TED Talk Assignment

Public Speaking TED Talk Assignment

Choose a topic that you are passionate about and one that you want to share with others. Consider also how engaging your topic will be to your audience (your peers mainly, although the wider Cheshire Academy community could be included in your audience). Make sure your topic is narrow enough so your speech will not be too vague, but also make sure it is not too narrow so that you will have enough material to fill approximately 5 minutes of speaking.  There is a lot of freedom in choosing a topic, and your topic may get refined as you begin your research and consider what you truly want to say.

The video should be 5-10 minutes long, with about 5 minuted of speaking. A five-minute speech, spoken at an average rate, should be approximately 650 words long, so that should be your guideline for your TED talk. All talks need to contain the following elements:

1.       A title and an engaging opening strategy or “hook” that catches the audience’s attention

2.       Well-organized content (different and separate sub-topics)

3.       At least three credible sources on your topic, quoted  and listed in a works cited

4.       At least 7 interesting images or videos

5.       A clear “Takeaway” for the audience: boiling down your main point to a few sentences

6.       A strong closing strategy to leave the audience with something profound to think about

7.       Final credits/works cited

This project will be a multi-step process. First, you need to brainstorm and choose a topic. Then, you need to complete substantive research (the final calls for at least 3 credible sources, but you may need to consult as many as 10 sources until you find the appropriate information). Next, you will write and revise several drafts of your talk. Finally, you will turn your ideas into a multimedia TED talk using iMovie.

Due dates:

List of sources: May 5
Summary of research: May 7
1st draft (written): May 11
1st draft (video): May 14
Final drast: May 19

Feedback for Speech Drafts

Comment on the following elements and send them to the speechwriter via email. Be specific in your feedback. Send the email to me as well so I can give you credit for this work. It will count as an additional project grade.

1. Catchy opening (grabs the audience's attention)

2. Body of speech -- content (interesting? organized? convincing? detailed?)

3. Body of speech -- length (too much, not enough, or just right?)

4. Clarity of ideas (easy to follow?)

5. Anything confusing (language, word choice, grammar)

6. Clear takeaway (message/thesis is clear)

7. Catchy ending (leaves audience thinking)

8. Delivery (pace,volume of reading)

Research for speech/TED talk

Here is a link to the Library's LibGuides page -- where Ms. Betjemann created a site for our class with resources:

http://www.cheshireacademy.libguides.com/

Bring on Week 5 and 6: Spoken Word!

Weeks 3 and 4 were saturated with Monologues -- and I thought they all were an excellent beginning to the course and a great learning experience for us all. Feel free to click on other students' blogs and check out their final monologue videos -- the close-up camera makes them even more powerful than when delivered in the Black Box.

Personally, I was impressed with the feedback and support you all gave to your peers. It helped them better memorize, more accurately enunciate, and express truer emotions in their process of delivering their best take. The biggest successes were in projection, clarity of speech, and solid positioning (no fidgeting). We are still working on emotional impact, but that's exactly where our next project leads....

In beginning to explore the genre of Spoken Word Poetry, students have found many good examples to share with the class. You can click on students' blogs to see some of these, and I have also posted a few under the "Animation and Expression" Topic on our class portal.

This week, I will ask you to find your own poem to eventually turn into a recitation that brings life to the poem instead of stillness. I am looking forward to what we will create in this unit!

Quote of the Week -- Taking Risks with Our Monologue Performances

"Our lives improve only when we take chances -- and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves."

End of the first week -- phew!

Thanks for a great first week of classes. Just a reminder that the blogging assignment is due Saturday, and the assignment (what to write about) is on the portal under the first Topic of the course.

Quote of the Week - Week 1

"We delight in the beauty of the butterfly but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty" -- Maya Angelou