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Adapted from a presentation by Nicholas Owen
Salina High Central (KS)
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Purpose: to inform, not persuade
Researched material
General, 5 paragraph style of organization
Transition steps encouraged
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If you want to win, topic selection is one of THE most important factors in Informative.
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Not Exhaustive
Don’t Bore
Include Humor
Don’t Tell me What I Already Know
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Choose a topic that’s INTERESTING to most audience members
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Appeal to both genders
Appeal to all ages
Avoid controversial topics
Include some humor
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Find a topic that MATTERS
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Marshmallows!
Dragons!
Zambonis!
…but does it really matter if I learned about them?
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Technology is using their
skin pattern to repel
bacteria?
Sharks kill less people
than fruit?
They don’t have any bones
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bamboo houses can
survive 9.0 earthquakes?
we can make fuel from
bamboo?
it could reverse global
warming in 6 years?
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Not too BIG, not too small
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This is a book, not an 8 minute speech topic
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Most topics will have enough for 8 minutes….
but it might come down to….do we care?
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Find a NEW, FRESH topic
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Sleep
Beauty
Laughter
Dreams
Kissing
Money
Apples
Self Esteem
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if you find new research on them:
Sleep (new studies on effects)
Kissing (new scientific studies on health)
Love (new studies on brain chemistry)
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You need to personally CARE about the topic
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Of course, Red Hair
Allison Stuewe
Salina High Central (KS)
National Champion, Expository
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You must have at least 3 - 4
“WOW!” moments
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Facts that are so amazing, they shock us and judges run to the lounge to tell others
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5 hours of sleep a night for a week is equivalent to a .08
blood alcohol level
Exposure to light at night can increase risk of some cancers
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READ, read, read…..find the WOW facts, and THEN decide on a topic
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3 main points
Do research first; THEN decide main points
Main points might be multiple paragraphs each
Sections do not have to be equal length
Choose the order of your points carefully
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Background sections first
o History
o How something works
o Basic description
Bury a boring or controversial point in the middle
End with the most impactful point
o Social relevance
o Health implications
o How it affects our lives personally
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Attention Getter
Relate
Purpose
Sign-posting
*based on Monroe’s Motivated Sequence
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Attention Getters
o Quotes
o “Psychologist Carl Jung once said, “as far as we can discern, the
sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the
darkness.” It seems we have taken this message quite literally,
because we have kindled many lights in the darkness - 120 billion
to be exact…”
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Attention Getters
o Anecdotes
o “Growing up I always had a flair for all things dramatic. My mom claims I still do, but I believe it’s all open to interpretation. So of course it was only natural that at six years old I wanted to become—a Broadway
star! To my utter dismay, those aspirations were tragically shattered the day I came to realize that I CANT SING! I just thought my older sister
was jealous of my musical talents when she hid my microphone. But finally, with some sugar-coated hints, I reluctantly laid that dream to rest. However, ironically, musical ability has actually proven itself to be
a lasting gift within my family’s heritage. As the message within one of my favorite children’s books titled, I See the Rhythm illustrates, there is a significant richness of musical heritage within African American
history. In fact, music is the most widely acknowledged Black contribution to American culture. “
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Attention Getters
o Clever wordplay
o “Pirates drink rum. The British drink Tea. Vampires drink blood.
And Americans drink… bottled water.”
o “It’s what separates the girls from the boys. Boys from men. And
men from the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Testosterone.”
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Attention Getters
o Rhetorical Questions
o ….only if you’re a little bit desperate
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Relate
o Draw a connection between your topic and your audience; show how
it relates to them!
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Purpose
o This is your thesis sentence; make your topic crystal clear.
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Sign-posting
o Clearly preview your main body points.
o “Tell them what you’re going to tell them, and then tell them, and
then tell them what you told them.” -
Translated from Aristotle
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Review main points
Remind audience of the impact of topic
Come back to your AG with a clever last sentence
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Keep the writing simple to the ear
But use some interesting vocabulary
Transitions should be obvious
Consider a vehicle to tie it all together
Use a little humor!
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Puns
o “Get my drift? It’s snow!”
o “So today, let’s shed some more light on this amazing subject by
first…and finally taking a look at some enlightening facts about
artificial light.”
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Comic Relief
o “And you thought cramps were bad!”
o (right after a statistic about drop in math scores on ACT)
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Self deprecating humor
o “I know, I know, I may not look like the authority on testosterone.”
The Unexpected
o “I hosted …. a Twilight party. When the fourth book came out, my
friends and I dressed up, put in vampire fangs, and headed out
to…...the book store”
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Always come full circle - make sure your conclusion ties to
your intro
Rule of 3 -- you can mention a joke or through line three
times
Come up with a clever title!