Critique a Speech
For this assignment, you will critique a persuasive or informative speech.
Objectives:
Analyze guidelines for critically evaluating speeches.
Evaluate the suggested guidelines for informative speaking, the supporting materials of a speech, and the varied types of presentation aids.
Analyze the goals and guidelines of a persuasive speech.
Explore the three types of persuasive speeches and the fallacies of logical, emotional, and credibility appeals.
Instructions:
Review the guidelines for critically evaluating speeches given in the textbook and in the learning activities.
Review the following speech:
3. Write a three-to-four-page critique of the speech you chose. It might be helpful to watch the speech you have chosen to evaluate, twice.
4. Use the following checklist to guide your critique:
Did the speaker choose a topic that was relevant and interesting to the audience, with a clear purpose?
Did the speaker ensure that his or her topic was researched adequately?
Did the speaker deliver an introduction that gained attention and oriented the audience?
Was the speech clear, vivid, appropriate, well-organized, and powerful?
Was each main point adequately supported?
Did the speaker create a speech with personal style by asking direct questions and creating immediacy?
Did the conclusion summarize the thesis and provide closure?
Did the speaker use effective volume, eye contact, speech rate, pausing, and gestures
This is some content from the textbook.
•Say something positive. Start any criticism with something positive. So, instead of saying—as in the self-test—“The speech didn’t do anything for me,” tell the speaker what you liked first and then bring up a weakness and suggest how it might be corrected: “Your introduction really made me realize that many colleges have problems with campus violence, but I wasn’t convinced early on that we have one here at Andrews. I would have preferred to hear the examples that you gave near the end of the speech—which were excellent, by the way—in the introduction.”
•Be specific. Criticism is most effective when it’s specific. Statements such as “I thought your delivery was bad” or “I thought your examples were good” (or, as in the self-test, “I loved the speech. … Really great” and “The speech was weak”) don’t specify what the speaker might do to improve delivery or to capitalize on the examples used. Refer to specifics such as the evidence used, the language choices, the delivery style, or whatever else is of consequence.
•Be culturally sensitive. There are vast cultural differences in what is considered proper when it comes to criticism. People in cultures that are highly individualistic and competitive (the United States, Germany, and Sweden are examples) may see public criticism as a normal part of the learning process. Thus, they may readily criticize others and are likely to expect the same “courtesy” from other listeners. People from cultures that are more collectivist and that emphasize the group rather than the individual (Japan, Mexico, and Korea are examples) are likely to find giving and receiving public criticism uncomfortable. They may feel that it’s more important to be polite and courteous than to help someone learn a skill.
•Limit criticism. Cataloging a speaker’s weak points, as in “I found four things wrong with your speech,” will overwhelm, not help, the speaker. Mentioning one or two items that you found especially good or that might have been improved is likely to be more effective in helping the speaker.
•Be constructive. Give the speaker the insight that you feel will help in future public speaking situations. For example, “The introduction didn’t gain my attention” doesn’t tell the speaker how he or she might have gained your attention. Instead, you might say, “The example about the computer crash would have more effectively gained my attention in the introduction.”
•Focus criticism on behavior. Look at what the speaker said and did during the actual speech. Avoid mind-reading the speaker and assuming that you know why the speaker did one thing rather than another. Instead of saying, “You weren’t interested in your topic” (a comment that attacks the speaker), say, “I would have liked to see greater variety in your delivery. It would have made me feel you were more involved.”
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