Tropicana Speech

It's that time of year again!  We are introducting Tropicana Speeches to the students on October 15.  Students will be required to write their speech and present it to the class.  We are working hard to break down the various compenents of the speech over the course of a couple of weeks to hopefully prevent a stressful situation at home.  If you are new to the county and have never participated in Tropicana Speech, don't hesitate to ask for guidance once we begin the process. Please look at the timeline of events below and some tips and suggestions to make the speech writing process easier.




Timeline of Events:

October 15 - Introduce speech to students in class

October 18 - Topic due

October 22 - Step 2 due

October 24 - Step 3 due

October 26 - Step 4 due

October 29 - Step 5 due

October 31 - Step 6 due

November 2 - Step 7 due

November 5 - Final notecard check

November 6-13 - Practice speech at home with family and friends

November 13 - 15 - Class competitions - ALL students need to be prepared to present their speech on November 16

December 4 - Schoolwide competition - 2 class winners will represent each homeroom



Tips and Suggestions:

1.  While students are not expected to memorize their speech, they will need to be familiar enough with their speech that they will not need read directly from their notecards for their entire speech.

2.  Their speech will need to 2-3 minutes in length.  Anything under or over the designated time length will disqualify them from winning the class competition.  In addition, they will lose points from their overall total.

3.  Students will be graded on the following:

   - Choice of Material - Was the topic original and unique

   - Effective introduction - Was the introduction interesting?  Did it capture attention and indicate the topic?

   - Effective body - Did the main portion of the speech have a logical and smooth flow?

   - Use of language - Was the selection, combination and use of the words effective?

   - Audience bond - Did the speaker establish and maintain eye contact with the audience?

   - Delivery - Did the speaker appear relaxed and the delivery flow fluently and smoothly?

   - Pronunciation - Did the speaker pronounce the words correctly?

   - Articulation - Were the words spoken clearly and was the speaker easy to understand?

   - Volume - Were there effective changes to the volume level throughout the speech?

   - Speed - Did the speaker speak at a pseed that could be understood?  DId they vary speed and use pauses effectively throughout the speech?