Speech Writing Resources, Examples, and Exercises 2/23/23

So as part of our consideration of engaging with the media, we’ll be writing an op-ed later this semester, which is an important genre in civic engagement. Before we get there, though, I want to give you more time to develop your thinking about a topic you’re like to address. Press releases and op-eds aren’t the only way of engaging with the  media for activist purposes; same with social media. We also have to think about how we speak, which leads us to speeches and speech writing. (It’s also useful for how we speak in front of other audiences such as town  councils, higher-level legislative bodies, companies, BOTs, crowds at protests, groups of the public, etc.)

 As writers, writing  speeches does not always mean you’ll be the one giving them – speech writing is an actual job, remember!

• When writing speeches for yourself, you have to consider your audience and the context in which you’re giving they speech as well as your purpose and your personal style
• When writing speeches for others, you have to consider audience, context, and purpose, but it becomes trickier because you also have to take into account the unique voice of the person for which you are writing the speech.

Speech Writing Tips and Resources

1. 1. Great handout from UNC Chapel Hill
   2. Excellent, in-depth info from Congress’s think tank, Congressional Research Service
   3. Most important  thing to remember is that writing for the spoken word is different than writing for the page
      • Shorter sentences that are easily understood
      • Balanced sentences  that sound pleasant to the ear (see Williams and Bizzup, Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace for more on that!)
   4. Repetition is also a good thing in speeches
      • Helps emphasize key ideas, points, or catch phrases
      • Again: it’s about sound
   5. Length
      • Consider how long the speech will be
      • Time restrictions? Length of people’s attention spans if you have no limit?
   6. Just like with your pitch, you also have to consider what  you want your audience to walk away with – what do you want them to do?

Example Speeches

1. 1. Quick snippets of young activists
   2. Emma Gonzalez, March for Our Lives speech, 3/4/18
      • Transcript
      • Speech itself
   3. Khzir Khan, 2016 DNC speech, 7/28/16
      • Transcript
      • Speech itself

Exercise: Rhetorical Analysis of Speeches

Let’s watch the example speeches above together (Gonzalez and Khan) and jot down some notes about the different rhetorical tactics used.

1. How does each speaker cater their speech to their specific audience?
2. What is the goal of each speech?
3. How does word choice impact the effectiveness of each speech?
4. How does each speaker employ more than just word choice?
5. If civic engagement  entails taking  action, why are these speeches examples of civic engagement? How are these speakers taking action?