Asynchronous Oral Presentation Assignment

1. Every student is required to deliver one 3-3 ½ minute speech on a topic related to a co-culture (see below).

• It is worth 10% of your course grade.
• Refer to Blackboard for the due date.
• You will upload your speech video through the MindTap (Bongo) assignment link that you will find in the Oral Presentation Assignment Link on the left-hand tool bar in Blackboard.

2. You will also submit an outline of the speech.

• The outline score is included in the overall speech evaluation rubric.
• I strongly suggest that you follow the template I provide for your outline (see below).
• You will upload your Outline in the same assignment where you upload your speech, in Bongo.
• Important note: The outline is NOT an essay. It is written in an outline format. See below.

3. Your speech will be graded using the Departmental Scoring Rubric (review on Blackboard).

Additional assignments related to the oral presentation: (see syllabus/Learning Modules for due dates)

• You will be providing your classmates with feedback (peer critiques) in Bongo.
  • These peer critiques are included in your overall assignment score.
  • Failure to do them will reduce your overall speech assignment grade by 10%.

Speech Topic

• Choose a co-culture that you identify with (refer to Chapter 1, Section 1-4c). As stated, examples of co-cultures include:
  • age (e.g., teen, young adult, adult, senior)
  • activities and interests (e.g., fashion, gamer, biker, runner, poker club, tennis player, etc.)
  • co-nationality (e.g., Cuban American, Dominican American, African American, etc.)
  • sexual orientation (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, queer, etc.)
  • physical disability (e.g., wheelchair user, hearing-impaired, etc.)
  • religion (Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, evangelical, atheist, agnostic, etc.)
  • occupation (health care, education, science, social work, veterinarian, dental, clerk, etc.)
  • and so many others…

• Choose three specific, unique “things” or qualities about this culture. These three “things” become the main points of your speech.
  • For example, you might select basketball as a co-cultural activity. Your three main points might be:

I. How to find a pick-up game in New York City.

II. Some distinctive ways basketball players interact with each other while on the court.

III. The importance of having the right basketball shoes to play the game well.

• As you can see, you can be quite creative with your topic, and I encourage you to be creative!
  • If for example, you chose “holiday culture” and tell us about Christmas, we’re likely not to listen since most of us (including non-Christians) know a lot about it already.
  • So, ask yourself, “What will my audience find interesting about my co-culture?”
  • And “What information is reasonable to share in 3 minutes?”

Research Requirement

• The main points you select are up to you and the entire speech should be worded by you (not directly from a source, not plagiarized and not written by anyone else).
• But you will need to find and cite one piece of research somewhere in your speech.
  • The research you cite should provide an interesting example, or statistic, or testimony to clarify an idea; to add interest to something beyond common knowledge.
• Watch out for plagiarism!
  • Suppose you find a great article about your co-culture and you copy/paste the information into your outline and present it to us. Is this plagiarism? YES! Never copy/paste information and have us believe the information is something you wrote.
• How do you know when you need to cite someone?
  • Is the information common knowledge? If so, you don’t need to cite a source. For example:
    • George Washington was the first president.
    • Oranges are a type of fruit.
    • The primary colors of light are red, blue, and green.
• Is the information something someone said directly? If yes, then you need to cite it.
  • “As Abraham Lincoln famously said, ‘Four score and seven years ago…’”
• Is the information someone’s idea or the result of someone’s research? If yes, you need to cite it.
  • According to research from the Pew Research Center…
  • Researchers at the University of Maryland found…

How do I organize my speech?

• Once you select your three main points (the three specific things you want to tell us about related to your co-culture), you’re on your way to organizing the speech.
• All speeches have an Introduction, Body, Conclusion.
• See the next page…

How do I present/deliver my speech?

• A good presentation style keeps your audience engaged and listening through “conversational quality.” This requires:             
  • A lot of practice! You’ll want to come close to memorizing your speech, but you also need to sound spontaneous (conversational and upbeat) rather than sounding monotone or like you’re reading to your audience.
  • Use vocal variety (changes in volume rate, pitch) to create an expressive, engaging vocal style.
  • Use your hands naturally to help convey your ideas
  • Maintain eye contact with your video recording device—so your class audience will feel engaged as they watch your speech video.
    

Organizing Your Speech:

Use this template to arrange your speech!

Introduction

              I. Gain Attention (do not begin with “Hello my name is and my topic is…”)

              II. Relate to audience

              III. Provide a thesis (a single sentence where you reveal the topic)

              IV. State your personal relationship to the topic (credibility statement)

              V. Preview the three main points you’ll be discussing, in one clear sentence.

Body

              I. First Main Point

                             A. Sub Point

                                           1. sub-sub point

                             B. Sub point

                                           1. sub-sub point

                             Transition

              II. Second Main Point

                             A. Sub Point

                                           1. sub-sub point

                             B. Sub point

                                           1. sub-sub point

                             Transition

              III. Third Main Point

                             A. Sub Point

                                           1. sub-sub point

                             B. Sub point

                                           1. sub-sub point

Conclusion:

              I. Signal the ending

              II. Restate the main points you just discussed

              III. End with a clincher

On the next page, you will see an example of how to use this template for your own speech.

Sample Outline using Template

Introduction

I. Gain Attention (does not begin with “Hello my name is…and my topic is…):

              Have you ever heard the phrase, “Go climb a mountain?”

          II. Relate to audience:

              I’m sure most of you have climbed a hill, but what about a really high mountain, like the 14-thousand-foot Mt. Elbert in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado?

              III. Provide a thesis (a single sentence where you reveal the topic, connect it to the audience):

  You might not realize it, but there’s a mountain climbing club right here in New York City.

IV. State your personal relationship to the topic (credibility statement):

As a member of the New York City Hiking Group, I’ve been able to visit places like Colorado to climb some very tall peaks. Therefore, I identify with this co-culture.

V. Preview the three main points you’ll be discussing about your co-culture.

So today, I’ll be discussing three aspects of hiking culture, including why the New York City Hiking Group was formed, previous hikes I’ve taken, and future hikes I hope to experience.

Body

I. First Main Point

The New York City Hiking Group is the oldest hiking group in the city, and it began when a group of climbing enthusiasts came together on a social website.

                            A. Sub Point

The group originally started out with 30 members who found each other on the MeetUp.com, a social site where people “meet up” with similar interests.

                                                         1. sub-sub point

                                                                        Today, the group has over 7 thousand climbing enthusiasts.

                              B. Sub point

                                           But the group is no longer limited to hiking.

                                                         1. sub-sub point

Other activities include mountain climbing and indoor and outdoor rock climbing.

Transition (Summary/Preview)

Now that I’ve told you about why the group was formed, I’ll tell you about a mountain I’ve climbed and one I hope to climb in the future.

II. Second Main Point

As a member of the New York City Hiking Group, I’ve been able to experience both local day trips and week-long overnight trips across America and Canada.

              A. Sub Point

Some of the local trips I’ve taken include places like Mount Minsi, located in New Jersey.

                                           1. sub-sub point

This 16-mile hike has sweeping views of the Delaware River Gap – it’s one of the most scenic views I’ve ever seen in the tri-state area.

                            B. Sub point

Longer trips I’ve taken include a week-long trip to Yukon, Canada which is an extension of the Rocky Mountains mountain originating here in the United States.

                                                         1. sub-sub point

Our journey included hiking and camping for 7 days up to its 19,000 peak, and down its steep decline.                            

a. sub-sub-sub point:

Around the third day, I became dehydrated setting me back from the group. But I caught up with them the next day by getting enough fuel and rest. It was all very thrilling!

Transition (Summary/Preview)

Now that I’ve told you where I’ve climbed as part of the New York City Hiking Group, I’ll tell you about some places I hope to hike in the future.

III. Third Main Point

Two mountain ranges I hope to climb include the Andes and the Himalayas.

                             A. Sub Point

                                           The Andes Mountains are the world’s longest mountain range.  

                                                         1. Sub-sub point

In an article titled, “Fascinating Facts about the Andes Mountains on the holbooktravel.com website, the Andes spawns across seven countries from its northern starting point in Venezuela, down to the southern points in Argentina and Chile.

              a. Sub-sub-sub point

I’m excited to climb this range as there are so diverse ways to access the range giving me plenty of opportunity to see South America in one trip.  

                             B. Sub point

The Himalayas are located primarily in East Asia, are the tallest mountain range on earth.

                                                         1. sub-sub point

While it’s a dream trip, the members of my hiking group realize we’re not the type of expert climbers it takes to tackle the highest portions of the Himalayas, we would still like to say we climbed them.

Conclusion:

              I. Signal the ending

                             So, in conclusion

              II. Restate the main points you just discussed

I’ve just told you about the hiking co-culture I belong to, where I’ve been and where I hope to climb in the future.

              III. End with a clincher

With temperatures as low as below 30 degrees, I hope I manage not to freeze to death on if I ever make it to the Himalayas!