ASC LEAMINGTON SPA

ASSIGNMENTS

Leamington Spa Speakers Club are a member of the Association of Speakers Clubs (ASC), which provides a framework for Clubs in the UK. These are assignments that get you thinking about both the content of your speech, and the delivery.

The three main stages to the framework are the Foundation level, the Achievement level and the Diploma level. Each level is made up of a number of assignments. We’ve detailed Levels F1-5 and A1-5 for you below.

Full details of all the assignments (including details of how to prepare for each one) are available in the ‘Speakers Guide’.

Assignment F1 - Starting your journey

Your first speech allows you the opportunity to tell fellow members a little about yourself, or, a topic you are passionate about. Aim to speak for about 6-8 minutes (but if it’s shorter don’t worry!). This assignment is all about getting you up to the lectern and giving it a go.

This is your first speech at the club so enjoy it as much as you can. Club members want to enjoy this experience with you. Prepare enough to make yourself comfortable, and say it out loud a few times before you deliver it on the night - spoken English and written English are very different.

You will be given an entirely supportive evaluation afterwards as you begin your journey building your skills and confidence as a speaker.

Assignment F2 - Constructing a speech

The purpose of this assignment is to master the art of arranging what you want to say in a logical and consistent manner so that your audience can easily follow your train of thought and argument.

Your speech should have a clear introduction, body and conclusion. A good introduction could include a quote, rhetorical question, shock statement or humorous line. It should give an indication of the purpose of the speech, and a subtle signpost for what will follow.

The main body of this speech should contain two to five linked points (each organised as mini speeches with their own introductions, bodies and conclusions). There are different ways the information can be organised: compare and contrast, cause and effect, chronological and categorical for example.

Your conclusion should signpost the end of the speech within the first line. You now need to summarise the main arguments of the speech, and contain a final line that again, by it’s construction and content is obviously your final thought. If you can memorise this last line, it will help you deliver it in a way that will let the audience know you are finished (and they can begin their applause for you!).

Assignment f3 - speaking with conviction

Having completed your first two speeches, this next assignment is designed to develop your self confidence by speaking on a subject which you know well, and believe in. You will have the opportunity to ‘mean what you say’ and demonstrate sincerity, conviction and persuasiveness.

Pick a subject you care about. Your objective with this speech is to show your audience just how important you think this subject is and start to move them towards sharing your passion. You’ll be able to get away with technical errors if you focus on demonstrating just how much you really care.

This a great opportunity for you to consider how to develop a convincing argument. There are many different ways to do this, including appealing to logic, emotion or or credibility (or all three!) and finding the balance between passionate advocacy and calm reflection on counter arguments. Sprinkling this speech with moments of spontaneity around use of language or humour can capture your audience at your most crucial points.

Think about how you’re going to deliver your message in terms of physical animation and tone of voice. Will you be more convincing with a rousing motivational call to action, or a measured, emotive explanation of a situation? The most successful speakers almost always demonstrate the key ingredients of enthusiasm, vitality and sincerity in their presentation.

Assignment F4 - Using Gestures and Body Language

The purpose of this speech is to develop gestures to help illustrate the meaning of your words and emphasize the important parts of your speech. A big part of communication is visual and how your body behaves in front of an audience will signal to them your comfort level and give them clues as to your intent.

Your stance, hand gestures, facial expressions, body movements and eye contact can all be employed to show the audience that you are comfortable in your role and will also enhance the content of your speech. Be courageous and try out various gestures at the club to discover your style.

Gestures should illuminate your points and add force to your messages. Your audience’s acceptance of your argument will be influenced by the quality of your physical delivery. Strive for flowing, defined body movements when making a gesture. Try not to be constantly moving your body and hands as this can become a distraction from the delivery of your speech.

The importance of eye contact cannot be overstated. We understand we are being engaged and listened to not through the ears but through the eyes. Look at an audience member for a few moments and speak before moving on. If you have a big audience split it up into sections and return to them periodically with your eyes.

Try rehearsing in front of a mirror to practise and develop your physical presentation. Your evaluator and other members of the club will be able to offer advice on whether you need to make greater use of gestures or remove some of the physical things you do inadvertently which may be a distraction to your audience.

Assignment F5 - UsING Your Voice

This exercise is designed to help you develop good voice modulation.  The voice is the most powerful weapon in the Speaker’s armoury, but it is only effective it if is used appropriately to amplify the power, drama and delivery of the speech itself.

Begin with audibility and articulation because if your audience cannot hear or understand you then you will not be able to create an impact. Most speakers rush when they are nervous so consciously slow down your pace of word delivery. Tension will also tighten your facial muscles so try to relax and fully form every word. Adopt a relaxed but open posture and increase your volume of breath without going too full.

Experiment with alterations of pace and pitch. Use a pause to inject emotion, draw attention to an important point or reflect the content of your speech. Intonation, emphasis, briefly taking on the voice of a character, straining, singing a line, repetition of vocal delivery (e.g. high fast voice to a low slow voice over three sentences back to back)… there are so many ways that the voice can be engaged to bring life to a speech.

Try watching monologues delivered by famous actors and actresses and listen to what they do with their voices. Meaning is found in our words, supported by our body, and carried by our voice and when all these things “speak” together you will make a real impact on your audience.

Assignment A1 - Vocabulary and Word Pictures

The purpose of this speech is to investigate how imaginative words, phrases and descriptions can illuminate meaning and create attentiveness in your audience. Alliteration, repetition, simile, metaphor, hyperbole, analogy, metonymy, understatement, parallelism, and antithesis are just some examples of the ways that language can be reconstructed to be surprising, attention grabbing, and memorable. Onomatopoeia is probably the strongest tool for drawing together what is in the mind of the speaker and what is in the mind of the audience.

Word poverty, cliché and vagueness hamper many speakers when trying to connect rational and emotional appeal. Try and provide detail so that your audience can imagine the picture you are trying to create. ‘A cluster of Delphiniums’ is a more compelling description than ‘a bunch of blue flowers’. ‘A tear rolled down her cheek’ creates a more arresting image than ‘she was crying’. Remember the senses, how did a situation smell, sound, taste or feel?

Rehearsal is particularly important here as you are moving beyond your everyday use of language. Take the time to prepare well and be as precise as you can when crafting your vivid images. Use this assignment to truly reach your audience and achieve beautiful impact!

Assignment A2 - Storytelling and Narrative

The purpose of this speech is to allow you to be creative and imaginative by sharing experiences and events through words, sounds and visual images. Terry Pratchett, a master storyteller, said “imagination, not intelligence, made us human”.

Storytelling brings meaning, feeling, and context to ideas that may be dry and lifeless by themselves. You can create the extraordinary out of the ordinary. An effective storyteller captures the attention of listeners and accomplishes the goal of storytelling by sharing an experience, conveying information, teaching an important life lesson, or persuading listeners to take some action while being entertaining.

The speaker may draw on their own life experience or it may be totally fiction, even fantasy. But you will need all the other elements of a good speech, such as a clear construction, use of word pictures, gestures, etc. as well.

Storytelling is a performance, bring energy and enthusiasm, be dramatic and passionate. Using the space around you allows you to be active and animated. Consider how you can create powerful images using words, ‘She had fire in her eyes’ creates a stronger word picture than ‘she was upset’. Dramatic pauses, good eye contact and a liberal sprinkling of emotion will enhance effect, heighten drama, and draw your audience into the story.

Assignment A3 – Using Humour

This assignment is intended to help you explore different types of humour, and to allow you to develop a style that fits your own character, whilst taking account of the needs of the audience.

It will enable you to get a better understanding of humour – what works, why it works and how humour can be meaningfully deployed to enhance your main points. For this assignment you are not being asked to suddenly become a comedian! You are being asked to try to analyse why situations and jokes seem humorous to you so that you can begin to understand what makes humour such a powerful tool.

Humour can provide moments of light relief for the audience where they can briefly let their attention wane before the speaker draws them back in. It can also be used to highlight a serious message thus making it more likely that the audience will remember the point. Remember you can successfully use humour without the need for your audience to be roaring with laughter.

You can establish audience rapport with self-deprecating humour, build credibility with well-crafted linguistic playfulness, startle your audience with a joke that draws out some fundamental truth or influence your audience’s emotions with a funny story.

Assignment A4 – Developing Audience Rapport

Building rapport with an audience is about speaking in such a way as to generate a sympathy in the audience, for ideas being put across by the speaker. This assignment focuses on building these vital skills of the speaker.

Rapport is what all speakers are aiming to achieve because this shows that your audience has empathised with your core message or perhaps your own story.

Subject choice is particularly important for this assignment as you want to induce a reaction from your audience – surprise, thoughtfulness, silence, laughter, etc. Speakers who talk about what life has taught them will always have their audience’s attention but try to avoid making the entire speech a personal history or narrative. These are tools for building a bridge to the minds of your audience.

The use of pause is another important tool here as you need to provide time for your audience to think through the salient points of your speech and be affected by them. You may want your audience to laugh, cry, think or applaud. Whatever reaction you are aiming for, be brave and pause to allow them the space and time to do so.

For this assignment draw on learning from the process of ‘Applied Speaking’. Consider your broad purpose (entertain, inform, persuade, or pay tribute) and write down how you want your audience to change by the end of your presentation (your specific objective). This will help you refine and strengthen your key messages and edit what material you keep and what you let go.

Assignment A5 – The “Showpiece”

This assignment complete your basic training as a public speaker and will confirm your ability to deliver a polished speech demonstrating all the skills that you have developed in the previous nine assignments.

Reflect on all the progress you have made and the skills and experience you have gained on your journey so far.

You also have the Area Training Officer and the National Education Director to go to for support. For this important speech, prepare and rehearse (out loud and against the clock) as much as you can. Make sure you have looked through the evaluation form, so you know what you need to demonstrate.

Remember that both of your evaluators will be looking for evidence of the skills and techniques built up over previous assignments. Make it easy for them to find and tick off good construction, interesting word pictures, well developed rapport, etc.

This is a challenging assignment, but remeber - you are ready for it!

Take your time when getting set up, enjoy the speech as much as you can and afterwards make sure you think about just how far you have come since the first day you walked into the club.