S5: Digital Speech
Combining public speaking + digital technologies
YouTube launched in 2005, and changed public speaking forever. Suddenly, anyone with an internet connection could speak to a million people.
Online speeches or presentations are now a huge (and entertaining) part of the public speaking landscape. To understand how to succeed in this context, we’ll study a variety of online videos and YouTube channels. For this “speech” assignment, you’ll produce your own video on a topic of your choosing.
This assignment is very open: you can choose any bicycle-related topic and you can try to reach any audience. (If you are unsure about the appropriateness of your idea, or whether it’s bicycle-related enough, just ask me.)
Here are a few options (based on common genres of online videos and podcasts):
- investigate something and tell us about it, the way a journalist or researcher would
- teach or instruct us how to do something (examples)
- share something—like a place or an experience—you think is interesting or awesome
- show creative work (for example, art or performance)
Important ingredients:
1. Making multiple versions. I’ll ask you to record a couple different versions of your S5—call them “drafts.”
2. Reading. To prepare for this assignment, please read A Pocket Guide, pages 232-238 and 146-150. You should also review past readings for the class.
3. Writing. Along the way, I’ll ask you to write a few things so that I can better understand your goals of your S5 (these will be turned in via your course blog):
- an outline and storyboard of your idea
- a “script” or written text of what you plan to say
- a description of the audience you would like to reach (with reference to A Pocket Guide, 36-46)
- a discussion of how you will establish and maintain credibility with this audience (with reference to Tseng and Fogg, J. Treasure, W. Horner, A Pocket Guide, or other relevant sources on credibility).
- a self-assessment/reflection