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 2016: “Hunger in America”
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 48.1 million people lived in food-insecure households in This means that at some points during the year, their households were uncertain of having, or unable to acquire, enough food because of insufficient resources. Approximately 8.6 million of these individuals were children. Students are asked to explore this issue of hunger in America from an individual, local, state or national perspective.

11. In organizing their speeches, students may choose to consider the following questions or present on their own aspect of the topic:
Who is affected by hunger?
How does hunger in the United States compare to hunger in other countries?
How does hunger impact my school or community?
What are some of the contributing factors to hunger?
What can individuals, communities or governments do to combat hunger?
Students may use these questions to help formulate ideas, but they should not be limited by the list.
Speeches must be at least three minutes and no more than five minutes long. Speeches must be in the student’s own words.

12. Judging criteria 
Contestants will be judged using the following 100-point system:
40 points for material organization  This accounts for theme and subject adherence, structure, content, logic and color.  40 points for delivery and presentation  This includes voice, pronunciation, enunciation, gestures and poise.  20 points for overall effectiveness  This scores impression and effect.

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

14. Think about your topic:
3:11- This video gives an overview of hunger in America.
4:03- a news report on hunger in America.
2:15- a personal story of struggling with hunger in America.

15. 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 “Hunger in America.”
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 10 point grade.

16. Think and Free Write Who is affected by hunger?
How does hunger in the United States compare to hunger in other countries?
How does hunger impact my school or community?
What are some of the contributing factors to hunger?
What can individuals, communities or governments do to combat hunger?