Commencement Speeches Honors Lang and Comp

Purpose? To address the possibilities of the future To motivate To inspire To honor the occasion What do you think?

Speaker? Must be credible Must be likeable Must be confident Must be pithy Must be humble

Audience? Usually graduates – –High school? –College? Also includes “interested” members: –Parents –Faculty and administration –Honored guests (school boards, etc.)

Let’s view a few ABC News’ Best Speeches of commencement-speeches http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/best- commencement-speeches Best advice from 2013 speeches: best-commencement-speeches- 2013_n_ html best-commencement-speeches- 2013_n_ html

Where do you begin? Find a main idea/message you wish to convey –What is the one piece of advice you would give? –Can you describe your speech in one word? (ie: hope, courage, faith)

How to write Determine your audience and occasion Use rhetorical strategies –More on this later Do NOT “flufferize” Keep it brief Draft, read, edit and revise, revise, revise

How to write Consider TONE Find two to three major points Stay focused Consider using anecdotes Equate word numbers to time factor (x words = 1 minute)

How to deliver Rehearse Find your voice Pace yourself Rehearse some more Choreograph hand movements, etc. Practice in front of someone

Watch a speech _pu74khttps:// _pu74k During the speech, please make notes of great phrases, the tone of the speaker, the credibility of the speaker, what main ideas are present, any rhetoric you hear.

Useful rhetorical techniques anecdote – short story aphorism – wise saying asyndeton – sentence that uses phrases without punctuation when it should be there

Useful rhetorical techniques metaphor/simile – fig language – renaming/comparing metonymy - A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated (such as "crown" for "royalty").

A review of useful techniques alliteration – repetition of beginning letters of words, sequential allusion – reference to well known person, place, thing, event analogy - comparison anaphora - A rhetorical term for the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses.

Useful rhetorical techniques parallelism - balance of words, phrases, clauses polysyndeton – A sentence style that employs many conjunctions (opposite of asyndenton) pun – play on words rhetorical question –a question posed in which no answer is expected/answer is known

Useful rhetorical techniques zeugma - He carried a strobe light and the responsibility for the lives of his men." the use of a word to modify or govern two or more words when it is appropriate to only one of them or is appropriate to each but in a different way

Your assignment Come up with an idea for a commencement speech Outline it according to this p.p. Purposefully include AT LEAST three rhetorical devises on the previous slides You will DRAFT on Wed. 4/23

To go the extra mile… Videotape yourself and assess your delivery