- Select a topic which allows you to inform your audience of a significant aspect of a culture that is different than your own. Possible topics include social customs, family traditions, holidays, clothing, food, religious traditions, and sporting activities. Refer to Chapter 7 of your text as a guide.
- Research your topic. Be imaginative in choosing content for your speech. It is not enough to simply summarize basic information from the Internet about a country or culture. Narrow the topic by selecting one specific aspect on which to focus your ideas.
- Organize the main points of your speech using an informative pattern of organization. Your speech should give your audience a deeper understanding of your topic, but should not be designed to affect your audience’s beliefs, attitudes, or behavior.
- Provide adequate support for each main point by citing at least three credible sources in the speech. Incorporate examples, narratives, testimonial evidence, statistics, analogies, explanations, and/or definitions where appropriate. Sources must be cited orally in the speech. If you have had direct contact with a different culture, you should supplement your research with your personal experience.
- Create an introduction and conclusion.
- Once you have thought through each part of the speech (introduction, body, & conclusion), create a rough draft outline of the speech.
- Create speaking notes to use during your delivery. Use key words and phrases rather than complete sentences. Your notes should serve only as a memory aid and should not be a word-for-word manuscript of your speech.
- Practice your presentation before videoing yourself so that you can deliver the information with only occasional glances at your notes.
- Consider asking friends or family members to view your presentation before submitting.
Need some inspiration? Check out the presentations below:
