1. Bell Work
Describe a situation in which you may want to plan out what you are going to say ahead of time.

2. Your next class project is:
The Modern Woodmen School Speech Contest!

3. What?
You will be preparing speeches to share with a small group of classmates.
Some of you will present your speeches to the class.
Class winners will compete in the schoolwide competition.
School winners will go on to compete at even higher levels!

4. What is a speech?
An informative or persuasive speech is prepared the same way as an essay: it has an introduction, a conclusion, and a body filled with good facts and elaboration.
However, in a speech you are not limited to your words in order to communicate your message- you have the added power of your voice and your body language!

5. A good speech depends on both preparation and presentation
After writing out your speech, put your main points on notecards, this way you will remember the main ideas but you won’t be looking down at a piece of paper the whole time.
You will be practicing your speech at home so that by the time you present, you will have a lot of it memorized.

6. When presenting a speech don’t:
Start off on a bad foot. Your presentation begins when your name is called; walk to the front in a dignified manner.
Slouch, rock back and forth, or lean to one side. Posture matters, so stand tall!
Use gestures that might distract your listener, like playing with a piece of jewelry.

7. When presenting a speech, do:
Use your voice and your hand gestures to add expression to what you are saying. Show that you care about and believe in your topic!
Try to look at your audience as much as possible. If you’re nervous, look at the wall above their heads.
Practice your speech in front of friends or family so that you can make sure you are speaking at the right volume, and not too fast or slowly.

8. Nervous?
So is everyone else, so don’t feel like everyone is judging you- they are worried about their own presentations!
Public speaking is challenging for most people, but it’s something everyone has to do at different times in their lives. Practicing it now in a safe place will make it easier to do later.

9. Why? Public speaking has the following benefits:
Helps you gain the skills and confidence to say what you want to say, and say and well, whether it is to the principal, a group of your friends, or the school board!
Improves your chances of getting a job in the future. You will be more confident for those job interviews.
Gives you opportunities to influence groups of people with ideas that you feel strongly about.
Trains you to think about what you are going to say before you say it (wouldn’t we avoid a lot of trouble if we did this more often?!). It also makes sure that the words we do use are affective and mean what we want them to mean.

10. Modern Woodsmen Speech Topic 2017: “What Does It Mean To Be A Hero?”
In popular culture, heroes are depicted as superhumans who fly through the air to rescue a damsel in distress or save the world from a villain’s evil plan. Christopher Reeve, who starred as one of the most famous superheroes in American film, once said, “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” This year’s School Speech Contest asks contestants to speak about what it means to be a hero.

11. In organizing their speeches, students may choose to consider the following questions or present on their own aspect of the topic:
How do you define hero or heroic behavior?
What characteristics do you think define or describe a hero?
What are some examples of heroic behavior?
Who is your hero(es)? Why?
How are heroes depicted in literature and film?

12. Judging Criteria You will have TWO grades:
Required Elements (Presentation) and Using Language (Written Speech)

15. What does a speech look like?
Watch the first 4 minutes for a good example.

16. Think about your topic:
Start at 45 seconds, Stop at 3:00- Mr. Bonner, a second grade teacher
1:57- What makes a hero?
1:38
2:54- Everyday people changing lives.

17. Free Write!
Freewriting is a brainstorming technique to get your brain going on the topic you need to write about.
For the next 5-10 minutes, write anything that comes to mind about the topic “What It Means To Be A Hero.”
You can include thoughts and feelings, questions, examples or stories you’ve heard, possible resources you might use, songs/movies that relate to the topic- anything! Don’t worry too much about spelling or punctuation right now- just get your thoughts out.
You must fill up at least a full ½ of a page in your journal. This will be a 30% of your grade.

18. Think and Free Write How do you define hero or heroic behavior?
What characteristics do you think define or describe a hero?
What are some examples of heroic behavior?
Who is your hero(es)? Why?
How are heroes depicted in literature and film?