COM 110 Intro to Human Communication
A Checklist For Your Speeches
Kenneth C. Petress, Ph. D.
General
1. Does the topic meet assignment guidelines?
2. 2. Is the speech topic accurately, clearly, and succinctly narrowed?
3. Is the central thought clearly stated in a simple declarative sentence?
4. Are the major divisions stated in complete sentences?
5. Is there appropriate, adequate supporting material in the speech?
6. What objections as questions could be raised about the arguments and evidence used in the speech?
7. Does the speech move smoothly from one idea to the next?
8. Is the introduction attention getting and does it introduce the speech to the hearers?
9. Are you prepared to deliver the speech through constant practice?
10. Do you have a sense of excitement and enthusiasm for presenting this speech?
The Introduction
1. Has the first sentence been worked out carefully and is it the very best one you can write?
2. Have the first few sentences of the introduction been written as relatively short ones?
3. Does the introduction arouse interest?
4. Does the introduction take into account the importance of audience adaptation?
5. Is the introduction related in a direct and unmistakable way to the body of the speech?
6. Does the introduction give credibility to the speaker and the subject?
7. Have you worked out a smooth, clear transition from the introduction to the body of the speech?
8. Has the introduction been written to use only about ten to fifteen percent of the total speech time?
The Body
1. Have correct outline mechanics been used?
2. Does the body develop the proposition?
3. Do the major points actually divide the subject?
4. Does each major point show up clearly in the body?
5. Has each major point been written as a complete sentence? Have the major points been written in a consistent grammatical form?
6. Are the major points in the best possible order?
7. Are the major points balanced?
8. Have the number of divisions been limited?
9. Are the relationships been the various divisions of the speech clear?
10. Do ideas flow naturally and logically?
11. Have you used transitions and signposts?
12. Have you varied the kinds of supporting materials used?
The Conclusion
1. Does the conclusion reinforce the speech purpose?
2. Does the conclusion bring the speech psychologically to an end for the speaker and the audience?
3. Does the conclusion clearly reveal and stress the specific purpose of the speech?
4. Has the conclusion been written without new material being given to the audience?
5. Does the conclusion contain about ten percent of the total speech time?
6. Have you made sure that you have not included phrases like "Thank you," or "Thank you for your attention".
Testing Supporting Materials
1. Is the supporting material correct, relevant, specific, clear, and interesting?
Testing Sources of Evidence
1. Is the source clearly identified?
2. Is it reliable, unbiased, honest, recent?
3. Is it corroborated by other sources?
Testing the Evidence
1. Are enough specific instances presented? Are they fairly chosen? Are there significant exceptions to the instances? Are the instances true? Are they recent?
2. Are enough statistics used? Are they representative? Are there significant exceptions to the statistics? Are they recent? Are the units properly defined? Are they an index to what they claim to measure? Were the statistics collected at the proper time or over a sufficient period of time? Have they been accurately collected and classified?
3. Testing comparisons: Do the two entities being compared actually have many similarities? Are the similarities significant? Do important differences occur?
4. Is the authority known to the audience? Is the authority recognized as an expert in the field? Is the authority's subject one she is qualified to discuss? Has the authority had opportunity to observe? Is the authority acceptable to the audience? Is the authority correctly quoted?
5. Testing causal arguments: Can a causal relationship be established? Is the suggested cause adequate to produce the effect? Does the effect result from one or many causes? Is there evidence that the alleged cause did not or could not have produced the effect?
Style
1. Has the speech been prepared so that it is clear from beginning to end?
2. Have you used correct language?
3. Does the speech have force and impact?
4. Have you achieved concreteness in your style?
5. Is the language vivid?
6. Have you avoided triteness, cliches, and hackneyed language?
7. Have you used variety in language and sentence structure?
8. Have you made effective use of repetition and parallelism?
9. Have you used figures of speech such as similes and metaphors?
10. Is your style appropriate to the purpose and message, the listeners and the occasion?
REMEMBER TO PREPARE THE VERY BEST SPEECH POSSIBLE. THEN HERE IS
ONLY ONE REMAINING FUNCTION: PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE............AND THEN PRACTICE SOME MORE.