Speech and Debate

Actions Speak Louder Than Words
No matter how good a written speech is, the delivery is what the audience remembers. Learning about and practicing volume, stress, pacing, and pronunciation helps students to deliver an oral presentation effectively.

American Rhetoric
This extensive resource includes an online speech bank, a "Top 100 Speeches" list, a database of figures of speech, and more. Many of these resources are available as audio files.

An Analysis of Literary Devices Used by Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X
Students analyze literary devices used in Dr. King's "I have a Dream" speech and Malcolm X's "The Ballot or the Bullet" speech. Then they write persuasive speeches of their own, using the same techniques.

Appliance Demonstration
Students present infomercials.

Battling for Liberty: Tecumseh's and Patrick Henry's Language of Resistance
Students compare and contrast Patrick Henry's famous speech with two by Chief Tecumseh of the Shawnee to develop an appreciation of powerful language.

Churchill Speech Interactive
Historical information and audio files of Churchill's "Sinews of Peace" speech, best known for its use of the phrase "Iron Curtain."

Circle of Stories
Documentary film, photography, artwork and music exploring Native American storytelling. Lessons available at the site are designed for grades 6-12.

Critical Thinking
Students analyze Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech.

Cry Until You Laugh: Addressing Personal Adversity Through Comedy
Using an online article from the New York Times, students learn how comedians incorporate personal adversity into their comedy. Then they choose difficult experiences from their own lives and write and perform sketches that reveal the humor within these challenging events.

Debate
Links for using debate in the classroom and for the national high school debate topic.

Delivering a Persuasive Speech
Students learn about techniques of persuasion and techniques of public speaking as they prepare and present a persuasive speech. Rubric available. Designed for grades 6-12.

Demonstration Speech
An annotated outline for a model demonstration speech.

Dr. King's Dream
Part 3 of this lesson focuses on Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech. It is designed for grades K-2.

Effective Speech Writing
Suggestions for working with a theme, including examples from other speeches.

Free Speech: Reading Closely by Preparing a Hypertext Version of a Political Speech
Students share opinions and feedback about the speech on race delivered by Barack Obama on March 18, 2008. They then create a hypertext-annotated version of the speech that explains its historical and contemporary references and offers personal commentary. This lesson includes a copy of the speech; other speeches would also work with this strategy.

Gifts of Speech: Women's Speeches from Around the World
Searchable and browsable, this site includes speeches from Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth, Emma Goldman, Margaret Chase Smith, and others.

A Glossary of Rhetorical Terms with Examples
This page lists 45 terms with examples in both English and Latin.

Has the Cat Got Your Tongue?
Students work to improve their enunciation skills by taking part in a tongue-twister speaking competition and writing tongue twisters of their own! This lesson is designed for grades 3-5.

How to hold a class debate
Step-by-step instructions with practical tips and a rubric.

I Have a Metaphor
A lesson in identifying the literary devices used in Dr. King's "I Have A Dream" Speech: analogy, symbolism, use of chronology, personification, metaphor, figurative language and the effective use of repetition.

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire
A get-acquainted narrative speech activity for the first days of school. Standards-based, rubric included.

Monologue Archive
Comic, dramatic, and classical monologues for men, women, children, and seniors. It is also possible to browse for monologues by playwright.

Narrative Speech Assignment
This assignment includes suggestions for organization and evaluation.

National Forensic League Home Page
Links to debate topic, Stennis Student Congress resolution, National Junior Forensic League, and NFL services including Rostrum magazine.

Oral Communication Scoring Guidelines (Rubrics) from NWREL
Four rubrics for assessing oral communication activities.

Persuasive Speech
Everything you need to prepare a persuasive speech: an outline, step-by-step analysis, and examples.

The Power of Speech
Students explore equal rights issues as they practice the skills necessary for public speaking.

Public Speaking
This page includes a generous assortment of speech assignments and links to public speaking sites and collections of speeches.

Public Speaking & Speech Writing: SpeechTips.com
Suggestions for planning, writing, and delivering speeches. A good resource for students.

Radio Plays
This page includes links to information about radio plays, a task sheet, an evaluation sheet, tips on sound effects, and scripts.

Robert's Rules of Order
The official web site, with Frequently Asked Questions and other resources.

Say It Plain: A Century of Great African American Speeches
Reading comprehension, listening comprehension, and critical thinking activities using audio clips and transcripts of moving and powerful speeches.

Storytelling Activities & Lesson Ideas
A wide variety of activities for all grade levels.

This Is Your Life
Students inverview each other and present introductory speeches. This activity is carefully structured and includes suggestions for evaluation.

Toastmasters International
10 tips for successful public speaking.