COM 110 - Fundamentals of Public Speaking: Library Research Help

The Assignment

Persuasive Speech:

• What you need to do:
  • Choose a topic.
  • Clarify the general and specific purpose of your speech.
  • Find at least 3 sources providing relevant information to support your argument, based on the topic from your Informative Speech (see Basic and Substantive Sources tabs in this guide).
  • Prepare a preparation/full-sentence outline, including sources, quotations, and/or citations.
  • Prepare a key-word delivery outline or speech notecards.
  • Practice aloud and time yourself.
  • Make final adjustments.
  • Deliver an 8-10 minute extemporaneous speech on the topic.

• How you will be evaluated:
  • You chose a controversial topic of importance to your audience, a contentious issue with new developments in the last 6 months.
  • Your speech was designed to change your audience members' attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors.
  • Your outline was formatted correctly according to guidelines set out in the assignment instruction sheet and the textbook.
  • Your outline and bibliography are formatted according to MLA or APA citation style (see MLA/APA tab in this guide--check with your professor about which style to use).
  • Your oral citations and quotations included the author, date, and the author's credentials (see Oral Citation tab in this guide).
  • You presented a well-reasoned argument organized using Monroe's Motivated Sequence, with an explicit proposition statement and solid evidence supporting your argument.
  • You skillfully incorporated and cited relevant information from at least 3 sources--information that clearly supports your argument.
  • You gained attention, established relevance, established credibility, and stated the proposition statement and preview clearly in the introduction.
  • You presented main points clearly with supporting evidence in the body, executed smooth transitions, and provided a clear conclusion, using appropriate vocabulary throughout.
  • You presented with confidence and enthusiasm, using appropriate vocabulary throughout, including language that helped "highlight emotive and stylistic" ideas.
  • You used appropriate articulation/punctuation and vocal variety, established eye-contact with the audience, and used appropriate gestures, body movement, and facial expression.
  • You included visual aids if you did not use them in your informative speech and/or if they are necessary for your topic.
  • You were able to persuade your audience and moved them toward action.
  • You used a conversational delivery style that is neither read nor memorized.
  • Your speech conforms to the assigned time limit.

• You MUST refer to your syllabus and assignment instructions for additional information about what you need to do, how you will be evaluated, and what the deadlines are.

Find basic information about your topic

So you can define the problem: what, when, where, why, how, and who.

Are you being asked to login when you're in GVRL?

Use your CUNY Login credentials (firstname.lastname##).

Need More Help or Info?

Email us at reference@hostos.cuny.edu

Find more substantive articles

Search for articles where the authors look at your topic more deeply, exploring the complexity of the issues, and backing up their claims with evidence

OneSearch -- a tool to search many databases at once

Are you being asked to login when you're in GVRL?

Use your CUNY Login credentials (firstname.lastname##).

Need More Help or Info?

Email us at reference@hostos.cuny.edu

Site-Specific Google Searching -- find reliable news content

In Google, you can search any website if you put the word site before a colon and the main address of the website. There should be no spaces between the word site, the colon, and the main web address!

Then there should be one space, followed by your keywords (this example is not from education, but you get the idea...).

Below are some education-specific news websites and some general news websites. If you want to use a different newspaper or magazine not on this list, ask your professor first if it will be acceptable.

Publication                                   web address (URL)    

              The Washington Post                     washingtonpost.com

The New York Times                      nytimes.com

NY 1                                              ny1.com

The Wall Street Journal                 wsj.com

National Public Radio                    npr.org

The New Yorker                            newyorker.com

PBS                                              pbs.org

The Atlantic                                   theatlantic.com

The Nation                                     thenation.com

            CNN                                               cnn.com

Citation Styles

Check with your professor to find out which style is required.

See the Oral Citation tab for information on how to cite during your speech.

MLA Citation

APA Citation

Oral Citation in Speeches

You use MLA or APA (APA, which is the accepted style in the field of communication) for your outline and Bibliography (or References). However, you must also provide oral citations during your presentation.

Although written style guides like MLA and APA offer specific rules for how to internally cite sources in written documents, in Public Speaking courses, oral citation rules apply.

Oral (or verbal) citation rules

Unlike the readers of a paper or a presentation outline, listeners are less concerned with page numbers or article titles. When you cite orally, you emphasize the credibility of your source to build your credibility as a speaker.

Your oral citation should include the author or the source, how recent the information is, and the source’s qualification/ reputation that will make them more credible for the audience.

Oral citation must be adapted to the audience, occasion, and type of source being used (Nelson, Titsworth, & Person, 2013).

Nelson, Titsworth, and Person  (2013) provide the following examples for oral citations:

1. Example for newspaper article:

“Jayne O’Donnell, writing in the September 6th edition of USA Today, pointed out that lead paint tastes sweet, which makes the poison particularly dangerous to young children who are more likely to suck on tainted toys” (Nelson, Titsworth, & Person, 2013, p. 105).

2. Example for research study:

“A 2009 study published in the Howard Journal of Communication argued that government messages about natural disasters need to be adapted to have meaningful outcomes for non-whites, people who live in poverty, and other marginalized populations” (Nelson, Titsworth, & Person, 2013, p. 105).

3. Example for a webpage:

“A story on the American Red Cross website, published on February 9, 2009, described how a teacher at the Decatur Area Technical Academy in Dacour, Illionis, used volunteering for the Red Cross as a way to help her students understand the importance of community responsibility” (Nelson, Titsworth, & Person, 2013, p. 105).

Accordingly, in Public Speaking course, Perdue Online Writing Lab is useful only in regards of your outline and bibliography. Additionally, you will be asked to write out your oral citation.

Nelson, P., Titsworth, S., & Person, J. (Eds.). iSpeak: Public speaking for contemporary life (5th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.