a bit overwhelmed, just know that this week will have a bit more content than the other weeks.
18 videos, 4 readings, 3 practice quizzes
- Reading: Week 1 preview
- Video: What’s this course about?
- Video: Ceremonial speech assignment
- Reading: Ceremonial speech assignment description (Optional reading)
- Discussion Prompt: Assignment topic ideas (Optional discussion)
- Video: What do ceremonial speeches do?
- Video: How to find your fit
- Video: A process for preparing speeches
- Practice Quiz: Ceremonial speaking
- Video: Sample introduction speech
- Video: How to record speech videos
- Video: You need values at the core of your speech
- Video: Finding your values
- Video: Supporting your values
- Practice Quiz: Value argument
- Video: What is a story?
- Video: How stories help your speech
- Video: Structuring your story
- Practice Quiz: Stories
- Video: What's the point of the story?
- Video: Writing characters
- Video: Writing description
- Video: Transforming stories into anecdotes
- Discussion Prompt: Traditional story structure (Optional)
- Reading: Week one lesson summaries
- Reading: Week one assignment check-in
- Peer Review: Tell me a story! (Optional assignment)
Graded: Introductory Speech
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.
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.
Then back to some composition. 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 look to some of the very specific concerns that emerge when dealing with speeches of introduction, eulogies, and award speeches.
10 videos, 5 readings, 1 practice quiz
- Reading: Week 2 preview
- Video: Topical arrangement
- Video: Narrative arrangement
- Video: Informative arrangement
- Practice Quiz: Arrangement
- Video: Strategies for openers
- Video: Strategies for closers
- Reading: Speech analysis #1 overview
- Video: Sample ceremonial speech
- Reading: Matt's review (Optional)
- Video: Speeches of introduction
- Video: Eulogies
- Video: Presenting and receiving awards
- 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. Finally, we’ll talk a little bit about writing for the ear and drafting a speech manuscript (which is different from an essay). The assignment this week is a draft manuscript. This is just a chance to get some feedback from others on an early draft.
9 videos, 3 readings, 1 practice quiz
- 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
- Discussion Prompt: Tone analysis (Optional discussion)
- Video: Writing for the ear
- Video: Preparing a manuscript
- 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. We’ll talk about how to format and read from a manuscript. We’ll talk about how to memorize speeches. 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 honors assignment this week is a speech analysis. You’ll watch a speech, write up some feedback, and read how others analyzed the speech.
16 videos, 5 readings, 2 practice quizzes
- Reading: Week 4 preview
- Video: Formatting a manuscript for speech delivery
- Video: Speaking from a manuscript
- Practice Quiz: Manuscripts
- Video: Overview of memorization
- Video: Memory techniques
- Video: Memorization process
- Reading: Speech analysis #2 overview
- Video: Sample ceremonial speech #2
- Reading: Matt's review (Optional)
- 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
- Practice Quiz: Humor
- Video: Fit into the ceremony you’re a part of
- Video: Planning and performing emotional levels
- Reading: Week four lesson summaries
- Reading: Week four assignment check-in
- Video: Martin Nevdahl: How the voice works
- Video: Martin Nevdahl: Techniques for good vocal performance
- Video: Martin Nevdahl: Maintaining vocal health
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
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Creators
University of Washington
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Pricing
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| Access to course materials | Available |
| Access to graded materials | Available |
| Receive a final grade | Available |
| Earn a shareable Course Certificate | Available |
Ratings and Reviews
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.
I liked the course. This is last in the specialization compromised of 4 courses too. And I feel this is in itself a difficult topic. I used it in parallel to complete my CC#10 - project 10 of Toastmasters competent communicator manual. CC#10 is inspirational speech. So I am using all the skills learned here to prepare the talk. Thanks.
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AG
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