UPDATE: THIS POST HAS NOW BEEN UPDATED TO REFLECT THE NEW STUDY DESIGN FOR 2024. IF YOU HAVE READ THIS POST PREVIOUSLY, IT MENTIONED THE STATEMENT OF INTENTION, BUT THAT IS NO LONGER A REQUIREMENT FOR THIS STUDY DESIGN AND THE WEIGHTING OF THIS SAC IS NOW 20% OF THE UNIT 4 MARK.

I dread oral presentations. I still do. I have never enjoyed public speaking, but everyday I stand up in front of my classes and deliver Oscar-winning performances. It’s different though. When I speak in front of my students, I’m teaching them, trying to engage them, and build a rapport with them as well as educate them, but place me in front of my colleagues or a whole school for an assembly and I am a nervous wreck. My palms sweat, I can’t look at the audience, my voice starts to shake and I feel like my heart is in my throat about to jump out of my mouth making it difficult to speak. The fear is real, so for those of you who feel the same, I get it, but like I’ve said in my previous posts, I just think back to the little engine that could and say to myself, I know I can. And you can. Once it is over, that’s it. It was never as bad as you thought it would be, and the sense of relief that you have is priceless.

I don’t know why I fear public speaking, maybe it’s the fact that I don’t believe I’m good at it, or I’m saying the wrong thing, or that people are judging me, I don’t know. But just like my debilitating fear of birds (it’s next level, don’t get a budgie near me), I can’t explain why I’m scared, I just am, however, I’d rather be delivering a speech in front of 1000 strangers than be confronted by a pigeon (I have a bird story, but I’ll tell you that at the end.)

Many of you will be doing an oral presentation for English, or one of your other subjects this year. This post isn’t just for Year 12s (though there are elements that I talk about that are specific for Unit 4), but for every year level and student who is required to deliver an oral presentation. You just can’t wing it. For those of you in Year 12, this is worth 20% of your Unit 4 mark – that’s huge. This is your chance to make the most of that weighting and lift up your results, and therefore planning and preparation are key. Some of you are natural speakers and for those of you who have competed in debating and public speaking competitions the performance and delivery part of this outcome will come naturally to you. For the rest of us, we need to practice and fully immerse ourselves in our speech.

Consider it a performance, adopt a persona, and deliver a monologue. I have watched and assessed many speeches in my time (and it’s been a looooong time), and the memorable speeches are those that come from the heart, the ones that I have forgotten, I’ve forgotten for a reason. They are not genuine, they’re bland, they’re formulaic and there’s no emotion. The students just read from a piece of paper (that they haven’t even bothered to cut up to look like cue cards) or they’re reading from their computer screen because they typed it up the night before and haven’t had the time to print it off.

So where do you start? There is a process to writing a persuasive speech, and you need to give yourself some time to put it all together. Like any piece of writing you need to consider the topic, research, plan, draft, edit, perfect. This blog will give you some tips about how to approach writing your speech.

Choose a topic that you’re passionate about

I have absolutely no interest in golf. None. When someone asks me what I think about the LIV golf league I look at them with a blank stare and tell them that I have no opinion because it doesn’t interest me and I have no idea what they’re talking about. I’m using this example because someone did ask me once, and I have no idea why they asked me. But ask me about teacher conditions and pay, and standardised testing in schools and the VCE system and I have a lot to say. I won’t say what I think about them now because this isn’t the forum to do so, but I could go on passionately about it for hours.

Therefore, when you are thinking about what topic to talk about choose one that you are emotional about. It has to be recently discussed in the media (that’s what the study design says), but it should be something that stirs some sort of emotional response from you. Make it personal. What do you love? What bothers you about the world today? What is the government doing that grinds your gears? What do you want to see change to make the world that you’re living in a better place?

I get frustrated when a student asks me what topic to do and that they’re not passionate about anything. If that’s the case, then I feel sorry for you. How can you not have any thoughts or opinions about something that can impact your life in one way or another? I have one student who is going to talk about prejudices against ‘gingers’ (redheads) which I think is fabulous. They themselves are ‘ginger’ and will take a personal perspective on the topic, and when they deliver their presentation they will be giving that insight into the world of a ‘ginger’ that those of us who are not, will learn to be empathetic towards.

Sport, local issues, education, health, issues that impact young people that us old people don’t get, these are topics that you will have an opinion on. It doesn’t always have to be serious, it can be lighthearted (like my ginger student), but don’t choose something that you don’t know enough about and that you are not at all interested in. Talking about the war between Russia and Ukraine, as serious as it is, unless you have a very specific contention and are clearly passionate about, you will bore the teacher assessing you. Same goes with climate change. If you are passionate about climate change, which we all should be (my opinion), talk about a specific aspect that irks you, what needs to change and how do we change it? Be specific about your topic when you choose it, otherwise it becomes an informative rather than a persuasive speech and your contention and intention are blurred.

If you’re stuck for topics, here’s my TikTok with some suggestions

https://www.tiktok.com/@ronnies.ramblings/video/7375061284221455632

Plan and research

This is vital. You may think you know everything about your topic, but you don’t. I don’t know everything about English (even though it sounds like I do), but I have to plan what I’m going to teach, research elements of my teaching to ensure that I know what I’m talking about. This is where that cool little tool Chat GPT can be very useful in your research. I’m totally against using it for producing your speech, but use it to help you find different elements of the topic and suggest what to research – this is what makes it a great tool. Make sure that you always reference your research to avoid any plagiarism.

Once you have completed your preliminary research start planning your speech. Consider your contention first – what is your point of view on the topic? Then what is your purpose or intention? What do you want the outcome to be? This will allow you to have direction in the development of your speech. When you have decided on the contention and intention, develop your supporting arguments. Remember! Arguments are not examples! Students often make this mistake. They will structure their speech around examples rather than arguments. If you consider breaking up your arguments thematically then you will be able to include the examples as your supporting evidence. By thematically, I mean that you look at the implications of the topic such as economic, safety, ethical, moral, health, environmental, social, justice, etc. Choose three strong themes and develop this into your supporting arguments.

Consider a rebuttal. Now rebuttals don’t always have to be included as a separate point but can be linked to one of the arguments that you’re discussing so weave it in.

What you may find during this process is that you will need to do some additional research to include as supporting evidence.

I’ve included a planning document that I have been using for years with my students to help them organise their thoughts and may help you too.

Write your speech

Now that you have organised all of your ideas you need to write your speech. There are a number of things that you need to consider though such as audience, context and purpose.

When delivering your speech consider who your audience is. I tell my students that they can adopt a persona and consider the forum in which they will deliver their presentation. Will it be a TED talk? Who will the audience be? Is it a youth forum where politicians will be present to listen to the views of young people? Sometimes your teacher will give you a specific audience and context and always go with what your teacher has suggested.

Audience and context are important when making your language choices. Who you are talking to determines the type of language that you choose to deliver your point of view. Are you going to be formal, emotional, funny, sarcastic, angry, informal? Tone is essential, but it’s also able to change depending on the argument that you’re presenting. In reading some drafts that students have submitted to me, one student has adopted a very satirical tone in their speech which works really well in putting forth their opinion. If delivered properly, this will be clear in how they assert their point of view and will lead to a successful speech.

Remember when you studied argument analysis and you had to analyse the language choices that writer employed and the impact that had on the audience? That is what you are doing now. You are being selective in the choices that you make with your language and how you want your specific audience to respond.

Opening and closing are do or die

Absolutely vital that you get this right. The opening needs to be engaging. Don’t just tell me your name and topic and define it. Hook me in and keep me hanging on to every word. Use emotion. Use short powerful sentences and questions. Get me thinking. Make me feel guilty or responsible if you have to. But suck me in to whatever you’re talking about. Also, clearly state your contention. I have listened to many speeches where I’m given a lot of background information about a topic, but I have no idea what is being argued, and don’t know even by the end of the speech. Make this very clear in the opening before you launch into your first argument.

Signpost your arguments, but avoid the usual firstly, secondly and lastly. Be original as you transition to different points.

The closing is where you let the audience know what you want the outcome to be. Are you offering a proposal, do you want to see a call to action? What is the solution to the problem? There needs to be a solution or outcome of some sort. Finish strong! Make us feel something and be in agreeance with you when you finish your speech.

Rehearse and practice!

This is important. You need to rehearse your speech and get feedback from peers, parents, siblings etc. Are they bored? What is missing? What can be taken out? Are you talking too fast? Too slow? Have you varied your tone? Are you pausing? Is it too short? Are you just reading or are you passionately talking about your topic?

Take this feedback on board and improve it. You don’t need to memorise your speech, and by all means use cue cards. If you have lived and breathed your speech during the process of putting it all together, then you won’t need to rely on your notes as much. They are there as an aid.

Once you’ve adjusted the speech with the feedback you’ve been provided, deliver it again. Keep practicing.

I hope that this helps you gather your thoughts and put together your speech for this important SAC. Remember that it’s ok to be anxious if public speaking isn’t your thing and going back to that bird story I mentioned in my opening…

Just imagine me locking myself in my room as a bird flies around like crazy in my house and I’m calling the police to try and get it out and they’re laughing at me on the phone. I’m paralysed with fear and the bird has taken ownership of my house and because I’m so scared I can’t even run outside. I was held hostage by a bird in my own home for two hours. I had to call work and tell them I was running late because of said bird. I was terrified. Everyone but me thought it was hilarious (even the fire brigade after I tried them when the police had laughed at me). It’s funny I know. Everyone I tell the story to thinks it’s funny, but it was one of the most traumatic moments of my life. Speaking in assembly didn’t even come close.

The bird eventually walked out of the house after purposefully torturing me for two whole hours and made a complete mess of my place. Moral of this story, never leave your windows open to let the birds in. Also, when you’re doing your presentation and you start to get nervous think of me trying to get the police to take me seriously when I told them that the intruder in my house was a bird.

All the best and keep it zesty!

Ronnie