lecture

January 28 How can structure help me?  What do introductions do?  What do conclusions do? 

I. Using Arrangement to Build Clarity and Confidence [The first third here is material we intended to cover Monday, but was moved to today]

A. Good structure starts with clear foundations like a clear Specific Purpose and Central Idea [see ch. 4 in text] and continues with well conceived complete ideas in the main points [See ch. 8 and Monday's lecture notes.]

B. Strategic Ordering of main points is one key to clarity.  We looked at the exercise on p. 220 to review the patterns from ch. 8

Identify the organizational method used in each of the following sets of main points.
I.  Cesar Chavez is best known for his efforts to protect the rights of Hispanic farm workers in California.

II.  Cesar Chavez was also a tireless advocate for Hispanic racial and cultural pride in general.
Topical Order
The most common organizing strategy.
Perfect structure for speeches about types of things or speeches that list aspects of a topic.
To use it well, the points must have a clear link or theme.
This structure offers only limited strategic benefit.

Identify the organizational method used in each of the following sets of main points.
I. The game we know as golf originated in Scotland during the 15th century.
II. Most of golf's rules and traditions developed during the 19th century.
III. Professional golf tours  for men and women emerged during the 20th century.
IV. Today golf is at a peak of popularity among every day players and as a spectator sport.
Chronological Order
Main points are arranged according to a time sequence.
Process speeches are usually chronological.
Speeches about events and about people can use chronological order.
There is a strong psychological benefit to this structure.

Identify the organizational method used in each of the following sets of main points.
I. Caused by the bite of infected mosquitos, West Nile Virus is spreading throughout the United States.
II. The effects of West Nile Virus include flu-like symptoms, convulsions, swelling of the brain, and sometimes, death.
Causal Pattern: Only 2 main points
Certainly has psychological benefits since causal reasoning is a way that we process information in the world.

Can run cause to effect:

I. The hole in the ozone layer is allowing more of the sun’s damaging rays to reach the earth’s surface.
II. The increase in the sun’s rays is responsible for a wide array of problems.

Can run effect to cause:

I.  Studies have shown increasing levels of bacteria inside Iowa’s grocery stores.
II. The bottle bill is responsible for this health hazard.

Causal patterns lend themselves to persuasive speeches of fact.
Causal patterns can be used for informative speeches
especially for medical topics i.e. causes and effects of diabetes

Identify the organizational method used in each of the following sets of main points.
I. The outer layer of the skin, the epidermis, is about as thick as a sheet of paper.
II. The middle layer of the skin, the dermis, is 15 to 40 times thicker than the epidermis.
III. The innermost layer of the skin, the subcutaneous tissue, is by far the thickest layer.
Spatial Pattern
Follows a directional pattern: outside to inside; east to west, top to bottom etc.
Great for informative speeches about places or for historical topics.
There is some psychological benefit to this pattern, especially with visual learners.
Identify the organizational method used in each of the following sets of main points.
Childhood obesity has reached crisis proportions in the United States.
Solving the problem will require changes in attitudes, eating habits, and exercise.

Practice: Can you correctly identify the pattern of organization used in each of the following sets of main points?
I.  The first area in the recycling plant is the collection room.
II. Beyond the collection room we come to the sorting area.
III.  Conveyer belts from the sorting area take like materials to the processing facilities.
IV.  From the processing facilities, the processed raw materials are shipped to manufacturers.

I. Recycling has its roots in pioneer culture.
II. Modern recycling efforts emerged in the 1970s with the rise of environmentalism.
III. Today, recycling has become a multimillion dollar industry.

I.  Communities are turning to municipal recycling programs for various reasons.
II. The effects of municipal recycling programs include reduced use of landfills and reduced pollution.

I. The United States faces a serious landfill crisis.
II.  The United State's landfill crisis can be met by the adoption of mandatory recycling programs.

I. One way to recycle is to reduce your use of packaging.
II. Another way to recycle is to reuse materials whenever possible.
III.  A final way to recycle is to collect and turn in used materials that can be remanufactured into new material.

I. One cause of the Civil War was the economic disparity between North and South.

II. A second cause of the Civil War was the disparity in ideas about the nature of the federal government.

III. A third cause of the Civil War was the institution of slavery.

Check your answers!

How about this one?

I. Young people are voting less often so politicians ignore our issues.
II. We can reverse this trend and get politicians to address our issues by re-enagaging students in our democracy.

II. Connectives are the key to making your speech listener-friendly.

There are four main types of connectives: Transitions, Internal Previews, Internal Summaries and Signposts.  Here are some brief definitions and examples of each type.

A. TRANSITIONS: move the audience quickly from one main point or sub-point to the next.

" Increasing the amount of money spent on education is only one part of the solution.  The other part is to ensure that the money is spent wisely."

"Now that we have explored the ancient origins of astrology, let us turn to its modern popularity."

 "We have spent a lot of time talking about the problem.  It's time now  to discuss the solution."

B. INTERNAL PREVIEWS: signal or list the sub-points that will follow.

"In discussing how Asian Americans have been stereotyped in the mass media, we'll look first at the origins of the problem and second at its continuing impact today."

"As we look at America's deteriorating public works system, we shall deal first with our streets and highways, second with our bridges, and third with our water systems.

TRANSITION COMBINED WITH INTERNAL PREVIEW:

     [Transition]:  "Now that we have seen how serious the problem of faulty credit reports is, let's look at some solutions.  [Internal Preview]:  I will focus on three--instituting tighter government regulation of credit bureaus, holding credit bureaus financially responsible for their errors, and giving individuals easier access to their credit reports."

C. INTERNAL SUMMARIES: review the main points or sub-points covered so far.

 "In short, palm reading is an ancient art.  Developed in China more than five thousand years ago, it was practiced in classical Greece and Rome, flourished during the Middle Ages, survived the Industrial Revolution, and remains popular today."

D. SIGNPOSTS: draw attention to exactly where you are in the speech or underscore a significant point.
     Numbers: “first”, “second”, “third”

     Other signals: “next”, “finally”

     Underscoring: “The most important thing to remember,”
       “Above all”, “Let me repeat,” “This will be on the exam”


Conclusion.  Attention to Arrangement will have a positive impact on your messages.

III.  Organizing the Speech: Strong Introductions and Conclusions help you adapt to your audience and are essential to your success.
B.  Strong conclusions accomplish two central tasks using a variety of means.
SAMPLE CONCLUSION (with labels)

[Signal the end] As we have seen, perfume is much more than a smelly liquid.  [Reinforce the Central Idea with Summary] These complex mixtures of ingredients such as aromatic oils may make us work harder and spend harder, if they don't trigger an allergic reaction first.
       [Reinforces the Central Idea using a Reference back to the introduction]  It seems almost absurd to think that perfume is thousands of times more expensive than a precious resource like petroleum.  But on the other hand, no matter how far you can drive your car on petroleum, crude oil is not the kind of fragrance you would want in your cologne, hair spray, room deodorizer, or even, I suppose, in your cattle feed.

Review of Introduction guidelines; CARRP

Flawed Introductions: W p. 38
       A six-year old collie lay battered and helpless by the side of the road.  The car that hit her had broken her pelvis, dislocated her hip, and smashed her jaw.  It had also blinded her, and she whimpered in pain and fear.
      Unfortunately, this true story happens much too frequently because of the growing problem of pet overpopulation.  Having grown up on a farm with animals of all kinds, I care deeply about their welfare, and I have become aware through my veterinary courses how serious the problem of pet overpopulation is.
[Note how the attention getter is not really connected directly to the topic.  Topic is clear in the second paragraph.  Credibility is very good.  There is no preview however; we can't tell if it is an informative or a persuasive speech.  Finally, some listeners will feel put off by the graphic effort to gain attention and there is little or no effort to link the speech to the interests and concerns of the audience.]

Sample Flawed Conclusion
    Now you know about the problem of pet overpopulation.  Together we can make a difference.  Any questions?


**Reminders For your Demonstration Speeches

In Class we listened to and discussed a sample Demonstration Speech.
SP: To inform my audience how to protect themselves or protect others by using Stop, Drop, and Roll, when touched by fire.
CI: You can help yourself or someone else with fire safety by doing something called Stop, Drop and Roll.

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