This will be a two-level exercise.
1. Writing. Find an interesting group of facts and details to report the weather. Introduce, organize, conclude. Find colorful language.
Here's a sample I made up:
"Here's Nancy Chen with the upcoming local weather forecast."
"Thank you, Bob. Get out your umbrellas: The forecast is for rain, rain, and more rain, lasting at least through tomorrow morning and early afternoon. In fact, it's not likely to clear until tomorrow evening. So for those with children, why not try staying indoors this weekend and enjoy your favorite television programs instead. Wait until the sun comes out: then you can hit the beaches again! Now back to Bob."
2. Speaking. After you're written your little presentation, you'll have to practice it for speaking in class. Consider the following:
1. Intonation. Find a proper melody to fit the words.
2. Pronunciation. Be sure you know how to pronounce the words you use.
3. Articulation. Speak clearly.
4. Accent. Use the right stress and secondary stress on each word (many should not have problems with this).
5. Volume. Project your voice (let your voice carry, so even people far back can hear you).
6. Fluency. Your speaking should flow, not stop and start: "Um, it will, ah, snow and, ah, um, it will get, ah, colder."
7. Memory. Remember, memory is divided into 3 parts:
a. You should remember your content, though not necessarily the exact words. If necessary, use cue cards. These are small index cards that may have a few words written on them, which can then be shuffled for the next card, etc.
b. Your memory should also be a storehouse. This will not be necessary for this first speech, but in the long term the more that is stored in your memory, the more it will help you write/deliver speeches.
c. Remember the memory of your listeners--the audience. Make your speech vivid, clear, simple, and complete. Big words are not as good as the right words. Short sentences are better than longer sentences with many subordinate clauses! Those are great for novels, but not for public speaking.
8. Gesture. This includes physical poise, eye contact, and vocal variation (changes of pace, drama, and volume).
Good luck.
Obviously, you should tune in on several weather reports to practice your presentation. You may wish to tape some of these and listen repeatedly.
Here are some ideas for your next speech:
You are to broadcast an "on-the-scene" event, whether tragic or of social interest, such as the following:
1. A movie premiere.
2. A train/plane/car accident (the car accident will have to be major, of course, involving many automobiles).
3. A political protest (against some social policy or law).
4. A national or celebrity wedding.
5. A major fire.
6. A natural disaster (earthquake, typhoon, volcanic eruption, etc.).
7. An awards ceremony (MTV, Oscars, Emmy awards, etc.).
8. A major criminal act (a bank robbery, etc.)
Or any other idea you come up, similar to the above.
The report should include:
1. A point of view about the event;
2. Interesting details (the dress of the stars, the design of model of the plane, the political cause, the cause of the vehicular accident, the deaths involved in such an event as a fire, the guests invited to the celebrity wedding and obviously the celebrities involved, the nominees at the awards ceremony, the description of suspects in a robbery, the amount stolent, the clues, etc. Other details of course include the location, time, identity of the speaker, and so on.
Try to work on speech goals rather than just do an assignment. The speech goal (objective) is to introduce a first-day class to the subject, course requirements, as well as to yourself. You should focus on personality, pace, reception (students absorbing what you have to say) as much as content (making sure all important issues are addressed). Work a little harder on those objectives. I've never been a big fan of homework for the sake of homework ("busy work"). The objective in this class is to be comfortable in all speaking situations you may encounter. By the end of the year (two semesters) we should practice all of them. Work on both content and (especially, in this case) preentation. You've got to make sure students feel they chose the right class, assuming that's the class they wanted in the first place. Many of you will soon find yourselves in such a situation, whether kindergartners or ESL students, whether private or public lessons. So now's the time to practice, not when it's too late.
Good luck.
Next week, at the regular time, we'll have a speech examination. This will be your best opportunity to use everything you have learned this semester, including,
1. poise,
2. articulation,
3. diction (choice of words),
4. coherence (organization),
5. gesture (body movement, vocal variation),
6. vocal production (volume),
7. tone (intonation),
8. pronunication.
The employment opportunity is a part-time instructor at our university. Students will be evaluated based on the criteria above as well as the content of the interview, whether as interviewer or interviewee.
To give you reasonable guidelines I refer you to this website that will help you prepare for the exam. For a quick checklist from that page, see box, left. This of course is only a checklist (you cannot rely on it entirely), but will give you some ideas of the direction to go. Obviously you must find a proper point-of-view or context, too. For example, you may wish to omit the question about pressure (#10), but at least sensibly contextualize it (justify it). Take a McDonald's job interview, for example: "As you know, during rush hours, the demand for burgers is very high. Do you think you're able to work under that kind of pressure?"
Remember, each student will play both roles, as interviewer and interviewee (this means the same two students). Obviously judgment will be different for each role.
The interviewer will be judged on the basis of the questions asked, followup questions, etc. The interviewee will be judged on the basis of the best responses to those questions. The interviewee is not responsible if the interviewer performs poorly; the interviewee is only responsible for the best responses allowed.
Students will be chosen by lot. The first student will interview student 2, who will interview student 3, etc. until student 11 interviews student 1, to complete the chain.
Each interview will last about ten minutes. Time, of course, is a factor in both real-life situations (where the interviewer has numerous applicants to interview in a single morning) and in our classroom situation (where we only have 2 hours). Therefore, an important part of your rehearsal will involve crisp questions and quick replies. In this regard, both parties should exercise control, but the interviewee should especially consider a balance between not responding in a too involved manner while at the same time responding in an adequate manner. In the same way, the interviewer must not cut the interviewee off but insure that the interview remains in her/his control when the response is too vague or meandering (not to the point).
Students will be graded in both their interviewer and interviewee roles. Do NOT feel too much pressure; your performance all semester is equally important. At the same time, this is an important show of what you've learned.
ALL students must appear. Makeups are NOT allowed except in case of documented emergency.
Good luck!
(1) Lovely Sandra Dee: Look at her soft shiny hair. Yet notice how much body it has, how every wave behaves. "After driving with the top down too. But actually, my hair is easy to manage thanks to [pause] rich liquid Lustre Creme Shampoo. If you're unhappy with your shampoo: [pause] if your hair seems dry, dull and hard to mangage, then [pause] try mine. There's no harsh detergent cream action in liquid Lustre Creme Shampoo.
Note the short sentences here; some are incomplete sentences, which, though ungrammatical in written English, work well in spoken English. "Lovely Sandra Dee." An imperative (command) follows with special admiring intonation: "Look at her soft shiny hair." Then the speaker repeats the word "how," creating a musical rhythm ("how much body it has, how every wave behaves"). Notice the details are selective (the listener can absorb only several items at most: the rule of three). Then Dee contrasts the more serious sell of the male speaker with a more girlish nonchalance for contrast: "After driving with the top down too." (She means the top of her convertible automobile.) Notice too how Dee effectively pauses to vary her spoken line, such as after "If you're unhappy with your shampoo" or "dry, dull, and hard to manage then [pause] try mine." Then she varies the line again, pausing effectively after every word of her "sell" (product): "There's no harsh detergent cream action in Liquid / Lustre / Creme / Shampoo."
(2) Here is Sandra Dee [pause] of Universal-International's Portrait in Black. "And this [pause] is wonderful new liquid Lustre Creme Shampoo: a rich lanolin-based liquid that makes [changed intonation] any hairstyle easy to set with just plain water. Try new liquid Lustre Creme [pause] for lovely [pause] natural-looking curls.
Notice the way Dee varies her intonation in the examples underlined above, first for drama, then to help the listener (a girl like herself) identify with her girlish pleasure (almost purring the words, "natural-looking," with a further variation on the final, barely audible, word, "curls.").
(3) Here's the lovely young star of Universal-International's Portrait in Black, [pause] Sandra Dee. "Hi, [pause] I'm going away on location. [pause] So I'm trying to decide what I'm going to take. But [pause] here's something I know I want: new liquid Lustre Creme Shampoo. [pause] Terrific! That rich lather is Heaven! It keeps my hair shiny and clean and leaves it easier to manage and [pause] well it makes any hairstyle easy to set. That's important for you girls who [slight pause] shampoo and set your own hair too. Watch this film and see. [pause] With rich lanolin-based liquid Lustre Creme you just shampoo, [pause] set with plain water [pause] and have [change of intonation] lively [pause] natural looking [another change of intonation] curls. See how springy mine are? Try New liquid Lustre Creme [pause] and you'll comb out natural-looking curls too." Get new Lustre Creme Shampoo. Now in rich liquid, [pause] foamy lotion, [pause] satiny cream. All have a none-drying formula for shinier, easier-to-manage hair.
The basic principle is the same: short sentences, varied intonation, strategic pauses, with variation in the line being the general rule (including variation of sentence type, such as imperative, question, etc.).
(4) "Hi, [pause] I'm Sandra Dee [pause] and this is new liquid Lustre Creme Shampoo. It makes any hairstyle [pause] easy to set. Like this one [pause] I wear in my new picture, Portrait in Black for Universal-International. Try new liquid Lustre Creme. Now!" Now only 79 cents for the regular dollar size.
Besides completing the proverb presentations and doing the Listening Exam (CNN 5-16-06), next week each student will present a sales pitch for product.
This will involve,
1. Knowing the product (either by reading a manual or researching the product);
2. Building a vocabulary related to the product;
3. Comparing with other (usually unnamed products);
4. Listing the benefits of the product (cost, health, fashion, ease of use, etc.).
5. Understanding your audience and applying that understanding to persuade;
6. Understanding your purpose: to sell by arousing interest in, or desire for, your product;
7. Building your sales pitch effectively, using the commonplaces (comparison, division, definition, reasons, testimony [what others say], examples, etc.).
Good luck. Hope you can make a sale next week.
Improvisations, however, do not mean random preparations. The jazz musician improvises based on previous preparation in schematic organization (chord changes, melodic ideas, etc.). Debates are at least partly improvised (during the question and answer period), but based on a general preparation.
The best way to practice improvising (or speaking prepared speeches too) is to use what are called the commonplaces, adopted from Aristotle. These include:
1. Definition of what one is talking about This doesn't (and probably shouldn't) have to be formal; often informal definitions are better: "Jazz involves some element of syncopation and improvisation, which distinguishes it from written music as well as from sponanteously performed music without syncopation."
2. Division: "There are many things to do to enjoy a city's nightlife: There are restaurants, show places, movie theatres, or (for those without money) waterfront areas that are free."
3. Example: "Recently my friend and I saw the movie, Nightmare, which had far too much violence for our tastes. If this is typical of movies that are being exhibited today, then I suggest it's not the proper kind of entertainment for young people.
4. Comparison (contrast or similarity): "Tainan may be less modern than Taipei, but therein lies its interest for tourists, for one can find older temples and other samples of architecture that are more interesting than those in Taipei." "Clasical music may not have, to modern listeners, the obvious excitement of Rock 'n' Roll or jazz, but its excitement is more subtle, in terms of orchestral colors, shifts in harmony, and range of melody."
5. Testimony (quotation): "The critic for the New York Times called the movie the best of the year." "Of the composer Handel, none less than Beethoven said he would bend his knee in the man's honor."
6. Cause-Effect: "A trip to Hawaii relaxes the mind and joins one to nature like no other place." "A glass of their burgundy will put you in a mellow mood almost instantly." "If you wish excitement, go to the Le Jazz Hot, where some of the finest jazz musicians in our city play every weekend." "Exercise not only strengthens the body and improves our general cardiovascular health, but relaxes the mind as well, as any runner knows after their morning run."
7. More and Less. "True, a plane can get you there quicker, but a train can get you there more comfortably and with more pleasure. One can hardly see the view from a plane window; but taking the train, one can see the vast countryside as one goes to one's destination. It's more important to enjoy going someplace then just to get there." (Note how I used several commonplaces here, including Cause-Effect, Comparison, then More and Less.
These are only the major commonplaces. Their effective use is in endless combinations, like the twelve-tone scale in music. They are not used once and for all and then forgotten; rather one commonplace leads to another, which refers back to a previous one used, etc. One must learn to use them instantly, without hesitation. For this reason, rhetoric (the art of speaking) emerged in the law courts in ancient Greece, where speaking quickly and logically was necessary in order to win cases. This is not to say that preparation is not necessary! Preparation and improvisation are not mutually exclusive but mutualy dependent: only the prepared person is ready to improvise when neeeded; and preparation requires flexibility, the ability to change quickly depending on one's audience and their response or on unexpected challenges made to our rhetoric or facts: "You say that that never happened and that you have proof. I accept your proof, but I do not accept its importance for the case. For even if the defendant, Mr. Carey, never robbed that bank, he is guilty of robbing other banks and those robberies have never been disputed. Those are enough to warrant his sentence." (Here the speaker was unexpectedly challenged on a fact, but succeeded in minimizing the importance of that fact: this would be using More and Less; that is to say, the fact that Mr. Carey never robbed one bank is less important than the fact that he robbed the others.
Now you should practice using these commonplaces and be able to use them flexibly and in combination as well as recursively (that is, again and again as the speech demands). Good luck next week!
Thousands of years ago, the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, listed “topics” of invention, supposed to help the speaker (writer) discover ways to build an argument. These topics are still useful today. Especially in combination with other topics, they are useful to generate (or come up with) ideas. Here is an example, mostly using the subject of music. These are mostly very short examples to illustrate each topic without taking up too much space. But of course all of these topics, especially in combination with others, can be used for many pages at a time:
DEFINITION
“Jazz is a syncopated, improvised music: it has an irregular beat and is mostly made up during performance."
DIVISION
Whole and Parts
“There are many kinds of jazz, including Big Band and Cool jazz. Big Band jazz is,” etc.
"There are many kinds of music, such as classical, show music, soul, rhythm and blues, and rock 'n' roll. Among these jazz has a special distinction. The reason is," etc.
Subject and Adjuncts
"Winter will come soon. There will be cold bodies, frozen lakes, unheated homes, a want for food. So let us end this war soon."
COMPARISON
“Big Band is a more popular and danceable kind of jazz, while Cool jazz is more personal and serious.”
DEGREE
“Big Band jazz is more likely than is Cool jazz to please listeners who enjoy a good tune.”
CAUSE/EFFECT
“Big Band jazz developed from the culture of the radio and dance hall.”
ANTECEDENT/CONSEQUENT
“If Big Band jazz is to return to favor, the social conditions must change.”
CONTRARY
“In many ways, the audience for Big Band jazz is opposite to those who like Cool jazz.”
CONTRADICTION
“If you can’t dance to it, it is not Big Band jazz.”
POSSIBLE/IMPOSSIBLE
“Big Band jazz was impossible before the big dance hall was established and cannot return without the return of those dance halls.”
PAST FACT/FUTURE FACT
“It was young people who made Big Band jazz popular. However, since young people today are more interested in different kinds of dances, such as hip hop, it is unlikely the Big Band era will return.”
TESTIMONY
Authorities
“The critic, Tom Adams, called Cool Jazz the greatest musical movement of the 50s.”
Witnesses
“Those alive during the 40s will tell you how important the dance hall was to them.”
Proverbs
“As someone once said, ‘Jazz is whatever you think it is.’”
Rumors
“Some even say that Big Band jazz helped many through the difficult times of World War II.”
Oaths
“My father swears that Benny Goodman was the greatest musician he ever heard.”
Documents
“If you look on the label, you’ll see the word ‘jazz’ written very clearly. This proves that the music is considered jazz by the record company.”
Laws
“According to the government, Big Band music must be classified as entertainment, not a necessity.”
Precedents
“If Duke Ellington’s music was considered jazz, then so is Woody Herman’s.”
Supernatural
“When I listen to Glenn Miller, I know in my heart that it’s jazz.”
NOTATION AND CONJUGATES
“Some say that ‘jazz’ originally meant to ‘dance.’ This shows the close relationship between early jazz and dancing.”
JUDICIAL (justice/injustice)
“It is only fair and right that he should be compensated for the losses he suffered.”
DELIBERATIVE (the good, unworthy, advantageous, disadvantageous)
“It’s good that we increase student enrollment in our colleges. It is unworthy of our leaders to invest money in other areas of life when it is far more useful to invest in student welfare. A culture without an educated citizenry has many problems.”
CEREMONIAL (virtue, vice)
“He was a decent man, willing to help others and never jealous of another’s success.”
We discussed other issues in class today. We spoke about the three levels of speaking, including logic (logos), feeling (pathos), and character (ethos). By giving the Greek terms, you may remember these three in their rhymed pattern: logos, pathos, ethos. Logos concerns logic, organization of ideas. Pathos concerns moving your audience, making them feel something about your ideas. And by ethos you present yourself as a reasonable character (ethical, good, righteous). Ethos is of course a relative term. In some situations, seeming superior may be desirable to increase your image; in other situations, seeming humble may be desirable. There is no hard and fast rule in rhetoric. This is the real genius of Aristole as a philosopher of rhetoric: he did not believe in a hard and fast rule for society: anything was possible and therefore one had to learn how to argue any point of view, depending on one's own needs, the audience, and their emotions.
A simple example regarding capital punishment:
"My friends (ethos: regarding others as friends and being seen as one in turn), I'm not an educated man (ethos: humility). But I do know what it means when a mother loses a child (pathos). It takes no education to observe a mother's grief over a child she will never see again, touch again, hear again (ethos, pathos, plus use of the scheme called epistrophe, repeating the same word three times "see again, touch again, hear again." This is also an example of parallelism, using the same grammatical structure [verb + again] three times). To lose a child is bad enough. But to lose a child in a senseless killing is beyond grief and touches madness (antecedent/consequence: what comes before and what follows, but not proved [cause-effect], only presumed, assumed).
Now we cannot make things right again by bringing this woman's son back to life. But we can make things right by bringing the man who killed him to justice. (logos; reason; antithesis or contrary; opposed ideas)
And who are we to say this mother's child is not worth a man's life? (Rhetorical question [erotema], suggesting a statement of fact but not insisting on it [ethos, character]: I respect you too much to make up your mind for you; I'll let you make up your own mind). Should we, while letting this mother's murderer live, compound her grief with injustice and insult the memory of her child by giving less than the full justice due him? (Ethos; pathos)
Now some may call this murder, but I call it justice (contrary, antithesis). Some may call it wrong to take another's life for any reason, even in the name of justice (definition: defining the word "wrong"). But I say it is right to speak on behalf of the dead who have been deprived of speech. And what does the Bible say about this matter? (Testimony, quoting others.) "You shall not let the murderer live." (Law; Bible law).
This boy's death calls out, in the son's blood but also in the mother's tears, for the death of the man who killed him (pathos, logos; antecedent/consequence: the boy's death calls out for death; but this is not proved by the speaker, merely suggested; obviously death is not necessary for justice). But I will not make that decision for you. You are just people. I will let you make that decision for yourselves. Goodnight. (Ethos: character; the speaker is decent; he respects others and they will probably respect them.)"
This speech could be developed to last for hours, with the proper combining of different topics of invention. But I think you may get the idea by now.
Remember something else we talked about in today's class: the five parts of speech-making:
1. Invention: coming up with ideas by using the topics.
2. Arrangment of these ideas in proper order, basically Introduction, Beginning, Middle, End, Conclusion.
3. Language (style): using the correct language to express your ideas. An important part of style is called decorum, or suiting your style to the occasion, audience, etc. This includes tone too (sarcasm, humor, wit, gravity [seriousness], etc.).
4. Memory. Remembering the speech. Today this means to use verbal or picture notes that remind you of main points of the speech. In the past it meant ways to memorize an entire speech by connecting each part of a speech to different parts of a building; so when one looked at the door of a church, one remembered the introduction of the speech; when one mentally went into the church and looked at the ceiling, one remembered the second part, etc.
Memory also means remembering many useful texts that one can use at the best (most appropriate time). By knowing Shakespeare, the Bible, Lao-tze, Chuang-tze, Li-po, etc. one can use what one has remembered.
Finally, memory means the memory of your audience and aiding them to remember. This is done by, for example, saying "First . . ."
"Second . . . " etc. or by such means as "To sum up" "Let me remind you," "As I said earlier," etc.
5. Action (acting, gestures, voice): using correct gestures and body movement and matching voice to speech. Obviously telling a parent her child has been injured requires a "grave" speaking voice. In fact, this part of speech-making especially concerned women. At one time in the media, women were denied speaking roles (television news, documentary films) because their voices lacked the "gravity" of male voices. Women of course have developed a more grave manner of speaking and this distinction no longer applies. Obviously you need a specially grave voice to announce on television the following news: "Tragedy has struck Chicago. A four-alarm fire has taken the lives of five children and two firemen. The mayor was at the scene of the tragedy and assured the public that a full investigation into the fire would be made."
Now I will give you assignments for next week and the week after.
To practice the fifth part of our five-part model of speech-making, you will either copy from a newspaper or make up a very brief (no more than one minute and no less than 30 seconds) report of either a tragic or comic event, such as the fire I reported above. Suggestions include: death, illness, disease, hijacking, terrorism for tragedy; or a new toy, computer game, CD, Hollywood (movie star) story, or anything silly you may find in the news. Example:
"You may think you've seen everything until you visit Seattle's newest museum. This museum is devoted to comic books. All your favorite comic books can be found there, such as Superman, Batman, and Spiderman. Just think what a delight that museum would be for a five-year old child. At times like these, I wish I were five years old myself."
The focus on this, our first speech exercise, as I said, will be on "actio" (gesture, voice), especially voice. Later, next week in fact, we'll start on invention, learning how to expand material not yet out own.
So for the week after, you will use your search engine (I can give you the address now, but won't, because you should learn how to do this) or you can go to the library and COPY only one short fable by Aesop, the great Greek fabulist (fable writer) who may or may not have written those fables or may or may not have be a real person. Regardless, let's call him "Aesop" (with quotations around his name!) and find one fable (these are usually only about 3-5 sentences long. Now add dialogue to one fable. This will give you practice in expanding or enlarging your material, as in the following Aesop fable (you cannot use this, but there are hundreds more):
The Ass and His Driver
AN ASS, being driven along a high road, suddenly started off and
bolted to the brink of a deep precipice. While he was in the act
of throwing himself over, his owner seized him by the tail,
endeavoring to pull him back. When the Ass persisted in his
effort, the man let him go and said, "Conquer, but conquer to
your cost."
A willful beast must go his own way
How can we expand on this? Like this:
"An ass, being driven along a high road, suddenly started off and bolted to the brink of a deep precipice. "It's nice to be free from my owner," the ass said to himself. "Who wants to be a slave to someone?" he asked himself.
Later on, I will ask you to do the whole fable, adding as much dialogue as possible. But for now, your goal is to find a place in the fable to add dialogue and when you do this, you can stop your speech (you don't have to finish the fable, as my example shows).
Any questions about this handout, please ask.
Once again, ATTENDANCE IS REQUIRED and students should be on time. Two (unexcused) absences=failure. What's an excused absence: mainly a doctor's signature.
item (however small) on a famous person who had stage fright. A few
lines is enough, unless you wish to bring or discuss more.
2. Prepare a weather announcement or report, about 60 seconds
long. Work on diction (that means checking how words are spoken);
intonation (proper accents on sentences, based on the meaning of the
sentence); volume (projecting the voice, or making it loud enough to be
heard); body language (standing, gestures, arm movements, vocal
contrasts, eye contact, etc.).
Let's review the 5 parts of speech making:
1. Invention (Also called "discovery": getting ideas). Topics help,
such as "definition," "description," cause-effect, testimony (quoting
others), examples ("for example"), compare and contrast, more or less
(which is better, this or that? which is more important, this or that?
is it more important to save money or to enjoy a good meal? etc.), and
division (first, second, third, etc.). These are only the most common
topics, enough to make good speeches.
2. Arrangement of ideas in the best order. Usually the strongest idea
comes last, esp. in speeches on social policy.
3. Diction. Use of words. Very important! Words offend people. They
also convince people. It all depends on the words you use. Help words,
curse words, short words, long words, fancy words, Bible words, names of
famous people, the word "God" can be a big word, etc.
4. Body Language. Calm, poised, finding the right pitch, the right
posture, hand gestures, leg stand, etc.
5. Memory. Not part of the speech, but helps make the speech. There
was a strong science of mnemonics (art of memory) teaching people how to
remember things. We use mnemonics every day, right? Computers use
memory aids. "Copy" uses the "C" key (not the P key!), because C is
easy to remember. There are memory aids in the form of sentences, where
the first letter of each word reminds us, as "Every good boy does fine"
reminds us the musical scale (EGBDF), or FACE reminds of the notes in
between the lines, etc. HOMES reminds of the give great American
lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior. Speakers used to use
their favorite building (say, a church) and place a part of their speech
in each part of the church. As they remembered each part of the church,
they remembered each part of their speech. There are many other
mnemonic devices. Try the one that suits you best.
Students should prepare the brief weather report. The goal should be: 1. Using prompts (index cards, etc.) correctly (invisibly). 2. Fluency (flow of speech). 3. Intonation (correct accent on sentences or phrasing for best sense. 4. Diction (proper vocabulary: even if the weather report is copied some changes may have to be made. Written language is different from spoken language. 5. Volume (essential of course: if no one hears you there's no point). 6. Pronunciation. Of course words have to be correctly pronounced. 7. Accent. Different from pronunciation, since it is more mechanical, knowing where to put the emphasis on a word. 8. No student can succeed without research, however minimal (little). Second language students have an added problem of pronouncing words correctly. 9. Body language: poise, eye contact, proper use of prompts. 10. Personality. This is next to body language. It involves a consistent personality suited to the material. Don't cheerfully announce a plane crash and don't seriously announce sunny weather! Second speech: Time permitting, you should think of giving a little speech on your stage fright assignment. Anyway, we'll do that next week if not this week. This would involve an introduction about stage fright; your famous person with stage fright; and a conclusion. Don't worry too much about this right now, think of the weather report. There is no textbook in our class so students have enough time to work on their inclass exercises.
Go to the online collection of Aesop's Fables. Pick a fable, like the one below:
The Ass and His Driver
AN ASS, being driven along a high road, suddenly started off and
bolted to the brink of a deep precipice. While he was in the act
of throwing himself over, his owner seized him by the tail,
endeavoring to pull him back. When the Ass persisted in his
effort, the man let him go and said, "Conquer, but conquer to
your cost."
A willful beast must go his own way.
You should then do 2 things:
1. Change it so it's good for speaking. This means changing words, length of sentences, or recasting sentences, as in the following version in blue type:
Once there was an ass. He was being guided along a high road. Suddenly he ran to a cliff! His owner grabbed him by the tail. He tried to stop him. But the ass was very stubborn. So the man gave up and said,
"Do what you wish. But pay the price!"
2. Then you wish to add dialogue of your own, an easy way to make your copy larger than the original, but not too long. (All versions should be no longer than the weather reports of last week. That means if you add dialogue you may have to cut in other places; or don't add too much dialogue, like the following):
Once there was an ass. He was being guided along a high road. Suddenly he ran to a cliff! His owner grabbed him by the tail.
"Stop, you foolish animal! Have you no sense? You'll be killed!"
But the ass was very stubborn. So the man gave up.
"Do what you wish," he said. "But pay the price!"
This is an exercise in being creative by borrowing material. Many artists start out by copying, then changing, then adding, then they don't even need models: the models are now within themselves without their knowing it.
Besides online Aesop's fables, you can buy fairly cheap (but shorter) copies, like the one below.
Week of 19 October 2004
For the proverb exercise:
FOLLOW the model. Some of you still have problems with CONCRETE attention-openers.
Here's another example of the ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY.
How many times have you seen a successful businessman sitting in a corner at a party while
everyone else is having a good time? It's obvious his name must be Jack and he never learned
how to play, he was is so busy working to be a success.
So today please allow me to say a few words about one of my favorite proverbs, "All work
and no play makes Jack a dull boy." The meaning of course is that we need to balance work
and play to lead completely successful lives. That applies to Jill too!
For example, my sister Nancy knows how to be a success in the fashion industry, designing
clothes for other people. But she can't design a happy life for herself. The result is when work
is done on Friday night she stays home phoning me to tell me how lonely and unhappy she is.
Although successful in her career, would you call Nancy a success?
Bob's another example. Ever since he was a boy, his parents made him believe there was
only one way to earn their love, and that was to get high grades. Well, Bob has surely earned
his mom and dad's love, but he hasn't earned the love of a wife. You see, Bob can't hold on to
a girlfriend long enough to marry her. They get bored with him after a few dates, since he never
learned how to enjoy life and he makes it diffifcult for others to enjoy life too. So Bob is left
with only his parents to love him, and money in the bank.
So next time you think you have to complete another business deal or read another book to
feel like you're a success, think about Jack in the proverb, forget about work for a while, and
plan to play instead!
Adapted for speaking:
I'm sure you've seen him. He's hard to miss. With his business suit and bold manner.
He's at a party. He sits in a corner. But everyone else is having a good time.
His name is Jack. He never learned to play. He was busy being a success instead!
Let me say a few words about Jack. He's so famous, he's mentioned in a proverb:
"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!"
This means we need to play and work to live happy lives. That means Jill too!
My sister, Nancy, knows what success means. She should. She's a successful designer.
Yet she can't design her own life. So she phones me on Friday night to tell me how lonely she is. I make her even lonelier when I hang up to be on time for my Friday night date.
Nancy is successful in her career. But is she successful in life?
Or take Bob. Bob's parents gave Bob love only in return for high grades. Bob got high grades all right. And he got his parents' love too.
But that's all he got. He never got the love of a wife!
You see, Bob's too busy to spend time with girlfriends. Not long enough to marry them.
Besides, they soon get bored with him. After all, Bob never learned to enjoy life. Worse, he makes it hard for others to enjoy life when around him.
Bob has love all right. The love of his parents. And money in the bank too.
But his parents will soon be dead. And who's Bob going to spend his money on?
So next time you get caught in the work trap, stop and think. Sure you'd like to complete another business deal! Sure you'd like to read another book! After all, you want success. But think about Jack in the proverb. Forget work! Plan to play instead!
You should prepare and focus on:
1. Flow (fluency: no hesitations!)
2. Diction (choosing right words)
3. Pronunication (saying the right words correctly)
4. Intonation (correct accent on the sentence)
5. Volume (speak loudly enough to be heard)
6. Articulation (speak clearly enough to be understood)
7. Gestures (match gestures to the words, but be sure not to gesture too much or too little and never touch hand to face)
As for the content itself:
1. Choose correct words (use a synonym book if necessary)
2. Say a lot in a few words
3. Be concrete, or at least stay at lower levels of generality: instead of "job" say "teacher," instead of "teacher" say "Mr. Chen, my grade school teacher," etc.
4. Fluency (correct transitions, no abrupt or sudden changes, find linking phrases between ideas
5. Coherence (connect ideas logically)
6. Focus (don't go too far from the main idea)
By Steve Ginsburg
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - James Earl Jones gazed silently over empty seats at the Kennedy Center, where in just a few hours he would end a lengthy hiatus from the theater.
The celebrated actor with one of the world's most celebrated voices remained taciturn. He glanced at the stage. The lighting. Then back to the stage.
James Earl Jones thought about where he was and where he'd come from.
"It's a wonderful irony," he said, eyes still fixed on the stage. "It happens to dancers, athletes. Gwen Verdon, Althea Gibson. The weak muscle became the strong muscle."
The barrel-chested Jones, whose deep, sultry voice is a large part of his craft, remembers his excruciatingly silent upbringing on a farm in rural Mississippi.
As a youth, he went eight years without speaking while battling a tortuous stuttering problem.
"It was just too painful and embarrassing," the 73-year-old Jones said. "I didn't know what I wanted to say anyway. And to get up and say something and announce yourself to the world -- not that you could get it out clearly -- was very frustrating."
From about the age of 6 until 14, Jones spoke only "farm sounds," calling the cows or talking to the dogs.
"There was sounds I made on the farm, necessarily. It would have been a hazard (otherwise)," he said. "But I didn't have conversation. And when guests came to the house, they to really work hard to get me to say 'hello' to the guests.
"'Come on out and say 'hello' to Mrs. so-and-so.' I couldn't handle it."
Jones, who moved to Michigan during his reticent years, credits an astute high school teacher, Donald Crouch, for luring his pupil out of his silent world.
The future actor was an avid poetry writer who had written "Ode to a Grapefruit" but could not read it to the class.
"The teacher said, 'If you love poetry, you've got to be able to say it out loud. That's what poetry is. Poetry is one of the most original forms of communication.
"'It's the grunts, the howls, the screeches of cave men. That was poetry. And song. If you like that stuff you've got to be able to open your mouth and say them.' And he got me back to talking again."
And that's when Jones realized he had the sonorous voice that has since become his trademark.
"Being a stutterer brought me to acting," he said.
His pipes are now one of the top tickets in Hollywood. The actor's voice credits include the menacing Darth Vader of Star Wars, imposing Mufasa in The Lion King, and the booming proclamation "This is CNN."
Speech practice will involve the following:
1. Memorization (the poem should be memorized).
2. Vocabulary. Students must understand the words in the poem. (Beyond words, you must understand meaning.)
3. Pronunication. Students must know how to pronounce those words, either by using a dictionary or asking someone.
4. Presentation. This involves all the other parts of speech-giving, including perfect memorization (any hesitation will ruin the presentation), intonation, phrasing the poem for meaning, poise while reciting the poem, and, of course, factors presented above (1-3).
5. Brief commentary. Find a point-of-view about the poem. This can be as brief as possible, probably the briefer the better.
Take Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (easy to find in your American Lit anthology):
"I'm now going to read you a lovely poem by the American poet, Robert Frost. It's a very simple poem, but expressing deep emotions.
"It can be enjoyed by children as a poem about snow. But it's really also about the longing for death until the poet snaps out of it--gets control of himself, you might say. He remembers that he has 'promises to keep' before he rests.'
"So the poem speaks to all of us who want rest but also wish to fulfill our social responsibilities first."
WARNING: Do NOT give a scholarly analysis of the poem. That's not what this presentation is about. You're supposed to talk simply to simple people (most speech listeners, except at medical conferences, etc. are simple auditors).
This is the first half of the speech, useful to speakers as well as to actors. The original text is in bold-faced black font, while my modern prose "translation" is in boldfaced red font. Students however are advised to check the original, from Act III of Hamlet:
Say the speech, I beg you, as I spoke it for you
you, trippingly on the tongue: but if you mouth it,
smoothly; but if you speak it
as many of your players do, I had as lief
like bad speakers, it would not matter if
the town-crier spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air
a loudmouth yelled them. And don't move your
too much with your hand, thus, but use all gently;
hands too much, like this. Move your hands gently;
for in the very torrent, tempest, and, as I may say,
for in the storm
the whirlwind of passion, you must acquire and beget
and power of your emotions, you must use
a temperance that may give it smoothness. O, it
control to make your delivery smooth. Oh, it
offends me to the soul to hear a robustious
angers me deeply to hear a loud speaker
periwig-pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to
foolishly covered in a wig, yell
very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings, who
every word, deafening the ears of the uneducated
for the most part are capable of nothing but
listeners who mainly like
inexplicable dumbshows and noise: I would have such
a lot of gestures and noise. I would
a fellow whipped for o'erdoing Termagant;
punish him for screaming.
it out-herods Herod: pray you, avoid it.
It's worse than bad acting. Don't do it.
Be not too tame neither, but let your own discretion
But don't speak too softly either. Let common sense
be your tutor: suit the action to the word, the
guide you: fit each gesture to each word, each
word to the action; with this special o'erstep not
word to each gesture; but never speak
the modesty of nature: for any thing so overdone is
unnaturally: for when you do that,
from the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the
you hurt your purpose. Your main goal
first and now, was and is, to hold, as 'twere, the
is to match words and gestures
mirror up to nature. . . .
as it fits the content of your speech. . . .
We've all heard that line before. Spoken by Marlon Brando in the movie, On the Waterfront, it galanized audiences and a generation of actors.
Unfortunately, Brando's Oscar-winning performance has overshadowed the movie in which he played. But the movie is worth seeing on its own merits.
Directed by Elia Kazan and winner of the 1954 Best Picture Oscar, the movie shows gangland corruption on the New Jersey waterfront. Brando, as Terry Malloy, a punch-drunk ex-fighter, finds himself torn betwen loyalty to his crooked brother and to Edie Doyle, sister of the man Terry unknowingly set up to be killed but with whom he has now fallen in love.
The movie is fast-paced and well-acted throughout. The scene in the taxi, where Terry accuses his brother of selling out his career is one of the classic scenes in movie history.
Besides Brando, the cast included many of the leading actors of the time, including Lee J. Cobb, Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden, and Rod Steiger, all of whom received Academy nominations.
The movie is scheduled for a special showing beginning Wednesday at the Tainan Art Museum, and is highly recommended.
A generation used to seeing Marlon Brando as Don Corelone in The Godfather might be surprised to see an earlier edition of this remarkable American actor. On the Waterfront, a 1954 Best Picture Oscar winner, is now showing at the Pearl Theatre in Kaohsiung, for a one-week engagement ending next Sunday.
Even those who own the movie on DVD are advised to see it on the big screen, in all its gritty realism. Brando, and a cast of fellow method actors like Karl Malden, Rod Steiger, and Lee J. Cobb almost invented modern movie acting.
But there's also the realism of the location photography on New Jersey's waterfront (Hoboken), with a soundtrack dominated by factory whistles and traffic noises. The love story is also realistic, with Eva Marie Saint in shabby dresses and little makeup, and concerned more with justice (who killed her brother) than flowers. Leonard Bernstein's Oscar-nominated score, using mostly wind instruments and percussion, helped redefine movie music in an age dominated by romantic scores.
There's also a realism outside the movie. Knowledgable movie fans know that director, Elia Kazan made this movie to justify his testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committees, asking for the names of suspected Hollywood communists or communist sympathizers. Regardless of the ethics of Kazan's testimony, the movie transcends the circumstances of its time and speaks about human conscience in all times. It's the way Kazan dramatizes this issue, and not simply preaches it, that makes On the Waterfront a movie worth seeing.
In one scene in On the Waterfront, the 1954 Oscar winner now playing at the National Park Museum, Marlon Brando, as Terry Malloy, an ex-fighter, tells Edie Doyle, the woman he has grown to love, that he has helped set up her brother's death. Just then, a factory whistle blows covering up his confession and her shocked response to it.
It is scenes like this that made Waterfront a film classic. Filmed on the New Jersey waterfront, it captures realistic images of life on the docks, while the screenplay exposes the corrupt forces in control there.
In the hands of a lesser director than Elia Kazan, who won an Oscar for his film, this subject might have made for a dull lecture on crime and exposure. But Kazan, famous for discovering Brando, James Dean and a host of lesser method actors, focused more on violent emotions and actions than on the moral issues behind them.
Instead of preaching social responsibility, he shows Karl Malden as Father Barry, nervously puffing a cigarette as he watches Terry's confession to Edie. Kazan doesn't tell us about dispossessed dock workers, but shows them waiting in vain to be assigned work on the piers. He doesn't teach us about the social consequences of corruption. Instead, in what quickly became a classic scene, he shows Terry accusing his gangland brother of selling his boxing career to the mob for easy money.
But it's especially in the love story between Terry and Edie where the forces of social corruption and social justice collide at the most personal level. It is this personal drama behind the public issue that makes On the Waterfront as involving today as it was when first released fifty years ago.
If you haven't already seen this film, I recommend you take the opportunity to do so when it opens for a three-day special engagement beginning Monday at the Cineplex Movie Palace in Tainan.
To study how the corners of the communication triangle (Logos, Ethos, Pathos) are used to affect persusasion, consider a jury trial, such as the big one that just ended in the case of Laci Peterson's murder by her husband (click on link).
During a trial itself, logos has by far the greater importance. In fact, jurors are warned they must consider only the evidence.
Second in importance, however, is the character of the defendant. Clearly the lawyer must be sure his defendant at least plays the part of an innocent man, even if he's not innocent.
Finally, although the jury is sworn to decide only on the evidence, clearly there are tricks to manipulate or affect jurors, such as showing pictures of the blood-spattered victim or (in this case) mentioning the intended name of the unborn child who was the second victim when the pregnant wife was murdered.
But once the verdict is in, the punishment phase of the trial follows. This is when the jurors decide on life or death. In this phase, logos has little place. It's the other two points of the communication triangle that are most important.
The defendant's lawyer, of course, will try to present his client as either innocent or (if there is no intention to appeal the guilty verdict) as a "good man" who made only one mistake; a decent man, who, even if he is a murderer, can continue to make a contribution, in prison, to society.
Here is where a train of "experts," friends, neighbors, and co-workers will insist that the man they knew was, up until the murder, a decent citizen who helped many of them in trouble, etc. The experts will go further and claim medical or psychological causes of "a change in personality." The slightest doubt that this person's character (ethos) is all bad may be the difference between life and death for the defendant.
The other side, of course, will arouse the anger of the jurors against the defendant and, at the same time, pity in favor of the victims of the crime. Orphans will be brought in saying how much they miss "Mommy." A mother will be brought in, saying, in sobbing syllables, how she misses "my little girl." Friends, neighbors, and co-workers will tell the jurors how deeply they miss the victim of the crime. You can see where pathos is of prime importance in the penalty phase of the hearing, just like logos was during the main trial.
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8136/tonguetwisters.html
Something in a thirty-acre thermal thicket of thorns and thistles thumped and thundered threatening the three-D thoughts of Matthew the thug - although, theatrically, it was only the thirteen-thousand thistles and thorns through the underneath of his thigh that the thirty year old thug thought of that morning.
Out in the pasture the nature watcher watches the catcher. While the catcher watches the pitcher who pitches the balls. Whether the temperature's up or whether the temperature's down, the nature watcher, the catcher and the pitcher are always around. The pitcher pitches, the catcher catches and the watcher watches. So whether the temperature's rises or whether the temperature falls the nature watcher just watches the catcher who's watching the pitcher who's watching the balls.
The seething sea ceaseth; thus the seething sea sufficeth us.
Thirty-three thousand people think that Thursday is their thirtieth birthday.
The Leith police dismisseth us. They thought we sought to stay. The Leith police dismisseth us. They thought we'd stay all day. The Leith police dismisseth us. We both sighed sighs apiece. And the sighs that we sighed as we said goodbye were the size of the Leith police.
To celebrate X'mas in appropriate fashion we will MEMORIZE and RECITE the following poem, The Night Before Christmas.
You should aim for:
1) pronunciation
2) delivery (drama)
3) volume
4) diction (clear articulation)
5) body language (poise, gestures, etc.)
6. memorization (memorization is good; students should memorize the whole poem)
(Actually, this is more properly called "verse." Still, because of its simplicity and room for personal interpretation, it's a good practice for speaking skills.)
How to memorize? The poem is made up of 56 lines, numbered here for convenience. There are 16 students in our class. If we divide our class into 4 groups, we get 4 students in each group. If we share each reading among those four students in each group, then each student must memorize 14 lines of the poem.
Each group will be responsible as a whole as well as individuals. The reading (recitation) of each person should not only be interesting and meaningful in itself, but should fit the whole. Imagine a drama production, where each actor must not only give a good performance but must be in agreement with other members of the cast. This is the goal of the director. So one member of a group can be a director, or all members of the group can share in the direction of the recitation.
How to alternate lines is another interesting area of choice.
Lines can be alternated numerically, of course, which is the simplest. Student 1 recites the 1st line, student 2 the 2nd, etc.
Or student 1 can recite the first 4 lines, student two the second group of 4, etc.
Or lines can be distributed according to vocal timbre or quality. For example, the deeper voice will speak Santa (but not only Santa, since there are not enough lines), the narrator's voice can change according to the quality of the line, needing a voice of sleepiness, a sound of thunder, a sense of wonder, etc.
A bit confusing, perhaps, but even a line can be divided between two speakers, for dramatic effect: "And Mama in her kerchief, and I in my cap." In this way, individual lines can be colored. Also, students will learn how plastic (shape-able) and varied lines can be, which will influence your later readings of regular presentations.
Variety of pace is of importance in all presentations (fast-slow, heavy-light, soft-loud, high-low volume, etc.), but especially to aimed for in a poetic recitation, and most especially in what is called "light verse."
In this group assignment, each student will naturally be placing pressure on the others, since each student will be compared (in delivery, volume, fluency, gestures, etc.) to the others.
The main goal, right now, is to self-assign yourselves into different groups of 4 and start rehearsing in time for 21 December 2004 (that's 2004, not 2005!).
by Clement Clarke Moore
2. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
3. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
4. In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
5. The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
6. While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
7. And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
8. Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,
9. When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
10. I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
11. Away to the window I flew like a flash,
12. Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
13. The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
14. Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
15. When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
16. But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
17. With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
18. I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
19. More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
20. And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
21. "Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
22. On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
23. To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
24. Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
25. As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
26. When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
27. So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
28. With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
29. And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
30. The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
31. As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
32. Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
33. He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
34. And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
35. A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
36. And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
37. His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
38. His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
39. His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
40. And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
41. The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
42. And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
43. He had a broad face and a little round belly,
44. That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
45. He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
46. And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
47. A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
48. Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
49. He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
50. And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
51. And laying his finger aside of his nose,
52. And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
53. He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
54. And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
55. But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
56. "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."
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