So when I teach speech classes, I start with the skills I want to work on. The skills I want people to be able to perform, then I'll build an assignment around those skills and I'll design the class to teach to those skills. So in this class, that assignment, those skills are gathered up in the ceremonial speech. So, I want to talk a little bit about what this assignment is and how it's going to focus our time in this class. So toasts, commencements addresses, keynote addresses. All of these are speeches that call for praise. Basically, linking a subject with values. So in this assignment, you're going to write a five to ten-minute eloquent speech that praises the subject and we're going to decode what eloquence is. But trust me, you can do it. You can write an eloquent speech, but that type of eloquent praise requires you to think carefully about what values you bring to the fore in your discussion of that subject. Basically, how you elaborate on these values in interesting way and you're doing that with stories quotations, filthy language so on and so forth. Now the skills of finding values, stories and language. These skills translate to all forms of public speaking and especially to all forms of ceremonial speaking. So in this sense, a 1 minute toast to a wedding is not wildly different from a 15 minutes into dedication ceremony both are seeking to praise the subject through values. So the skills that we're going to work on translate to lots of speeches, but we need an assignment to anchor our discussion in this class not the ceremonial speech. This is assignment is designed to help you refine your skills in a targeted way. Every video lecture is going to focus on a specific skill. Every item on the rubric is focusing on a specific skill, but you're going to get ten times more out of this class if you're actually working on the assignment. And that's because if you're working on a speech, you have to take the general advice and apply it to your specific decisions, your specific speech. So, that's my way of saying do the assignment. But if you're going to do the assignment, you do need to find a good topic. Now for this assignment, you should select a topic worthy of praise. That's pretty broad. There's lots of things that fit under the heading of worthy of praise. You can praise a person. You can praise an organization. You can praise an event. Basically, something you know a fair bit about that you think merits praise. So, you can praise a person. In these types of speeches, you want to highlight how the person illustrates some values and usually you're going to include lots of stories about them here. So this would be awards speeches, toasts, eulogies typically focus, always focus on praising an individual. Now for this assignment, you can praise a famous person. I've seen some great ceremonial speech assignment speeches that praise famous people, but it can also just be somebody that you know. And in fact, I had a student a few months ago who did a beautiful tribute to her father. Her father had left his job, had left everything in Vietnam to move to the US to get her health treatment and it was a wonderful speech and it was really a great gift for her father. So, you can talk about people. You can talk about an organization, maybe how that organization demonstrates some shared value. So these are often like person-based speeches, but the subject is an organization and not a person. You still have stories, but the stories might focus more on the organizations positive impact. So stuff like award speeches, keynote speeches typically focus on praising the organization and speaking to the reasons why members of that organization benefit by being a part of it. So in this assignment, you could praise a local nonprofit that you work for. You could talk about the history and values driving the University of Sao Paulo. I've never been there, but it sounds like a great place. So, you can talk about people. You can talk about organizations. Maybe you want to talk about an event. So, commemoration speeches are usually there to mark the importance of an event and it can be something by night. A speech of the opening of the boating season. It might be something deeply important like commemorating a memorial to a tragedy victim. The issue is that the reason people are brought together is because of the event itself. So, commencement speeches typically are event speeches. But then again, so are government holiday speeches and dedication speeches. So, all of those topic types lend themselves to what we're doing in this class. Praising a subject. Now that said, I do think there are some things that you want to avoid in terms of topics. So first, don't pick a topic that's too broad. So, I've had people who want to do speeches and praise a values like hard work or something. And I don't think you've got too much grounding, if you're praising a value in terms of values. So for what we're working on, have a solid topic. A person, an organization, an event, basically something that you can discuss in terms of values and support. Beyond that, what else? Focus on shared values. So, a lot of what we're going to do in this class will be discussing your topic in terms of shared values. Values shared by you and your audience. Now since your audience in this class is global, the values are going to need to be more global. So for example, let's say, you are praising someone and you talked about their strict veganism.. Well, that's fine. Maybe that's rooted in a person's belief, but not everyone sees veganism as their primary good. So, what you need to do in that case is talk about how that person's veganism shows their dedication. Why? Everybody can kind of get behind the value of remaining dedicated, so you want to play up that shared value. And then finally, I would say, genuinely praise the subject not ironically praising the subject. So, I don't think you can devote five to ten minutes praising how perfect of a jerk your boss is. That material gets old quick. So, really work on genuine praise. So, the ceremonial speech assignment anchors this entire class. So each video lecture, each rubric item is a discreet skill. Something that you need to be able to do as a speaker, but you're going to learn these skills so much better if you are actively working on a speech. [MUSIC]
