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Informative Speech
Time Limit: 4-5 minutes
Thinking About This Assignment
In contemporary US culture, we are often audiences for "informative" speaking: we watch cooking
demonstrations on the Food Network, attend orientation sessions for new students or new employees,
participate in classes and workshops, even find ourselves in tour groups. In each of these contexts, the speaker
presents information we need to know to be better cooks, students, employees, or tourists.
Informative speakers succeed when they are excited about the content, know it well, and make the subject
important and beneficial to the audience. As with the Praise Speech, you should begin work on this speech by
asking yourself, what am I interested in? Involved with? What do I know a great deal about? Then, move
outside yourself to ask, "What can I say or do that will share my excitement and my knowledge with my
audience?" "How and why should the audience be interested in this?" This speech's rhetorical purpose is first
an informative one. But you must also persuade the audience, through the content and its performance, that
you are worth listening to and learning from.
Objectives of This Assignment
to conduct library research
to support a clear, one-sentence thesis
to utilize at least two different kinds of supporting material
to organize the speech with an appropriate and discernible structure
to develop and use an appropriate visual aid
Steps to Building an Informative Speech
1. Choose a subject area based on one of the following categories.
Something you do. This may be:
A hobby, a talent, or a special skill. Examples: taxidermy, web site building, hip-hop music, scuba
diving, reacling Tarot cards, Paint Ball Jungle Games, etc.
A cause you support or organization you belong to. Examples: Big Brothers/Big Sisters; Green-
peace; Habitat for Humanity.
"Consumer" information that is important to you. Examples: irradiated food, no-animal testing
cosmetics; vegetarianism; getting the most from your doctor.
"How-to" demonstrations. This category deserves a special warning: do not choose to
demonstrate how to do something that everyone knows how to do (make a pizza, tie your shoes,
make a long distance phone call, etc.) There are interesting informative speeches that teach the
steps of a process-even if the audience will never engage in it. For example, "how to make a
mummy" in ancient Egypt was an elaborate and interesting process.
Remember, the goal of this assignment is not to talk about why you're interested in this topic, but to
develop an interesting, informative speech for your audience using your interest as a beginning.
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2. Conduct research on this topic.
You should consult a wide variety of sources: print newspapers, magazines, journals, Internet web sites,
pamphlets, organizational materials, etc. You may not rely solely on your experience to provide the
content of the speech. Gather statistics, stories, examples, illustrations, case studies, etc.
3. Adapt the topic and information to the audience.
Ask the question, "Why should the audience be interested in this?" Although topic selection starts with you,
your thesis statement should reflect the speech's benefits to the audience. For example, a premed student
might inform the audience about "How to Get More from your Doctor's Visit." You should review Chapter
5 for Audience Analysis.
4. Select a specific organizational pattern for the speech.
Review Chapter 8 for the kinds of organization. Arrange your information and ideas within the pattern you
have chosen. The "paint ball" student may develop her speech topically: 1) the equipment needed to play,
2) the rules of the game, 3) the satisfaction and exercise of playing.
5. Include at least two different kinds of support materials from two
different sources.
This is a 2x2 development of support. In otherwords, your two sources cannot both be from the Internet, or
both from magazine articles. Review Chapter 6 for the kinds of support. For example, the pre-med student
may use a 1) case study from a hiology textbook, and 2) statistics provided by the American Medical·
Association for her speech. This means you need 2 different kinds of support from 2 different media (2x2).
6. Prepare your outline. Rehearse!
Requirements of this assignment.
Is your organizational pattern clear?
Do you have two different kinds of support?
--J Checklist on Speech Day
Bring my visual aid.
• Bring this Student Handhook
Bring outline/ notecards for speech Have I fulfilled all the requirements of the
assignment?
Review the criteria for Evaluating Speeches.
Review evaluation form for Informative
Speech.
What kind of grade can I expect?
• Other:
Questions? Write them here.
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Sentence Outline:
Informative Speech
Speech Title:
"Syncope or Not Syncope: That is the Question"
General Purpose: To inform
Specific Purpose: To inform my classmates about the "common faint"
Thesis: I'm going to help you be the coolest head around when someone faints.
I. Introduction
A. Has anyone ever fainted or seen anyone that has? Does anyone know what causes "the common
faint,"what it is called or what to do if some one faints? Syncope is a sudden loss of consciousness
due to lack of sufficient oxygenated blood to the brain. (attention-getter & COJ7lJJJo1lground)
B. Syncope (pronounced sing-koh-pee) is a scary thing. It accounts for
1. 1.5 million visits a year to the doctor
2. 160,000 hospitalizations; and
3. 3% of all trips to the emergency room
C. I know this medical condition well, and you, or someone you know, probably does too. The
more simple term? Fainting. The "common faint"
1. happens to people under 45 years old
2. no other medical conditions (diabetes, heart condition, current illness or pregnancy)
3. unconscious for no more than 60 seconds; completely recovered in 15 minutes
4. Even if it's common, it's still scary. And I've learned the hard way that most people don't
know what to do when I faint. (credibility)
D. Today I'm going to share information that will make you the coolest head around when someone
faints. (thesis)
E I'll cover three areas: causes of the common faint, symptoms, and first aid treatment. (preview)
Transition: First, I would like to start off by talking a little bit about the causes of fainting.
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II. Body
A. Causes of fainting
1. Story of my fainting at West Palm Beach's City Walk fulfilled two of the three most common
causes of fainting
2. three most common causes
a. standing for a long time
b. hot, humid, crowded setting
c. lack of recent food atwater
Transition: The people around me assumed I was dead, dying, and worse. They didn't keep cool heads or
know what to look for.
B. Symptoms: Sometimes a person will just keel over, but more often there are signs of an oncoming
episode of syncope
1. unsteadiness, dizziness
2. face becomes pale and perspiration appears
3. skin becomes cold and clammy
4. pulse feels weak and erratic
5. nausea
Transition: The words "I feel like I'm going to faint" should get you in first-aid mode!
C. First-Aid before/ during/ after
1. Before fainting:
a. Head between knees accomplishes the first thing the person needs-to restore
adequate
supply of blood to brain by putting brain lower than rhe heart. Too late?
b. Help person to the ground! Dead weight dropping can cause lots of bruises and
cuts.
2. During/When person is unconscious: Think 3 L's: Legs, Listen, Loosen.
a. Position person on back, elevate legs above heart.
b. Listen for breathing sounds. (If person is not breathing, start CPR and call 911!
this is
serious!) But stay calm, this is a common faint. Okay? She's breathing!
c. Loosen belts, collars, or other constrictive clothing.
3. After/As person regains consciousness: Think Don't.
a. Don't slap or shout (that can be scarier than the faint itself). Instead, reassure her
that she's safe, she just fainted.
b. Don't let person get up right away. (Staying prone for 15 minutes is recommended
by most medical personnel.)
c. Don't give any food, but sips of water are okay.
Transition: Remember, most people are fully recovered from common faints in 15 minutes. Your friend will
be okay! I've learned the hard way (and have the bruises to prove it) that most people don't know what to
do when someone faints.
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III. Conclusion
A. I've shared common causes, symptoms, and first aid treatment for fainting. Remember Legs, Listen, and
Loosen. (review)
B. Syncope is a medical condition that can signal serious, even life-threatening, problems. But I've given you
information today to help you have the coolest head in the house during a "common faint." (thesis)
C OUf bodies are very, very smart! And we should listen to them. Think of fainting as nature's way of
saying, "I can't fight gravity any longer. I can't get blood to your brain unless you lie down. You are going to
lie down. Right now, There. That's better." (clincher)
References
"Fainting and Fever." Retrieved June 1, 2002, fromwww.mayoclinic.com
"First Aid: Fainting." (1998). World Book MedicalEncyclopedia.
Witting, Michael, M.D. (2002). "Fainting." AAEM Emergency Medical and Family Health Guide.
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Speaking Outline:
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