Special Occasion Speaking as a PRETEST / page last updated 1/27/22

 

Click for list of F'22 triads  - additional adjustments  possible   to be  updated 

Shortcut to Post Mortem Panel Names & topics  -   to be  updated 

Shortcut to Synthesizers: Names & topics -  to be  updated 

 

Shortcut to Event Program

 

These  brief talks will serve  multiple purposes for us this semester:  as a warm-up, as a " pretest" revealing your current proficiency in giving presentations, and as an mini-team icebreaker. Each person will perform at least one of the following roles: Speech writer, speech deliverer, speech critiquer, activity synthesizer.

 

Color Coded Roles

 

 

 

 

RATIONALE:   Your experiences in your basic communication course, e.g. COST1500/1600 should already have taught you the primary categories of Public Speaking:  Speaking-To-Inform, Speaking-to-Persuade, and Everything Else. This last category encompasses a wide variety of speech goals often referred to as "SPECIAL OCCASION." Despite the use of the word "special" , these speaking situations are immensely common and touch many people who do not think of themselves as public speakers. This "public speaking of our everyday lives” poses special challenges due to the diversity of goals and contexts that are involved.

 

 All forms of Public Speaking/Communication  involve similar tasks and skills which you have already learned in your basic communication course:

> Audience Analysis

> Audience Adaptation

>Literal & Figurative Language

> Vocal & Physical Delivery

 

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PROCEDURE OVERVIEW

This semester, the Special Occasion unit is being used as a PRE-TEST to assess your current knowledge & skill levels in Public, Presentational & Professional speaking. It also will be a test of your powers of imagination, skills of  improvisation, & ability to think on your feet. In the space of a single class session, through collaborating in small teams, we will be devising and delivering a mock banquet program for a hypothetical Special Occasion consisting of several types of public/professional speeches.

 

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STEP-BY-STEP PROCEDURE

 

1-  Prior to the class workshop session, students should read the relevant chapters.{ Chap 27} 
2- During class, if there is time, the instructor will review key S.O.concepts and will show selected, additional videoclips to illustrate Special Occasion Speeches in action (e.g. award show acceptances, etc.). If possible, several clips will be linked below on this page.{many current links need refreshing} 
3-  On workshop day, the Professor will distribute a handout in the form of a banquet program for a hypothetical Public Speaking Class Reunion - specifying various S.O. tasks—such as Introductions, Award Presentations, Toasts, Eulogies, etc.  {See sample program below.}
4- Small teams will be formed and charged with the task of cooperatively creating a designated speech to be delivered as part of the “banquet.”  During the specified workshop class session, these mini-teams will work for 30-40 minutes to create & practice their assigned speeches. Feel free to seek out additional guidelines & examples online.
5-  As an option, the Professor might supply links to newspaper clippings of wedding announcements, feature articles, obituaries, etc. to help jump-start students’ speech content. It's more likely that you just use your own imaginations and/or seek out additional guidelines & examples online.
6 -  In the last 25 minutes of the class workshop session, the Banquet program will proceed from beginning to end with you delivering the Special Occasion speeches you have created.
7- At the end of the “program”, the individual speakers will receive oral feedback and a few may get an opportunity to “take 2” and deliver the speech again. {Although all team members work on the creation of the speech, usually only 1-2 people per team actually deliver it.} Ideally the oral presentation sequences will be as follows:
  > 1 team member: tells what S.O. techniques your team specifically applied
  > 1 team member: delivers the S.O. speech
  > 1 team member: gives a post mortem of the presentation [due to time constraints, this portion might carry over to the next class session]

 

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EVENT PROGRAM

 

page 1

 

Welcome

to our

Special Occasion

 

 

The Third Annual

Communication Class

Reunion Banquet

 

 

We hope you will join us in  Remembering and Celebrating our experiences in a  course that changed our lives.
Text Box: YOU & your teammate(s) have _____ (about 45) minutes to create the assigned Special Occasion speech. You should also take your break sometime during this period. For the content for most of these speeches, you should use data from the clippings (*) provided. However, some teams will need to rely on using your imaginations to make up hypothetical details when necessary. The point is to practice the creation & delivery of special occasion-type speeches. After the special occasion speeches are created, they will be delivered according to the sequence in the banquet program: [each team will get a grade for the overall quality of the strategies+ creation + the delivery + the postmortem]

 

 

page 2

Today’s program:

 »WELCOME SPEECH  delivered by ___________________

 »IN MEMORIAM delivered by ______________________

In commemoration of our members who have  passed away this year

»PRESENTATION OF DISTINGUISHED ALUMNUS  AWARD                     delivered by __________________

»ACCEPTANCE OF THE D.A. AWARD                   delivered by ______________

»ANNOUNCEMENT OF TODAY’S GUEST OF HONOR/LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT delivered by _____________________ - tentative

 »TOAST delivered by _____________

in honor of our most recently married couple.

 

»TOAST delivered by ________________                              in honor of a newly engaged  couple  - tentative

»if time, ________________ (TBD) delivered by _____________ - tentative

   

»CLOSING COMMENTS (A.D.S)    delivered by _____________________

A.D.S. = After Dinner Speech

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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misc source news clippings:  Some Browsers require opening in a new window

 * a wedding couple  - motorcycle ceremony

* an acceptance speech - vidclip: history making/rule breaking (Miranda)  ONE OF MY FAVORITES

* an acceptance speech- vidclip: history making/rule breaking (Berry)

* an acceptance speech - unconventional/inspirational (Durant)   ANOTHER  FAVORITE

* an acceptance speech - vidclip: conventional/eloquently succinct ( McDormand)

* a eulogy -  vidclip: ( B. Crystal>R.Williams)

* a eulogy + tribute + inspirational + intro of Guest Speaker vidclip:( H.S. speaker)

 

NB:  In last few years, there have been several prominent passings  [of people you might know]. If you look up their published obituaries, you will get a sense of possible eulogy content. This list below is far from complete.

 

Meatloaf ( Musical Artist)

Andre Leon Talley (Fashion Journalist & Trailblazer)

Bob Saget ( Actor, Comedian)

Betty White (Actress & Animal advocate)

Stephen Sondheim ( Composer)

Virgil Abloh ( fashion designer)

Sidney Poitier ( actor _

Chadwick Boseman (actor)

Cicely Tyson ( Actress, activist, cultural groundbreaker)

Chase Amick [6 Dogs] ( Musical artist)

 Larry King ( Broadcaster)

Hank Aaron (Baseball great)

John Lewis (Congressman & Civil Rights Activist)

Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( Supreme Court Judge)

Roy Horn (of Siegfried & Roy)

Siegfried Fischbacher (of Siegfried & Roy)

Regis Philbin ( TV celebrity)

Little Richard (musician & innovator)

B.Smith (Lifestyle expert, restaurant innovator, entrepreneur)

David Bowie ( Musical & Creative  artist)

Kobe Bryant ( Athlete-Basketball)

Neil Pert (Musician)

Charlie Daniels (musician)

Alan Rickman ( Actor-Severus Snape, Harry Potter)

Chester Bennington ( Musician)

Prince ( Musical & Creative artist)

Cris Cornell (Musician)

Dick Gregory ( Comedian & Activist)

Jerry Lewis (Comic Actor & movie maker)

 

 

 

SECTION BELOW IS BEING  UPDATED FOR CURRENT SEMESTER

updated for F22

color coding  for specific roles to be added after triad meets & begins to create:  F22

AA (9:30)    
__Shay Hagans___ __  Christopher de Lagarde__ ____Ross Pantano___  __ WELCOME
___Michael Soto____ __   _Tony Yousseff__  __   _Hugh Macleod_  __  IN MEMORIAM
__Renaldo Payne_______ __   __Patrick Ritter____  __  _Bryan Medina_  __  AWARD PRESENTATION
 __Jake Meneskie___ __  __Adrianna Villacis_  __ ___Kelly Lizano  __  AWARD-ACCEPTANCE
 ___Joey Tchako__ __  __Jorge Mercado_  __  __Gardy Boyer__  __ TOAST--retirement
 __________________ __  ________________  __ ____________________  __  TOAST-recently married
 ___----------------___ __  __----------------___  __ ____--------------------__  __ CLOSING ( A.D.S. )
       
       

 

 

 

BB (12:30)    
__Joseph Colino___ __  ____Filip Malesev_____ ____George Fricker__  __ WELCOME
__---------------____ __   _------------------------_  __   _---------------------------  __  IN MEMORIAM
__Bishoy Girgis_______ __   __Anne Sorrentino__ __  _Adrian Mercado  __  AWARD PRESENTATION
 __Ryan Reibeling___ __  _Nicholas Fitzgerald___ ___Michael Stamm  __  AWARD-ACCEPTANCE
 ___Jalen Hutchins_ __  _Madison Mindham_ __  __Taj Lanier_  __ TOAST-recently married
 __________________ __  ________________  __ ____________________  __  TOAST--retirement
 ___Johanna--------___ __  Anna-Lisa & Margarita__ ___Kaitlyn----------__  __ CLOSING ( A.D.S. )
       
       

 

 ( SUBCHANNELS will be LOCATED IN TEAMS)

 

 __   ___ __

 

 

POST MORTEM Panel Members-F'22:   (Live,  panel discussion with all "Blues" =  approx 10-15 minutes total)

Topics for disc:  Each panelist will give an assessment addressing these questions:

1- How would you rate your team in reference to the speech it created?  (1{low}-5{high})

2- In general what does it take to give a delivery that "sells" that type of Special Occasion speech & did your/this speaker have it?

3. If you were your speaker's Performance Coach, is there anything you would recommend for next time?

(4. What's the story behind all of those rituals surrounding the TOAST? ) [ROAST / TOAST / CLINK-DRINK]

 

AA (9:30)  
__Shay___  _ WELCOME
__Michael__  _ MEMORIAM
 _Renaldo___  _ AWARD PRESENTATION
_ Jake_ _ AWARD ACCEPTANCE
_____________  _  TOAST - married
 __Joey____  _  TOAST - retirement 
______________  _ CLOSING ( A.D.S. )
   
2 standbys?  

 

AA (9:30)  
__Joseph___  _ WELCOME
______________  _ MEMORIAM
 __Bishoy___  _ AWARD PRESENTATION
_Ryan_ _ AWARD ACCEPTANCE
_Jalen _  _  TOAST - married
 _____________  _  TOAST - retirement 
_Chris Kiely______  _ CLOSING ( A.D.S. )
   
1 standby?  

 

 

SYNTHESIZERs -F'21:  (oral participation TBD / deliverables> to be written into (tba)

Deliverables as listed below. All synthesizers will listen to the Post Mortem Panel discussion & comments and "digest" the meaningfulness of what was said. They will enter  answers to the questions below in the designated  Wiki file in Blackboard) . That way everyone can see the informataion-- which will be used for future quizzes/examss

 

  √ Be sure your entry in the TEAMS file document  is done with in understandable sentences. Some of this will be used for quiz questions . back-up standbys to be deployed as necessary.
1.

__-----_____________   ____

 - What are 3 adjectives/qualities that apply to ALL special occasion speeches? ___________     
2.
___________________   ____		 - What are 3 adjectives/qualities that apply to ALL special occasion speeches? ___________  
3. _____________________   ____ - Generate 2 usable insights about successful Public &/or Presentational speaking [as gleaned from this workshop &/or Chapter 1 &/or the Refresher Slide Show]  that can be applied to the upcoming Article/Commentary project. ___________   
4. ____________________  ____

 

 - Generate 2 usable insights about successful Public &/or Presentational speaking [as gleaned from this workshop &/or Chapter 1 &/or the Refresher Slide Show]) that can be applied to the upcoming Article/Commentary project. ___________   
5. ____________________

____________________    		- What is your answer to this question: Did COMM2625- pass the Pre-Test? + 2 reasons why you think yes, or no ___________    
___________    
      ___________    

 

 

 

What have you learned about Special Occasion Speaking?

 / Below = Sample answers from the past

[10:52 AM] A C H
One quality of all special occasion speeches is that they have a purpose, which is stated in the intro or welcome speech, and shown through the contents of the speech. Another quality is that the speeches are organized in a manner that allows them to flow from speaker to speaker and they are well rehearsed. Finally, a third quality is that they are delivered in a clear and concise manner using language that appeals to the audience and captures and maintains their attention. 
(1 liked)
​
[11:04 AM] K. O.
Two insights that can be applied to the upcoming article/commentary project could be deliver each aspect of the speech in a clear manner, getting each objective across appropriately. Another aspect can be to maintain focus and be organized, to not jump around but to be precise in your descriptions of the speech and the actual speech in it of itself.
(1 liked)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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finished sample:

AA (9:30)    
Bowen Redgate  __   Joseph Winkle  __ Christopher Berardo  __ WELCOME
      IN MEMORIAM
      AWARD PRESENTATION
 Alexander Winkle  __  Paul Chionchio    __ Matt Serafin   __  AWARD-ACCEPTANCE
 Kennedie McMahon   __  Gabby Roberts   __  Darlene Bazil   __ TOAST-recently married
 Zak Marcel      __ Aidan Grant    __ Declan Healy_ _ TOAST-retirement
 Scott Benzing     __   Fabio Fraschilla   __  Kwame Erwiah    __  CLOSING ( A.D.S. )
       
*Justin DiPietro ( pending ) *Mark Eskander *Richard Gudino *Bharath Mannam

 

 

misc source news clippings: [ Some Browsers require opening in a new window] [ Please let me know if any links no longer work]

 * a wedding couple 

* an acceptance speech- history making/rule breaking (Miranda)

* an acceptance speech- history making/rule breaking (Berry)

* an acceptance speech - unconventional/inspirational (Durant)

* an acceptance speech - conventional/eloquently succinct ( McDormand)

* a eulogy -  ( B. Crystal>R.Williams)

* a eulogy w/ humorous anecdote ( Hanks) TAKE A LOOK AT THIS ONE!!!

* a eulogy + tribute + inspirational + intro of Guest Speaker ( H.S. speaker)

* tips for the Toast - How to (N. Mitchell etiquette series)

* a Wedding Toast - fictional; part stand up comedy (Romano/Barone)