The Demonstrative Speech

What is a demonstrative speech? A speech that tells/shows an audience how to do something It requires that you provide instruction using materials in which to perform a specific task

General Outline 1.Introduction: Attention getter A statement of what it is your are going to do 2.Body: Provides a list of materials Explains how to do the certain thing Shows the final product 3.Conclusion: Review the steps briefly Explains how learning this particular thing will help the audience

The Introduction: Choosing a topic, appealing to audiences, and the attention getter

Choosing a Topic Choose a topic that you and your group are proficient at or are comfortable presenting on. Also, choose a topic that can be addressed during the allotted time. While you want to catch your audience attention, you may choose a topic that they may be fond of. You just need to appeal to them and catch their attention.

Appealing to Your Audience You want your audience to take something away from your demonstration, as well as be interested, so you must appeal to them. Consider the demographics of the audience. For example, you're showing a class of middle-aged women how to change a tire. What might you say to grab their attention in the beginning and throughout the speech.

The Attention Getter First impressions are important Grab your listener’s interest within the first ten to 15 seconds of the introduction. Don’t just state, “This is a demonstration on how to make pizza” Give a scenario, provide an interesting fact or statistic, or ask a question.

The Body: Materials, visual aids, fillers, and steps

Materials List your needed materials or skills. Make sure the materials and what you do with the materials are visible. With demonstration speeches, use speech to enhance what it is you are demonstrating. That is, what you do and what you say should work together.

Visual Aids Be sure that your visuals can be seen clearly. If you cannot reproduce the exact product in your short film, drawings, models, and pictures may be used. Visual representation should be accurate. Label drawings, models, or pictures if necessary or be sure to point to a specific thing.

Fillers Through out your speech there should never be a prolonged moment of silence. If your speech has pause in between steps, instead of remaining silent, tell the audience how they you can use the final product, warn them about any errors that are likely to occur if not careful, or any variations of the thing you are demonstrating to them. Be sure not to confuse the audience by going off topic. When choosing filler, make sure they are of interest, are informative, and appeal to audiences.

Steps Supply the audience with the steps needed to finish the task. Your audience should be able to follow along with your steps. Steps should be simple to follow. Steps should be detailed. There should be a reasonable amount of steps. Take into consideration the time limit for the speech.

The Conclusion: Restate, summarize, and suggest

Restate and Summarize During your conclusion, restate your steps. Also, summarize the purpose of learning the particular skill you choose to demonstrate. Remember that it is a conclusion, so be brief.

Suggest To finalize, don’t end with, “and that is how you…” Instead, after your conclusion, suggest how the audience can use this particular thing to better their lives. For example, if you teach an audience to make pudding, a final statement could be, “now that you know how to make instant pudding, you’ll always have a easy to make desert whenever you have guests.”