Writing a Speech: Editing and Proofreading

Dear students,

You did very well on completing last week’s tasks. Out of sight!

We are almost about to wrap up this short course on writing a speech, so this week’s tutorial is the last. (However, you are still going to keep working on your final speech, challenges, etc.!)

Our goal for this week is to sum up what you have learned at this course, i.e. the speech structure, the speech purpose and objectives, and creative ideas to make the speech juicy.  

As usual, please, email Yulia if you have any questions or concerns about the tasks. (irychkov@go.olemiss.edu).

These tasks are due Thursday, November 15th.

Best wishes

EDITING AND PROOFREADING

Once you figure out the topic, the purpose, the objectives, and the objectives of your speech as well as come up with good ideas to implement in your speech, you can finally start writing your speech.

The recommended steps are:

• write a rough draft
• refine your draft, adding illustrations and changing words
• rewrite it into spoken English, shortening sentences and changing words
• rehearse the speech aloud, timing it
• make alterations to fit the time slot.

I can’t tell if there is a limit for possible corrections. My experience shows that there is always something that can be altered or improved in a text. Anyway, it’s fine to be a bit of a perfectionist while editing the speech.  

Definitely, every author and public speaker also has their own secrets for polishing the text. For example, Stephen King in his book “On Writing” emphasizes, “the adverb is not your friend.” In fact, he believes that “the road to hell is paved with adverbs” and compares them to dandelions that ruin your lawn. Adverbs are worst after “he said” and “she said” — those phrases are best left unadorned. You should also pay attention to your paragraphs, so that they flow with the turns and rhythms of your story. “Paragraphs are almost always as important for how they look as for what they say,” says King.

The more you write the more ideas and tricks you will work out.

For now, consider the rules in chapter 5.2. Learning the Golden Rules of Speech Writing in your course book and complete the following task.

TASK 1. 

Here is a speech draft written by Denis, a student who is taking Public speaking course this semester. He knows there is a lot of room for improvement in his speech. Help Denis to edit and polish his speech, applying all the writing strategies you know. Don’t hesitate to re-write the whole sentence or even paragraph if needed. Publish the final version of the speech in your blog. Highlight your additions and corrections in red.

Things to consider:

• 3-part speech structurу
• Strong introduction (attention-getter, topic sentence, etc.)
• Clear, well-structured  body
• Inspiring conclusion (summing up the arguments, call for action, etc.)
• Connectors and transitions
• Correct grammar and vocabulary

Why You Should Exercise

Hello! I believe exercise really helps you get organized. It also helps you to keep yourself in a healthy physically and mentally. Let’s see why it is so. When you are a lazy person, it is difficult to take the first step, but it is all a matter of committing yourself to something that will provide you a lot of positive feedback. Once you start doing exercise and observing positive results, you actually enjoy it. It takes a lot of effort and strong will, but it's worth it. The principal thing to do is to participate in an activity you like. If you start organizing your day, you will no longer be a person stressed-out without time to carry on with all your activities. Also, it is obvious that once you exercise you will have a better condition. You will be healthier in a physical way. It is probable that you will lose weight and your muscles will get stronger and stronger. Your body will feel good, full of energy and it will respond immediately to any action you want to do, any activity that has to be done with high spirits. Exercising is good is that it affects you positively in a mental and psychological way. Doing exercise helps you set specific goals which can be achieved. You become aware of your abilities, accept your weaknesses, and your self-esteem goes up. Any sport helps you not to think about school, friends, problems, among other things. It brings you time to think about yourself and no one else. It helps you keep your mind busy and to avoid dangerous habits like drugs. Doing exercise is very important to any person of any age. When exercise, you start living your life happily.