Original Oratory
Oratory Basics
Original Oratories, or speeches designed to persuade, are 10 minutes in length and do not include any visual aids. The national forensics league states that “orators are expected to research and speak intelligently, with a degree of originality, in an interesting manner, and with some profit to the audience, about a topic of significance.” The most important thing to note when thinking about original oratory is that the key word is original - this includes the topic, the writing, and the delivery! Oratories cannot contain more than 150 quoted words (the rest must be written by the competitor).
Choosing Your Topic
Although competitors are given free choice of subject, the vast majority will take broad societal problems and propose a solution. However, this is by no means the only acceptable form of oratory. The national forensics league states that “your oration may simply alert the audience to a threatening danger, strengthen its devotion to an accepted cause, or eulogize a person.” As with expository speeches, topic selection in original oratory is crucial to a successful speech! With virtually millions of topics to choose from, steer clear of overused topics and search for something unique! Some good topics from past years include curiosity, greed, or the American Dream. Don’t forget that during each round of speech you will have approximately 6-8 people competing against you, which totals up to be over an hour of talking. People will get bored! Try to think of something unique or offbeat that not many people know of, because that is the stuff that most audiences will enjoy listening to!
Writing the Speech
Since the final speech should be about 10 minutes in length, your typed document will usual equal 2 ½ to 3 pages of single spaced, size 12 words. While this seems like a lot, it actually goes by very fast when presenting! Important tips to keep in mind when writing the speech include:
oStart with an interesting opening paragraph. Make the audience want to know more about what they’re going to be listening to for the next 600 seconds!
oTime the transitions in your movement to match those in your speech. Begin in the middle, take one step to the right when beginning you first paragraph, take two (relaxed!) steps to the left when beginning your second paragraph, take one step back to the right (come back to the middle) when beginning your third paragraph, and take one step forward when beginning your conclusion. This will help the audience track your flow of points.
oMake sure you use relevant jokes or some other way of keeping your audience attentive.
oWrite well and close with something memorable!
Practice, Practice, Practice
The most important aspect of public speaking is the delivery, so memorize your speech and practice performing it. Try to avoid fidgeting with your hands; it is ok (and encouraged) to make selective use of hand gestures for emphasis- just don’t go overboard! Dress nicely, and conduct yourself in a polite manner: before, during, and after your speech. Expository and oratory speaking are two of the most stressful events in speech and debate because they require so much preparation and the final presentation depends on so many factors. Learning to be an effective public speaker, however, is a very valuable skill. You will never fear speaking in front of your class in school ever again!