Lesson video

Hello, and welcome to today's lesson.

My name is Ms. Watson, and I'm really looking forward to teaching you today.

We're going to be working on speeches, and you are going to finish by writing a successful speech.

So, let's get started.

So, the outcome of today's lesson is that you will write a successful speech, one that uses writing techniques with sophistication.

So, we're going to start with the keywords.

There are four keywords today, all really useful for unlocking your learning.

The first one is sophisticated, and something that is sophisticated is complex, highly developed, and stylish.

Paradoxically, that's an adverb referring to something that happens in a way that seems strange, impossible, or unlikely.

If something is detrimental, it causes harm, damage, or injury.

And a contribution, that is the part played by a person or thing in bringing about a result.

If you would like a little bit more time to familiarise yourself with the keywords, please feel free to pause the video now and make a few notes, and then rejoin the lesson when you are ready.

So, this is the outline of today's lesson.

Well, first of all, we're going to look at topics and thesis statements, then we're gonna look in some detail about what a successful speech needs, and we're going to finish with you writing your speech.

Off we go.

Now, this is the task.

It is to write a speech on a topic of interest to young people, and I know that you have lots and lots of interests.

Now, once you have decided on a topic, you need to sharpen your focus with a thesis statement, and I want us to be really, really clear about the terminology here.

A topic is a general subject area.

So, musical instruments, for example, that's a topic.

There are many, many things that you could say about the topic of musical instruments.

Now, a thesis statement is a concise statement that expresses a main idea about a topic, for example, that all young people should learn a musical instrument because it builds creativity, supports mental health, and creates lasting friendships.

That's a thesis statement, and it's really important that you're aware of the distinction as we go and plan your writing.

So, let's look at the thesis statement in more detail.

You can see that it's really clear about who the topic is relevant to, all young people.

It is making an argument.

It's making a case for the learning of a musical instrument, and it has the why, the specific benefits that will be explored in the speech.

There are three key benefits that are outlined in that thesis statement that we will see and we can expect to see in the speech.

So, let's have a quick check for understanding.

Which of the following is the best thesis statement? Is it A, "There are lots of reasons for young people to take regular exercise?" B, "The constant nagging to take exercise is paradoxically having a detrimental effect on the nation's health." C, "Wouldn't you want to be as healthy as you can? Listen up and you'll find out how.

You'll thank me for it." D, "This is my step by step guide to becoming a marathon runner." You can pause the video while you make your choice.

So, the answer is B, so well done if you picked B.

They're all perfectly reasonable statements, but B is a proper thesis statement 'cause it actually is already presenting an argument about why, about the effect of nagging about exercise.

Well done.

Let's move on.

Now, I'm going to put up a series of topics, and I want you to pick one and then develop them into a thesis statement.

This is what they are: social media, friendship, community service, healthy eating habits, the environment.

And the success criteria for turning a topic into a thesis statement is this, who does the topic concern? It should be really clear from the thesis statement who will be interested in this topic.

Who does it affect? The what should or shouldn't happen should be in the thesis statement, and there should be some indication of why the topic is significant.

Welcome back.

I'd like you to assess your own work, so I'd like you to use the coaching questions that I'm gonna put on the slide to help you check your work.

Were you clear about who is affected by the topic? Did you state clearly the very specific aspect of the topic? And did you outline some of the ideas that the speech will contain? You can pause the video while you check over your work.

If there's anything missing, now's the time to add it in.

Okay, let's move on.

So, we've looked at topic and thesis statements, and now we're going to look at what a successful speech needs.

So, what are the key components of a speech? This is what the Oak students said.

Alex said you need an engaging hook to start.

Quotes, facts, a question would be examples of engaging hooks.

You need to make a range of points, and each point contributes to the overall message.

You don't want to go off task.

Izzy said you need supporting details, and that could be research and examples and anecdotes; smooth transitions between the various sections and paragraphs of your speech; and a powerful conclusion, and that could be a call to action or some kind of memorable thought that you want to leave your listeners with.

And Alex went on to say that a useful structure is to start with the individual, move to the group, and then you have the big picture, and he mentioned techniques like rule of three, direct address, and rhetorical questions, all being really helpful when you are writing a speech.

And Izzy, she agreed with it, but what she wanted to do was work on writing techniques really effectively, and we want them to be sophisticated.

In order to do that, the techniques need to be part of what we write, not just a set of linguistic devices that are bolted on.

Well done, Izzy.

Well done, Alex.

Really good recap of what you need for key components of a speech.

Is there anything you can add to what Alex and Izzy said, or is there anything that Alex and Izzy said that you would like to take and use when you're planning your speech? Now let's have a check for understanding.

Is it true or false to say this, that in your speech, it is important to use as many language techniques, structural devices, and statistics as you can? True or false? It's false.

Why is it false? Well, you might say something like this, that it is important to use language, structure, and statistics in service of your message, not as an add-on or just to show that you can.

So, it's about using them wisely, deliberately, and for specific effects rather than lots of them.

Quality over quantity.

Let's move on.

So, now we're going to read two paragraphs.

They're both about inventions that were made by teenagers.

Let's start with A.

I'd like you to follow as I read.

"Did you know that 97% of inventions were made by people under the age of 30? Unbelievable, isn't it? In fact, a speaker from the Institute of Scientific Invention says that, "Young people, more than any other age group, can change the world." Don't you want to be part of this change? Do you want to miss it? Do you?" Let's look at B.

"I am sure you have heard of the expression "lightbulb moment".

Well, the person who invented the lightbulb began his experiments at just 14 years of age.

Not only that, the inventor of the telephone began at 18 and the inventor of Braille at 16.

However, young people can change the world through more than just scientific innovation." Which is the more effective and sophisticated paragraph? You can pause the video while you discuss that.

Did you say B? Yes.

But why is it? What makes paragraph B more sophisticated than paragraph A? Why don't you pause the video and have a think about what is it that's so much better about paragraph B.

So, this is what the Oak students said.

I'm really interested to hear if you agreed with them.

So, like you, Alex thought that paragraph B was more sophisticated, and Izzy agreed with him.

"Definitely," she said, and she went on to say that paragraph B matched its audience better.

She thought it was effective to mention specific inventions and the ages of the inventors.

She went on to say that it was a good example of individual stories and anecdotes being more relatable than statistics, and Alex agreed, and he also pointed out that paragraph A was a bit unorganised.

It didn't really make a clear link between the 97% statistic and the speaker from the Institute of Scientific Invention, whereas paragraph B used the image of the lightbulb to link all the points together.

Izzy went on to say that paragraph B built its argument using discourse markers, like "not only that" and "however", and she was also quite critical of the way paragraph A overused rhetorical devices.

Repeatedly asking questions can quickly become monotonous, and I think we'd all agree with Izzy there.

Well done, Alex.

Well done, Izzy.

Is there anything you would like to add to the discussion? You can pause the video while you do that.

Let's have a quick check for understanding.

Is it true or false to say that you should use statistics, anecdotes, and rhetorical devices when you are writing a speech? It's true, but how should you use them? I'd like you to justify that answer.

Is it A, because "all your choices should relate to the purpose of your writing and the needs of your intended listeners," or is it B, "Rhetorical devices are effective in making people listen to you and statistics and anecdotes sound engaging?" You can pause the video while you think about that.

Okay, what did you say? Did you say that it was A? Because that's the right answer.

It's not that B is untrue, it's that A is a more holistic reason in that it links method and choices to your intention and to your understanding of what your listener wants.

Let's move on.

Now, what I want you to do is to reflect on what you have learned about writing a speech.

I'd like you to use the following sentence starters: "I am confident about writing a speech because," "I know the importance of using rhetorical devices, but," "I know the topic of my speech, so." You can pause the video while you do that.

Welcome back.

This is what Izzy wrote, "I am confident about writing a speech because comparing the two paragraphs has shown me how to refine my writing so that it is coherent and sophisticated." She also said, "I know the importance of using rhetorical devices, but I will make sure that I am employing them to support my main ideas and not just because I know how to." And she finished by saying, "I know the topic of my speech, so the next step is to clarify my thinking and write a thesis statement that encapsulates my main argument and outlines the key messages." Are your sentences similar to Izzy's? Have a look.

If there's anything you want to add, now's the time.

You can pause the video while you do that.

So, let's look at the last part of our lesson.

We've looked at topic and thesis statements.

I think we have a good understanding of what a successful speech needs, and now we're going to write our speech.

Now, the plan for the speech about young inventors looked like this.

You had the topic, which was young inventors.

You had the thesis statement, why the world needs more youthful innovation, and here's the plan.

Introduction, young inventors, and what else young people can contribute, and the first point was about individual involvement and aspirations.

And then we moved on to the bigger picture, that could be school, and then the biggest picture, why youth innovation matters to everybody, and it would conclude by acknowledging young people's contributions.

Now let's have a check for understanding.

Individual, group, big picture, which is the following: A, being a role model for young people everywhere; B, sharing your ideas with others in your community; personal satisfaction at having designed and created something? Which one's which? You ready for me to reveal the answer? Being a role model for young people everywhere, that is an example of the big picture; and sharing your ideas with others in your community is group; and a personal satisfaction, that's about the individual, the personal individual satisfaction at having designed and created something.

Well done if you've got all those right.

Let's move on.

Now I'd like you to use the grid to plan your speech, with the topic and the thesis statement, and then the introduction, the three points, and the conclusion, and when you have done that, you need to write your speech.

Pause the video while you do that.

Hello, and welcome back.

Before we start to use the checklist to peer-assess our work, I just want to say how impressed I was by the way you approached that task.

It was things like the way you had your plan with you at all times and the way you kept referring back to the plan.

And I saw some of you ticking off elements of the plan as you went through it, and that is just a really, really brilliant strategy to make sure you don't leave anything out and that, at the end, your writing is everything you wanted to say.

I also was really impressed by the way you approach using linguistic devices.

Like, I know you can use linguistic devices, you've been practising them for a long time, but I really felt I saw a development in how you were using them this time.

You were thinking about not overusing them, was this the very best one, and I suppose the best way to sum up what I'm seeing is that you were thinking about what you wanted to say and you were using a language to support that.

So, very, very well done.

So, you can see here, there is a checklist.

Now, it's a clear thesis statement and three distinct points, including individual, moving to the group, and then the big picture.

And then there will be examples in there, maybe an anecdote, that is designed to suit your audience, which is young people like you, and language that is suitable for young people like you, and then there's linguistic devices, how they are used, and how are ideas linked.

Now, you will link them through discourse markers, and you will also link them through an image.

So, I would like you to swap your work with another student and to use the checklist to give feedback to them, and you're going to tick what they did well using that checklist.

Now, if you're working alone, that's fine.

You can still use the checklist.

It's just you're going to tick your own work.

And when you've done that, have a think about what's missing.

There might be a section that is missing, like maybe they didn't use discourse markers, or maybe they didn't really get to the big picture, or it may be a development point, like there is a thesis statement, but you think it could be strengthened by maybe a clearer outline of what the speech is going to contain, and that will be the target that you are going to give the other student or the target you are going to give yourself for next time.

So, you can pause the video while you do that.

Off you go.

And that brings us to the end of the lesson.

Before we go, I'd like to summarise what you have been learning today about writing a successful speech.

The topic of your speech is the main subject matter.

The topic needs to be developed into a thesis statement which expresses your main argument, and think about the who, what, and why of the topic in order to create a thesis statement.

Rhetorical techniques need to be employed carefully.

It is important to avoid overusing them, and an effective structure is to start with the individual, move to the group, and then to the big picture.

It's been wonderful having the opportunity to teach you today.

I hope you have a fantastic rest of the day, and I look forward to seeing you in other lessons.

Bye for now.